| 1 | Understanding for Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture? |
| 2 | Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt. |
| 3 | Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. |
| 4 | And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs, |
| 5 | And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees, |
| 6 | They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down. |
| 7 | They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth. |
| 8 | They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land. |
| 9 | Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more. |
| 10 | How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever? |
| 11 | Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever? |
| 12 | But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. |
| 13 | Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters. |
| 14 | Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians. |
| 15 | Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers. |
| 16 | Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun. |
| 17 | Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee. |
| 18 | Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name. |
| 19 | Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor. |
| 20 | Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity. |
| 21 | Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name. |
| 22 | Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day. |
| 23 | Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually. |
