[A Psalm] of instruction for Asaph.

74:1 Wherefore hast thou rejected [us], O God, for ever? [wherefore] is thy wrath kindled against the sheep of thy pasture?

74:2 Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased from the beginning; thou didst ransom the rod of thine inheritance; this mount Sion wherein thou hast dwelt.

74:3 Lift up thine hands against their pride continually; [because of] all that the enemy has done wickedly in thy holy places.

74:4 And they that hate thee have boasted in the midst of thy feast; they have set up their standards for signs,

74:5 ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;

74:6 they cut down its doors at once with axes as in a wood of trees; they have broken it down with hatchet and stone cutter.

74:7 They have burnt thy sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the habitation of thy name.

74:8 They have said in their heart, [even] all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth.

74:9 We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and [God] will not know us any more.

74:10 How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke thy name forever?

74:11 Wherefore turnest thou away thine hand, and thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom for ever?

74:12 But God is our King of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

74:13 Thou didst establish the sea, in thy might, thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.

74:14 Thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragon; thou didst give him [for] meat to the Ethiopian nations.

74:15 Thou didst cleave fountains and torrents; thou driedst up mighty rivers.

74:16 The day is thine, and the night is thine; thou hast prepared the sun and the moon.

74:17 Thou hast made all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and spring.

74:18 Remember this thy creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked thy name.

74:19 Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to thee: forget not for ever the souls of thy poor.

74:20 Look upon thy covenant: for the dark [places] of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.

74:21 let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.

74:22 Arise, O God, plead thy cause: remember thy reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.

74:23 Forget not the voice of thy suppliants: let the pride of them that hate thee continually ascend before thee.

Maschil of Asaph.

74:1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

74:2 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.

74:3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

74:4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

74:5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

74:6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

74:7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

74:8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

74:9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

74:10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

74:11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

74:12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

74:15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

74:16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

74:17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

74:18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

74:19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

74:20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.

74:21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

74:22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

74:23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.