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Psalm 74
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| 74:1
O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke
against the sheep of thy pasture? |
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| 74:2
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of
thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou
hast dwelt. |
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| 74:3
Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy
hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. |
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| 74:4
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their
ensigns for signs. |
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| 74:5
A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. |
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| 74:6
But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and
hammers. |
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| 74:7
They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down
the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. |
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| 74:8
They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned
up all the synagogues of God in the land. |
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| 74:9
We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among
us any that knoweth how long. |
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| 74:10
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme
thy name for ever? |
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| 74:11
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy
bosom. |
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| 74:12
For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. |
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| 74:13
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the
dragons in the waters. |
 (74:13-14)
"Thou brakest the heads of the
dragons ... Thou brakest the heads of leviathan."
God is so strong that he broke the heads of Leviathan and the sea dragon.
(74:17) "Thou has set all the borders of the earth."
A spherical earth has no borders.
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| 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat
to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
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| 74:15
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
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| 74:16
The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light
and the sun.
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| 74:17
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and
winter. |
The Destruction of Leviathan
(Gustave Dore, 1865)
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| 74:18
Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the
foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
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| 74:19
O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked:
forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
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| 74:20
Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full
of the habitations of cruelty. |
 "You have broken the heads of the dragon"
(Unknown, 12th Century)
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| 74:21
O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy
name.
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| 74:22
Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man
reproacheth thee daily.
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| 74:23
Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up
against thee increaseth continually.
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