Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 74
Prayer for Israel
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 Why have you rejected us forever, God?
Why does your anger burn
against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your congregation,
which you purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for your own possession.(C)
Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.(D)
3 Make your way[a] to the perpetual ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.(E)
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where you met with us.[b]
They set up their emblems as signs.(F)
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,(G)
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.(H)
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly[c] desecrated
the dwelling place of your name.(I)
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let’s oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[d](J)
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.(K)
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult your name forever?(L)
11 Why do you hold back your hand?
Stretch out[e] your right hand and destroy them!(M)
12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.(N)
13 You divided the sea with your strength;
you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water;(O)
14 you crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you fed him to the creatures of the desert. (P)
15 You opened up springs and streams;(Q)
you dried up ever-flowing rivers.(R)
16 The day is yours, also the night;
you established the moon and the sun.(S)
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made summer and winter.(T)
18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked the Lord,
and a foolish people has insulted your name.(U)
19 Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;[f]
do not forget the lives of your poor people forever.(V)
20 Consider the covenant,(W)
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.(X)
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.(Y)
22 Rise up, God, champion your cause!(Z)
Remember the insults
that fools bring against you all day long.(AA)
23 Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries,
the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly.(AB)
Judah’s Sins Denounced
8 Woe to those who add house to house(A)
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.
9 I heard the Lord of Armies say:
Indeed, many houses(B) will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10 For a ten-acre[a] vineyard will yield
only six gallons of wine,[b]
and ten bushels[c] of seed will yield
only one bushel of grain.[d]
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,(C)
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12 At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the Lord’s actions,(D)
and they do not see the work of his hands.(E)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge;(F)
her[e] dignitaries are starving,
and her masses are parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,(G)
and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!
15 Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled.(H)
16 But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice,(I)
and the holy God(J) demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.(K)
17 Lambs will graze
as if in[f] their own pastures,(L)
and resident aliens[g] will eat
among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who drag iniquity
with cords of deceit(M)
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19 to those who say,
“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan(N) of the Holy One of Israel(O) take place
so that we can know it!”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,(P)
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who consider themselves wise
and judge themselves clever.[h](Q)
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at pouring beer,(R)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe(S)
and deprive the innocent of justice.
The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits(A) to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh(B) is from God,(C) 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus[a] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,(D) which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you(E) is greater than the one who is in the world.(F) 5 They are from the world.(G) Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us;(H) anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.(I)
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