Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 75
For the worship leader. A song of Asaph to the tune “Do Not Destroy.”[a]
1 We thank You, O True God.
Our souls are overflowing with thanks! Your name is near;
Your people remember and tell of Your marvelous works and wonders.
2 You say, “At the time that I choose,
I will judge and do so fairly.
3 When the earth and everyone living upon it spin into chaos,
I am the One who stabilizes and supports it.”[b]
[pause][c]
4 “I discipline the arrogant by telling them, ‘No more bragging.’
I discipline the wicked by saying, ‘Do not raise your horn to demonstrate your power.[d]
5 Do not thrust your horn into the air, issuing a challenge,
and never speak with insolence when you address Me.’”
6 There is no one on earth who can raise up another to grant honor,
not from the east or the west, not from the desert.
There is no one. God is the only One.
7 God is the only Judge.
He is the only One who can ruin or redeem a man.
8 For the Eternal holds a full cup of wine in His hand—
a chalice well stirred and foaming full of wrath.
He pours the cup out,
and all wicked people of the earth drink it up—every drop of it!
9 But I will tell of His great deeds forever.
I will sing praises to Jacob’s True God.
10 I will cut off the horns of strength raised by the wicked,
but I will lift up the horns of strength of the righteous.
3 Disaster is coming to the city of rebels,
to Jerusalem, the now defiled city of oppression.
2 That city refused to listen to anyone.
She would not take advice.
She didn’t believe in the Eternal One anymore.
She didn’t want a close relationship with her God.
3 Her rulers remind me of roaring lions,
out for the kill instead of protecting her people.
Her judges are a pack of wolves on the prowl at night,
Consuming what they are after
until not one bone is left to chew on the next morning.
4 Her prophets, whom the people should look to for the truth,
are irresponsible and double-crossing, deceitful men.
Her priests make vile holy places and do violence to God’s teaching.
God entrusts prophets and priests to care for His people. Instead of teaching the people God’s truth, they ignore the law and prey on the ignorant and the defenseless.
5 Despite all this, the Eternal One is right there in her midst;
nothing He does is wrong.
Every morning He delivers His judgment;
He illuminates the right way to live.
Though, like the sun, He never fails to appear,
it’s amazing that the lawbreakers aren’t ashamed of their actions.
6 Eternal One: I have totally destroyed the other nations.
I crumbled their high towers to the ground.
I emptied their streets, leaving no one to travel them.
There is not one person, not one animal, no one in their decimated cities.
7 I said to Myself, “Surely My people will honor Me.
Surely they will listen to Me
So they can save themselves and their city
from all I warned them about and appointed for their benefit.”
But no, they were even more eager to keep doing all the wrong things.
8 To My remaining faithful, I say wait and watch for Me
because on that day, the nations will be called into court.
I will rise up against them as My plunder and declare My decision:
I will call the nations and their rulers together
And pour out My hot anger and frustration on them.
All of it will be spent, for the whole earth will be burned up in My fiery jealousy.
9 And then I will transform the words spoken by the nations to pure words,
and the people will finally hear My truth.
Then all the people will be able to pray to and serve the Eternal One,
standing together as part of the same people.
10 My followers, who had been scattered to faraway places as distant as Ethiopia’s rivers,
will come back to worship Me with pure offerings.
11 When that day comes, you won’t feel embarrassed and ashamed anymore
over all the rebellious things you did in the past.
As I said I would, I will remove the proud and arrogant among you.
Arrogance and pride will never again be tolerated in My holy mountain.
12 But I will leave afflicted and poor people among you
who will trust the reputation of the Eternal One for strength and protection.
13 The faithful of Israel who remain will not continue to sin.
They won’t tell lies or try to trick each other ever again.
They’ll eat well each day and sleep peacefully each night like protected sheep,
because nothing will make them afraid.
21 Now it’s your turn to instruct me. All of you who want to live by the rules of the law, are you really listening to and heeding what the law teaches? Listen to this: 22 it’s recorded in the Scripture that Abraham was the father of two sons. One son was born to a slave woman, Hagar, and the other son was born to a free woman, Abraham’s wife, Sarah. 23 The slave woman’s son was born through only natural means, but the free woman’s son was born through a promise from God. 24 I’m using an allegory. Here’s the picture: these two women stand for two covenants. The first represents the covenant God made on Mount Sinai—this is Hagar, who gives birth to children of slavery. 25 Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and she stands for the Jerusalem we know now. She has lived in slavery along with her children. 26 But there is a Jerusalem we know above. She is free, and she is our mother. 27 Isaiah wrote,
Be glad, you who feel sterile and never gave birth!
Raise a joyful shout, childless woman, who never went into labor!
For the barren woman produces many children,
more than the one who has a husband.[a]
28 So you see now, brothers and sisters, you are children of the promise like Isaac. 29 The slave’s son, born through only what flesh could conceive, resented and persecuted the one born into the freedom of the Spirit. The slave’s son picked at Isaac, just as you are being picked at now. 30 So what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the slave and her son, for the slave’s son will never have a share of the inheritance coming to the son of the free woman.”[b] 31 So, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but sons and daughters of the free.
5 So stand strong for our freedom! The Anointed One freed us so we wouldn’t spend one more day under the yoke of slavery, trapped under the law.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.