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The desecration of Jerusalem; captivity, murder, and raping. A psalm of utter despair.
When the sinner waxed proud, with a battering-ram he cast down fortified walls, p. 106
And thou didst not restrain him.
Alien nations ascended Thine altar,
They trampled it proudly with their sandals;
Because the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the holy things of the Lord,
Had profaned with iniquities the offerings of God.
Therefore He said: Cast them far from Me;
. . . . . .
It was set at naught before God,
It was utterly dishonoured;
The sons and the daughters were m grievous captivity,
Sealed was their neck, branded was it among the nations.
According to their sins hath He done unto them,
For He hath left them in the hands of them that prevailed.
He hath turned away His face from pitying them,
Young and old and their children together;
For they had done evil one and all, in not hearkening.
And the heavens were angry,
And the earth abhorred them;
For no man upon it had done what they did,
And the earth recognized all
Thy righteous judgements, O God.
They set the sons of Jerusalem to be mocked at in return for the harlots in her;
Every wayfarer entered in in the full light of day.
They made mock with their transgressions, as they themselves were wont to do;
In the full light of day they revealed their iniquities.
And the daughters of Jerusalem were defiled in accordance with Thy judgement,
Because they had defiled themselves with unnatural intercourse.
I am pained in my bowels and my inward parts for these things.
And yet I will justify Thee, O God, in uprightness of heart,
For in Thy judgements is Thy righteousness displayed, O God.
For Thou hast rendered to the sinners according to their deeds,
Yea, according to their sins, which were very wicked.
Thou hast uncovered their sins, that Thy judgement might be manifest;
Thou hast wiped out their memorial from the earth.
God is a righteous judge,
And he is no respecter of persons.
For the nations reproached Jerusalem, trampling it down;
Her beauty was dragged down from the throne of glory.
She girded on sackcloth instead of comely raiment,
A rope was about her head instead of a crown.
She put off the glorious diadem which God had set upon her,
In dishonour was her beauty cast upon the ground.
And I saw and entreated the Lord and said,
Long enough, O Lord has Thine hand been heavy on Israel, in bringing the nations upon them.
For they have made sport unsparingly in wrath and fierce anger;
And they will make an utter end, unless Thou, O Lord, rebuke them in Thy wrath.
For they have done. it not in zeal, but in lust of soul,
Pouring out their wrath upon us with a view to rapine.
Delay not, O God, to recompense them on their heads,
To turn the pride of the dragon into dishonour. p. 107
And I had not long to wait before God showed me the insolent one
Slain on the mountains of Egypt,
Esteemed of less account than the least, on land and sea;
His body, too, borne hither and thither on the billows with much insolence,
With none to bury him, because He had rejected him with dishonour.
He reflected not that he was man,
And reflected not on the latter end;
He said: I will be lord of land and sea;
And he recognized not that it is God who is great,
Mighty in His great strength.
He is king over the heavens,
And judgeth kings and kingdoms.
It is He who setteth me up in glory,
And bringeth down the proud to eternal destruction in dishonour,
Because they knew Him not.
And now behold, ye princes of the earth, the judgement of the Lord,
For a great king and righteous is He, judging all that is under heaven.
Bless God, ye that fear the Lord with wisdom,
For the mercy of the Lord will ~e upon them that fear Him, m the Judgement;
So that He will distinguish between the righteous and the sinner,
And recompense the sinners for ever according to their deeds;
And have mercy on the righteous, delivering him from the affliction of the sinner,
And recompensing the sinner for what he bath done to the righteous.
For the Lord is good to them that call upon Him in patience,
Doing according to His mercy to His pious ones,
Establishing them at all times before Him in strength.
Blessed be the Lord for ever before His servants.