Psalm 74
King James Version
74 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
Psalm 74
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Psalm 74[a]
Prayer at the Destruction of the Temple
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Why, God, have you cast us off forever?[b](A)
Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your people, whom you acquired of old,
the tribe you redeemed as your own heritage,
Mount Zion where you dwell.(C)
3 Direct your steps toward the utter destruction,
everything the enemy laid waste in the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared triumphantly in the place of your assembly;
they set up their own tokens of victory.
5 They hacked away like a forester gathering boughs,
swinging his ax in a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all its engraved work,
struck it with ax and pick.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire,
profaned your name’s abode by razing it to the ground.(D)
8 They said in their hearts, “We will destroy them all!
Burn all the assembly-places of God in the land!”
9 [c]Even so we have seen no signs for us,
there is no prophet any more,(E)
no one among us who knows for how long.
10 How long, O God, will the enemy jeer?(F)
Will the enemy revile your name forever?
11 Why draw back your hand,
why hold back your right hand within your bosom?[d]
II
12 [e]Yet you, God, are my king from of old,
winning victories throughout the earth.
13 You stirred up the sea by your might;(G)
you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters.(H)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan,(I)
gave him as food to the sharks.
15 You opened up springs and torrents,
brought dry land out of the primeval waters.[f]
16 Yours the day and yours the night too;
you set the moon and sun in place.
17 You fixed all the limits of the earth;
summer and winter you made.(J)
18 Remember how the enemy has jeered, Lord,
how a foolish people has reviled your name.
19 Do not surrender to wild animals those who praise you;
do not forget forever the life of your afflicted.
20 Look to your covenant,
for the recesses of the land
are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Let not the oppressed turn back in shame;
may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God, defend your cause;
remember the constant jeering of the fools.
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the unceasing uproar of your enemies.
Footnotes
- Psalm 74 A communal lament sung when the enemy invaded the Temple; it would be especially appropriate at the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Israel’s God is urged to look upon the ruined sanctuary and remember the congregation who worshiped there (Ps 74:1–11). People and sanctuary are bound together; an attack on Zion is an attack on Israel. In the second half of the poem, the community brings before God the story of their origins—their creation (Ps 74:12–17)—in order to move God to reenact that deed of creation now. Will God allow a lesser power to destroy the divine project (Ps 74:18–23)?
- 74:1 Forever: the word implies that the disaster is already of long duration, cf. Ps 74:9 and note.
- 74:9 Even so we have seen no signs…: ancients often asked prophets to say for how long a divine punishment was to last, cf. 2 Sm 24:13. Here no prophet has arisen to indicate the duration.
- 74:11 Why hold back…within your bosom: i.e., idle beneath your cloak.
- 74:12–17 Comparable Canaanite literature describes the storm-god’s victory over all-encompassing Sea and its allies (dragons and Leviathan) and the subsequent peaceful arrangement of the universe, sometimes through the placement of paired cosmic elements (day and night, sun and moon), cf. Ps 89:12–13. The Psalm apparently equates the enemies attacking the Temple with the destructive cosmic forces already tamed by God. Why then are those forces now raging untamed against your own people?
- 74:15 Waters: lit., “rivers” (cf. Ps 24:7; Isa 50:2) upon which, or from which, in primordial times the earth is created.
Psaumes 74
La Bible du Semeur
Lamentation sur le sanctuaire détruit
74 Méditation[a] d’Asaph[b].
Pourquoi, ô Dieu, ╵nous délaisser sans cesse ?
Pourquoi t’irrites-tu
contre nous, le troupeau ╵dont tu es le berger ?
2 Souviens-toi de ton peuple
que tu t’es acquis autrefois : ╵cette tribu que tu as délivrée ╵pour en faire ton patrimoine.
Souviens-toi du mont de Sion ╵où tu as fixé ton séjour !
3 Viens visiter ces lieux ╵qui sont toujours en ruine :
l’ennemi a tout saccagé ╵au sanctuaire[c].
4 Tes adversaires ont rugi ╵au lieu où l’on te rencontrait,
et ils y ont dressé leurs étendards ╵en signe de victoire.
