Psalms, 74

1. <Maschil of Asaph.> O God, why hast thou cast [us] off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

1. O God, have you rejected us forever? Why vent your anger on the sheep of your own fold?

2. Remember thy congregation, [which] thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, [which] thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

2. Remember the people you have formed of old, the tribe you have redeemed as your inheritance. Remember Mount Zion where you once lived.

3. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; [even] all [that] the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

3. Climb and visit these hopeless ruins, the enemy has ravaged everything in the sanctuary.

4. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns [for] signs.

4. Your foes have roared triumphantly in the holy place, and set up their banner of victory.

5. [A man] was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

5. Like lumbermen felling trees,

6. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

6. they smashed the carved paneling with hatchets, hammers and axes.

7. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled [by casting down] the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

7. They defiled your sanctuary and set aflame the dwelling place of your name.

8. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

8. They said in fury, "Let us destroy them all." They razed to the ground all the shrines of God in the land.

9. We see not our signs: [there is] no more any prophet: neither [is there] among us any that knoweth how long.

9. With no signs and no prophets, no one can tell how long this will last.

10. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

10. How long, O God, will the foe blaspheme? How long will the enemy revile your name?

11. Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck [it] out of thy bosom.

11. Why do you hold back your right hand? Why keep your hand hidden?

12. For God [is] my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

12. Are you not O God, my king since birth, you who bring salvation to the land?

13. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

13. You split the sea in two by your power; you broke the monsters' heads in the water;

14. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

14. you crushed the heads of Leviathan and fed him to the dolphins.

15. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

15. You opened up rivers and springs and dried up ever-flowing streams.

16. The day [is] thine, the night also [is] thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

16. You own the day as well as the night; you have set the course of the sun and the light.

17. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

17. You fixed the earth's borders, you created summer and winter.

18. Remember this, [that] the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and [that] the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

18. Remember, O Lord, how the lawless scoff at your name, a party of fools cast you off.

19. O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude [of the wicked]: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

19. Do not betray your turtledove to the beast, do not forget forever the life of your poor.

20. Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.

20. See how they keep your covenant in the dark caves of the land.

21. O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

21. Do not let the oppressed be put to shame; may the poor and needy praise your name.

22. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

22. Arise, O God, and defend your cause, see how the thoughtless laugh at you all day long.

23. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

23. Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the continuous uproar of your enemies.