1. O GOD, why do You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger burn and smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2. [Earnestly] remember Your congregation which You have acquired of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your heritage; remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
3. Direct Your feet [quickly] to the perpetual ruins and desolations; the foe has devastated and desecrated everything in the sanctuary.
4. In the midst of Your Holy Place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry]; they set up their own [idol] emblems for signs [of victory].
5. They seemed like men who lifted up axes upon a thicket of trees to make themselves a record.
6. And then all the carved wood of the Holy Place they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7. They have set Your sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling place of Your Name by casting it to the ground.
8. They said in their hearts, Let us make havoc [of such places] altogether. They have burned up all God's meetinghouses in the land.
9. We do not see our symbols; there is no longer any prophet, neither does any among us know for how long.
10. O God, how long is the adversary to scoff and reproach? Is the enemy to blaspheme and revile Your name forever?