Mazmur 79:2-9

79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants

to the birds of the sky; ¹ 

the flesh of your loyal followers

to the beasts of the earth.

79:3 They have made their blood flow like water

all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. ² 

79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ³ 

79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? ⁴ 

Will you stay angry forever?

How long will your rage ⁵  burn like fire?

79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, ⁶ 

on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! ⁷ 

79:7 For they have devoured Jacob

and destroyed his home.

79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! ⁸ 

Quickly send your compassion our way, ⁹ 

for we are in serious trouble! ¹⁰ 

79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!

For the sake of your glorious reputation, ¹¹  rescue us!

Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! ¹² 

[79:2]  ¹ tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

[79:3]  ² tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”

[79:4]  ³ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.

[79:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “How long, O Lord?”

[79:5]  ⁵ tn Or “jealous anger.”

[79:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”

[79:6]  ⁷ sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.

[79:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.

[79:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.

[79:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for we are very low.”

[79:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[79:9]  ¹² tn Heb “your name.”