Revised Standard Version RSV
Good News Translation GNT
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?
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Why have you abandoned us like this, O God? Will you be angry with your own people forever?
2 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.
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Remember your people, whom you chose for yourself long ago, whom you brought out of slavery to be your own tribe. Remember Mount Zion, where once you lived.
3 Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
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Walk over these total ruins; our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple.
4 Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place; they set up their own signs for signs.
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Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple; they have placed their flags there as signs of victory.
5 At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes.
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They looked like woodsmen cutting down trees with their axes.
6 And then all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
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They smashed all the wooden panels with their axes and sledge hammers.
7 They set thy sanctuary on fire; to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name.
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They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire; they desecrated the place where you are worshiped.
8 They said to themselves, "We will utterly subdue them"; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
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They wanted to crush us completely; they burned down every holy place in the land.
9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.
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All our sacred symbols are gone; there are no prophets left, and no one knows how long this will last.
10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever?
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How long, O God, will our enemies laugh at you? Will they insult your name forever?
11 Why dost thou hold back thy hand, why dost thou keep thy right hand in thy bosom?
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Why have you refused to help us? Why do you keep your hands behind you?
12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
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But you have been our king from the beginning, O God; you have saved us many times.
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters.
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With your mighty strength you divided the sea and smashed the heads of the sea monsters;
14 Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
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you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan and fed his body to desert animals.
15 Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks; thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams.
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You made springs and fountains flow; you dried up large rivers.
16 Thine is the day, thine also the night; thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.
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You created the day and the night; you set the sun and the moon in their places;
17 Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter.
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you set the limits of the earth; you made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles thy name.
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But remember, O Lord, that your enemies laugh at you, that they are godless and despise you.
19 Do not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of thy poor for ever.
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Don't abandon your helpless people to their cruel enemies; don't forget your persecuted people!
20 Have regard for thy covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
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Remember the covenant you made with us. There is violence in every dark corner of the land.
21 Let not the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise thy name.
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Don't let the oppressed be put to shame; let those poor and needy people praise you.
22 Arise, O God, plead thy cause; remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day!
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Rouse yourself, God, and defend your cause! Remember that godless people laugh at you all day long.
23 Do not forget the clamor of thy foes, the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually!
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Don't forget the angry shouts of your enemies, the continuous noise made by your foes.
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.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.