Chapter 74

A Maskil of Asaph. ¹

O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? ² Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage. Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell. ³ Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.

⁴

Your foes have roared within your holy place; they set up their emblems there. ⁵ At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes. ^b Or to glory ⁶ And then, with hatchets and hammers, they smashed all its carved work. ⁷ They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated the dwelling place of your name, bringing it to the ground. ⁸ They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹

We do not see our emblems; there is no longer any prophet, and there is no one among us who knows how long. ¹⁰ How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? ¹¹ Why do you hold back your hand; why do you keep your hand in ^c Heb rock your bosom?

¹²

Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the earth. ¹³ You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters. ¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food ^d Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain for the creatures of the wilderness. ¹⁵ You cut openings for springs and torrents; you dried up ever‐flowing streams. ¹⁶ Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the luminaries ^e Cn: Heb do you consume your right hand from and the sun. ¹⁷ You have fixed all the bounds of the earth; you made summer and winter.

¹⁸

Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles your name. ¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals; do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰

Have regard for your ^a Heb food for the people covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence. ²¹ Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. ²² Rise up, O God, plead your cause; remember how the impious scoff at you all day long. ²³ Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.