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To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old:
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You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.
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For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.
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You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob.
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Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
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For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me.
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But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us.
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In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah
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But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies.
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You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
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You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations.
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You sell Your people for next to nothing, And are not enriched by selling them.
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You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those all around us.
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You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
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My dishonor is continually before me, And the shame of my face has covered me,
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Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the enemy and the avenger.
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All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
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Our heart has not turned back, Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
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But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.
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If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,
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Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
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Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
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Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
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Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression?
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For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground.
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Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies' sake.