LXXIX. Book III. A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help. 1909-14. The Book of Psalms. The Harvard Classics

Nonfiction > The Bible > Harvard Classics > The Book of Psalms

CONTENTS · BOOK CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

The Book of Psalms.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

Book III

LXXIX

A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help

A Psalm of Asaph.


[1]	O GOD, the nations are come into thine inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
[2]	The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be food unto the birds of the heavens, The flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
[3]	Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; And there was none to bury them.
[4]	We are become a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and derision to them that are round about us.
[5]	How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
[6]	Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, And upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name.
[7]	For they have devoured Jacob, And laid waste his habitation. 1
[8]	Remember not against us the iniquities of our forefathers: Let thy tender mercies speedily meet us; For we are brought very low.
[9]	Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; And deliver us, and forgive 2 our sins, for thy name’s sake.
[10]	Wherefore should the nations say, Where is their God? Let the avenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed Be known among the nations in our sight.
[11]	Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee: According to the greatness of thy 3 power preserve thou those 4 that are appointed to death;
[12]	And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom. Their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
[13]	So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture Will give thee thanks for ever: We will show forth thy praise to all generations.

Note 1. Or, pasture. [back]

Note 2. Or, expiate. [back]

Note 3. Heb. thine arm. [back]

Note 4. Heb. the children of death. [back]

CONTENTS · BOOK CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore.