King James Version KJV
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
1
A Maskil of Asaph. O God, why dost thou cast us off for ever? Why does thy 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.
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Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thy heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
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Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
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Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place; they set up their own signs for signs.
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
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At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
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And then all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets 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.
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They set thy sanctuary on fire; to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
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They said to themselves, "We will utterly subdue them"; they burned all the meeting places 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.
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We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
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How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
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Why dost thou hold back thy hand, why dost thou keep thy right hand in thy bosom?
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
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Yet God my King is from 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.
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Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters.
14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
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Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
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Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks; thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
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Thine is the day, thine also the night; thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
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Thou hast fixed all the bounds 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.
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Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles 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.
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Do not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life 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.
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Have regard for thy covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
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Let not the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
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Arise, O God, plead thy cause; remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day!
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
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Do not forget the clamor of thy foes, the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually!
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.