Psaume 79

A plea for ruined Jerusalem

¹A psalm of Asaph. \q God, the nations have broken into the land that is your own; \q they have made your holy temple unclean \q and turned Jerusalem into piles of rubble. ²They have thrown out the bodies of your servants for the birds of the air to eat, \q and the flesh of your faithful people for the wild animals. ³They have spilled their blood like water on every side of Jerusalem, \q and no one was left to bury them. ⁴We have become a disgrace in our neighbors’ eyes, \q laughed at and scorned by everyone near us. ⁵How long, LORD? Will you be angry without end? \q Must your jealousy keep burning like fire? ⁶Pour out your fury on the nations that have not known you, \q on the kingdoms \q that never call on your name, ⁷for they have swallowed up Jacob \q and left his homeland desolate. ⁸Do not count against us the wrongs of those who came before us; \q let your compassion hurry to meet us, \q for we are at the end of our strength.^{a 9}God who saves us, come to our help for the glory of your name. \q Rescue us and cover our sins, to honor your name. ¹⁰Why should the nations get to say, “Where is their God?” \q Let the nations see you pay back the blood of your servants that was shed, \q and let us see it with our own eyes. ¹¹May the groaning of the captives reach you; \q with the might of your arm, \q spare those who are marked for death. ¹²Pay back our neighbors seven times over, right into their laps, \q for the scorn they have heaped on you, Lord. ¹³Then we, your people, the flock you tend, will thank you for all time; \q to every generation \q we will tell of your praise.