Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An instruction[a] of Asaph
A Plea for Deliverance
74 Why, God? Have you rejected us forever?
Your anger is burning against the sheep of your pasture.
2 Remember your community,
whom you purchased long ago,
the tribe whom you redeemed
for your possession.
Remember[b] Mount Zion,
where you live.
3 Hurry! Look at the permanent ruins—
every calamity the enemy brought upon the Holy Place.
4 Those who are opposing you roar
where we were meeting with you;
they unfurl their war banners as signs.
5 As one blazes a trail
through a forest with an ax,
6 now they’re tearing down all its carved work
with hatchets and hammers.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground,
desecrating your dwelling place.
8 They say to themselves,
“We’ll crush them completely;”
They burned down all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We see no signs for us;
there is no longer a prophet,
and no one among us knows the future.[c]
10 God, how long will the adversary scorn
while the enemy despises your name endlessly?
11 Why do you not withdraw your hand—
your right hand—from your bosom
and destroy them?[d]
12 But God is my king from ancient times,
who brings acts of deliverance throughout the earth.
13 You split the sea by your own power.
You shattered the heads of sea monsters in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan.
You set it as food for desert creatures.[e]
15 You opened both the spring and the river;
you dried up flowing rivers.
16 Yours is the day, and yours is the night;
you established the moon and the sun.
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made summer and winter.
18 Remember this: The enemy scorns the Lord
and a foolish people despises your name.
19 Don’t hand over the life of your dove to beasts;
do not continuously forget your afflicted ones.
20 Pay attention to your covenant,
for the dark regions of the earth are full of violence.
21 Don’t let the oppressed return in humiliation.
The poor and needy will praise your name.
22 Get up, God, and prosecute your case—
remember that you’re being scorned
by fools all day long.
23 Don’t ignore the shout of those opposing you,
The uproar of those who rebel against you continuously.
The Effects of Divine Judgment
24 Therefore, as flames of fire devour straw,
as dry grass[a] collapses in flames,
so their root will be rotten,
and their blossom will blow away like dust,
because they have rejected the instruction[b] of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore[c] the anger of the Lord[d] burned against his people,
so he stretched out his hands[e] against them
and afflicted them.
The mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like refuse
in the middle of the streets.
Throughout all of this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hands are[f] still stretched out to attack.[g]
26 The Lord[h] will signal[i] for nations far away,
whistling for them to come[j]
from the ends of the earth.
Look how quickly
and how swiftly they come!
27 No one is weary, no one stumbles,[k]
and no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt around their waists will come undone,
nor will their sandal straps be broken.
28 Their arrows are sharp,
all their bows ready for action.[l]
Their horses’ hooves seem like flint,
and their chariot wheels spin[m] like a whirlwind.
29 With a roar like a lion, they snarl,
and like young lions, they growl;[n]
they seize their prey
and then carry it off,
with no one to rescue.
30 They will roar over it[o] at that time,[p]
like the sea waves roar.
If one surveys the land, watch out!
There’s darkness and distress;
even the daylight is darkened by its clouds.
44 “Our ancestors had the Tent of Testimony[a] in the wilderness constructed,[b] just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Our ancestors brought it here with Joshua when they replaced the nations that God drove out in front of our ancestors, and it was here until the time of David. 46 He found favor with God and asked to design a dwelling for the house[c] of Jacob, 47 but it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 However, the Most High does not live in buildings made by human[d] hands. As the prophet says,
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house can you build for me,’ declares the Lord,[e]
“or what place is there in which I can rest?
50 It was my hand that made all these things, wasn’t it?’”[f]
51 “You stubborn people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors fail to persecute? They killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. 53 You received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet you haven’t obeyed it!”
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