Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

75 How we thank you, Lord! Your mighty miracles give proof that you care.

² “Yes,” the Lord replies, “and when I am ready, I will punish the wicked! ³ Though the earth shakes and all its people live in turmoil, yet its pillars are firm, for I have set them in place!”

⁴ I warned the proud to cease their arrogance! I told the wicked to lower their insolent gaze^{[a] 5} and to stop being stubborn and proud. ^6-7 For promotion and power come from nowhere on earth, but only from God. He promotes one and deposes another. ⁸ In Jehovah’s hand there is a cup of pale and sparkling wine. It is his judgment, poured out upon the wicked of the earth. They must drain that cup to the dregs.

⁹ But as for me, I shall forever declare the praises of the God of Jacob. ¹⁰ “I will cut off the strength of evil men,” says the Lord,^[b] “and increase the power of good men in their place.”

41 “Can you catch a crocodile^[a] with a hook and line? Or put a noose around his tongue? ² Can you tie him with a rope through the nose, or pierce his jaw with a spike? ³ Will he beg you to desist or try to flatter you from your intentions? ⁴ Will he agree to let you make him your slave for life? ⁵ Can you make a pet of him like a bird, or give him to your little girls to play with? ⁶ Do fishing partners sell him to the fishmongers? ⁷ Will his hide be hurt by darts, or his head with a harpoon?

⁸ “If you lay your hands upon him, you will long remember the battle that ensues and you will never try it again! ⁹ No, it’s useless to try to capture him. It is frightening even to think about it! ¹⁰ No one dares to stir him up, let alone try to conquer him. And if no one can stand before him, who can stand before me? ¹¹ I owe no one anything. Everything under the heaven is mine.

¹³ For instance, there was God’s promise to Abraham: God took an oath in his own name, since there was no one greater to swear by, ¹⁴ that he would bless Abraham again and again, and give him a son and make him the father of a great nation of people. ¹⁵ Then Abraham waited patiently until finally God gave him a son, Isaac, just as he had promised.

¹⁶ When a man takes an oath, he is calling upon someone greater than himself to force him to do what he has promised or to punish him if he later refuses to do it; the oath ends all argument about it. ¹⁷ God also bound himself with an oath, so that those he promised to help would be perfectly sure and never need to wonder whether he might change his plans.

¹⁸ He has given us both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it is impossible for God to tell a lie. Now all those who flee to him to save them can take new courage when they hear such assurances from God; now they can know without doubt that he will give them the salvation he has promised them.

¹⁹ This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven, ²⁰ where Christ has gone ahead to plead for us from his position as our High Priest,^[a] with the honor and rank of Melchizedek.