Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you turned away from us for so long?
Why are you still angry with us, your own flock?
2 Remember the people you bought so long ago.
You saved us, and we belong to you.
And remember Mount Zion, the place where you lived.
3 God, come walk through these ancient ruins.
Come back to the Holy Place that the enemy destroyed.
4 The enemy shouted their war cries in the Temple.
They put up their flags there to show they had won the war.
5 Their soldiers attacked the doors,
like workmen chopping down trees.
6 Using axes and hatchets,
they smashed the carved panels inside.
7 They burned down your Holy Place.
It was built to honor your name,
but they pulled it down to the ground.
8 The enemy decided to crush us completely.
They burned every holy place[a] in the country.
9 We do not see any of our signs.[b]
There are no more prophets.
And no one knows how long this will last.
10 God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of us?
Will you let them insult your name forever?
11 Why won’t you help us?
Use your power to defeat our enemies!
12 God, you have been our King for a long time.
You have saved us many times on this earth.
13 With your great power you split open the sea
and broke the heads of the sea monster.
14 Yes, you smashed the heads of Leviathan[c]
and left his body for animals to eat.
15 You make the springs and rivers flow,
and you make the rivers dry up.
16 You control the day and the night.
You made the sun and the moon.
17 You set the limits for everything on earth.
And you created summer and winter.
18 Lord, remember, the enemy insulted you!
Those foolish people hate your name!
19 Don’t give us like a helpless dove to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor, suffering people.
20 Remember the agreement you gave us,
because violence fills every dark place in this land.
21 Your people were treated badly.
Don’t let them be hurt anymore.
Let your poor, helpless people praise you.
22 God, get up and defend yourself!
Remember, those fools challenged you.
23 Don’t forget the shouts of your enemies.
They insulted you again and again.
8 Look at you people! You join houses to houses and fields to fields until there is no room for anyone else. But when the punishment comes, you will be forced to live alone. You will be the only people in the whole land. 9 I heard the Lord All-Powerful make this oath: “I swear, all these houses will be destroyed. These big, fancy houses will be empty. 10 A ten-acre vineyard will make only a little wine,[a] and many sacks of seed will grow only a little grain.[b]”
11 How terrible it will be for you people who rise early in the morning and go looking for beer to drink. You stay awake late at night, getting drunk on wine. 12 At your parties with your wine, harps, drums, flutes, and other musical instruments, you don’t see what the Lord has done. You don’t notice what his hands have made.
13 My people don’t really know God. So they will be captured and taken away. Everyone, the respected leaders and the common people as well, will be hungry and thirsty. 14 They will die, and the place of death will open its mouth wide and swallow many of them. Then the noisy crowds and all the beautiful, happy people who are now so comfortable will go down into the grave.
15 Everyone, common people and leaders alike, will be humbled. Those who are now so proud will bow their heads in shame. 16 The Lord All-Powerful will judge fairly, and people will honor him. They will respect the Holy God when he brings justice. 17 Then sheep will be able to go wherever they want and graze on the land that rich people once owned.
18 Look at those people! They pull their guilt and sins behind them like people pulling wagons with ropes.[c] 19 They say, “We wish God would hurry and do what he plans to do so that we can see it. Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen soon so that we can know what it is.”
20 Look at those people! They say good is bad and bad is good. They think light is dark and dark is light. They think sour is sweet and sweet is sour. 21 They think they are so smart. They think they are very intelligent. 22 They are famous for drinking wine and are heroes known for mixing drinks. 23 And if you pay them enough money, they will forgive a criminal. But they will not let good people be judged fairly.
John Warns Against False Teachers
4 My dear friends, many false prophets are in the world now. So don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God. 2 This is how you can recognize God’s Spirit. One spirit says, “I believe that Jesus is the Messiah who came to earth and became a man.” That Spirit is from God. 3 Another spirit refuses to say this about Jesus. That spirit is not from God. This is the spirit of the enemy of Christ. You have heard that the enemy of Christ is coming, and now he is already in the world.
4 My dear children, you belong to God, so you have already defeated these false prophets. That’s because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 And they belong to the world, so what they say is from the world too. And the world listens to what they say. 6 But we are from God. So the people who know God listen to us. But the people who are not from God don’t listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit that is true and the spirit that is false.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International