For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.

¹ We have heard it with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our ancestors;
you crushed the peoples
and made our ancestors flourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.
⁴ You are my King and my God,
who decrees victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I put no trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.
⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us;
you no longer go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered us.
¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sold your people for a pittance,
gaining nothing from their sale.
¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
¹⁵ I live in disgrace all day long,
and my face is covered with shame
¹⁶ at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
¹⁷ All this came upon us,
though we had not forgotten you;
we had not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.
¹⁹ But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;
you covered us over with deep darkness.
²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
²² Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
²³ Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
²⁴Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?
²⁵ We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up and help us;
rescue us because of your unfailing love.