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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?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.³ Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!⁴ Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place; they set up their own signs for signs.⁵ At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes.⁶ And then all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.⁷ They set thy sanctuary on fire; to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name.⁸ They said to themselves, "We will utterly subdue them"; they burned all the meeting places of God 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.¹⁰ How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever?¹¹ Why dost thou hold back thy hand, why dost thou keep thy right hand in thy bosom?

¹² Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.¹³ Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters.¹⁴ Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.¹⁵ Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks; thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams.¹⁶ Thine is the day, thine also the night; thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.¹⁷ Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles thy name.¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of thy poor for ever.²⁰ Have regard for thy covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.²¹ Let not the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise thy name.²² Arise, O God, plead thy cause; remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day!²³ Do not forget the clamor of thy foes, the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually!