Psalms 74

1 A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

A maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, have you spurned us forever? Why smokes your wrath against the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived.

Remember the community you purchased of old to become by redemption the tribe of your heritage, Zion, the mountain you made your home.

3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.

Rouse yourself, visit its ruins complete. In the temple the foe has made havoc of all things.

4 Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.

Like lions your enemies roared through your house, replacing our symbols by signs of their own,

5 They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.

hacking, like woodsmen who lift axes on thickets of trees,

6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.

smashing with hatchets and hammers all of its carved work together.

7 They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.

They have set your temple on fire, to the very ground they have outraged the place where lives your name.

8 They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.

They have said in their heart, ‘Let us utterly crush them.’ They have burned all the houses of God in the land.

9 We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.

No symbol of ours do we see any more: no prophet is there any more, none is with us who knows how long.

10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

How long, O God, is the foe to insult? Shall the enemy spurn your name forever?

11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your chest and consume them!

Why, O Lord, do you hold back your hand, why keep your right hand in the folds of your robe?

12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth.

Yet God is our king from the ancient days, in the midst of the earth working deeds of salvation.

13 You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

It was you who did cleave the sea by your might, and shatter the heads of the ocean monsters.

14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.

It was you who did crush many-headed Leviathan, and give him as food to the beasts of the wilderness.

15 You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.

It was you who did cleave the fountains and torrents; it was you who did dry the perennial streams.

16 The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.

Yours is the day; yours, too, is the night, it was you who did establish the sun and the star.

17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter.

It was you who did fix all the borders of earth: summer and winter it’s you who have made them.

18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.

Yet, for all this, the foe has insulted you, Lord, and a nation of fools has reviled your name.

19 Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.

Do not give your dove to the beasts, do not forget your afflicted forever.

20 Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.

Look to the sleek ones – how full they are: the dark places of earth are the dwellings of violence.

21 Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.

O let not the downtrodden turn back ashamed: let the poor and the needy sing praise to your name.

22 Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.

Arise, God, and defend your cause: remember how fools all the day insult you.

23 Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

Do not forget the uproar of your enemies, the din of your foes that ascends evermore.