Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 74
A contemplative song[a] of Asaph.
This lament was written shortly after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 b.c. Now in exile and separated from God, His city, and His land, the people of God experience pain that is palpable.
1 O True God, why have You turned Your back on us and abandoned us forever?
Why is Your anger seething and Your wrath smoldering against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember the congregation of people You acquired long ago,
the tribe which You redeemed to be Your very own.
Remember Mount Zion, where You have chosen to live!
3 Come, direct Your attention to Your sanctuary;
our enemy has demolished everything and left it in complete ruin.
4 Your enemies roared like lions in Your sacred chamber;
they have claimed it with their own standards as signs.
5 They acted like lumberjacks swinging their axes
to cut down a stand of trees.
6 They hacked up all the beautifully carved items,
smashed them to splinters with their axes and hammers.
7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
they have desecrated the place where Your holy name lived in honor;
8 They have plotted in their hearts, “We will crush them and bring them to their knees!”
Then they scorched all of the places in the land where the True God met His people.
9 We no longer receive signs,
there are no more prophets who remain,
and not one of us knows how long this situation will last.
10 O True God, how much longer will the enemy mock us?
Will this insult continue against You forever?
11 Why do You stand by and do nothing?
Unleash Your power and finish them off!
12 Even so, the True God is my King from long ago,
bringing salvation to His people throughout the land.
13 You have divided the sea with Your power;
You shattered the skulls of the creatures of the sea;
14 You smashed the heads of Leviathan
and fed his remains to the people of the desert.
15 You broke open the earth and springs burst forth and streams filled the crevices;
You dried up the great rivers.
16 The day and the night are both Yours—
You fashioned the sun, moon, and all the lights that pierce the darkness.
17 You have arranged the earth, set all its boundaries;
You are the Architect of the seasons: summer and winter.
18 Eternal One, do not forget that the enemy has taunted You
and a company of fools has rejected Your name.
19 We are Your precious turtledoves;
don’t surrender our souls to the wild beasts.
Do not forget the lives of Your poor, afflicted, and brokenhearted ones forever.
20 Be mindful of Your covenant with us,
for the dark corners of the land are filled with pockets of violence.
21 Do not allow the persecuted to return without honor;
may the poor, wounded, and needy sing praises to You;
may they bring glory to Your name!
22 O True God, rise up and defend Your cause;
remember how the foolish man insults You every hour of the day.
23 Do not forget the voices of Your enemies,
the commotion and chaos of Your foes, which continually grow.
27 On that day, the Eternal One will unsheathe His sword—fierce, great, and strong—and punish the monster of chaos and terror, Leviathan the fleeing serpent. He will strike Leviathan, the twisting serpent, and slay the dragon of the sea.
2 In that day, O joy, sing out about the vineyard most fruitful.
3 Eternal One: I, the Eternal One, tend and keep this vineyard;
I water and guard it day and night,
Protecting it against any that might wish to harm it.
4 I am empty of anger.
If it produces nasty weeds and thorns,
I will simply stomp them down and burn them up.
5 But let My vineyard look to Me for protection and nurture;
let it seek My peace;
let it seek My peace.
6 In days to come this people, Jacob, will take root;
Israel, My promise people, will burst into bloom
And fill the whole world with fruit to enjoy.
7 Has God struck Israel as He struck those who struck her?
Has she been killed as her killers were killed?
8 By driving her away, You have dealt with her;
You blew her away with a fierce blast
As when the east wind comes ripping through.
You sent her away to live as strangers in a foreign land.
9 In this way, the people descended from Jacob will have their sins forgiven.
This is how they’ll pay in full the penalty for their wrongdoing—
When God crumbles all the stones of their altars into dust like chalk,
and when not one of their sacred poles and incense altars is left standing.
10 The city that had been so strong and vibrant
is isolated and alone, abandoned, a deserted wilderness.
Calves munch through it, lounging around
and eating whatever twigs dare to shoot up.
11 When the branches are dead and dried and broken,
women will gather and burn them up.
For these people are foolish and lack understanding,
so their Creator will not be compassionate toward them.
Though He made them, He will not show them favor.
12 On that day, people of Israel—people of promise—the Eternal will thresh the lands from the Euphrates to the Nile, from Mesopotamia to Egypt, and gather you up one by one. 13 With a great trumpet blast, everyone who was dying in captivity—in Assyria and Egypt—will come to worship the Eternal on the holy mountain that is Jerusalem.
In this powerful scene as Jesus comes into the city, echoing the words of Zechariah 9:9, Jesus shows how His kingdom is upside down compared to the kingdoms of this world. Caesar enters a town riding a white stallion, accompanied by dignitaries and soldiers with weapons. Jesus comes on a little donkey, cheered by common people tossing their coats in the donkey’s path. The contrast between the two ways, He suggests through tears, is the difference between violent destruction and peace.
45 He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. He began driving out the temple merchants.
Jesus: 46 The Hebrew Scriptures say, “My house shall be a house of prayer,”[a] but you have turned it into a shelter for thieves.[b]
47 He came back day after day to teach in the temple. The chief priests, the religious scholars, and the leading men of the city wanted to kill Him, 48 but because He was so popular among the people—who hung upon each word He spoke—they were unable to do anything.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.