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.
³Direct your steps to ^(J)the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

⁴Your foes have ^(K)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    ^(L)they set up their ^(M)own signs for ^(N)signs.
⁵They were like those who swing ^(O)axes
    in a forest of trees.^[b]
⁶And all its ^(P)carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
⁷They ^(Q)set your sanctuary on fire;
    they ^(R)profaned ^(S)the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
⁸They ^(T)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our ^(U)signs;
    ^(V)there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
¹⁰How long, O God, ^(W)is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
¹¹Why ^(X)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment^[c] and destroy them!

¹²Yet ^(Y)God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³You ^(Z)divided the sea by your might;
    you ^(AA)broke the heads of ^(AB)the sea monsters^[d] on the waters.
¹⁴You crushed the heads of ^(AC)Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵You ^(AD)split open springs and brooks;
    you ^(AE)dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established ^(AF)the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷You 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.
¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your ^(AK)dove to the wild beasts;
^(AL)do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Have regard for ^(AM)the covenant,
for ^(AN)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
²¹Let not ^(AO)the downtrodden ^(AP)turn back in shame;
let ^(AQ)the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, O God, ^(AR)defend your cause;
^(AS)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
²³Do 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

Psalm 79

English Standard Version

How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

79 O God, ^(B)the nations have come into your ^(C)inheritance;
    they have defiled your ^(D)holy temple;
    they have ^(E)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
²They have given ^(F)the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your ^(G)faithful to ^(H)the beasts of the earth.
³They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there was ^(I)no one to bury them.
⁴We have become ^(J)a taunt to our neighbors,
    ^(K)mocked and derided by those around us.

⁵^(L)How long, O Lord? Will you be angry ^(M)forever?
    Will your ^(N)jealousy ^(O)burn like fire?
⁶^(P)Pour out your anger on the nations
    that ^(Q)do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
    that ^(R)do not call upon your name!
⁷For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.

⁸^(S)Do not remember against us ^(T)our former iniquities;^[a]
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are ^(U)brought very low.
⁹^(V)Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and ^(W)atone for our sins,
    for your ^(X)name's sake!
¹⁰^(Y)Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
Let ^(Z)the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!

¹¹Let ^(AA)the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those ^(AB)doomed to die!
¹²Return ^(AC)sevenfold into the ^(AD)lap of our neighbors
    the ^(AE)taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
¹³But we your people, the ^(AF)sheep of your pasture,
    will ^(AG)give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.