74:1 A maskil of Asaf: Why have you rejected us forever, God, with your anger smoking against the sheep you once pastured?
74:2 Remember your community, which you acquired long ago, the tribe you redeemed to be your very own. Remember Mount Tziyon, where you came to live.
74:3 Hurry your steps to these endless ruins, to the sanctuary devastated by the enemy.
74:4 The roar of your foes filled your meeting-place; they raised their own banners as a sign of their conquest.
74:5 The place seemed like a thicket of trees when lumbermen hack away with their axes.
74:6 With hatchet and hammer they banged away, smashing all the carved woodwork.
74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire, tore down and profaned the abode of your name.
74:8 They said to themselves, “We will oppress them completely.” They have burned down all God’s meeting-places in the land.
74:9 We see no signs, there is no prophet any more; none of us knows how long it will last.
74:10 How much longer, God, will the foe jeer at us? Will the enemy insult your name forever?
74:11 Why do you hold back your hand? Draw your right hand from your coat, and finish them off!
74:12 God has been my king from earliest times, acting to save throughout all the earth.
74:13 By your strength you split the sea in two, in the water you smashed sea monsters’ heads,
74:14 you crushed the heads of Livyatan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
74:15 You cut channels for springs and streams, you dried up rivers that had never failed.
74:16 The day is yours, and the night is yours; it was you who established light and sun.
74:17 It was you who fixed all the limits of the earth, you made summer and winter.
74:18 Remember how the enemy scoffs at Adonai, how a brutish people insults your name.
74:19 Don’t hand over the soul of your dove to wild beasts, don’t forget forever the life of your poor.
74:20 Look to the covenant, for the land’s dark places are full of the haunts of violence.
74:21 Don’t let the oppressed retreat in confusion; let the poor and needy praise your name.
74:22 Arise, God, and defend your cause; remember how brutish men insult you all day.
74:23 Don’t forget what your foes are saying, the ever-rising uproar of your adversaries.
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