Translations
Modern
They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
Traditional
The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
Literal
They have given the corpses of Your servants as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your holy ones for the beasts of the earth.
Latin
Posuerunt morticina servorum tuorum escas volatilibus cæli; carnes sanctorum tuorum bestiis terræ.
Original
Hebrew
English
They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
Notes
The poet laments the defilement of the temple and the success of the enemy.
This lament describes the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Israel’s early history of rebellion, described in Psalm 78, angered God. As a result, Zion was destroyed. The temple was defiled, and the bodies of the dead lay across the land.
The psalmist then prays for forgiveness and rescue (Psalm 79:8–9) and asks God to repay the nation's enemies (Psalm 79:12–13). Other psalms lamenting the exile include Psalms 42–44, 102, 107, 126, and 137.
Parallels
Glossary
Topics
The Jews: Denunciations Against Those Who: Slaughtered War: Evils of