1  O God, ^dthe nations have come into your inheritance;

they have defiled your holy temple;

they have laid Jerusalem in ^eruins.

2  They have given the ^fbodies of your servants

to the birds of the heavens for food,

the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

3  They have poured out their blood like water

all around Jerusalem,

and there was ^gno one to bury them.

4  We have become a taunt to our neighbors,

^hmocked and derided by those around us.

5  ⁱHow long, O Lord? ^jWill you be angry forever?

Will your jealousy burn like fire?

6  ^kPour out your anger on the nations

that do not know you,

and on the kingdoms

that do not call upon your name!

7  ^lFor they have devoured Jacob

and laid waste his habitation.

8  Do not ^mremember against us our former iniquities;¹

let your compassion come speedily ⁿto meet us,

for we are brought very low.

9  ^oHelp us, O God of our salvation,

for the glory of your name;

deliver us, and ^patone for our sins,

^qfor your name’s sake!

10  Why should the nations say,

^r“Where is their God?”

Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants

be known among the nations before our eyes!

11  ^sLet the groans of the prisoners come before you;

according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!

12  Return ^tsevenfold into the lap of our neighbors

the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!

13  But we your people, the ^usheep of your pasture,

^vwill give thanks to you forever;

from generation to generation we will recount your ^wpraise.

1  O God, why do you ^pcast us off forever?

Why does your anger smoke against the ^qsheep of your pasture?

2  Remember your congregation, which you have ^rpurchased of old,

which you have redeemed to be the ^stribe of your heritage!

Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.

3  Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

4  Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they set up their own signs for signs.

5  They were like those who swing axes

in a forest of trees.²

6  And all its ^tcarved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

7  They ^uset your sanctuary on fire;

they profaned the dwelling place of your name,

bringing it down to the ground.

8  They said to themselves, ^v“We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9  ^wWe do not see our signs;

there is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

10  ^xHow long, O God, is the foe to scoff?

Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

11  Why do you ^yhold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the fold of your garment³ and destroy them!

12  Yet God my King is from of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13  ^zYou divided the sea by your might;

you broke the heads of the sea monsters⁴ on the waters.

14  You crushed the heads of ^aLeviathan;

you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

15  ^bYou split open springs and brooks;

^cyou dried up ever-flowing streams.

16  ^dYours is the day, yours also the night;

^eyou have established the heavenly lights and the sun.

17  ^fYou have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;

you have made summer and winter.

18  Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,

and a foolish people reviles your name.

19  Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;

^gdo not forget the life of your poor forever.

20  ^hHave regard for ⁱthe covenant,

for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

21  Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;

let the poor and needy praise your name.

22  Arise, O God, defend your cause;

^jremember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

23  Do not forget the clamor of your foes,

the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

1  I ^wcry aloud to God,

aloud to God, and he will hear me.

2  In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul refuses to be comforted.

3  When I remember God, I moan;

when I meditate, ^xmy spirit faints. Selah

4  You hold my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5  I consider the ^ydays of old,

the years long ago.

6  I said,¹ “Let me remember my song in the ^znight;

let me meditate in my heart.”

Then my spirit made a diligent search:

7  “Will the Lord spurn forever,

and never again be favorable?

8  Has his steadfast love forever ceased?

Are his promises at an end for all time?

9  Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10  Then I said, “I will appeal to this,

to ^athe years of the right hand of the Most High.”²

11  I will ^bremember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

12  I will ponder all your work,

and ^cmeditate on your mighty deeds.

13  Your way, O God, is holy.

^dWhat god is great like our God?

14  You are the God who works wonders;

you have ^emade known your might among the peoples.

15  You with your arm ^fredeemed your people,

the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16  ^gWhen the waters ^hsaw you, O God,

when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

indeed, the deep trembled.

17  ⁱThe clouds poured out water;

the skies gave forth thunder;

your ^jarrows flashed on every side.

18  The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

your lightnings lighted up the world;

^kthe earth trembled and shook.

19  Your ^lway was through the sea,

your path through the great waters;

yet your footprints were unseen.³

20  You ^mled your people like a ⁿflock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

1  By the waters of ^lBabylon,

^mthere we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2  On the willows¹ there

we hung up our lyres.

3  For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4  How shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

5  If I ⁿforget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget its skill!

6  Let my ^otongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7  ^pRemember, O Lord, against the Edomites

^qthe day of Jerusalem,

how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,

down to its foundations!”

8  O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,

blessed shall he be who ^rrepays you

with what you have done to us!

9  Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones

and ^sdashes them against the rock!