Psalms, 44

0.

0. To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

1. [For the choirmaster Of the sons of Korah Poem] God, we have heard for ourselves, our ancestors have told us, of the deeds you did in their days, in days of old,

1. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what deeds thou didst perform in their days, in the days of old:

2. by your hand. To establish them in the land you drove out nations, to make room for them you harried peoples.

2. thou with thy own hand didst drive out the nations, but them thou didst plant; thou didst afflict the peoples, but them thou didst set free;

3. It was not their own sword that won the land, nor their own arms which made them victorious, but your hand it was and your arm, and the light of your presence, for you loved them.

3. for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but thy right hand, and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance; for thou didst delight in them.

4. You are my king, my God, who decreed Jacob's victories;

4. Thou art my King and my God, who ordainest victories for Jacob.

5. through you we conquered our opponents, in your name we trampled down those who rose up against us.

5. Through thee we push down our foes; through thy name we tread down our assailants.

6. For my trust was not in my bow, my victory was not won by my sword;

6. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.

7. it was you who saved us from our opponents, you who put to shame those who hate us.

7. But thou hast saved us from our foes, and hast put to confusion those who hate us.

8. Our boast was always of God, we praised your name without ceasing.Pause

8. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to thy name for ever. [Selah]

9. Yet now you have abandoned and humiliated us, you no longer take the field with our armies,

9. Yet thou hast cast us off and abased us, and hast not gone out with our armies.

10. you leave us to fall back before the enemy, those who hate us plunder us at will.

10. Thou hast made us turn back from the foe; and our enemies have gotten spoil.

11. You hand us over like sheep for slaughter, you scatter us among the nations,

11. Thou hast made us like sheep for slaughter, and hast scattered us among the nations.

12. you sell your people for a trifle and make no profit on the sale.

12. Thou hast sold thy people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them.

13. You make us the butt of our neighbours, the mockery and scorn of those around us,

13. Thou hast made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those about us.

14. you make us a by-word among nations, other peoples shake their heads over us.

14. Thou hast made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

15. All day long I brood on my disgrace, the shame written clear on my face,

15. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face,

16. from the sound of insult and abuse, from the sight of hatred and vengefulness.

16. at the words of the taunters and revilers, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

17. All this has befallen us though we had not forgotten you, nor been disloyal to your covenant,

17. All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten thee, or been false to thy covenant.

18. our hearts never turning away, our feet never straying from your path.

18. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from thy way,

19. Yet you have crushed us in the place where jackals live, and immersed us in shadow dark as death.

19. that thou shouldst have broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with deep darkness.

20. Had we forgotten the name of our God and stretched out our hands to a foreign god,

20. If we had forgotten the name of our God, or spread forth our hands to a strange god,

21. would not God have found this out, for he knows the secrets of the heart?

21. would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

22. For your sake we are being massacred all day long, treated as sheep to be slaughtered.

22. Nay, for thy sake we are slain all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

23. Wake, Lord! Why are you asleep? Awake! Do not abandon us for good.

23. Rouse thyself! Why sleepest thou, O Lord? Awake! Do not cast us off for ever!

24. Why do you turn your face away, forgetting that we are poor and harrassed?

24. Why dost thou hide thy face? Why dost thou forget our affliction and oppression?

25. For we are bowed down to the dust, and lie prone on the ground.

25. For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body cleaves to the ground.

26. Arise! Come to our help! Ransom us, as your faithful love demands.

26. Rise up, come to our help! Deliver us for the sake of thy steadfast love!