1 ARST God, it feels like you have abandoned us permanently! I do not understand why you are so angry with us, since we are like sheep in your pasture{ and you are like our shepherd}! BSB BSB: A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 ARST Do not forget your people whom you chose long ago, the people whom you freed{ from being slaves in Egypt} and caused to become your tribe.{ Do not forget} Jerusalem, which was where you dwelt{ on earth}. BSB BSB: Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—Mount Zion, where You dwell.
3 ARST Hurry, come and see everything that has been ruined for so long; our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple. BSB BSB: Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
4 ARST Your enemies have shouted triumphantly in your sacred place; they erected their banners to show they had defeated us. BSB BSB: Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,
5 ARST They chopped down all the woodwork in the Temple, like woodsmen cut down trees in a forest with their axes. BSB BSB: like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
6 ARST They tore down all the carved wood with their axes and hammers. BSB BSB: and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
7 ARST Then they burned your temple to the ground; they defiled the place where you dwelled on earth. BSB BSB: They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
8 ARST They said to themselves,“We will subdue the Israelites completely.” They have burned down all the other places throughout the land of Israel where people gathered to worship you. BSB BSB: They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.
9 ARST We no longer see any signs from God’ s prophets; there are no prophets any more, and no one among us knows how long this situation will continue. BSB BSB: There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
10 ARST God, how long will our enemies make fun of you? Will they insult you forever? BSB BSB: How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
11 ARST Why, even though you are powerful, do you refuse to help us? Please stop refusing to help us and come and rescue us by destroying our enemies. BSB BSB: Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!
12 ARST But still God, you are our king since long ago; and you have rescued us from our enemies here on earth. BSB BSB: Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.
13 ARST By your power you caused the sea to divide; it was as though you had smashed the heads of the rulers of Egypt who were like huge sea dragons. BSB BSB: You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
14 ARST It was as though you crushed the head of the king of Egypt and gave his body to the animals in the desert to eat. BSB BSB: You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.
15 ARST You caused springs and streams to flow, and you also dried up rivers that had never dried up previously. BSB BSB: You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 ARST You created the days and the nights, and you put the sun and the moon in their places. BSB BSB: The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.
17 ARST You determined where the oceans end and the land begins, and you created the summer season and the winter season. BSB BSB: You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.
18 ARST Yahweh, do not forget that your enemies laugh at you and that it is foolish people who despise you. BSB BSB: Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 ARST Do not abandon your helpless people into the hands of their cruel enemies; do not forget your suffering people. BSB BSB: Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
20 ARST Continue thinking about the covenant that you made with us; remember that there are violent people in every dark place on the earth. BSB BSB: Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
21 ARST Do not allow your oppressed people to be disgraced; help those poor and needy people in order that they will again praise you. BSB BSB: Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.
22 ARST God, arise and defend yourself by defending your people! Do not forget that foolish people laugh at you all during the day! BSB BSB: Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
23 ARST Do not forget that your enemies shout angrily at you; the uproar that they make while they oppose you never stops. BSB BSB: Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.