Old/New Testament
Psalm 74[a]
Prayer at the Destruction of the Temple
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Why, God, have you cast us off forever?[b](A)
Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your people, whom you acquired of old,
the tribe you redeemed as your own heritage,
Mount Zion where you dwell.(C)
3 Direct your steps toward the utter destruction,
everything the enemy laid waste in the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared triumphantly in the place of your assembly;
they set up their own tokens of victory.
5 They hacked away like a forester gathering boughs,
swinging his ax in a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all its engraved work,
struck it with ax and pick.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire,
profaned your name’s abode by razing it to the ground.(D)
8 They said in their hearts, “We will destroy them all!
Burn all the assembly-places of God in the land!”
9 [c]Even so we have seen no signs for us,
there is no prophet any more,(E)
no one among us who knows for how long.
10 How long, O God, will the enemy jeer?(F)
Will the enemy revile your name forever?
11 Why draw back your hand,
why hold back your right hand within your bosom?[d]
II
12 [e]Yet you, God, are my king from of old,
winning victories throughout the earth.
13 You stirred up the sea by your might;(G)
you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters.(H)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan,(I)
gave him as food to the sharks.
15 You opened up springs and torrents,
brought dry land out of the primeval waters.[f]
16 Yours the day and yours the night too;
you set the moon and sun in place.
17 You fixed all the limits of the earth;
summer and winter you made.(J)
18 Remember how the enemy has jeered, Lord,
how a foolish people has reviled your name.
19 Do not surrender to wild animals those who praise you;
do not forget forever the life of your afflicted.
20 Look to your covenant,
for the recesses of the land
are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Let not the oppressed turn back in shame;
may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God, defend your cause;
remember the constant jeering of the fools.
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the unceasing uproar of your enemies.
Psalm 75[g]
God the Judge of the World
1 For the leader. Do not destroy! A psalm of Asaph; a song.
I
2 We thank you, God, we give thanks;
we call upon your name,
we declare your wonderful deeds.
[You said:][h]
3 “I will choose the time;
I will judge fairly.
4 Though the earth and all its inhabitants quake,
I make steady its pillars.”(K)
Selah
II
5 So I say to the boastful: “Do not boast!”(L)
to the wicked: “Do not raise your horns![i]
6 Do not raise your horns against heaven!
Do not speak with a stiff neck!”(M)
7 For judgment comes not from east or from west,
not from the wilderness or the mountains,(N)
8 But from God who decides,
who brings some low and raises others high.(O)
9 Yes, a cup[j] is in the Lord’s hand,
foaming wine, fully spiced.
When God pours it out,
they will drain it even to the dregs;
all the wicked of the earth will drink.(P)
10 But I will rejoice forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
11 (Q)[Who has said:]
“I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”
Psalm 76[k]
God Defends Zion
1 For the leader; a psalm with stringed instruments. A song of Asaph.
I
2 Renowned in Judah is God,(R)
whose name is great in Israel.
3 On Salem[l] is God’s tent, his shelter on Zion.
4 There the flashing arrows were shattered,
shield, sword, and weapons of war.(S)
Selah
II
5 Terrible and awesome are you,
stronger than the ancient mountains.[m]
6 Despoiled are the stouthearted;
they sank into sleep;
the hands of all the men of valor have failed.(T)
7 At your roar, O God of Jacob,
chariot and steed lay still.
8 You, terrible are you;
who can stand before you and your great anger?(U)
9 From the heavens you pronounced sentence;
the earth was terrified and reduced to silence,
10 When you arose, O God, for judgment
to save the afflicted of the land.
Selah
11 Surely the wrath of man will give you thanks;
the remnant of your furor will keep your feast.
III
12 Make and keep vows to the Lord your God.(V)
May all around him bring gifts to the one to be feared,
13 Who checks the spirit of princes,
who is fearful to the kings of earth.
16 So it depends not upon a person’s will or exertion, but upon God, who shows mercy.(A) 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “This is why I have raised you up, to show my power through you that my name may be proclaimed throughout the earth.”(B) 18 Consequently, he has mercy upon whom he wills,(C) and he hardens whom he wills.[a]
19 [b]You will say to me then, “Why [then] does he still find fault? For who can oppose his will?”(D) 20 But who indeed are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(E) Will what is made say to its maker, “Why have you created me so?” 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for an ignoble one? 22 What if God, wishing to show his wrath and make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction?(F) 23 This was to make known the riches of his glory to the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared previously for glory, 24 namely, us whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.
Witness of the Prophets. 25 As indeed he says in Hosea:
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved[c] I will call ‘beloved.’(G)
26 And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they shall be called children of the living God.”(H)
27 (I)And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the Israelites were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved; 28 for decisively and quickly will the Lord execute sentence upon the earth.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted:
“Unless the Lord of hosts had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom
and have been made like Gomorrah.”(J)
Righteousness Based on Faith.[d] 30 What then shall we say? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have achieved it, that is, righteousness that comes from faith;(K) 31 but that Israel, who pursued the law of righteousness, did not attain to that law?(L) 32 Why not? Because they did it not by faith, but as if it could be done by works.(M) They stumbled over the stone that causes stumbling,[e] 33 as it is written:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion
that will make people stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,
and whoever believes in him shall not be put to shame.”(N)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.