Why Have You Rejected Us Forever? (Psalm 79:1–13; Jeremiah 52:1–11)
1 UDB God, why have you abandoned us? Will you keep rejecting us forever? Why are you 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 UDB 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 is your home on this 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 UDB Walk along and see where everything has been totally ruined; our enemies have destroyed everything in the sacred temple. BSB BSB: Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
4 UDB Your enemies shouted triumphantly in this 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 UDB They cut down all the engraved objects in the temple as woodsmen cut down trees. BSB BSB: like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
6 UDB Then they smashed all the carved wood with their axes and hammers. BSB BSB: and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
7 UDB Then they burned your temple to the ground; they caused that place where you were worshiped to be unfit for people to worship in. BSB BSB: They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
8 UDB They said to themselves, "We will destroy the Israelites completely," and they also burned down all the other places where we 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 UDB All our sacred symbols are gone; there are no prophets now, and no one 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 UDB God, how long will our enemies make fun of you? Will they insult you? BSB BSB: How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
11 UDB Why do you refuse to help us? Why do you keep your hand inside your cloak instead of using it to destroy our enemies? BSB BSB: Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!
12 UDB God, you have been our king during all the years since we came out of Egypt, and you have enabled us to defeat our enemies in the land of Israel. BSB BSB: Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.
13 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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 UDB 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.