4. Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple;they have placed their flags there as signs of victory.
5. They looked like woodmencutting down trees with their axes.
6. They smashed all the wooden panelswith their axes and sledgehammers.
7. They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire;they desecrated the place where you are worshipped.
8. They wanted to crush us completely;they burnt 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 for ever?
11. Why have you refused to help us?Why do you keep your hands behind you?
12. But you have been our king from the beginning, O God;you have saved us many times.
13. With your mighty strength you divided the seaand smashed the heads of the sea monsters;
14. you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathanand fed his body to desert animals.