Psalms 74

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 [Poem Of Asaph] God, why have you final y rejected us, your anger blazing against the flock you usedto 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 the people you took to yourself long ago, your own tribe which you redeemed, and thisMount Zion where you came to live.	2 Remember your flock that you gathered of old, the tribe you redeemed as your very own. Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.
3 Come up to these endless ruins! The enemy have sacked everything in the sanctuary;	3 Turn your steps toward the utter ruins, toward the sanctuary devastated by the enemy.
4 your opponents made uproar in the place of assemblies, they fixed their emblems over the entrance,emblems	4 Your foes roared triumphantly in your shrine; they set up their own tokens of victory.
5 never known before. Their axes deep in the wood,	5 They hacked away like foresters gathering boughs, swinging their axes in a thicket of trees.
6 hacking at the panels, they battered them down with axe and pick;	6 They smashed all your engraved work, pounded it with hammer and pick.
7 they set fire to your sanctuary, profanely rased to the ground the dwel ing-place of your name.	7 They set your sanctuary on fire; the abode of your name they razed and profaned.
8 They said to themselves, 'Let us crush them at one stroke!' They burned down every sacred shrine inthe land.	8 They said in their hearts, "Destroy them all! Burn all the shrines of God in the land!"
9 We see no signs, no prophet any more, and none of us knows how long it wil last.	9 Now we see no signs, we have no prophets, no one who knows how long.
10 How much longer, God, will the enemy blaspheme? Is the enemy to insult your name for ever?	10 How long, O God, shall the enemy jeer? Shall the foe revile your name forever?
11 Why hold back your hand, keep your right hand hidden in the folds of your robe?	11 Why draw back your right hand, why keep it idle beneath your cloak?
12 Yet, God, my king from the first, author of saving acts throughout the earth,	12 Yet you, God, are my king from of old, winning victories throughout the earth.
13 by your power you split the sea in two, and smashed the heads of the monsters on the waters.	13 You stirred up the sea in your might; you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters.
14 You crushed Leviathan's heads, gave him as food to the wild animals.	14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan, tossed him for food to the sharks.
15 You released the springs and brooks, and turned primordial rivers into dry land.	15 You opened up springs and torrents, brought dry land out of the primeval waters.
16 Yours is the day and yours the night, you caused sun and light to exist,	16 Yours the day and yours the night; you set the moon and sun in place.
17 you fixed all the boundaries of the earth, you created summer and winter.	17 You fixed all the limits of the earth; summer and winter you made.
18 Remember, Yahweh, the enemy's blasphemy, a foolish people insults your name.	18 Remember how the enemy has jeered, O LORD, how a foolish people has reviled your name.
19 Do not surrender your turtledove to the beast; do not forget for ever the life of your oppressed people.	19 Do not surrender to beasts those who praise you; do not forget forever the life of your afflicted.
20 Look to the covenant! Al the hiding-places of the land are ful , haunts of violence.	20 Look to your covenant, for the land is filled with gloom; the pastures, with violence.
21 Do not let the downtrodden retreat in confusion, give the poor and needy cause to praise your name.	21 Let not the oppressed turn back in shame; may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God, champion your own cause, remember how fools blaspheme you all day long!	22 Arise, God, defend your cause; remember the constant jeers of the fools.
23 Do not forget the shouting of your enemies, the ever-mounting uproar of your adversaries.	23 Do not ignore the clamor of your foes, the unceasing uproar of your enemies.