Beginning
74 The learning of Asaph. God, why hast thou put (us) away into the end; thy strong vengeance is wroth on the sheep of thy pasture? (The teaching of Asaph. God, why hast thou deserted us? is it forever? and why is thy anger, yea, thy fury, so strong against the sheep of thy pasture?)
2 Be thou mindful of thy gathering together; which thou haddest in possession from the beginning. Thou again-boughtest the rod of thine heritage; the hill of Zion, in which thou dwelledest therein. (Remember thy congregation; whom thou haddest in possession since the old days. Thou redeemedest this tribe for thy inheritance. And remember Mount Zion; where thou dwelledest.)
3 Raise thine hands into the prides of them; how great things the enemy did wickedly in the holy (place). (How greatly wicked were the things that the enemy did in the holy place; raise up thy hands against their pride.)
4 And they that hated thee; had glory in the midst of thy solemnity. They setted their signs, either banners, to be signs on the highest (place), as in the out-going; and they knew not. (For they who hated thee, had glory in the midst of thy holy place. They set up their signs, or their banners, there, as signs of victory.)
5 As in a wood of trees, they hewed down with axes the gates thereof into itself; (Like in a forest, they hewed down its gates with their axes, as if they were woodsmen;)
6 they casted down it with an ax, and a broad falling ax. (they threw them down with their axes, yea, with their broad falling axes.)
7 They burnt with fire thy saintuary; they defouled the tabernacle of thy name in earth. (They burned thy sanctuary with fire; they defiled the Temple of thy name, and razed it to the ground.)
8 The kindred of them said together in their heart; Make we all the feast days of God to cease in the earth. (They said in their hearts, Let us altogether destroy them; and they burned down all the synagogues of God in the land/and they burned down all the holy places of God in the land.)
9 We have not seen our signs, now there is no prophet; and he shall no more know us. (We cannot see our signs, that is, the future, for now there is no prophet here; and none of us know how long this shall last.)
10 God, how long shall the enemy say despite? the adversary stirreth to ire thy name into the end. (God, how long shall the enemy show their despising of us? shall the adversary scorn thy name forever?)
11 Why turnest thou away thine hand, and to (not) draw out thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom, till into the end? (Why turnest thou away thy hand, and why draw thou not out thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom?)
12 Forsooth God our king before worlds, wrought health in the midst of earth. (But God, our King forever, hath given salvation, or deliverance, all the world over.)
13 Thou madest firm the sea by thy virtue; thou hast troubled the heads of the dragons in waters. (Thou dividedest the sea by thy strength, or thy power; thou hast broken the heads of the dragons in the water/thou hast broken the heads of the Dragon in the water.)
14 Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon; thou hast given him to be meat to the peoples of Ethiopians. (Thou hast broken the heads of the Dragon, or of Leviathan; thou hast given him to be food for the peoples of the desert.)
15 Thou hast broken wells, and strands; thou madest dry the floods of Eitan. (Thou hast broken open the wells, or the springs, and the streams; thou hast dried up the mighty rivers.)
16 The day is thine, and the night is thine; thou madest the morrowtide and the sun.
17 Thou madest all the ends of the earth; summer, and ver time, either springing time (or spring time), thou formedest those.
18 Be thou mindful of this thing, the enemy hath said shame to the Lord; and the unwise people hath excited to ire thy name. (Remember this, that the enemy hath said shame to the Lord; and that the foolish and the ignorant have scorned thy name.)
19 Betake thou not (over) to beasts men acknowledging to thee; and forget thou not into the end the souls of thy poor men. (Give thou not over to beasts those who confess thee; and forget thou not forever the suffering of thy poor.)
20 Behold into thy testament; for they that be made dark of (the) earth, be [full-]filled with the houses of wickednesses. (Remember thy covenant; for the dark places of the earth, be filled full with the houses of wickedness.)
21 A meek man be not turned away made ashamed; a poor man and needy shall praise thy name. (Let not the humble be turned away, and be made ashamed; yea, let the poor and the needy praise thy name.)
22 God, rise up, deem thou thy cause; be thou mindful of thy shames, either upbraidings, of those that be all day of the unwise man. (God, rise up, defend thou thy own case; remember the reproaches, or the upbraidings, that come to thee all day long, from the foolish and the ignorant.)
23 Forget thou not the voices of thine enemies; the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth ever[more]. (Do not thou forget the words, or the shouts, of thy enemies; the noise of those who hate thee goeth up forevermore.)
75 To the overcomer, lose thou not the psalm of the song of Asaph. God, we shall acknowledge to thee, we shall acknowledge; and we shall inwardly call thy name. We shall tell thy marvels; (To the overcomer, destroy thou not the psalm of the song of Asaph. God, we shall give thee thanks, we shall give thee thanks; and we shall call on thy name. We shall tell of all thy marvellous deeds.)
2 when I shall take (hold of the) time, I shall deem (with) rightfulnesses. (And God said, I shall take hold of the time; and I shall judge with righteousness/and I shall judge with justice.)
3 The earth is melted, and all that dwell therein; I confirmed the pillars thereof. (The earth was shaken, and all who live on it; but I made its pillars firm.)
4 I said to wicked men (I said to the wicked), Do not ye do wickedly; and to trespassers, Do not ye enhance the horn.
5 Do not ye raise on high your horn (Do not ye raise up your horn on high); do not ye speak wickedness against God.
6 For (promotion cometh) neither from the east, neither from the west, neither from desert hills; (For judgement cometh not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the hills in the wilderness;)
7 for God is the judge. He meeketh this man, and enhanceth him; (for God is the judge. He humbleth this one, and raiseth up that one;)
8 for a cup of clean wine, full of meddling, is in the hand of the Lord (for there is a cup of clear wine, full of mixing, or of mixture, in the Lord’s hand). And he bowed (some) of this into that; nevertheless the dregs thereof is not diminished, either made less, (for) all [the] sinners of [the] earth shall drink thereof.
