Old/New Testament
Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause
A Maskil[a] of (A)Asaph.
74 O God, why do you (B)cast us off forever?
Why does your anger (C)smoke against (D)the sheep of your pasture?
2 (E)Remember your congregation, which you have (F)purchased of old,
which you have (G)redeemed to be (H)the tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, (I)where you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to (J)the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4 Your foes have (K)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
(L)they set up their (M)own signs for (N)signs.
5 They were like those who swing (O)axes
in a forest of trees.[b]
6 And all its (P)carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They (Q)set your sanctuary on fire;
they (R)profaned (S)the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
8 They (T)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (U)signs;
(V)there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, (W)is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why (X)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment[c] and destroy them!
12 Yet (Y)God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You (Z)divided the sea by your might;
you (AA)broke the heads of (AB)the sea monsters[d] on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of (AC)Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You (AD)split open springs and brooks;
you (AE)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established (AF)the heavenly lights and the sun.
17 You have (AG)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made (AH)summer and winter.
18 (AI)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and (AJ)a foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of your (AK)dove to the wild beasts;
(AL)do not forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Have regard for (AM)the covenant,
for (AN)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not (AO)the downtrodden (AP)turn back in shame;
let (AQ)the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, (AR)defend your cause;
(AS)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
(AT)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!
God Will Judge with Equity
To the choirmaster: according to (AU)Do Not Destroy. (AV)A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
75 We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is (AW)near.
We[e] recount your wondrous deeds.
2 “At (AX)the set time that I appoint
I will judge (AY)with equity.
3 When the earth (AZ)totters, and all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep steady its (BA)pillars. Selah
4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
and to the wicked, (BB)‘Do not lift up your horn;
5 do not lift up your horn on high,
or speak with haughty neck.’”
6 For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes (BC)lifting up,
7 but it is (BD)God who executes judgment,
(BE)putting down one and lifting up another.
8 (BF)For in the hand of the Lord there is (BG)a cup
with foaming wine, (BH)well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall (BI)drain it down to the dregs.
9 But I will declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 (BJ)All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
(BK)but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
Who Can Stand Before You?
To the choirmaster: with (BL)stringed instruments. A Psalm of (BM)Asaph. A Song.
76 In Judah God is (BN)known;
his name is great in Israel.
2 His (BO)abode has been established in (BP)Salem,
his (BQ)dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he (BR)broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
4 Glorious are you, more majestic
(BS)than the mountains full of (BT)prey.
5 (BU)The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
(BV)they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
were unable to use their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both (BW)rider and horse lay stunned.
7 (BX)But you, you are to be feared!
Who can (BY)stand before you
when once your anger is roused?
8 From the heavens you uttered judgment;
(BZ)the earth feared and was still,
9 when God (CA)arose to establish judgment,
to save all the humble of the earth. Selah
10 Surely (CB)the wrath of man shall praise you;
the remnant[f] of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11 (CC)Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
let all around him (CD)bring gifts
to him who (CE)is to be feared,
12 who (CF)cuts off the spirit of princes,
who (CG)is to be feared by the kings of the earth.
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,[a] but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, (A)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For (B)who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, (C)to answer back to God? (D)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 (E)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump (F)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience (G)vessels of wrath (H)prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known (I)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he (J)has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he (K)has called, (L)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,
(M)“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 (N)“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called (O)‘sons of the living God.’”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: (P)“Though the number of the sons of Israel[b] be as the sand of the sea, (Q)only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
(R)(S)“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
(T)we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”
Israel's Unbelief
30 What shall we say, then? (U)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, (V)a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel (W)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness[c] (X)did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the (Y)stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.