Psalms 74

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?	1 A maskil of Asaph. I Why, God, have you cast us off forever? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
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 your flock that you gathered of old, the tribe you redeemed as your very own. Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.
3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.	3 Turn your steps toward the utter ruins, toward the sanctuary devastated by the enemy.
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.	4 Your foes roared triumphantly in your shrine; they set up their own tokens of victory.
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.	5 They hacked away like foresters gathering boughs, swinging their axes in a thicket of trees.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.	6 They smashed all your engraved work, pounded it with hammer and pick.
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 set your sanctuary on fire; the abode of your name they razed and profaned.
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 their hearts, "Destroy them all! Burn 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 Now we see no signs, we have no prophets, no one who knows how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?	10 How long, O God, shall the enemy jeer? Shall the foe revile your name forever?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.	11 Why draw back your right hand, why keep it idle beneath your cloak?
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.	12 Yet you, God, are my king from of old, winning victories throughout the earth.
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.	13 You stirred up the sea in your might; you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters.
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, tossed him for food to the sharks.
15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.	15 You opened up springs and torrents, brought dry land out of the primeval waters.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.	16 Yours the day and yours the night; you set the moon and sun in place.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.	17 You fixed all the limits of the earth; summer and winter you made.
18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.	18 Remember how the enemy has jeered, O LORD, how a foolish people has reviled your name.
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 surrender to beasts those who praise you; do not forget forever the life of your afflicted.
20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.	20 Look to your covenant, for the land is filled with gloom; the pastures, with violence.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.	21 Let not the oppressed turn back in 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, God, defend your cause; remember the constant jeers of the fools.
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.	23 Do not ignore the clamor of your foes, the unceasing uproar of your enemies.