Psalm 44:10-25
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
II
10 (A)But now you have rejected and disgraced us;
you do not march out with our armies.(B)
11 You make us retreat[a] before the foe;
those who hate us plunder us at will.(C)
12 You hand us over like sheep to be slaughtered,
scatter us among the nations.(D)
13 You sell your people for nothing;
you make no profit from their sale.(E)
14 You make us the reproach of our neighbors,(F)
the mockery and scorn of those around us.
15 You make us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
16 All day long my disgrace is before me;
shame has covered my face
17 At the sound of those who taunt and revile,
at the sight of the enemy and avenger.
III
18 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
nor been disloyal to your covenant.
19 [b]Our hearts have not turned back,
nor have our steps strayed from your path.
20 Yet you have left us crushed,
desolate in a place of jackals;[c](G)
you have covered us with a shadow of death.
21 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
stretched out our hands to another god,
22 Would not God have discovered this,
God who knows the secrets of the heart?
23 For you we are slain all the day long,
considered only as sheep to be slaughtered.(H)
IV
24 Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Rise up! Do not reject us forever!(I)
25 Why do you hide your face;(J)
why forget our pain and misery?
Footnotes
- 44:11 You make us retreat: the corollary of Ps 44:3. Defeat, like victory, is God’s doing; neither Israel nor its enemies can claim credit (Ps 44:23).
- 44:19 Our hearts have not turned back: Israel’s defeat was not caused by its lack of fidelity.
- 44:20 A place of jackals: following Israel’s defeat and exile (Ps 44:11–12), the land lies desolate, inhabited only by jackals, cf. Is 13:22; Jer 9:10; 10:22. Others take tannim as “sea monster” (cf. Ez 29:3; 32:2) and render: “you crushed us as you did the sea monster.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.