79:1 O God, the heathen have invaded your land. They have desecrated your holy Temple and left Jerusalem in ruins. |
79:2 They left the bodies of your people for the vultures, the bodies of your servants for wild animals to eat. |
79:3 They shed your people's blood like water; blood flowed like water all through Jerusalem, and no one was left to bury the dead. |
79:4 The surrounding nations insult us; they laugh at us and mock us. |
79:5 LORD, will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger continue to burn like fire? |
79:6 Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you, on the people who do not pray to you. |
79:7 For they have killed your people; they have ruined your country. |
79:8 Do not punish us for the sins of our ancestors. Have mercy on us now; we have lost all hope. |
79:9 Help us, O God, and save us; rescue us and forgive our sins for the sake of your own honor. |
79:10 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" Let us see you punish the nations for shedding the blood of your servants. |
79:11 Listen to the groans of the prisoners, and by your great power free those who are condemned to die. |
79:12 Lord, pay the other nations back seven times for all the insults they have hurled at you. |
79:13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your flock, will thank you forever and praise you for all time to come. |