9 Forsooth I shall tell into the world; I shall sing to God of Jacob. (And I shall tell this out forever; I shall sing to the God of Jacob.)
10 And I shall break all the horns of sinners; and the horns of the just man shall be enhanced. (And I shall break all the horns of the sinners; but the horns of the righteous shall be raised up.)
76 To the victory in organs, the psalm of the song of Asaph. (To victory, on instruments, the psalm of the song of Asaph.) God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.
2 And his place is made in peace; and his dwelling is in Zion. (And his Tabernacle, or his Tent, is pitched in Salem; and his dwelling place is in Zion.)
3 There he brake powers; bow, shield, sword, and battle.
4 And thou, God, lightenest wonderfully (coming back) from everlasting hills; (And thou, O God, wonderfully lightenest, coming back from the everlasting hills;)
5 all unwise men of heart were troubled. They slept their sleep, that is, were dead; and all men found nothing of riches in their hands. (and all who were foolish and ignorant were troubled. But now they have slept their sleep, that is, they be dead; and all their riches be found to be nothing in their hands.)
6 They that ascended on horses; slept for thy blaming, thou God of Jacob. (They who ascended on horses; now be asleep, or dead, after thy rebuke, O God of Jacob.)
7 Thou art fearful, and who shall against-stand thee? from that time (of) thine ire. (Thou art to be feared; and who shall be able to stand against thee, when thou art angry?)
8 From heaven thou madest doom heard; the earth trembled, and rested. (From heaven thou madest thy judgement heard; and the earth trembled, or shook, and kept silent.)
9 When God rose up into doom; to make safe all the mild men of earth. (When God rose up to judge; and to save all the humble of the earth.)
10 For the thought of man shall acknowledge to thee; and the remnants of thought/the leavings of thought shall make a feast day to thee. (For all their anger, people shall still praise thee; and they who be the remnants/who be the survivors shall make a feast day to thee.)
11 Make ye a vow, and yield ye to your Lord God; all that bring gifts in the compass of it. To God fearedful, (Make ye a vow, and pay ye it to the Lord your God; and let those who be all around bring gifts to him. To him who is to be feared,)
12 and to him that taketh away the spirit of princes; to the fearedful at the kings of earth. (to him who breaketh the spirit of princes, or of the leaders; to him who is feared by all the kings of the earth.)
77 To the victory on Jeduthun, the psalm of Asaph. (To victory, to Jeduthun, the song of Asaph.) With my voice I cried to the Lord, with my voice to God; and he gave attention to me.
2 In the day of my tribulation I sought God with mine hands; in the night before him/in the night toward him, and I am not deceived. My soul forsook to be comforted; (In the day of my trouble I sought out God; all night long, I raised up my hands before him/I raised up my hands toward him. But my soul forsook to be comforted;)
3 I was mindful of God, and I delighted, and I was exercised; and my spirit failed. (I remembered God, and I was troubled, and I was upset; and my spirit failed.)
4 Mine eyes before took wakings; I was troubled, and I spake not. (My eyes opened in the morning; I was troubled, and I did not speak.)
5 I thought eld days; and I had in mind everlasting years. (I thought about the old days; I remembered the years long ago.)
6 And I thought (deeply) in the night with mine heart; and I was exercised (and I was upset), and I cleansed my spirit.
7 Whether God shall cast away [into] without end; either shall he not lay to, that he be more pleased yet? (Shall God throw us away, or reject us, forever? shall he never be pleased with us again?)
8 Either shall he cut away his mercy into the end; from generation into generation? (Or hath he taken away his love from us forever; yea, for all generations?)
9 Either shall God forget to do mercy; either shall he withhold his mercies in his ire? (Or shall God forget to do mercy to us? or in his anger, shall he withhold his constant love from us?)
10 And I said, Now I began; this is the changing of the right hand of the high God. (And I said, Indeed; hath the right hand of the Most High God now lost its power?)
11 I had mind on the works of the Lord; for I shall have mind from the beginning of thy marvels. (But I remembered the works of the Lord; I shall always remember thy marvellous deeds done in the beginning.)
12 And I shall think on all thy works; and I shall be exercised, either occupied, in thy findings. (And I shall think about all thy works; and about all thy deeds.)
13 God, thy way was in the holy (place); what God is great as our God? (God, thy way is in the holy place, or in the sanctuary/God, thy way is holy; and what god is as great as our God?)
14 thou art God, that doest marvels. Thou madest thy virtue known among peoples; (thou art God, who doest marvellous deeds. Thou madest thy strength known among the nations;)
15 thou again-boughtest in thine arm thy people, the sons of Jacob and of Joseph. (with thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and of Joseph.)
16 God, waters saw thee, waters saw thee, and dreaded; and depths of waters were troubled. (God, the waters saw thee, the waters saw thee, and were afraid; and the depths of the waters were troubled.)
17 The multitude of the sound of waters; clouds gave voice. For why thine arrows pass [through]; (The clouds gave forth water, or the rain; the heavens sent out a multitude of sounds. Thy arrows passed through them;)
18 the voice of thy thunder was in a wheel. Thy lightnings shined to the world; the earth was moved, and trembled. (the sound of thy thunder was in the whirlwind. Thy lightnings shone upon the world; the earth was shaken, and trembled.)
19 Thy way in the sea, and thy paths in many waters; and thy steps shall not be known.
20 Thou leddest forth thy people as sheep; in the hand of Moses and Aaron. (Thou leddest forth thy people like sheep; by the guidance of Moses and Aaron.)
2001 by Terence P. Noble