Psalm 74
English Standard Version
Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause
A Maskil[a] of (A)Asaph.
74 O God, why do you (B)cast us off forever?
Why does your anger (C)smoke against (D)the sheep of your pasture?
2 (E)Remember your congregation, which you have (F)purchased of old,
which you have (G)redeemed to be (H)the tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, (I)where you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to (J)the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4 Your foes have (K)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
(L)they set up their (M)own signs for (N)signs.
5 They were like those who swing (O)axes
in a forest of trees.[b]
6 And all its (P)carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They (Q)set your sanctuary on fire;
they (R)profaned (S)the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
8 They (T)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (U)signs;
(V)there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, (W)is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why (X)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment[c] and destroy them!
12 Yet (Y)God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You (Z)divided the sea by your might;
you (AA)broke the heads of (AB)the sea monsters[d] on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of (AC)Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You (AD)split open springs and brooks;
you (AE)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established (AF)the heavenly lights and the sun.
17 You have (AG)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made (AH)summer and winter.
18 (AI)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and (AJ)a foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of your (AK)dove to the wild beasts;
(AL)do not forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Have regard for (AM)the covenant,
for (AN)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not (AO)the downtrodden (AP)turn back in shame;
let (AQ)the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, (AR)defend your cause;
(AS)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
(AT)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!
Footnotes
- Psalm 74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Psalm 74:11 Hebrew from your bosom
- Psalm 74:13 Or the great sea creatures
Tehillim 74
Orthodox Jewish Bible
74 (A Maskil of Asaph) O Elohim, why hast Thou cast us off lanetzach? Why doth Thine anger smoke against the tzon (sheep) of Thy mireh (pasture)?
2 Remember Thy Edah (congregation), which Thou hast purchased of old; the shevet (tribe) of Thine nachalah, which Thou hast redeemed: this Har Tziyon, wherein Thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up Thy footsteps unto the mashu’ot netzach (perpetual ruins); even all that the oyev hath done wickedly in the Kodesh [the Beis HaMikdash].
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of Thy Mo’ed (place of meeting); they set up their banners for otot (signs, i.e., their heathen insignia).
5 It had been as though one lifted up kardumim (axes) upon the thicket of etz.
6 But now they break down the carved panels [of the Beis HaMikdash] at once with hammers and chisels.
7 They have set ablaze Thy Mikdash, burning it to the ground; they have brought chillul to the Mishkan Shemecha (the dwelling place of Thy Name).
8 They said in their hearts, Let us crush them altogether; they have burned up all the Mo’adei El in HaAretz.
9 We see not our otot (signs); there is no longer any navi; neither is there among us any that knoweth ad mah (until when).
10 O Elohim ad mosai, (how long) shall the adversary revile? Shall the oyev (enemy) blaspheme Thy Shem lanetzach (forever)?
11 Why withdrawest Thou Thy Yad, even Thy Yamin (Right Hand)? Take it out of Thy Kheyk (bosom) and destroy [them].
12 For Elohim is my Melech mikedem (from of old), working Yeshuah (salvation) in the midst of Ha’Aretz.
13 Thou didst divide the yam by Thy oz (power); Thou didst break the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.
14 Thou didst break the head of Leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be ma’akhal (food) to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 Thou didst break open the fountain and the flood; Thou driedst up mighty naharot (rivers).
16 The yom is Thine, the lailah also is Thine; Thou hast prepared the ma’ohr (luminary, moon) and the shemesh.
17 Thou hast set all the boundaries of Eretz; Thou hast made kayitz (summer) and choref (winter).
18 Remember this, that the oyev (enemy) hath reproached Hashem, and that the am naval (foolish people) have blasphemed Shimcha.
19 O deliver not the nefesh of Thy turtledove unto the wild beast; forget not the life of Thy aniyim (poor) lanetzach (forever).
20 Have regard unto the Brit (covenant); for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of chamas.
21 O let not the oppressed return in shame; let the oni and evyon praise Thy Shem.
22 Arise, O Elohim, fight for Thine Own cause; remember how the naval (foolish man) revileth Thee kol hayom.
23 Forget not the kol (voice) of Thine enemies, the tumult of those against Thee that rises up tamid (continually). [T.N. Cf Lk 2:23-24 and Ps 74:19 remembering that the turtledove was the sacrifice of the poor, which Moshiach would be, not a rich man but ani, according to Zech 9:9.]
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