Psalms

¹ A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph. O God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

² Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

³ Turn your footsteps [quickly] toward the perpetual ruins; The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

⁴ In the midst of Your meeting place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry]; They have set up their own emblems for signs [of victory].

⁵ It seems as if one had lifted up An axe in a forest of trees [to set a record of destruction].

⁶ And now all the carved work [of the meeting place] They smash with hatchets and hammers.

⁷ They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; They have profaned the dwelling place of Your name.

⁸ They said in their heart, "Let us completely subdue them." They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹ We do not see our symbols; There is no longer any prophet [to guide us], Nor does any among us know for how long.

¹⁰ O God, how long will the adversary scoff? Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?

¹¹ Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand [from judging the enemy]? Remove Your hand from Your chest, destroy them!

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

¹³ You divided the [Red] Sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan (Egypt); You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

¹⁵ You broke open fountains and streams; You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶ The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have established and prepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.

¹⁷ You have defined and established all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations]; You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember this, O LORD, the enemy has scoffed, And a foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.

¹⁹ Oh, do not hand over the soul of your turtledove to the wild beast; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

²⁰ Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham], For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

²¹ Let not the oppressed return dishonored; Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.

²² Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish man scoffs at You all day long.

²³ Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries, The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].