Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Nation in Trouble Prays
A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
74 God, why have you rejected us ·for so long [forever]?
Why ·are you angry with us, [L does your anger smoke against] the sheep of your pasture [100:3]?
2 Remember the ·people [assembly; congregation] you ·bought [acquired] long ago.
You ·saved [redeemed] us, and we are ·your very own [L the tribe of your inheritance].
After all, you live on Mount Zion.
3 ·Make your way [Direct your steps] through ·these old [or the utter] ruins;
the enemy ·wrecked [destroyed] everything in the ·Temple [sanctuary; Holy Place; C perhaps a reference to the Babylonian destruction of the Temple; 2 Kin. 25:8–21; 2 Chr. 36:17–21; Lam. 2:6].
4 Those who were against you ·shouted [roared] in your meeting place
and ·raised their flags [L set their signs as signs] there.
5 ·They came with axes raised [or They hacked at the upper entrances]
as if to cut down a forest of trees.
6 They ·smashed [beat to pieces] the ·carved [engraved] panels
with their axes and ·hatchets [crowbars].
7 They ·burned your Temple to the ground [L set your sanctuary/Holy Place on fire];
they have made the ·place where you live [L residence of your name] ·unclean [profane].
8 They ·thought [L said in their hearts], “We will completely crush them!”
They burned ·every place where God was worshiped [L all the meeting places of God] in the land.
9 We do not see any signs.
There are no more prophets [C who can tell them what will happen],
and no one knows how long this will last.
10 God, how much longer will the enemy ·make fun of [scorn] you?
Will they ·insult [revile] ·you [L your name] forever?
11 Why do you ·hold back your power [L return your hand]?
·Bring your power out in the open [L Take your right hand out of your bosom] and ·destroy [annihilate] them!
12 God, you have been our king ·for a long time [of old; Ex. 15:18].
You bring ·salvation [victory] to the earth.
13 You split open the sea by your power
and broke the heads of the sea monster [C an ancient Near Eastern symbol of chaos].
14 You ·smashed [crushed in pieces] the heads of the monster Leviathan [C a sea monster and symbol of chaos; 104:26; Job 3:8; 41:1; Is. 27:1]
and gave it to the ·desert [wilderness] creatures as food.
15 You ·opened up [split] the springs and ·streams [wadis]
and made the flowing rivers run dry.
16 Both the day and the night are yours;
you made the sun and the moon [Gen. 1:14–18].
17 You set all the ·limits [borders] on the earth;
you ·created [formed] summer and winter [104:19–23; Gen. 8:22].
18 Lord, remember how the enemy ·insulted [scorned] you.
Remember how those foolish people ·made fun of you [L reviled your name].
19 Do not give us, your doves, to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor people.
20 ·Remember [Regard] the ·agreement [covenant] you made with us,
because violence fills every dark corner of this land.
21 Do not let your ·suffering [crushed] people be ·disgraced [humiliated].
Let the poor and ·helpless [needy] praise ·you [L your name].
22 God, arise and ·defend [contend for] yourself.
Remember the ·insults [scorn] that come from those foolish people all day long.
23 Don’t forget what your enemies said;
don’t forget their roar as they rise against you always.
8 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you who add more houses to your houses
and more fields to your fields [C accumulating wealth at the expense of others, in violation of God’s command that tribal allotments be permanent; Lev. 25:23]
until ·there is no room left for other people [no space is left].
Then you are left alone in the land.
9 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] said this ·to me [L in my ears]:
“·The fine [The great; or Many] houses will ·be destroyed [become desolate];
the large and beautiful houses will be left empty [L of inhabitants].
10 At that time a ·ten-acre [L ten-yoke; C unknown measurement, though clearly a large area] vineyard will make only ·six gallons [L one bath] of wine,
and ·ten bushels [L a homer] of seed will grow only one bushel [L an ephah; C one tenth of a homer] of grain.”
