Read the Bible

¹ Why have you abandoned us like this, O God?
    Will you be angry with your own people forever?
² 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 Walk over these total ruins;
    our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple.

⁴ Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple;
    they have placed their flags there as signs of victory.
⁵ They looked like woodsmen
    cutting down trees with their axes.^[b]
6 They smashed all the wooden panels
    with their axes and sledge hammers.
⁷ They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire;
    they desecrated the place where you are worshiped.
⁸ They wanted to crush us completely;
    they burned down every holy place in the land.

⁹ 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, will our enemies laugh at you?
    Will they insult your name forever?
¹¹ Why have you refused to help us?
    Why do you keep your hands behind you?^[c]

¹² But you have been our king from the beginning, O God;
    you have saved us many times.
^13 (a)With your mighty strength you divided the sea
    and smashed the heads of the sea monsters;
^14 (b)you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan^[d]
    and fed his body to desert animals.^[e]
15 You made springs and fountains flow;
    you dried up large rivers.
¹⁶ You created the day and the night;
    you set the sun and the moon in their places;
¹⁷ you set the limits of the earth;
    you made summer and winter.

¹⁸ But remember, O Lord, that your enemies laugh at you,
    that they are godless and despise you.
¹⁹ Don't abandon your helpless people to their cruel enemies;
    don't forget your persecuted people!

²⁰ Remember the covenant you made with us.
    There is violence in every dark corner of the land.
²¹ Don't let the oppressed be put to shame;
    let those poor and needy people praise you.

²² Rouse yourself, God, and defend your cause!
    Remember that godless people laugh at you all day long.
²³ Don't forget the angry shouts of your enemies,
    the continuous noise made by your foes.