| 1 | O God, why do You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger burn
and
smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? |
| 2 | [Earnestly] remember Your congregation which You have acquired of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your heritage; remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt. |
| 3 | Direct Your feet [quickly] to the perpetual ruins
and
desolations; the foe has devastated
and
desecrated everything in the sanctuary. |
| 4 | In the midst of Your Holy Place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry]; they set up their own [idol] emblems for signs [of victory]. |
| 5 | They seemed like men who lifted up axes upon a thicket of trees to make themselves a record. |
| 6 | And then all the carved wood of the Holy Place they broke down with hatchets and hammers. |
| 7 | They have set Your sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling place of Your
[a]Name by casting it to the ground. |
| 8 | They said in their hearts, Let us make havoc [of such places] altogether. They have burned up all God’s meetinghouses in the land. |
| 9 | We do not see our symbols; there is no longer any prophet, neither does any among us know for how long. |
| 10 | O God, how long is the adversary to scoff
and
reproach? Is the enemy to blaspheme
and
revile Your name forever? |
| 11 | Why do You hold back Your hand, even Your right hand? Draw it out of Your bosom
and
consume them [make an end of them]! |
| 12 | Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. |
| 13 | You did divide the [Red] Sea by Your might; You broke the heads of the [Egyptian] dragons in the waters. |
| 14 | You crushed the heads of Leviathan (Egypt); You did give him as food for the creatures inhabiting the wilderness. |
| 15 | You did cleave open [the rock bringing forth] fountains and streams; You dried up mighty, ever-flowing rivers (the Jordan). |
| 16 | The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have established the [starry] light and the sun. |
| 17 | You have fixed all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations]; You have made summer and winter. |
| 18 | [Earnestly] remember how the enemy has scoffed, O Lord,
and
reproached You, and how a foolish
and
impious people has blasphemed Your name. |
| 19 | Oh, do not deliver the life of your turtledove to the wild beast (to the greedy multitude); forget not the life [of the multitude] of Your poor forever. |
| 20 | Have regard for the covenant [You made with Abraham], for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. |
| 21 | Oh, let not the downtrodden return in shame; let the oppressed and needy praise Your name. |
| 22 | Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; remember [earnestly] how the foolish
and
impious man scoffs
and
reproaches You day after day
and
all day long. |
| 23 | Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries, the tumult of those who rise up against You, which ascends continually. |
Cross references:
-
Psalm 74:13 : Exod. 14:21.
-
Psalm 74:15 : Exod. 17:6; Num. 20:11; Josh. 3:13.
-
Psalm 74:17 : Acts 17:26.
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