1 O God, why have You rejected us forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;

Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

3 Turn your footsteps [quickly] toward the perpetual ruins;

The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

4 In the midst of Your meeting place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry];

They have set up their own emblems for signs [of victory].

5 It seems as if one had lifted up

An axe in a forest of trees [to set a record of destruction].

6 And now all the carved work [of the meeting place]

They smash with hatchets and hammers.

7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;

They have profaned the dwelling place of Your *name.

8 They said in their heart, "Let us completely subdue them."

They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9 We do not see our symbols;

There is no longer any prophet [to guide us],

Nor does any among us know for how long.

10 O God, how long will the adversary scoff?

Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?

11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand [from judging the enemy]?

Remove Your hand from Your chest, destroy them!

12 Yet God is my King of old,

Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 You divided the [Red] Sea by Your strength;

You broke the heads of the *sea monsters in the waters. [Ex 14:21]

14 You crushed the heads of *Leviathan (Egypt);

You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. [Job 41:1]

15 You broke open fountains and streams;

You dried up ever-flowing rivers. [Ex 17:6; Num 20:11; Josh 3:13]

16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;

You have established and prepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.

17 You have defined and established all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations];

You have made summer and winter. [Acts 17:26]

18 Remember this, O Lord, the enemy has scoffed,

And a foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.

19 Oh, do not hand over the soul of your turtledove to the wild beast;

Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

20 Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham],

For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

21 Let not the oppressed return dishonored;

Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.

22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;

Remember how the foolish man scoffs at You all day long.

23 Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,

The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].