The Message Bible MSG
Young's Literal Translation YLT
1 God! Barbarians have broken into your home, violated your holy temple, left Jerusalem a pile of rubble!
1
A Psalm of Asaph. O God, nations have come into Thy inheritance, They have defiled Thy holy temple, They made Jerusalem become heaps,
2 They've served up the corpses of your servants as carrion food for birds of prey, Threw the bones of your holy people out to the wild animals to gnaw on.
2
They gave the dead bodies of Thy servants Food for the fowls of the heavens, The flesh of Thy saints For the wild beast of the earth.
3 They dumped out their blood like buckets of water. All around Jerusalem, their bodies were left to rot, unburied.
3
They have shed their blood As water round about Jerusalem, And there is none burying.
4 We're nothing but a joke to our neighbors, graffiti scrawled on the city walls.
4
We have been a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a derision to our surrounders.
5 How long do we have to put up with this, God? Do you have it in for us for good? Will your smoldering rage never cool down?
5
Till when, O Jehovah? art Thou angry for ever? Thy jealousy doth burn as fire.
6 If you're going to be angry, be angry with the pagans who care nothing about you, or your rival kingdoms who ignore you.
6
Pour Thy fury on the nations who have not known Thee, And on kingdoms that have not called in Thy name.
7 They're the ones who ruined Jacob, who wrecked and looted the place where he lived.
7
For [one] hath devoured Jacob, And his habitation they have made desolate.
8 Don't blame us for the sins of our parents. Hurry up and help us; we're at the end of our rope.
8
Remember not for us the iniquities of forefathers, Haste, let Thy mercies go before us, For we have been very weak.
9 You're famous for helping; God, give us a break. Your reputation is on the line. Pull us out of this mess, forgive us our sins - do what you're famous for doing!
9
Help us, O God of our salvation, Because of the honour of Thy name, And deliver us, and cover over our sins, For Thy name's sake.
10 Don't let the heathen get by with their sneers: "Where's your God? Is he out to lunch?" Go public and show the godless world that they can't kill your servants and get by with it.
10
Why do the nations say, `Where [is] their God?' Let be known among the nations before our eyes, The vengeance of the blood of Thy servants that is shed.
11 Give groaning prisoners a hearing; pardon those on death row from their doom - you can do it!
11
Let the groaning of the prisoner come in before Thee, According to the greatness of Thine arm, Leave Thou the sons of death.
12 Give our jeering neighbors what they've got coming to them; let their God-taunts boomerang and knock them flat.
12
And turn Thou back to our neighbours, Sevenfold unto their bosom, their reproach, Wherewith they reproached Thee, O Lord.
13 Then we, your people, the ones you love and care for, will thank you over and over and over. We'll tell everyone we meet how wonderful you are, how praiseworthy you are!
13
And we, Thy people, and the flock of Thy pasture, We give thanks to Thee to the age, To all generations we recount Thy praise!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.