The Psalms

[For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.] O God, we have heard with our ears, Our fathers have told us, The work that Thou didst in their days, In the days of old.

Thou with Thine own hand didst drive out the nations; Then Thou didst plant them; Thou didst afflict the peoples, Then Thou didst spread them abroad.

For by their own sword they did not possess the land; And their own arm did not save them; But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy presence, For Thou didst favor them.

Thou art my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob.

Through Thee we will push back our adversaries; Through Thy name we will trample down those who rise up against us.

For I will not trust in my bow, Nor will my sword save me.

But Thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And Thou hast put to shame those who hate us.

In God we have boasted all day long, And we will give thanks to Thy name forever. [Selah].

Yet Thou hast rejected [us] and brought us to dishonor, And dost not go out with our armies.

Thou dost cause us to turn back from the adversary; And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

Thou dost give us as sheep to be eaten, And hast scattered us among the nations.

Thou dost sell Thy people cheaply, And hast not profited by their sale.

Thou dost make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and a derision to those around us.

Thou dost make us a byword among the nations, A laughingstock among the peoples.

Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.

All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten Thee, And we have not dealt falsely with Thy covenant.

Our heart has not turned back, And our steps have not deviated from Thy way,

Yet Thou hast crushed us in a place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.

If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or extended our hands to a strange god;

Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.

But for Thy sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

Arouse Thyself, why dost Thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not reject us forever.

Why dost Thou hide Thy face, And forget our affliction and our oppression?

For our soul has sunk down into the dust; Our body cleaves to the earth.

Rise up, be our help, And redeem us for the sake of Thy lovingkindness.