Psalms 74

1 “A Maskil of Assaph.” Why, O God, hast thou cast us off for ever? why will thy anger smoke against the flock of thy pasture?

[A Psalm] of instruction for Asaph. Therefore have you rejected [us], O God, for ever? [therefore] is your wrath kindled against the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou didst acquire of old; which thou didst redeem as the tribe of thy inheritance: this mount Zion, whereon thou hast dwelt.

Remember your congregation which you have purchased from the beginning; you did ransom the rod of your inheritance; this mount Sion wherein you have lived.

3 Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual heaps of ruins: the enemy hath ill-used every thing in the sanctuary.

Lift up your hands against their pride continually; [because of] all that the enemy has done wickedly in your holy places.

4 Thy adversaries have roared in the midst of thy places of assembly: they have set up their signs for signs.

And they that hate you have boasted in the midst of your feast; they have set up their standards for signs,

5 [The enemy] is known as one that lifteth up high axes against the thickets of a forest.

ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;

6 And now they hew in pieces the carved work thereof altogether with hatchets and hammers.

they cut down its doors at once with axes as in a wood of trees; they have broken it down with hatchet and stone cutter.

7 They have set on fire thy sanctuary; to the ground have they profaned the dwelling-place of thy name.

They have burnt your sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the habitation of your name.

8 They have said in their heart, We will oppress them altogether: they have burnt up all the places of assembly of God in the land.

They have said in their heart, [even] all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth.

9 Our signs do we not see: there is no more any prophet: and there is no one among us that knoweth how long.

We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and [God] will not know us any more.

10 How long, O God, shall the adversary utter defiance? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke your name forever?

11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? [draw it] out of thy bosom—exterminate [them];

Therefore turn you away your hand, and your right hand from the midst of your bosom for ever?

12 Since [thou] God art my King from olden days, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

But God is our King of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 It was thou that didst divide by thy strength the sea: thou brokest in pieces the heads of the crocodiles on the waters.

You did establish the sea, in your might, you did break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.

14 Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan, and gavest them as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

You did break to pieces the heads of the dragon; you did give him [for] meat to the Ethiopian nations.

15 Thou didst cleave fountain and stream: thou didst dry up ever-flowing rivers.

You did cleave fountains and torrents; you dried up mighty rivers.

16 Thine is the day and thine is the night: it is thou who hast prepared the luminary and the sun.

The day is your, and the night is your; you have prepared the sun and the moon.

17 It is thou who hast set up all the boundaries of the earth: summer and winter—thou thyself hast formed them.

You have made all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and spring.

18 Remember this, that the enemy hath defied the Lord, and that a worthless foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

Remember this your creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked your name.

19 Oh give not up unto the multitude of enemies the soul of thy turtle-dove: the congregation of thy afflicted do not thou forget for ever.

Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to you: forget not for ever the souls of your poor.

20 Look unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of habitations of violence.

Look upon your covenant: for the dark [places] of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.

21 Oh let not the oppressed return confounded: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise your name.

22 Arise, O God, plead thy own cause: remember thy defiance from the worthless fool all the day.

Arise, O God, plead your cause: remember your reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.

23 Forget not the voice of thy adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.

Forget not the voice of your suppliants: let the pride of them that hate you continually ascend before you.