Psalms 74

¹Of God, why have you put us away from you for ever? why is the fire of your wrath smoking against the sheep who are your care?

²Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place.

³Go up and see the unending destruction; all the evil which your haters have done in the holy place;

⁴Sending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.

⁵They are cutting down, like a man whose blade is lifted up against the thick trees.

⁶Your doors are broken down with hammers and iron blades.

⁷They have put on fire your holy place; they have made the place of your name unclean, pulling it down to the earth.

⁸They have said in their hearts, Let us put an end to them all together; they have given over to the fire all God's places of worship in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs: there is no longer any prophet, or anyone among us to say how long.

¹⁰O God, how long will those who are against us say cruel things? will the hater go on looking down on your name for ever?

¹¹Why are you keeping back your hand, and covering your right hand in your robe?

¹²For from the past God is my King, working salvation in the earth.

¹³The sea was parted in two by your strength; the heads of the great sea-beasts were broken.

¹⁴The heads of the great snake were crushed by you; you gave them as food to the fishes of the sea.

¹⁵You made valleys for fountains and springs; you made the ever-flowing rivers dry.

¹⁶The day is yours and the night is yours: you made the light and the sun.

¹⁷By you all the limits of the earth were fixed; you have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Keep this in mind, O Lord, that your haters have said cruel things, and that your name has been looked down on by a people of evil behaviour.

¹⁹O give not the soul of your dove to the hawk; let not the life of the poor go out of your memory for ever.

²⁰Keep in mind your undertaking; for the dark places of the earth are full of pride and cruel acts.

²¹O let not the crushed be turned back in shame; let the low man and the poor give praise to your name.

²²Up! O God, be the judge of your cause; keep in mind the bitter things which the man of evil behaviour says against you every day.

²³Keep in mind the voice of your haters; the outcry of those who come against you goes up every day.

Psalms 74

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

²Remember 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹¹Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your pocket and consume them!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Do not forget the life of your poor forever.

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

²¹Do not let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.

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

²³Do not forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.