Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Puts Down the Proud and Lifts Up Those Who Are Right with Himself

75 We give thanks to You, O God. We give thanks that Your name is near. Men tell about the great things You have done. ² You say, “When the right time has come, I will be right and fair in deciding who is guilty or not. ³ When the earth and all its people shake, it is I Who will hold it together. ⁴ I said to the proud, ‘Do not speak with pride.’ And I said to the sinful, ‘Do not lift up the horn. ⁵ Do not lift your horn up high. Do not speak in your pride.’”

⁶ For honor does not come from the east or the west or from the desert. ⁷ But God is the One Who decides. He puts down one and brings respect to another. ⁸ For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand. It is full of strong wine that is well mixed. He pours out from it, and all the sinful people of the earth must drink all of it.

⁹ But as for me, I will tell of it forever. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. ¹⁰ He will cut off all the horns of the sinful. But the horns of those who are right with God will be lifted up.

The Lord Is Speaking to Job

41 “Can you pull the crocodile out with a fish-hook? Can you tie his tongue down with a rope? ² Can you put a rope in his nose, or put a hook through his jaw? ³ Will he beg you to be good to him? Will he speak soft words to you? ⁴ Will he make an agreement with you to take him and make him your servant forever? ⁵ Will you play with him as if he were a bird? Or will you put him on a rope for your young women? ⁶ Will traders talk about buying and selling him? Will they divide him among the store-keepers? ⁷ Can you fill his skin or his head with fish spears? ⁸ Lay your hand on him, and remember the battle. You will not do it again! ⁹ See, the hope of man is false. One is laid low even when seeing him. ¹⁰ No one is so powerful that he would wake him. Who then can stand before Me? ¹¹ Who has given Me everything, that I should pay him back? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

God’s Promise

¹³ When God made a promise to Abraham, He made that promise in His own name because no one was greater. ¹⁴ He said, “I will make you happy in so many ways. For sure, I will give you many children.” ^{(A) 15} Abraham was willing to wait and God gave to him what He had promised.

¹⁶ When men make a promise, they use a name greater than themselves. They do this to make sure they will do what they promise. In this way, no one argues about it. ¹⁷ And so God made a promise. He wanted to show Abraham that He would never change His mind. So He made the promise in His own name. ¹⁸ God gave these two things that cannot be changed and God cannot lie. We who have turned to Him can have great comfort knowing that He will do what He has promised. ¹⁹ This hope is a safe anchor for our souls. It will never move. This hope goes into the Holiest Place of All behind the curtain of heaven. ²⁰ Jesus has already gone there. He has become our Religious Leader forever and has made the way for man to go to God. He is like Melchizedek.