Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the director of music. A psalm of Asaph. A song to the tune of “Do Not Destroy.”
75 God, we praise you.
We praise you because you are near to us.
People talk about the wonderful things you have done.
2 You say, “I choose the appointed time to judge people.
And I judge them fairly.
3 When the earth and all its people tremble,
I keep everything from falling to pieces.
4 To the proud I say, ‘Don’t brag anymore.’
To sinners I say, ‘Don’t show off your power.
5 Don’t show it off against me.
Don’t talk back to me.’ ”
6 No one from east or west or north or south
can judge themselves.
7 God is the one who judges.
He says to one person, “You are guilty.”
To another he says, “You are not guilty.”
8 In the hand of the Lord is a cup.
It is full of wine mixed with spices.
It is the wine of his anger.
He pours it out. All the evil people on earth
drink it down to the very last drop.
9 I will speak about this forever.
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 God says, “I will destroy the power of all sinful people.
But I will make godly people more powerful.”
1 Here is a prophecy the Lord gave Nahum, who was from the town of Elkosh. The prophecy came in a vision and is written in a book. The prophecy is about Nineveh.
The Lord Is Angry With Nineveh
2 The Lord is a jealous God who punishes people.
He pays them back for the evil things they do.
He directs his anger against them.
The Lord punishes his enemies.
He holds his anger back
until the right time to use it.
3 The Lord is slow to get angry.
But he is very powerful.
The Lord will not let guilty people go
without punishing them.
When he marches out, he stirs up winds and storms.
Clouds are the dust kicked up by his feet.
4 He controls the seas. He dries them up.
He makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Mount Carmel dry up.
The flowers in Lebanon fade.
5 He causes the mountains to shake.
The hills melt away.
The earth trembles because he is there.
The world and all those who live in it also tremble.
6 Who can stand firm when his anger burns?
Who can live when he is angry?
His anger blazes out like fire.
He smashes the rocks to pieces.
7 The Lord is good.
When people are in trouble,
they can go to him for safety.
He takes good care of those
who trust in him.
8 But he will destroy Nineveh
with a powerful flood.
He will chase his enemies
into the place of darkness.
9 The Lord will put an end
to anything they plan against him.
He won’t allow Assyria to win the battle
over his people a second time.
10 His enemies will be tangled up among thorns.
Their wine will make them drunk.
They’ll be burned up like dry straw.
11 Nineveh, a king has marched out from you.
He makes evil plans against the Lord.
He thinks about how he can do what is wrong.
12 The Lord says,
“His army has many soldiers.
Other nations are helping them.
But they will be destroyed and pass away.
Judah, I punished you.
But I will not do it anymore.
13 Now I will break Assyria’s yoke off your neck.
I will tear off the ropes that hold you.”
12 God’s people need to be very patient. They are the ones who obey God’s commands. And they remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven. “Write this,” it said. “Blessed are the dead who die as believers in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Holy Spirit. “They will rest from their labor. What they have done will not be forgotten.”
The Harvest of the Earth
14 I looked, and there in front of me was a white cloud. Sitting on the cloud was one who looked “like a son of man.” (Daniel 7:13) He wore a gold crown on his head. In his hand was a sharp, curved blade for cutting grain. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple. He called in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud. “Take your blade,” he said. “Cut the grain. The time has come. The earth is ready to be harvested.” 16 So the one sitting on the cloud swung his blade over the earth. And the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven. He too had a sharp, curved blade. 18 Still another angel came from the altar. He was in charge of the fire on the altar. He called out in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp blade. “Take your blade,” he said, “and gather the bunches of grapes from the earth’s vine. Its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his blade over the earth. He gathered its grapes. Then he threw them into a huge winepress. The winepress stands for God’s anger. 20 In the winepress outside the city, the grapes were stomped on. Blood flowed out of the winepress. It spread over the land for about 180 miles. It rose as high as the horses’ heads.
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