5 Ils ont été pareils à ceux qui lèvent la cognée
pour abattre les arbres d’un bosquet.
6 Tous les ouvrages taillés dans le bois[d], ╵ils les ont mis en pièces,
à coups de haches et de masses.
7 Ils ont mis le feu à ton sanctuaire,
ils ont rasé et profané ╵le lieu où tu demeures.
8 Ils pensaient en eux-mêmes : ╵« Nous les détruirons tous ensemble ! »
Ils ont brûlé dans le pays
tous les endroits ╵où l’on rendait un culte à Dieu.
9 Nous ne voyons plus de signes miraculeux.
Et il n’y a plus de prophètes.
Personne parmi nous ne sait ╵combien de temps encore ╵tout cela durera.
10 Jusques à quand, ô Dieu, ╵l’agresseur blasphémera-t-il ?
L’ennemi pourra-t-il ╵t’insulter sans relâche ?
11 Pourquoi te retiens-tu d’intervenir ?
Ne reste donc pas inactif : ╵viens les exterminer !
12 Pourtant, Dieu est mon Roi ╵depuis les temps anciens,
il est l’auteur d’actes de délivrance ╵au milieu du pays !
13 C’est toi qui as fendu la mer ╵par ta puissance !
C’est toi qui as brisé les crânes ╵des monstres sur les eaux !
14 Toi qui as fracassé les têtes ╵du grand dragon marin[e],
et qui l’as donné en pâture
aux animaux sauvages du désert[f] !
15 Toi qui as fait jaillir des sources ╵et des eaux en torrent[g] !
Toi qui as desséché le lit ╵des fleuves permanents[h] !
16 A toi le jour, à toi la nuit !
Toi qui as mis en place ╵la lune et le soleil.
17 C’est toi qui as fixé ╵les bornes de la terre,
tu as fait l’été et l’hiver !
18 Souviens-toi donc, ô Eternel, ╵que l’ennemi t’a insulté,
qu’un peuple d’insensés ╵t’a outragé !
19 Ne livre pas aux bêtes fauves ╵ta tourterelle[i],
n’oublie pas indéfiniment ╵le sort des affligés ╵qui t’appartiennent !
20 Mais considère ton alliance[j], ╵car la mesure est comble !
Les lieux retirés du pays
sont des repaires de violence[k].
21 Ne laisse pas les opprimés ╵repartir dans la honte !
Que le pauvre et le malheureux ╵aient lieu de te louer !
22 Debout, ô Dieu ! défends ta cause !
Souviens-toi des insultes
que, tout au long du jour, ╵les insensés t’adressent.
23 N’oublie pas les clameurs ╵de tous tes adversaires,
ni le tumulte que tes ennemis ╵font monter constamment.
Footnotes
- 74.1 Signification incertaine.
- 74.1 Voir note 50.1.
- 74.3 Allusion à la destruction du Temple par les Babyloniens (2 Ch 36.18-19 ; Dn 9.17).
- 74.6 Autre traduction : portes.
- 74.14 Du Léviathan, monstre mythologique à sept têtes (dans les poèmes d’Ougarit), voir 106.26 ; Jb 3.8 ; 7.12 ; Es 27.1.
- 74.14 Autre traduction : aux hyènes.
- 74.15 Voir Ex 17.6 ; Nb 20.11.
- 74.15 Voir Ex 14.29 ; Jos 2.10.
- 74.19 Terme de tendresse désignant Israël.
- 74.20 L’alliance conclue avec Israël sur le mont Sinaï était assortie d’une promesse de sécurité et de bénédiction dans son pays (Ex 19.5-6 ; 23.27-31 ; 34.10-11 ; Lv 26.11-12, 42, 44-45 ; Dt 28.1-14 ; voir Ps 105.8-11 ; 106.45 ; 111.5, 9 ; Es 54.10 ; Jr 14.21 ; Ez 16.60).
- 74.20 Hébreu peu clair. Autres traductions : car ils sont pleins, les lieux sombres du pays, repaires de violence ou car partout les lieux…
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