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¹ WE have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what work thou hast wrought in their days, in the times of old;² How thou didst destroy the Gentiles with thy hand, and established thy people; how thou didst vex the kingdoms, and strengthened thy people.³ For they inherited not the land by their sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand and thine arm and the light of thy countenance, because thou wast pleased with them.⁴ Thou art my King, O God; for thou commandest deliverances for Jacob.⁵ Through thee will we pierce our enemies; through thy name will we tread them under that hate us.⁶ For we trust not in our bows; neither on our armour to save us.⁷ But thou hast saved us from those who hate us, and hast put to shame our enemies.⁸ We glorify thee, O God, all the day long, and praise thy name for ever.

⁹ But now thou hast forsaken us and put us to shame, and goest not forth with our armies:¹⁰ But thou makest us to be defeated; and our enemies have plundered us.¹¹ Thou hast sold us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the Gentiles.¹² Thou hast sold thy people as a bargain, and dost not profit by their exchange.¹³ Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.¹⁴ Thou makest us a byword among the Gentiles, a shaking of the head among the nations.¹⁵ All the day long my disgrace is before me, and the shame of my face has covered me,¹⁶ Because of the voice of him who reproaches and blasphemes; and because of the enemy that avenges.

¹⁷ All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.¹⁸ We have not turned back, neither have we swerved our steps from thy way;¹⁹ For thou hast humbled us a second time in the land, and covered us with the shadow of death.²⁰ And yet we have not forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to stranger gods;²¹ God will look into this thing, for he knows the secrets of the heart.²² Yea, for thy sake are we killed every day; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.²³ Awake and sleep not, O LORD; remember us and forsake us not.²⁴ Turn not thy face from us, and forget not our humiliation and our oppression;²⁵ For our soul is humbled down to the dust; our body touches the earth.²⁶ Arise to help us; redeem us for thy mercies sake.