Psalms 74

₁Why have you abandoned us like this, O God?

Will you be angry with your own people for ever?

₂Remember your people, whom you chose for yourself long ago,

whom you brought out of slavery to be your own tribe.

Remember Mount Zion, where once you lived.

₃Walk over these total ruins;

our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple.

₄Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple;

they have placed their flags there as signs of victory.

₅They looked like woodmen

cutting down trees with their axes.

₆They smashed all the wooden panels

with their axes and sledgehammers.

₇They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire;

they desecrated the place where you are worshipped.

₈They wanted to crush us completely;

they burnt down every holy place in the land.

₉All our sacred symbols are gone;

there are no prophets left,

and no one knows how long this will last.

₁₀How long, O God, will our enemies laugh at you?

Will they insult your name for ever?

₁₁Why have you refused to help us?

Why do you keep your hands behind you?

₁₂But you have been our king from the beginning, O God;

you have saved us many times.

₁₃With your mighty strength you divided the sea

and smashed the heads of the sea monsters;

₁₄you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan

and fed his body to desert animals.

₁₅You made springs and fountains flow;

you dried up large rivers.

₁₆You created the day and the night;

you set the sun and the moon in their places;

₁₇you set the limits of the earth;

you made summer and winter.

₁₈But remember, O LORD, that your enemies laugh at you,

that they are godless and despise you.

₁₉Don't abandon your helpless people to their cruel enemies;

don't forget your persecuted people!

₂₀Remember the covenant you made with us.

There is violence in every dark corner of the land.

₂₁Don't let the oppressed be put to shame;

let those poor and needy people praise you.

₂₂Rouse yourself, God, and defend your cause!

Remember that godless people laugh at you all day long.

₂₃Don't forget the angry shouts of your enemies,

the continuous noise made by your foes.