PSALM 79

A Psalm of Asaph

1 O God! come have the heathen into thy inheritance; They have polluted the temple of thy holiness; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. [fowls of the heavens;

2 They have given the dead bodies of thy servants for food to the fowls of the heavens; The flesh of thy meek ones to the beasts of the earth.

3 They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem: And there was not one to bury them

4 We have been a reproach to our neighbors; A scorn and a derision to those who are around us.

5 How long, O Jehovah! wilt thou be wroth for ever? Burn like fire shall thy jealousy?

6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen who have not known thee, And upon the kingdoms which upon thy name do not call:

7 For they have devoured Jacob, And his dwelling they have laid waste.

8 Remember not against us former iniquities: Make haste, let thy compassions prevent us; For we are afflicted exceedingly.

9 Help us, O God of our salvation! for the glory of thy name; And deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for the sake of thy name.

10 Wherefore should the heathen say, “Where is their God?” Let be made known among the heathen in our sight The vengeance of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thy face: According to the greatness of thy arm, Reserve the children of death: ³⁴⁹³⁴⁹     “That is,” says Jebb, “let there be some spared out of those who are marked out for death by their enemies.”

12 And recompense our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, Their reproach with which they have reproached thee, O Jehovah!

13 And we thy people, and the sheep of thy pastures, Will confess to thee for ever; From generation to generation declaring thy praise.