Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. He should use special music.
God judges people fairly
75 God, we thank you!
Yes, we thank you!
You are very near to us.
People everywhere say what great things you have done.
2 God says, ‘I choose the time when I will judge people,
and I will be a fair judge.
3 When the earth shakes and the people in it are afraid,
I will keep its foundations strong.’
Selah.
4 I say to people who are proud,
‘Do not be proud.’
I say to wicked people,
‘Do not boast about your power.
5 Do not boast against God.
Do not speak with such proud words.’
6 Who has the power to judge people?
Nobody from the east, or from the west,
or from the desert can be judge.
7 God is the one who judges people.
He decides who to bring down
and who to lift up.[a]
8 The Lord holds a cup of punishment in his hand.[b]
It is full of wine, with spices in it.
The Lord pours out his anger from this cup.
All the wicked people in the world will have to drink it.
They will drink all of it, so that none remains.
9 But as for me, I will always thank you, God.
I will sing to praise you,
the God of Jacob.
10 You say, ‘I will destroy the power of wicked people.
I will give strength to my righteous people.’
15 The group of prophets from Jericho were standing not far away. They saw what happened. They said, ‘The spirit that gave power to Elijah is now with Elisha.’ They went to meet Elisha. They bent down low to the ground to respect him. 16 They said to him, ‘Please, sir! We are your servants. We have 50 strong men with us. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit[a] of the Lord has carried him away. Maybe it has dropped him somewhere on a mountain or in a valley.’ But Elisha replied, ‘No. Do not send them to look for him.’
17 But the prophets asked him many times to do this. Elisha was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, ‘Send them to look.’ They sent 50 men who looked for Elijah for three days. But they did not find him. 18 When they returned, Elisha was waiting for them in Jericho. He said to them, ‘I told you not to go and look for Elijah.’
Elisha shows that he has God's authority
19 One day, the leaders in Jericho said to Elisha, ‘Please listen to us, sir. You can see that our city is in a good place. But the water here is bad. The land does not give us good crops.’ 20 Elisha said, ‘Bring a new bowl to me with some salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. 21 Then Elisha went out to the city's spring of water. He threw the salt into it. He said, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have made this water clean again. It will no longer cause people to die. The land will no longer be useless for crops.” ’
22 Since that time, the water has always been pure. This is what Elisha had said would happen.
God tells us to love each other
7 My friends, I am telling you to love one another. When I write this to you, I am not giving you a new rule. It is an old rule that you have had for a long time. We gave it to you when you began to obey Christ. It is the same message that you have already heard. 8 But there is something new about it. This rule has become true in the way that Christ lived. Now it has also become true in your lives. God's true message has brought light to shine in your lives. You no longer live in the dark where you do bad things. 9 A person may say that he is living in the light. But if that person hates another believer, then he is telling a lie. He is still living in the dark. 10 Anyone who loves other believers shows that he is living in the light. There is nothing that will make him turn away from God. 11 But if someone hates other believers, he is still living in a bad way. He is like someone who is walking in the dark. He cannot see where he is going. He is like a blind person. He cannot understand God's true message.[a]
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