A poem of Asaph.
1 O Elohim, why do You forever reject us?
Why does Your displeasure smoke
Against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation You purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance You redeemed,
This Mount Tsiyon where You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your steps to the endless ruins;
The enemy has done all evil in the qodesh place.
4 Your adversaries have roared
In the midst of Your appointments;
They have put up their own signs as signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
Axes among the thick trees.
6 And now all its carved work,
They have broken down with axe and hammer.
7 They have cast fire into Your Miqdash,
They have profaned the Mishkan of Your Name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let us suppress them altogether.”
They burned all the meeting places of Ĕl in the land.
9 We do not see our signs,
There is no longer a naḇi,
Nor any among us who knows how long.
10 O Elohim, how long would the adversary reproach?
Would the enemy despise Your Name forever?
11 Why do You hold back Your hand,
even Your right hand?
From the midst of Your bosom – end it!
12 For Elohim is my Sovereign from of old,
Working deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by Your might;
You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Liwiathan in pieces,
You left him meat for people in the desert.
15 You cleaved the fountain and the flood,
You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night is Yours too,
You have established the light and the sun.
17 You have appointed all the borders of the earth,
You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this: the enemy has reproached 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄,
And a foolish people has despised Your Name.
19 Do not give the being of
Your turtledove to the wild beast!
Do not forget the life of
Your afflicted ones forever.
20 Look to the Covenant,
For the dark places of the earth are filled
With haunts of violence.
21 Let not the crushed one return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise Your Name.
22 Arise, O Elohim, plead Your own cause,
Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies,
The uproar of those rising up against You increases continually.