Maschil
of Asaph.
O God,
why hast thou cast us off
for ever?
why doth thine anger
smoke
against the sheep
of thy pasture?
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.
Lift up
thy feet
unto the perpetual
desolations;
even all that the enemy
hath done wickedly
in the sanctuary.
Thine enemies
roar
in the midst
of thy congregations;
they set up
their ensigns
for signs.
A man was famous
according as he had lifted up
axes
upon the thick
trees.
But now they break down
the carved work
thereof at once
with axes
and hammers.
They have cast
fire
into thy sanctuary,
they have defiled
by casting down the dwelling place
of thy name
to the ground.
They said
in their hearts,
Let us destroy
them together:
they have burned up
all the synagogues
of God
in the land.
We see
not our signs:
there is no more any prophet:
neither is there among us any that knoweth
how long.
O God,
how long shall the adversary
reproach?
shall the enemy
blaspheme
thy name
for ever?
Why withdrawest
thou thy hand,
even thy right hand?
pluck
it out of
thy bosom.
For God
is my King
of old,
working
salvation
in the midst
of the earth.
Thou didst divide
the sea
by thy strength:
thou brakest
the heads
of the dragons
in the waters.
Thou brakest
the heads
of leviathan
in pieces, and gavest
him to be meat
to the people
inhabiting the wilderness.
Thou didst cleave
the fountain
and the flood:
thou driedst up
mighty
rivers.
The day
is thine, the night
also is thine: thou hast prepared
the light
and the sun.
Thou hast set
all the borders
of the earth:
thou hast made
summer
and winter.
Remember
this, that the enemy
hath reproached,
O LORD,
and that the foolish
people
have blasphemed
thy name.
O deliver
not the soul
of thy turtledove
unto the multitude
of the wicked: forget
not the congregation
of thy poor
for ever.
Have respect
unto the covenant:
for the dark
places of the earth
are full
of the habitations
of cruelty.
O let not the oppressed
return
ashamed:
let the poor
and needy
praise
thy name.
Arise,
O God,
plead
thine own cause:
remember
how the foolish man
reproacheth
thee daily.
Forget
not the voice
of thine enemies:
the tumult
of those that rise up
against thee increaseth
continually.
