Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Puts Down the Proud and Lifts Up Those Who Are Right with Himself
75 We give thanks to You, O God. We give thanks that Your name is near. Men tell about the great things You have done. 2 You say, “When the right time has come, I will be right and fair in deciding who is guilty or not. 3 When the earth and all its people shake, it is I Who will hold it together. 4 I said to the proud, ‘Do not speak with pride.’ And I said to the sinful, ‘Do not lift up the horn. 5 Do not lift your horn up high. Do not speak in your pride.’”
6 For honor does not come from the east or the west or from the desert. 7 But God is the One Who decides. He puts down one and brings respect to another. 8 For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand. It is full of strong wine that is well mixed. He pours out from it, and all the sinful people of the earth must drink all of it.
9 But as for me, I will tell of it forever. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 He will cut off all the horns of the sinful. But the horns of those who are right with God will be lifted up.
1 This is the word about Nineveh, the book of the special dream of Nahum the Elkoshite.
God’s Anger against Nineveh
2 The Lord is a jealous God and One Who punishes. The Lord punishes and is angry. The Lord punishes those who fight against Him. He is angry with those who hate Him. 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. The Lord will be sure to punish the guilty. The way He punishes is in the strong-wind and storm. The clouds are the dust under His feet. 4 He speaks sharp words to the sea and makes it dry. He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel dry up. The flowers of Lebanon dry up. 5 Mountains shake because of Him, and the hills melt. The earth is laid waste before Him, the world and everyone in it. 6 Who can stand before His anger? Who can live through the burning of His anger? His anger is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken up by Him. 7 The Lord is good, a safe place in times of trouble. And He knows those who come to Him to be safe. 8 But He will put an end to Nineveh by making a flood flow over it. And He will drive those who hate Him into darkness.
9 Whatever plan you make against the Lord, He will destroy it. Trouble will not come a second time. 10 They are like thorns that tie themselves together, like those who are drunk with strong drink. They are destroyed like dry grass. 11 From you one has come who makes sinful plans against the Lord, one who talks about sinful things to do. 12 The Lord says, “Even if they are strong and many, they will be destroyed and pass away. I have brought trouble to you, O Judah, but I will not bring you trouble any more. 13 Now I will break his load off your shoulders and tear off your chains.”
12 This is why God’s people need to keep true to God’s Word and stay faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write these words: ‘From now on those who are dead who died belonging to the Lord will be happy.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will have rest from all their work. All the good things they have done will follow them.”
The War of Armageddon
14 I looked and saw a white cloud. Sitting on the cloud was One like the Son of Man. He had a crown of gold on His head. In His hand He had a sharp knife for cutting grain. 15 Then another angel came out from the house of God and called to Him with a loud voice. He said, “Use Your knife and gather in the grain. The time has come to gather the grain because the earth is ready.” 16 He Who sat on the cloud raised His knife over the earth. And the grain was gathered in.
17 Then another angel came out from the house of God in heaven. He had a sharp knife for cutting grain also. 18 Another angel who has power over fire came out from the altar. He said with a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp knife, “Use your knife and gather in the grapes from the vine of the earth, for they are ready to gather.” 19 The angel used his sickle on the earth. He gathered from the vine of the earth and put the fruit into the large place for making wine. It was full of God’s anger. 20 They walked on it outside the city and blood came out of the place where wine is made. The blood ran as far as a man could walk in seven days. It came up as high as a horse’s head.
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