Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 75[a]
God the Judge of the World
1 For the leader. Do not destroy! A psalm of Asaph; a song.
I
2 We thank you, God, we give thanks;
we call upon your name,
we declare your wonderful deeds.
[You said:][b]
3 “I will choose the time;
I will judge fairly.
4 Though the earth and all its inhabitants quake,
I make steady its pillars.”(A)
Selah
II
5 So I say to the boastful: “Do not boast!”(B)
to the wicked: “Do not raise your horns![c]
6 Do not raise your horns against heaven!
Do not speak with a stiff neck!”(C)
7 For judgment comes not from east or from west,
not from the wilderness or the mountains,(D)
8 But from God who decides,
who brings some low and raises others high.(E)
9 Yes, a cup[d] is in the Lord’s hand,
foaming wine, fully spiced.
When God pours it out,
they will drain it even to the dregs;
all the wicked of the earth will drink.(F)
10 But I will rejoice forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
11 (G)[Who has said:]
“I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”
Chapter 3
Jerusalem Reproached
1 Ah! Rebellious and polluted,
the tyrannical city![a]
2 It listens to no voice,
accepts no correction;
In the Lord it has not trusted,
nor drawn near to its God.(A)
3 Its officials within it
are roaring lions;
Its judges are desert wolves
that have no bones to gnaw by morning.(B)
4 Its prophets are reckless,
treacherous people;
Its priests profane what is holy,
and do violence to the law.(C)
5 But the Lord in its midst is just,
doing no wrong;
Morning after morning rendering judgment
unfailingly, at dawn;
the wicked, however, know no shame.
6 I have cut down nations,
their battlements are laid waste;
I have made their streets deserted,
with no one passing through;
Their cities are devastated,
with no one dwelling in them.(D)
7 I said, “Surely now you will fear me,
you will accept correction;
They cannot fail to see
all I have brought upon them.”
Yet the more eagerly they have done
all their corrupt deeds.
The Nations Punished and Jerusalem Restored
8 Therefore, wait for me—oracle of the Lord—
until the day when I arise as accuser;
For it is my decision to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
In order to pour out upon them my wrath,
all my blazing anger;
For in the fire of my passion
all the earth will be consumed.(E)
9 For then I will make pure
the speech of the peoples,
That they all may call upon the name of the Lord,
to serve him with one accord;
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
and as far as the recesses of the North,
they shall bring me offerings.
11 On that day
You will not be ashamed
of all your deeds,
when you rebelled against me;
For then I will remove from your midst
the proud braggarts,
And you shall no longer exalt yourself
on my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
Who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord—(F)
13 the remnant of Israel.
They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies;
Nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue;
They shall pasture and lie down
with none to disturb them.(G)
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman.(A) 23 The son of the slave woman was born naturally, the son of the freeborn through a promise.(B) 24 Now this is an allegory. These women represent two covenants. One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.(C) 25 Hagar represents Sinai,[a] a mountain in Arabia; it corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery along with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother.(D) 27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children;(E)
break forth and shout, you who were not in labor;
for more numerous are the children of the deserted one
than of her who has a husband.”[b]
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise.(F) 29 But just as then the child of the flesh persecuted the child of the spirit, it is the same now. 30 But what does the scripture say?
“Drive out the slave woman and her son!
For the son of the slave woman shall not share the inheritance with the son”(G)
of the freeborn. 31 Therefore, brothers, we are children not of the slave woman but of the freeborn woman.(H)
V. Exhortation to Christian Living
Chapter 5
The Importance of Faith.[c] 1 For freedom[d] Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.(I)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.