1. O God, why hast thou cast us off?is it for evermore?Against thy pasture-sheep why doththine anger smoke so sore?
2. O call to thy rememberancethy congregation,Which thou hast purchased of old;still think the same upon:The rod of thine inheritance,which thou redeemed hast,This Sion hill, wherein thou hadstthy dwelling in times past.
3. To these long desolationsthy feet lift, do not tarry;For all the ills thy foes have donewithin thy sanctuary.
4. Amidst thy congregationsthine enemies do roar:Their ensigns they set up for signsof triumph thee before.
5. A man was famous, and was hadin estimation,According as he lifted uphis axe thick trees upon.
6. But all at once with axes nowand hammers they go to,And down the carved work thereofthey break, and quite undo.
7. They fired have thy sanctuary,and have defil'd the same,By casting down unto the groundthe place where dwelt thy name.
8. Thus said they in their hearts, Let usdestroy them out of hand:They burnt up all the synagoguesof God within the land.
9. Our signs we do not now behold;there is not us amongA prophet more, nor any onethat knows the time how long.
10. How long, Lord, shall the enemythus in reproach exclaim?And shall the adversary thusalways blaspheme thy name?
11. Thy hand, ev'n thy right hand of might,why dost thou thus draw back?O from thy bosom pluck it outfor our deliv'rance sake.
12. For certainly God is my King,ev'n from the times of old,Working in midst of all the earthsalvation manifold.
13. The sea, by thy great pow'r, to partasunder thou didst make;And thou the dragons' heads, O Lord,within the waters brake.
14. The leviathan's head thou brak'stin pieces, and didst giveHim to be meat unto the folkin wilderness that live.
15. Thou clav'st the fountain and the flood,which did with streams abound:Thou dry'dst the mighty waters upunto the very ground.
16. Thine only is the day, O Lord,thine also is the night;And thou alone prepared hastthe sun and shining light.
17. By thee the borders of the earthwere settled ev'ry where:The summer and the winter bothby thee created were.
18. That th' enemy reproached hath,O keep it in record;And that the foolish people haveblasphem'd thy name, O Lord.
19. Unto the multitude do notthy turtle's soul deliver:The congregation of thy poordo not forget for ever.
20. Unto thy cov'nant have respect;for earth's dark places beFull of the habitationsof horrid cruelty.
21. O let not those that be oppress'dreturn again with shame:Let those that poor and needy aregive praise unto thy name.
22. Do thou, O God, arise and pleadthe cause that is thine own:Remember how thou art reproach'dstill by the foolish one.
23. Do not forget the voice of thosethat are thine enemies:Of those the tumult ever growsthat do against thee rise.