Psalm 73

A prayer of the Church under grievous persecutions.

Does this psalm differ from what you were expecting? Don't be confused. There are two systems for arranging the psalms: the Septuagint and the Masoretic. We use the Septuagint system here. In the Masoretic system, which is used in most modern Bible translations, this psalm is called Psalm 74, and the previous psalm is known as Psalm 73.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 Understanding for Asaph.

O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs, Their ensigns, etc... They have fixed their colours for signs and trophies, both on the gates, and on the highest top of the temple: and they knew not, that is, they regarded not the sanctity of the place. This psalm manifestly foretells the time of the Machabees, and the profanation of the temple by Antiochus.
5 And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees,
6 They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.
7 They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth.
8 They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.
9 Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.
10 How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever?
11 Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever?
12 But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters. The sea firm... By making the waters of the Red Sea stand like firm walls, whilst Israel passed through: and destroying the Egyptians called here dragons from their cruelty, in the same waters, with their king: casting up their bodies on the shore to be stripped by the Ethiopians inhabiting in those days the coast of Arabia.
14 Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.
15 Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers. Ethan rivers... That is, rivers which run with strong streams. This was verified in Jordan (Joshua 3) and in Arnon (Numbers 21:14).
16 Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun.
17 Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee.
18 Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.
19 Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.
20 Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity. The obscure of the earth... Mean and ignoble wretches have been filled, that is, enriched, with houses of iniquity, that is, with our estates and possessions, which they have unjustly acquired.
21 Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day.
23 Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Intellectus Asaph.

Ut quid, Deus, repulisti in finem,
iratus est furor tuus super oves pascuæ tuæ?
2 Memor esto congregationis tuæ,
quam possedisti ab initio.
Redemisti virgam hæreditatis tuæ,
mons Sion, in quo habitasti in eo.
3 Leva manus tuas in superbias eorum in finem:
quanta malignatus est inimicus in sancto!
4 Et gloriati sunt qui oderunt te in medio solemnitatis tuæ;
posuerunt signa sua, signa:
5 et non cognoverunt sicut in exitu super summum.
Quasi in silva lignorum securibus
6 exciderunt januas ejus in idipsum;
in securi et ascia dejecerunt eam.
7 Incenderunt igni sanctuarium tuum;
in terra polluerunt tabernaculum nominis tui.
8 Dixerunt in corde suo cognatio eorum simul:
Quiescere faciamus omnes dies festos Dei a terra.
9 Signa nostra non vidimus;
jam non est propheta;
et nos non cognoscet amplius.
10 Usquequo, Deus, improperabit inimicus?
irritat adversarius nomen tuum in finem?
11 Ut quid avertis manum tuam,
et dexteram tuam de medio sinu tuo in finem?
12 Deus autem rex noster ante sæcula:
operatus est salutem in medio terræ.
13 Tu confirmasti in virtute tua mare;
contribulasti capita draconum in aquis.
14 Tu confregisti capita draconis;
dedisti eum escam populis Æthiopum.
15 Tu dirupisti fontes et torrentes;
tu siccasti fluvios Ethan.
16 Tuus est dies, et tua est nox;
tu fabricatus es auroram et solem.
17 Tu fecisti omnes terminos terræ;
æstatem et ver tu plasmasti ea.
18 Memor esto hujus: inimicus improperavit Domino,
et populus insipiens incitavit nomen tuum.
19 Ne tradas bestiis animas confitentes tibi,
et animas pauperum tuorum ne obliviscaris in finem.
20 Respice in testamentum tuum,
quia repleti sunt qui obscurati sunt terræ domibus iniquitatum.
21 Ne avertatur humilis factus confusus;
pauper et inops laudabunt nomen tuum.
22 Exsurge, Deus, judica causam tuam;
memor esto improperiorum tuorum,
eorum quæ ab insipiente sunt tota die.
23 Ne obliviscaris voces inimicorum tuorum:
superbia eorum qui te oderunt ascendit semper.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition