Psalm 79
Expanded Bible
The Nation Cries for Jerusalem
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
79 God, nations have come against your ·chosen people [L inheritance].
They have ·ruined [profaned] your holy Temple.
They have turned Jerusalem into ·ruins [a dump; 2 Kin. 25:9–10].
2 They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the ·wild birds [L birds of the sky/heavens].
They have given the ·bodies [L flesh] of ·those who worship you [your faithful ones; saints] to the wild animals [Jer. 34:20].
3 They have spilled blood like water all around Jerusalem.
No one was left to bury the dead.
4 We are a ·joke [reproach; scorn] to the ·other nations [L residents];
·they [L the people around us] ·laugh [ridicule] and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long?
Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like a fire?
6 ·Be angry with [L Pour out your wrath on] the nations that do not know you
and ·with [or on] the kingdoms that do not ·honor you [L call on your name].
7 They have ·gobbled up [devoured] the people of Jacob
and ·destroyed [desolated] their ·land [pasturage].
8 Don’t ·punish us for our past sins [L remember our former guilt].
Show your ·mercy [compassion] to us soon,
because we are ·helpless [very low]!
9 God our ·Savior [Victor], help us
·so people will praise you [L for the glory of your name].
·Save [Protect] us and ·forgive [atone for] our sins
·so people will honor you [L for your name].
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
·Tell [Inform] the other nations ·in our presence [L before our eyes]
that you ·punish [avenge] ·those who kill your servants [L the blood of your servants that has been poured out].
11 ·Hear the moans of the prisoners [Let the groans of the prisoner come before you].
Use your great ·power [L arm]
to save those ·sentenced [doomed] to die.
12 Repay ·those around [L into the bosom of those around] us seven times over
for their ·insults to [reproach/scorn of] you, Lord.
13 We are your people, the sheep of your ·flock [pasture].
We will ·thank [praise] you always;
·forever and ever [from generation to generation] we ·will praise you [L recount your praise].
Psalm 79
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
79 Unto the end, for them that shall he changed, a testimony for Asaph, a psalm.
2 Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth
3 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might, and come to save us.
4 Convert us, O God: and shew us thy face, and we shall be saved.
5 O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy servant?
6 How long wilt thou feed us with the bread of tears: and give us for our drink tears in measure?
7 Thou hast made us to be a contradiction to our neighbours: and our enemies have scoffed at us.
8 O God of hosts, convert us: and shew thy face, and we shall be saved.
9 Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt: thou hast cast cut the Gentiles and planted it.
10 Thou wast the guide of its journey in its sight: thou plantedst the roots thereof, and it filled the land.
11 The shadow of it covered the hills: and the branches thereof the cedars of God.
12 It stretched forth its branches unto the sea, and its boughs unto the river.
13 Why hast thou broken down the hedge thereof, so that all they who pass by the way do pluck it?
14 The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste: and a singular wild beast hath devoured it.
15 Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard:
16 And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.
17 Things set on fire and dug down shall perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
18 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.
19 And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name.
20 O Lord God of hosts, convert us: and shew thy face, and we shall be saved.
Psalm 79
King James Version
79 O god, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
5 How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
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