Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 76
God, the Powerful Judge
For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph.(A) A song.
1 God is known in Judah;
his name is great in Israel.(B)
2 His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.(C)
3 There he shatters the bow’s flaming arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.(D)Selah
4 You are resplendent and majestic
coming down from the mountains of prey.(E)
5 The brave-hearted have been plundered;
they have slipped into their final sleep.
None of the warriors was able to lift a hand.(F)
6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
both chariot and horse lay still.(G)
7 And you—you are to be feared.[a]
When you are angry,
who can stand before you?(H)
8 From heaven you pronounced judgment.
The earth feared and grew quiet(I)
9 when God rose up to judge
and to save all the lowly of the earth.(J)Selah
10 Even human wrath will praise you;
you will clothe yourself
with the wrath that remains.[b](K)
Final Judgment and Joyous Restoration
66 This is what the Lord says:
Heaven(A) is my throne,(B)
and earth is my footstool.(C)
Where could you possibly build a house for me?
And where would my resting place be?(D)
2 My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble,(E) submissive[a] in spirit,(F)
and trembles at my word.
3 One person slaughters an ox, another kills a person;
one person sacrifices a lamb, another breaks a dog’s neck;
one person offers a grain offering, another offers pig’s blood;
one person offers incense, another praises an idol—
all these have chosen their ways
and delight in their abhorrent practices.(G)
4 So I will choose their punishment,
and I will bring on them what they dread
because I called and no one answered;
I spoke and they did not listen;
they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.(H)
5 You who tremble at his word,(I)
hear the word of the Lord:(J)
“Your brothers who hate and exclude you
for my name’s sake have said,(K)
‘Let the Lord be glorified
so that we can see your joy!’
But they will be put to shame.”(L)
6 A sound of uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple—
the voice of the Lord,
paying back his enemies what they deserve!(M)
7 Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;
before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
8 Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Can a land be born in one day
or a nation be delivered in an instant?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,
she gave birth to her sons.
9 “Will I bring a baby to the point of birth
and not deliver it?”
says the Lord;
“or will I who deliver, close the womb?”
says your God.
10 Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,
all who love her.(N)
Rejoice greatly with her,
all who mourn over her—
11 so that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breast
and drink deeply and delight yourselves
from her glorious breasts.
12 For this is what the Lord says:
Christian Liberty
23 “Everything is permissible,”[a] but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,”[b] but not everything builds up. 24 No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.(A)
25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, 26 since the earth is the Lord’s,(B) and all that is in it.[c](C) 27 If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it,(D) out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience.[d] 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged(E) by another person’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thanksgiving,(F) why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.(G) 32 Give no offense(H) to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many,(I) so that they may be saved.
11 Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.(J)
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