Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for God’s Righteous Judgment
To the Chief Musician. Set to (A)“Do[a] Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
75 We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!
For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.
2 “When I choose the [b]proper time,
I will judge uprightly.
3 The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved;
I set up its pillars firmly. Selah
4 “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’
And to the wicked, (B)‘Do not [c]lift up the horn.
5 Do not lift up your horn on high;
Do not speak with [d]a stiff neck.’ ”
6 For exaltation comes neither from the east
Nor from the west nor from the south.
7 But (C)God is the Judge:
(D)He puts down one,
And exalts another.
8 For (E)in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
And the wine is red;
It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;
Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth
Drain and drink down.
9 But I will declare forever,
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
God’s Power in the Leviathan
41 “Can you draw out (A)Leviathan[a] with a hook,
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?
2 Can you (B)put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a [b]hook?
3 Will he make many supplications to you?
Will he speak softly to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you leash him for your maidens?
6 Will your companions [c]make a banquet of him?
Will they apportion him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle—
Never do it again!
9 Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false;
Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?
10 No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up.
Who then is able to stand against Me?
11 (C)Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him?
(D)Everything under heaven is Mine.
God’s Infallible Purpose in Christ
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, (A)He swore by Himself, 14 saying, (B)“Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the (C)promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and (D)an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to (E)the heirs of promise (F)the [a]immutability of His counsel, [b]confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two [c]immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to (G)lie, we [d]might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope (H)set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, (I)and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 (J)where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, (K)having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.