Psalms 79 The Desolation of Jerusalem and the Prayer for Help

 Psalms 79

The Desolation of Jerusalem and the Prayer for Help

1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have reduced Jerusalem to heaps of rubble.

2 They have given the carcasses of your servants as food to the birds of the air, and the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.

3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.

4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a byword to those around us.

5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.

7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwellings.

 8 Do not remember our former iniquities; let your mercy come quickly and anticipate us, for we are brought very low.

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

10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let the vengeance of the blood of your servants be revealed among the nations in our sight.

11 Let the groaning of the prisoners come before you; according to the greatness of your arm, preserve those who are appointed to death.

12 And pour into the bosom of our neighbors sevenfold their reproach with which they have reproached you, O Lord.

13 So we, your people and the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will sing your praises.