Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹ We thank you, O God!
    We give thanks because you are near.
    People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds.

² God says, “At the time I have planned,
    I will bring justice against the wicked.
³ When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil,
    I am the one who keeps its foundations firm. Interlude

⁴ “I warned the proud, ‘Stop your boasting!’
    I told the wicked, ‘Don’t raise your fists!
⁵ Don’t raise your fists in defiance at the heavens
    or speak with such arrogance.’”
⁶ For no one on earth—from east or west,
    or even from the wilderness—
    should raise a defiant fist.^[a]
7 It is God alone who judges;
    he decides who will rise and who will fall.
⁸ For the Lord holds a cup in his hand
    that is full of foaming wine mixed with spices.
He pours out the wine in judgment,
    and all the wicked must drink it,
    draining it to the dregs.

⁹ But as for me, I will always proclaim what God has done;
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
¹⁰ For God says, “I will break the strength of the wicked,
    but I will increase the power of the godly.”

¹² “I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs
    and its enormous strength and graceful form.
¹³ Who can strip off its hide,
    and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?^[a]
14 Who could pry open its jaws?
    For its teeth are terrible!
¹⁵ The scales on its back are like^[b] rows of shields
    tightly sealed together.
¹⁶ They are so close together
    that no air can get between them.
¹⁷ Each scale sticks tight to the next.
    They interlock and cannot be penetrated.

¹⁸ “When it sneezes, it flashes light!
    Its eyes are like the red of dawn.
¹⁹ Lightning leaps from its mouth;
    flames of fire flash out.
²⁰ Smoke streams from its nostrils
    like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.
²¹ Its breath would kindle coals,
    for flames shoot from its mouth.

²² “The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck
    strikes terror wherever it goes.
²³ Its flesh is hard and firm
    and cannot be penetrated.
²⁴ Its heart is hard as rock,
    hard as a millstone.
²⁵ When it rises, the mighty are afraid,
    gripped by terror.
²⁶ No sword can stop it,
    no spear, dart, or javelin.
²⁷ Iron is nothing but straw to that creature,
    and bronze is like rotten wood.
²⁸ Arrows cannot make it flee.
    Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.
²⁹ Clubs are like a blade of grass,
    and it laughs at the swish of javelins.
³⁰ Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass.
    It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.

³¹ “Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion.
    It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.
³² The water glistens in its wake,
    making the sea look white.
³³ Nothing on earth is its equal,
    no other creature so fearless.
³⁴ Of all the creatures, it is the proudest.
    It is the king of beasts.”