Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
He Lowers One and Lifts Another
Psalm 75
1 For the music director: “Do not Destroy,” a psalm of Asaph, a song.
2 We praise You, we praise God,
for Your Name is near.
People declare Your wonders.
3 “When I appoint a set time,
I Myself will judge uprightly.
4 When the earth wavers with living on it,
I Myself hold its pillars firm. Selah
5 I say to the arrogant, ‘No more boasting!’
And to the wicked,
‘Do not be lifting up your horn.’
6 Do not lift your horn up high.
Do not speak with outstretched neck.”
7 For exaltation comes
not from the east nor from the west,
nor even from the desert.
8 For God is the Judge:
He lowers one and lifts up another.
9 For in the hand of Adonai is a cup of foaming wine mixed with spices,
and He pours it out.
Surely all the wicked of the earth will drink,
draining it down to the dregs.[a]
10 But I—I will declare it forever,
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
11 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
Judgment of Nineveh
1 The oracle[a] concerning Nineveh—the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 A jealous and avenging God is Adonai.
Yes, Adonai is the avenger and master of wrath.
Adonai is avenger to His adversaries,
Yes, a keeper of wrath for His foes.
3 Adonai is slow to anger and great in power,
but He will by no means acquit the guilty.
Adonai’s way is with a whirlwind or with a storm wind,
Clouds are the dust of His feet.
4 Rebuking the sea, He made it dry,
as He has dried up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel languished,
Yes, Lebanon’s budding languished.
5 Mountains quaked because of Him,
and the hills have melted.
The earth has heaved up at His presence—
yes, the world and everything dwelling in it.
6 Before His indignation who can stand?
Who can withstand His burning anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and cliffs break down before Him.
7 Adonai is good as
a refuge in the day of distress,
and He knows those
who take refuge in Him.
8 But with an overwhelming flood,
He will make that place a total ruin.
Darkness will pursue His enemies.
9 What can you scheme against Adonai?
He will make a complete destruction.
Distress will not arise twice.
10 For even like tangled thorns they will be consumed,
or like drunkards who are drunk,
or like stubble that is fully dry.
11 Out of you has come a schemer of evil against Adonai,
a counselor of Belial.[b]
12 Thus said Adonai:
Though they are strong and numerous,
even so they will be mowed down
and pass away.
Although I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13 I will now break his yoke from you,
and tear apart your bonds.
12 Here is the perseverance of the kedoshim—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying,[a]
“Write: How fortunate are the dead—those who die in the Lord from now on!”
“Yes,” says the Ruach, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”
Time to Harvest the Earth
14 Then I looked, and behold, there was a white cloud—and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man.[b] He had a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the Temple, crying out with a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud,
“Put in your sickle and reap,
for the hour to reap has come,
because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
16 So the One seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.[c]
17 Then another angel came out of the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel—the one who has authority over fire—came out from the altar; and he called out with a loud voice to the one holding the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sickle and gather the grape clusters from the vineyard of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the clusters from the vineyard of the earth and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was stomped on outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse’s bridle for 1,600 stadia.[d]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.