11 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who rise early in the morning
to ·look for [run after; pursue] ·strong drink [or beer; C alcoholic beverage made from grain],
who ·stay awake late at night [linger into twilight],
becoming ·drunk [L inflamed] with wine.
12 At their ·parties [banquets; feasts] they have lyres, harps,
tambourines, flutes, and wine.
They ·don’t see [or have no regard for] what the Lord has done
or ·notice [see; comprehend] the work of his hands.
13 So my people will ·be captured and taken away [be deported; go into exile/captivity],
because they ·don’t really know me [or lack understanding].
·All the great people [Their nobles/men of honor] will die of hunger,
and the ·common people [multitudes; masses] ·will die of [or will be parched with] thirst.
14 So ·the place of the dead [or the grave; L Sheol] ·wants more and more people [L opens wide/enlarges its throat],
and it opens wide its mouth.
·Jerusalem’s [L Her] ·important people [nobility] and ·common people [multitude; masses] will go down into it,
with their ·happy and noisy ones [noisy revellers; drunken mob].
15 ·People [Humanity] will be humbled, ·everyone [each person; mankind] will be brought down;
·those who are [L the eyes of the] ·proud [haughty] will be humbled.
16 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will ·receive glory [be exalted] by ·judging fairly [his justice];
the holy God will show himself holy by ·doing what is right [righteousnes].
17 Then the ·sheep [or lambs] will ·go anywhere they want [L feed as if in their pasture],
and ·lambs [or strangers; foreigners] will feed ·on the land that rich people once owned [among the ruins of the rich].
18 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] those people!
They pull ·their guilt and sins behind them
as people pull wagons with ropes [L wickedness with the ropes of emptiness and sin with cart ropes].
19 They say, “Let God hurry;
let him do his work ·soon [quickly]
so we may see it.
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel [1:4] ·happen soon [approach and draw near]
so that we will know what it is.”
20 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who call ·good things bad
and bad things good [L evil good and good evil],
who ·think darkness is [or make darkness] light
and ·light is [or make light] darkness,
who ·think sour is [or turn sour/bitter to] sweet
and sweet ·is sour [or to sour/bitter].
21 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who ·think they are wise [L are wise in their own eyes; Prov. 3:7; 26:12; 27:1; 28:11, 26]
and ·believe they are clever [L clever/understanding in front of themselves].
22 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who are ·famous for [heroes/champions at] drinking wine
and are ·champions [valiant men] at mixing ·drinks [beer; v. 11].
23 They take ·money [a bribe] to ·set the guilty free [acquit the wicked]
and ·don’t allow good people to be judged fairly [deny justice/righteousness to the innocent/righteous].
Warning Against False Teachers
4 ·My dear friends [L Beloved], many false prophets [Deut. 13:1–5; 18:14–22; Mark 13:22] have gone out into the world. So do not ·believe [trust] every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God [C the false teachers evidently claimed that their teaching was from the Spirit; 1 Cor. 12:1–3; 14:29; 1 Thess. 5:19–21]. 2 This is how you can ·know [recognize] God’s Spirit: Every spirit [C a teacher/prophet claiming inspiration from the Spirit] who ·confesses [acknowledges] that Jesus Christ came ·to earth as a human [L in the flesh] is from God. 3 And every spirit who ·refuses to say this about Jesus [L does not confess/acknowledge Jesus] is not from God [2 John 7]. It is the spirit of the ·enemy of Christ [L antichrist; 2:18, 22], which you have heard is coming, and now he is already in the world.
4 ·My dear children [2:1], you ·belong to [L are from] God and have ·defeated [conquered; overcome] them [C the antichrists/false teachers]; because ·God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world [L that which is in you is greater than that which is in the world]. 5 And they ·belong to [L are from] the world, so what they say is from the world, and the world ·listens to [hears; obeys] them. 6 But we ·belong to [are from] God, and those who know God ·listen to [hear; obey] us. But those who are not from God do not ·listen to [hear; obey] us. That is how we ·know [recognize] the Spirit that is true and the spirit that ·is false [deceives; errs].
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