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.  

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  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:  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  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.  

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  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.  

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

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

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  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.  

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