Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book 4: Psalms 90–106
God Is Eternal, and We Are Not
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our ·home [dwelling place; Deut. 33:27]
·since the beginning [L from all generations].
2 Before the mountains were born
and before you ·created [brought forth] the earth and the world,
you are God [Prov. 8:22–31].
You have always been, and you will always be.
3 You turn people back into ·dust [L what is crushed; Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Eccl. 12:7].
You say, “·Go back into dust [L Return; Turn back], human beings.”
4 ·To you [L In your eyes], a thousand years
is like the passing of a day [2 Pet. 3:8],
or ·like a few hours [L a watch; C the night was divided into four watches of three hours each] in the night.
5 While people sleep, you ·take [put an end to] their lives.
They are like grass that ·grows up [is new] in the morning.
6 In the morning they ·are fresh and new [blossom and are renewed],
but by evening they ·dry up [fade] and ·die [wither].
7 We are ·destroyed [annihilated] by your anger;
we are terrified by your hot anger.
8 You have ·put [set] ·the evil we have done [our guilt/iniquity] right in front of you;
·you clearly see our secret sins [L our hidden/secret sins in the light of your face].
9 All our days pass while you are angry.
Our years end with a ·moan [sigh].
10 ·Our lifetime is [L The days of our years are] seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
But ·the years are full of [L their pride are] ·hard work [toil] and ·pain [trouble; Eccl. 1:2].
They pass quickly, and then we ·are gone [L fly away].
11 Who knows the ·full power [strength] of your anger?
Your anger is as great as our fear of you should be.
12 ·Teach us [Make us know] ·how short our lives really are [L to count our days]
so that we ·may be wise [L gain a wise heart].
Prophecies Against the Mountains
6 Again the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], ·look [L set your face] toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them. 3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. The Lord God says this to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: [L Look; T Behold] I ·will [or am about to] bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your ·places of idol worship [L high places; C pagan worship sites; Deut. 12; 2 Kin. 23:8]. 4 Your altars will be ·destroyed [desolated] and your incense altars ·broken down [smashed]. ·Your people will be killed [L I will throw down your slain] in front of your idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all the places you live, cities will become ·empty [desolate; laid waste]. The ·places of idol worship [L high places; 6:3] will be ruined; your altars will become ·lonely [wasted] ruins. Your idols will be ·broken [smashed] and ·brought to an end [ruined]. Your incense altars will be cut down, and ·the things you made [your works; or the idols/religious objects you have made] will be wiped out. 7 ·Your people will be killed and [L The slain will] fall among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
8 “‘But I will leave some people alive; some will ·not be killed by the nations [L escape the sword] when you are scattered among the foreign lands. 9 Then those who have escaped will remember me, as they live among the nations where they have been taken as captives. They will remember how I was ·hurt [grieved; crushed] ·because they were unfaithful to me [L by their adulterous heart] and turned away from me and ·desired to worship [by their eyes that have prostituted themselves with] their idols. They will ·hate [loathe] themselves because of ·the evil things they did that I hate [their abominations/detestable practices]. 10 Then they will know that I am the Lord. I did not ·bring this terrible thing on them for no reason [or threaten in vain this catastrophe against them].
11 “‘This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and ·groan [L say, “Ah!”] because of all the ·hateful, evil things [evil and detestable practices] the ·people [L house] of Israel have done. They will ·die by war [L fall by the sword], ·hunger [famine], and ·disease [plague; pestilence; Lev. 26:25–26]. 12 The person who is far away will die by ·disease [plague; pestilence]. The one who is nearby will ·die in war [fall by the sword]. The person who ·is still alive [L remains and is spared] and has escaped these will die from ·hunger [famine]. So I will ·carry out [spend; exhaust] my ·anger [wrath; fury] on them. 13 Their people will lie dead among their idols around the altars, on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—all the places where they offered ·sweet-smelling [fragrant; or pleasing] incense to their idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will ·use my power [L stretch out my hand] against them to make the land ·empty [desolate] and wasted from the ·desert [wilderness] to ·Diblah,[a] wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
The Bowls of God’s Anger
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s ·anger [wrath] on the earth.”
2 The first angel left and poured out his bowl on the land. Then ·ugly [foul] and painful sores [C reminiscent of the sixth Egyptian plague; Ex. 9:9–11; Job 2] came upon all those who had the ·mark [brand] of the beast and who worshiped his ·idol [image].
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood like that of a ·dead man [corpse; C reminiscent of the first Egyptian plague; Ex. 7:14–21; see also 8:8–9], and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood [C also similar to the first Egyptian plague]. 5 Then I heard the angel of the waters saying:
“[L O] Holy One, you are the One who is and who was.
You are ·right [just] ·to decide to punish [or because you judged] these ·evil people [L things].
6 [L Because] They have poured out the blood of your ·holy people [T saints] and your prophets.
So now you have given them blood to drink as they deserve [Is. 49:26].”
7 And I heard ·a voice coming from the altar [L the altar] saying:
“Yes, Lord God ·Almighty [All-powerful],
·the way you punish evil people is [L your judgments are] ·right [true] and ·fair [just; righteous].”
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