1A Maskila of Asaph.
Why have You rejected us forever, O God?
Why does Your anger smolder
against the sheep of Your pasture?
1A Maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, have You rejected us forever? Your anger smolders against the flock of Your pasture.
2Remember Your congregation,
which You purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—
Mount Zion, where You dwell.
2Remember Your congregation You acquired of old; You redeemed as the staff of Your inheritance this Mount Zion—in it You have dwelt!
3Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins,
to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
3Lift up Your steps to the perpetual desolations—to everything done wickedly by the enemy in the sanctuary!
4Your foes have roared within Your meeting place;
they have unfurled their banners as signs,
4Your adversaries have roared within Your meeting place; they have set up their signs for signs.
5like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
5He made himself known like one bringing on high axes against a thicket of tree;
6and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
6and now all its engravings they strike down with ax and hatchet.
7They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
7They have sent Your sanctuary into the fire, to the ground; they have desecrated the dwelling place of Your Name.
8They said in their hearts,
“We will crush them completely.”
They burned down every place
where God met us in the land.
8They said in their hearts, “Let us oppress them altogether!” They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer any prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.
9Signs for us we do not see; there is no longer a prophet, and there is no one among us knowing until when.
10How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You?
Will the foe revile Your name forever?
10Until when, O God, will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy revile Your name forever?
11Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand?
Stretch it out to destroy them!a
11Why do You turn back Your hand, and Your right hand? May You remove it from the midst of Your bosom!
12Yet God is my King from ancient times,
working salvation on the earth.
12For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13You divided the sea by Your strength;
You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
13You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the dragons upon the waters.
14You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You fed him to the creatures of the desert.
14You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food to the people of the dry places.
15You broke open the fountain and the flood;
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
15You burst open spring and stream; You dried up the enduring rivers.
16The day is Yours, and also the night;
You established the moona and the sun.
16To You is the day, also to You is the night; You established the light and the sun.
17You set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made the summer and winter.
17You set all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter, You have formed them.
18Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD,
how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
18Remember this, an enemy has reproached YHWH, and a foolish people have spurned Your name!
19Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts;
do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
19Do not give to the wild beast the soul of Your dove; do not forget the life of Your afflicted ones forever!
20Consider Your covenant,
for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
20Look to the covenant! For the dark places of the earth are filled as habitations of violence.
21Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame;
may the poor and needy praise Your name.
21Do not let the oppressed turn back, having been disgraced; let the afflicted and needy ones praise Your name.
22Rise up, O God; defend Your cause!
Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
22Arise, O God, defend Your cause! Remember the scorning of You from a fool all the day.
23Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries,
the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.
23Do not forget the voice of Your enemies, the uproar of those rising against You, going up continually.