1
Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast [us] off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
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.
3
Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; [even] all [that] the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns [for] signs.
5
[A man] was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6
But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7
They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled [by casting down] the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
8
They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9
We see not our signs: [there is] no more any prophet: neither [is there] among us any that knoweth how long.
10
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck [it] out of thy bosom.
12
For God [is] my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
16
The day [is] thine, the night also [is] thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
18
Remember this, [that] the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and [that] the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19
O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude [of the wicked]: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
20
Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21
O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22
Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
23
Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
