Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the choir director; al tashcheth; a psalm by Asaph; a song.
75 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks.
You are present, and your miracles confirm that.
2 When I choose the right time,
I will judge fairly.
3 When the earth and everyone who lives on it begin to melt,
I will make its foundations as solid as rock. Selah
4 I said to those who brag, “Don’t brag,”
and to wicked people,
“Don’t raise your weapons.
5 Don’t raise your weapons so proudly
or speak so defiantly.”
6 The ⌞authority⌟ to reward someone does not ⌞come⌟
from the east,
from the west,
or ⌞even⌟ from the wilderness.
7 God alone is the judge.
He punishes one person and rewards another.
8 A cup is in the Lord’s hand.
(Its foaming wine is thoroughly mixed with spices.)
He will empty it,
⌞and⌟ all the wicked people on earth
will have to drink every last drop.
9 But I will speak ⌞about your miracles⌟ forever.
I will make music to praise the God of Jacob.
10 I will destroy all the weapons of wicked people,
but the weapons of righteous people will be raised proudly.
Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed
3 How horrible it will be for that rebellious
and corrupt place, the city of violence.
2 It obeys no one.
It does not accept correction.
It does not trust the Lord.
It does not draw close to its God.
3 Its officials are ⌞like⌟ roaring lions.
Its judges are ⌞like⌟ wolves in the evening.
They leave nothing to gnaw on for the morning.
4 Its prophets are reckless and unfaithful.
Its priests contaminate what is holy.
They violate the teachings.
5 The righteous Lord is in that city.
He does no wrong.
He brings his judgment to light every morning.
He does not fail.
But those who are perverted are shameless.
6 “I will cut off the nations.
Their towers will be destroyed.
I will demolish their streets.
No one will walk through them.
Their cities will be completely destroyed.
Not a single person will be left.
No one will be living there.
7 I said ⌞to my people⌟,
‘You will fear me.
You will accept correction!’
Then their homeland would not be wiped out
even though I have punished them.
Still, they continued to be corrupt in everything they did.”
8 The Lord declares, “Just wait!
One day I will stand up as a witness.
I have decided to gather nations,
to bring kingdoms together,
and to pour my rage, my burning anger, on them.
The whole land will be consumed by my fiery fury.
Israel Will Turn Away from Sin
9 “Then I will give all people pure lips
to worship the Lord
and to serve him with one purpose.
10 From beyond the rivers of Sudan
my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring my offering.
11 On that day you will no longer be ashamed
of all your rebellious acts against me.
Then I will remove your arrogance
and never again will you act proud on my holy mountain.
12 So with you I will leave a faithful few, a humble and poor people.
They will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
13 The faithful few in Israel will not do wrong, tell lies,
or use their tongues to deceive others.
They will graze their sheep and lie down,
and there will be no one to terrify them.”
You Are Children of the Promise
21 Those who want to be controlled by Moses’ laws should tell me something. Are you really listening to what Moses’ Teachings say? 22 Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by a woman who was a slave and the other by a free woman. 23 Now, the son of the slave woman was conceived in a natural way, but the son of the free woman was conceived through a promise ⌞made to Abraham⌟.
24 I’m going to use these historical events as an illustration. The women illustrate two arrangements.[a] The one woman, Hagar, is the arrangement made on Mount Sinai. Her children are born into slavery. 25 Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is like Jerusalem today because she and her children are slaves. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 Scripture says:
“Rejoice, women who cannot get pregnant,
who cannot give birth to any children!
Break into shouting, those who feel no pains of childbirth!
Because the deserted woman will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.”
28 Now you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.
29 Furthermore, at that time the son who was conceived in a natural way persecuted the son conceived in a spiritual way. That’s exactly what’s happening now. 30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, because the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.” 31 Brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman but of the free woman.
Live in the Freedom That Christ Gives You
5 Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm ⌞in this freedom⌟, and don’t become slaves again.
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