Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 74[a]
A well-written song[b] by Asaph.
74 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us?[c]
Why does your anger burn[d] against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your people[e] whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued[f] so they could be your very own nation,[g]
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 Hurry[h] to the permanent ruins,
and to all the damage the enemy has done to the temple.[i]
4 Your enemies roar[j] in the middle of your sanctuary;[k]
they set up their battle flags.[l]
5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest.[m]
6 And now[n] they are tearing down[o] all its engravings[p]
with axes[q] and crowbars.[r]
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.[s]
8 They say to themselves,[t]
“We will oppress all of them.”[u]
They burn down all the places in the land where people worship God.[v]
9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence;[w]
there are no longer any prophets,[x]
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.[y]
10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him.[z]
12 But God has been my[aa] king from ancient times,
performing acts of deliverance on the earth.[ab]
13 You destroyed[ac] the sea by your strength;
you shattered the heads of the sea monster[ad] in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;[ae]
you fed[af] him to the people who live along the coast.[ag]
15 You broke open the spring and the stream;[ah]
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.[ai]
16 You established the cycle of day and night;[aj]
you put the moon[ak] and sun in place.[al]
17 You set up all the boundaries[am] of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter.[an]
18 Remember how[ao] the enemy hurls insults, O Lord,[ap]
and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name.
19 Do not hand the life of your dove[aq] over to a wild animal.
Do not continue to disregard[ar] the lives of your oppressed people.
20 Remember your covenant promises,[as]
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules.[at]
21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame.
Let the oppressed and poor praise your name.[au]
22 Rise up, O God. Defend your honor.[av]
Remember how fools insult you all day long.[aw]
23 Do not disregard[ax] what your enemies say,[ay]
or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you.[az]
Disaster is Coming
8 Beware, those who accumulate houses,[a]
who also accumulate field after field[b]
until there is no land left,[c]
and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.[d]
9 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies told me this:[e]
“Many houses will certainly become desolate,
large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.[f]
10 Indeed, a large vineyard[g] will produce just a few gallons,[h]
and enough seed to yield several bushels[i] will produce less than a bushel.”[j]
11 Beware, those who get up early to drink beer,[k]
those who keep drinking long after dark
until they are intoxicated with wine.[l]
12 They have stringed instruments,[m] tambourines, flutes,
and wine at their parties.
So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,
they do not perceive what he is bringing about.[n]
13 Therefore my[o] people will be deported[p]
because of their lack of understanding.
Their[q] leaders will have nothing to eat,[r]
their[s] masses will have nothing to drink.[t]
14 So Death[u] will open up its throat,
and open wide its mouth;[v]
Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it,
including those who revel and celebrate within her.[w]
15 Men will be humiliated,
they will be brought low;
the proud will be brought low.[x]
16 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted[y] when he punishes,[z]
the holy God’s authority will be recognized when he judges.[aa]
17 Lambs[ab] will graze as if in their pastures,
amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze.[ac]
18 Beware, those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead,[ad]
who pull sin as with cart ropes.[ae]
19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly,[af]
so we can see;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel[ag] take shape[ah] and come to pass,
then we will know it!”
20 Beware, those who call evil good and good evil,[ai]
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter.[aj]
21 Beware, those who think they are wise,[ak]
those who think they possess understanding.[al]
22 Beware, those who are champions[am] at drinking,
who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.
23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,
they ignore the just cause of the innocent.[an]
Testing the Spirits
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit,[a] but test[b] the spirits[c] to determine[d] if they are from God, because many false prophets[e] have gone out into the world. 2 By this[f] you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses[g] Jesus as the Christ[h] who has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but[i] every spirit that refuses to confess[j] Jesus,[k] that spirit[l] is not from God, and this is the spirit[m] of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them,[n] because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but[o] whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this[p] we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.[q]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.