¹ O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? ² Remember the nation you purchased long ago, the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed— Mount Zion, where you dwelt. ³ Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary. ⁴ Your foes roared in the place where you met with us; they set up their standards as signs. ⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees. ⁶ They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. ⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling place of your Name. ⁸ They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!” They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.