It came to us by ear, God; the old men passed it down to us by mouth, what You did back when they were living, in the years that ran before ours. You drove nations out with Your hand And planted our fathers in their place. They did not take that land with their own swords, And it was not their arm that saved them. It was Your right hand and Your arm And the light off Your face, Because You were pleased with them. You are the one I call King, God. You are the one who calls rescue down for Jacob. I am not going to trust my bow; My sword is not going to save me. It was You who saved us from the ones against us And shamed the people who hated us. We have been boasting about God all day long. But now You have put us aside and shamed us, And You do not go out with our armies. You turn us back from the enemy, And the ones who hate us help themselves. You handed us over like sheep meant for eating And scattered us among the nations. You sold Your people for nothing And did not even raise Your price. You made us something our neighbours talk about, A joke to everyone around us, A byword, a shaking of heads. The shame of it is in front of me all day And has covered over my face. All of it landed on us, and we have not let go of You even so. We did not play false with the deal we made. Our heart has not turned back; Our steps have not gone off Your road, Even where You broke us badly And covered us over with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God Or put our hands out to some other one, Would God not have found it out? He knows the secrets of the heart. For Your sake we are being killed all day; We are counted the way you count sheep On the way to be killed. Come out of that sleep, Lord. Why are You standing still? Get on Your feet. Do not set us aside for good. Why do You hide Your face And forget how hard this is? Everything in us has gone down into the dust; We are lying flat on the ground. Get up and help us, And buy us back because You are kind.