Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the director: To the tune “Don’t Destroy.” One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
75 We praise you, God!
We praise you because you[a] are near to us.
We tell about the amazing things you have done.
2 God says, “I have chosen a time for judgment,
and I will judge fairly.
3 The earth and all its people may shake,
but I am the one who keeps it steady. Selah
4 “To those who are proud I say, ‘Stop your boasting.’
I warn the wicked, ‘Don’t brag about how strong you are.
5 Don’t be so sure that you will win.
Don’t boast that victory is yours!’”
6 There is no power on earth
that can make a person important.[b]
7 God is the judge.
He decides who will be important.
He lifts one person up and brings another down.
8 The Lord has a cup in his hand.
It is filled with the poisoned wine of his anger.
He will pour out this wine,
and the wicked will drink it to the last drop.
9 I will always tell people how great God is.
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 God says, “I will take away any power the wicked have
and give it to those who are good.”
1 This book is the vision of Nahum from Elkosh. This is the sad message about the city of Nineveh.[a]
The Lord Is Angry at Nineveh
2 The Lord is a jealous God.
The Lord punishes the guilty,
and he is very angry.
The Lord punishes his enemies,
and he stays angry with them.
3 The Lord is patient,
but he is also very powerful!
The Lord will punish the guilty;
he will not let them go free.
He will use whirlwinds and storms to show his power.
People walk on the dusty ground, but he walks on the clouds.
4 He will speak harshly to the sea, and it will become dry.
He will dry up all the rivers.
The rich lands of Bashan and Carmel become dry and dead.
The flowers in Lebanon fade away.
5 The Lord will come,
and the mountains will shake
and the hills will melt away.
He will come,
and the earth will shake with fear.
The earth and everyone on it
will shake with fear.
6 No one can stand against his great anger.
No one can endure his terrible anger.
His anger will burn like fire.
The rocks will shatter when he comes.
7 The Lord is good.
He is a safe place to go to in times of trouble.
He takes care of those who trust him.
8 But he will completely destroy his enemies.
He will wash them away like a flood
and chase them into the darkness.
9 Why are you making plans against the Lord?
He will bring complete destruction,
so you will not cause trouble again.
10 You will be destroyed completely
like thornbushes burning under a pot.
You will be destroyed
like dry weeds that burn quickly.
11 Someone from Nineveh is making evil plans against the Lord.
That advisor is a worthless troublemaker.
12 This is what the Lord said:
“The people of Assyria are at full strength.
They have many soldiers, but they will all be cut down.
They will all be finished.
My people, I made you suffer,
but I will make you suffer no more.
13 Now I will set you free from the power of Assyria.
I will take the yoke off your neck
and tear away the chains holding you.”
12 This means that God’s holy people must be patient. They must obey God’s commands and keep their faith in Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven. It said, “Write this: From now on there are great blessings for those who belong to the Lord when they die.”
The Spirit says, “Yes, that is true. They will rest from their hard work. What they have done will stay with them.”
The Earth Is Harvested
14 I looked and there before me, sitting on a white cloud, was one who looked like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple. This angel called to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and gather from the earth. The time to harvest has come, and the fruit on the earth is ripe.” 16 So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth. And the earth was harvested.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven. This angel also had a sharp sickle. 18 And then another angel, one with power over the fire, came from the altar. He called to the angel with the sharp sickle and said, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the bunches of grapes from the earth’s vine. The earth’s grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle over the earth. He gathered the earth’s grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s anger. 20 The grapes were squeezed in the winepress outside the city. Blood flowed out of the winepress. It rose as high as the heads of the horses for a distance of 200 miles.[a]
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International