1 | O God, why dost thou cast us off for ever? Why does thy anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? |
2 | Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thy heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where thou hast dwelt. |
3 | Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary! |
4 | Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place; they set up their own signs for signs. |
5 | At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes. |
6 | And then all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers. |
7 | They set thy sanctuary on fire; to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name. |
8 | They said to themselves, "We will utterly subdue them"; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land. |
9 | We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. |
10 | How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever? |
11 | Why dost thou hold back thy hand, why dost thou keep thy right hand in thy bosom? |
12 | Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. |
13 | Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters. |
14 | Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. |
15 | Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks; thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams. |
16 | Thine is the day, thine also the night; thou hast established the luminaries and the sun. |
17 | Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter. |
18 | Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles thy name. |
19 | Do not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of thy poor for ever. |
20 | Have regard for thy covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. |
21 | Let not the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise thy name. |
22 | Arise, O God, plead thy cause; remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day! |
23 | Do not forget the clamor of thy foes, the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually! |