Chapter 79

{A Psalm of Asaph.} O God, the nations are come into thine inheritance: thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowl of the heavens, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth:

Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury [them].

We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a mockery and a derision to them that are round about us.

How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

Pour out thy fury upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name:

For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his habitation.

Remember not against us the iniquities of [our] forefathers; let thy tender mercies speedily come to meet us: for we are brought very low.

Help us, O God of our salvation, because of the glory of thy name; and deliver us, and forgive our sins, for thy name's sake.

Wherefore should the nations say, Where is their God? Let the avenging of the blood of thy servants that is shed be known among the nations in our sight.

Let the groaning of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thine arm, preserve those that are appointed to die;

And render unto our neighbours, sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

And we, thy people and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thanks unto thee for ever; we will shew forth thy praise from generation to generation.