Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 75
To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 We give praise and thanks to You, O God, we praise and give thanks; Your wondrous works declare that Your [a]Name is near and they who invoke Your Name rehearse Your wonders.
2 When the proper time has come [for executing My judgments], I will judge uprightly [says the Lord].
3 When the earth totters, and all the inhabitants of it, it is I Who will poise and keep steady its pillars. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
4 I said to the arrogant and boastful, Deal not arrogantly [do not boast]; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn [of personal aggrandizement].
5 Lift not up your [aggressive] horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck and insolent arrogance.
6 For not from the east nor from the west nor from the south come promotion and lifting up.(A)
7 But God is the Judge! He puts down one and lifts up another.
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup [of His wrath], and the wine foams and is red, well mixed; and He pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth must drain it and drink its dregs.(B)
9 But I will declare and rejoice forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the ungodly also will I cut off [says the Lord], but the horns of the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be exalted.
1 The burden or oracle (the thing to be lifted up) concerning [a]Nineveh [the capital of Assyria]. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
2 The Lord is a jealous God and avenging; the Lord avenges and He is full of wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and reserves wrath for His enemies.(A)
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will by no means clear the guilty. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.(B)
4 He rebukes and threatens the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan [on the east] and Mount Carmel [on the west] wither, and [in the north] the blossom of Lebanon fades.
5 The mountains tremble and quake before Him and the hills melt away, and the earth is upheaved at His presence—yes, the world and all that dwell in it.
6 Who can stand before His indignation? And who can stand up and endure the fierceness of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by Him.
7 The Lord is good, a Strength and Stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows (recognizes, has knowledge of, and understands) those who take refuge and trust in Him.(C)
8 But with an [b]overrunning flood He will make a full end of [Nineveh’s very] site and pursue His enemies into darkness.
9 What do you devise and [how mad is your attempt to] plot against the Lord? He will make a full end [of Nineveh]; affliction [which My people shall suffer from Assyria] shall not rise up the second time.
10 For [the Ninevites] are as bundles of thorn branches [for fuel], and even while drowned in their drunken [carousing] they shall be consumed like stubble fully dry [in the day of the Lord’s wrath].(D)
11 There is one gone forth out of you [O Nineveh] who plots evil against the Lord, a villainous [c]counselor [the king of Assyria, who counsels for wickedness and worthlessness].(E)
12 Thus says the Lord: Though they be in full strength and likewise many, even so shall [the Assyrians] be cut down when [their evil counselor] shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you [Jerusalem], I will not cause you to be afflicted [for your past sins] any more.(F)
13 For now will I break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds asunder.(G)
12 Here [comes in a call for] the steadfastness of the saints [the patience, the endurance of the people of God], those who [habitually] keep God’s commandments and [their] faith in Jesus.
13 Then I heard further [[a]perceiving the distinct words of] a voice from heaven, saying, Write this: Blessed (happy, [b]to be envied) are the dead from now on who die in the Lord! Yes, blessed (happy, [c]to be envied indeed), says the Spirit, [in] that they may rest from their labors, for their works (deeds) do follow (attend, accompany) them!
14 Again I looked, and behold, [I saw] a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud [d]One resembling a Son of Man, with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp scythe (sickle) in His hand.(A)
15 And another angel came out of the temple sanctuary, calling with a mighty voice to Him Who was sitting upon the cloud, Put in Your scythe and reap, for the hour has arrived to gather the harvest, for the earth’s crop is fully ripened.(B)
16 So He Who was sitting upon the cloud swung His scythe (sickle) on the earth, and the earth’s crop was harvested.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple [sanctuary] in heaven, and he also carried a sharp scythe (sickle).
18 And another angel came forth from the altar, [the angel] who has authority and power over fire, and he called with a loud cry to him who had the sharp scythe (sickle), Put forth your scythe and reap the fruitage of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are entirely ripe.
19 So the angel swung his scythe on the earth and stripped the grapes and gathered the vintage from the vines of the earth and cast it into the huge winepress of God’s indignation and wrath.
20 And [the grapes in] the winepress were trodden outside the city, and blood poured from the winepress, [reaching] as high as horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia (about 200 miles).(C)
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