Psalms 74

1 An Instructive Psalm. Asaph’s. Wherefore, O God, hast thou cast off utterly? Shall thine anger smoke against the flock of thine own pasturing?

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

2 Remember thine own assembly thou didst acquire aforetime, Thou didst redeem the tribe of thine own inheritance, Mount Zion, wherein thou didst take up thy habitation.

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.

3 Lift up thy steps unto the places utterly unsafe, All the mischief!—the foe in the sanctuary!

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

4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine appointed meeting, They have set their ensigns as tokens!

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

5 One used to be known according as he carried up high—into the thicket of trees—the axes;

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

6 But, now, the doors thereof all together, with axes and hammers, they batter down.

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

7 They have cast, into the fire, thy sanctuary, To the ground, have they profaned the habitation of thy Name.

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

8 They have said in their heart, Let us suppress them altogether, They have burned up all the meeting-places of GOD in the land.

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

9 Our own signs, have we not seen, —There is no longer a prophet, —Neither is there with us, one who knoweth—How long!

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

10 How long, O God, shall the adversary, reproach? Shall the enemy revile thy Name perpetually?

How long, God, shall the enemy mock? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

11 Wherefore shouldst thou withdraw thy hand—thy right hand? [Bring it] out of the midst of thy bosom! (Selah)

Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your pocket and consume them.

12 But, God, hath been my king from aforetime, Working Deliverances in the midst of the earth.

Yet God is my King from long ago, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Thou, didst cleave asunder, in thy might, the sea, Thou didst break in pieces the heads of the Crocodiles, [till they floated] on the waters;

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

14 Thou, didst crush the heads of the Sea-Monster, Thou didst give him to be food, for the people of the deserts;

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

15 Thou, didst cleave open fountain and torrent, Thou, didst dry up rivers of steady flow:

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

16 Thine, is the day, Yea, thine, the night, Thou, didst establish moon and sun;

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

17 Thou, didst set up all the bounds of the earth, As for summer and winter, thou, didst form them!

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

18 Remember this, An enemy, hath reproached Yahweh, Yea, an impious people, have reviled thy Name.

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

19 Do not deliver up, to a wild beast, the life of thy turtle-dove, The living host of thine oppressed ones, do not forget perpetually.

Do not deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Do not forget the life of your poor forever.

20 Have respect to thy covenant, For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.

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

21 May the crushed one not again be confounded, As for the oppressed and the needy, let them praise thy Name.

Do not let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.

22 Arise! O God, plead thine own cause, Remember the reproach of thee, from the impious one, all the day:

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

23 Do not forget the voice of thine adversaries, The noise of thine assailants, ascending continually.

Do not forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.