Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

75 How we thank you, Lord! Your mighty miracles give proof that you care.

² “Yes,” the Lord replies, “and when I am ready, I will punish the wicked! ³ Though the earth shakes and all its people live in turmoil, yet its pillars are firm, for I have set them in place!”

⁴ I warned the proud to cease their arrogance! I told the wicked to lower their insolent gaze^{[a] 5} and to stop being stubborn and proud. ^6-7 For promotion and power come from nowhere on earth, but only from God. He promotes one and deposes another. ⁸ In Jehovah’s hand there is a cup of pale and sparkling wine. It is his judgment, poured out upon the wicked of the earth. They must drain that cup to the dregs.

⁹ But as for me, I shall forever declare the praises of the God of Jacob. ¹⁰ “I will cut off the strength of evil men,” says the Lord,^[b] “and increase the power of good men in their place.”

1 This is the vision God gave to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh, concerning the impending doom of Nineveh:^[a]

² God is jealous over those he loves; that is why he takes vengeance on those who hurt them. He furiously destroys their enemies. ³ He is slow in getting angry, but when aroused, his power is incredible, and he does not easily forgive. He shows his power in the terrors of the cyclone and the raging storms; clouds are billowing dust beneath his feet! ⁴ At his command the oceans and rivers become dry sand; the lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade away; the green forests of Lebanon wilt. ⁵ In his presence mountains quake and hills melt; the earth crumbles, and its people are destroyed.

⁶ Who can stand before an angry God? His fury is like fire; the mountains tumble down before his anger.

⁷ The Lord is good. When trouble comes, he is the place to go! And he knows everyone who trusts in him! ⁸ But he sweeps away his enemies with an overwhelming flood; he pursues them all night long.

⁹ What are you thinking of, Nineveh, to defy the Lord? He will stop you with one blow; he won’t need to strike again. ¹⁰ He tosses his enemies into the fire like a tangled mass of thorns. They burst into flames like straw. ¹¹ Who is this king^[b] of yours who dares to plot against the Lord? ¹² But the Lord is not afraid of him! “Though he build his army millions strong,” the Lord declares, “it will vanish.

“O my people, I have punished you enough! ¹³ Now I will break your chains and release you from the yoke of slavery to this Assyrian king.”

¹² Let this encourage God’s people to endure patiently every trial and persecution, for they are his saints who remain firm to the end in obedience to his commands and trust in Jesus.”

¹³ And I heard a voice in the heavens above me saying, “Write this down: At last the time has come for his martyrs^[a] to enter into their full reward. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for now they shall rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them to heaven!” ¹⁴ Then the scene changed, and I saw a white cloud and someone sitting on it who looked like Jesus, who was called “The Son of Man,”^[b] with a crown of solid gold upon his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

¹⁵ Then an angel came from the temple and called out to him, “Begin to use the sickle, for the time has come for you to reap; the harvest is ripe on the earth.” ¹⁶ So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the harvest was gathered in. ¹⁷ After that another angel came from the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

¹⁸ Just then the angel who has power to destroy the world with fire,^[c] shouted to the angel with the sickle, “Use your sickle now to cut off the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out in a stream 200 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.