Psalm 74:3–10

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^74:3Hurry and look⁶ at the permanent ruins,

and all the damage the enemy has done to the temple!⁷

^74:4Your enemies roar⁸ in the middle of your sanctuary;⁹

they set up their battle flags.¹⁰

^74:5They invade like lumberjacks

swinging their axes in a thick forest.¹¹

^74:6And now¹² they are tearing down¹³ all its engravings¹⁴

with axes¹⁵ and crowbars.¹⁶

^74:7They set your sanctuary on fire;

they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.¹⁷

^74:8They say to themselves,¹⁸

“We will oppress all of them.”¹⁹

They burn down all the places where people worship God in the land.²⁰

^74:9We do not see any signs of God’s presence;²¹

there are no longer any prophets²²

and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.²³

^74:10How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?

Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

Read in Logos

Footnotes

6 Heb “lift up your steps to,” which may mean “run, hurry.”
7 Heb “everything [the] enemy has damaged in the holy place.”
8 This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.
9 Heb “your meeting place.”
10 Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).
11 Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.
12 This is the reading of the Qere (marginal reading). The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and a time.”
13 The imperfect verbal form vividly describes the act as underway.
14 Heb “its engravings together.”
15 This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [], 49–50).
16 This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. An Akkadian cognate refers to a “pickaxe” (cf. “hatchet and pick”; “axes and hatchets”; “hatchets and hammers”).
17 Heb “to the ground they desecrate the dwelling place of your name.”
18 Heb “in their heart.”
19 Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [], 2:) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).
20 Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”
21 Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7–8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).
22 Heb “there is not still a prophet.”
23 Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they set up their own signs for signs.

They were like those who swing axes

in a forest of trees.

And all its carved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

They set your sanctuary on fire;

they profaned the dwelling place of your name,

bringing it down to the ground.

They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our signs;

there is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?

Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,

all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;

they set up their standards as signs.

They behaved like men wielding axes

to cut through a thicket of trees.

They smashed all the carved paneling

with their axes and hatchets.

They burned your sanctuary to the ground;

they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.

They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”

They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

We are given no signs from God;

no prophets are left,

and none of us knows how long this will be.

How long will the enemy mock you, God?

Will the foe revile your name forever?

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Make your way to the perpetual ruins,

to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.

Your adversaries roared in the meeting place

where you met with us.

They set up their emblems as signs.

It was like men in a thicket of trees,

wielding axes,

then smashing all the carvings

with hatchets and picks.

They set your sanctuary on fire;

they utterly desecrated

the dwelling place of your name.

They said in their hearts,

“Let’s oppress them relentlessly.”

They burned every place throughout the land

where God met with us.

There are no signs for us to see.

There is no longer a prophet.

And none of us knows how long this will last.

God, how long will the enemy mock?

Will the foe insult your name forever?

NLTNew Living Translation

Walk through the awful ruins of the city;

see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary.

There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries;

there they set up their battle standards.

They swung their axes

like woodcutters in a forest.

With axes and picks,

they smashed the carved paneling.

They burned your sanctuary to the ground.

They defiled the place that bears your name.

Then they thought, “Let’s destroy everything!”

So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped.

We no longer see your miraculous signs.

All the prophets are gone,

and no one can tell us when it will end.

How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to insult you?

Will you let them dishonor your name forever?

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Lift your steps to the perpetual ruins,

to all that the enemy has ruined in the sanctuary.

Your enemies have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they have set up their signs for signs.

They are known to be like those who wield

axes in a thicket of trees.

And now its carved works altogether

they have smashed with axe and hammer.

They have set fire to your sanctuary.

They have defiled to the ground,

the dwelling place for your name.

They have said in their heart,

“We will completely oppress them.”

They burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our signs,

and there is no longer a prophet.

No one with us knows how long.

How long, O God, will the adversary taunt?

Will the enemy treat your name with contempt forever?

KJV 1900King James Version

Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations;

Even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations;

They set up their ensigns for signs.

A man was famous according as he had lifted up

Axes upon the thick trees.

But now they break down the carved work thereof

At once with axes and hammers.

They have cast fire into thy sanctuary,

They have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together:

They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

We see not our signs:

There is no more any prophet:

Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?

Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

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