New Living Translation NLT
King James Version KJV
1 O God, why have you rejected us so long? Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture?
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O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember that we are the people you chose long ago, the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession! And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth.
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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 Walk through the awful ruins of the city; see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary.
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Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries; there they set up their battle standards.
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Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
5 They swung their axes like woodcutters in a forest.
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A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6 With axes and picks, they smashed the carved paneling.
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But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground. They defiled the place that bears your name.
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They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
8 Then they thought, “Let’s destroy everything!” So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped.
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They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We no longer see your miraculous signs. All the prophets are gone, and no one can tell us when it will end.
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We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10 How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to insult you? Will you let them dishonor your name forever?
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O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why do you hold back your strong right hand? Unleash your powerful fist and destroy them.
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Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
12 You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth.
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For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You split the sea by your strength and smashed the heads of the sea monsters.
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Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan and let the desert animals eat him.
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Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You caused the springs and streams to gush forth, and you dried up rivers that never run dry.
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Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
16 Both day and night belong to you; you made the starlight and the sun.
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The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17 You set the boundaries of the earth, and you made both summer and winter.
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Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
18 See how these enemies insult you, LORD . A foolish nation has dishonored your name.
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Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19 Don’t let these wild beasts destroy your turtledoves. Don’t forget your suffering people forever.
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O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
20 Remember your covenant promises, for the land is full of darkness and violence!
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Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21 Don’t let the downtrodden be humiliated again. Instead, let the poor and needy praise your name.
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O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, and defend your cause. Remember how these fools insult you all day long.
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Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
23 Don’t overlook what your enemies have said or their growing uproar.
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Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.