Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Turn Your footsteps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own [d]standards (L)for signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
His [e](M)axe in a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now [g]all its (N)carved work
They smash with hatchet and [h]hammers.
7 They have [i](O)burned Your sanctuary [j]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [k]completely [l]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)revile,
And the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 [m]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[n]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [o]in the waters.
14 [p]You crushed the heads of [q](AC)Leviathan;
[r]You gave him as food for the [s]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [t]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[u]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[v]You have (AG)prepared the [w]light and the sun.
17 [x]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[y]You have [z]made (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [aa]O Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)reviled,
And a (AK)foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
24 Therefore, (A)as a tongue of fire consumes stubble
And dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their (B)root will become (C)like rot and their blossom [a]blow away as dust;
For they have (D)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 On this account the (E)anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the (F)mountains quaked, and their (G)corpses [b]lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
(H)For all this His anger [c]is not spent,
But His (I)hand is still stretched out.
26 He will also lift up a (J)standard to the [d]distant nation,
And will (K)whistle for it (L)from the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will (M)come with speed swiftly.
27 (N)No one in it is weary or stumbles,
None slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the (O)belt at its waist undone,
Nor its sandal strap broken.
28 [e](P)Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses [f]seem like flint and its chariot (Q)wheels like a whirlwind.
29 Its (R)roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it (S)seizes the prey
And carries it off with (T)no one to deliver it.
30 And it will (U)growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one (V)looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.
44 “Our fathers had (A)the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it (B)according to the pattern which he had seen. 45 And having received it in their turn, our fathers (C)brought it in with [a]Joshua upon dispossessing the [b]nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. 46 (D)David found favor in God’s sight, and (E)asked that he might find a dwelling place for the [c]God of Jacob. 47 But it was (F)Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 However, (G)the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
49 ‘(H)Heaven is My throne,
And earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My repose?
50 ‘(I)Was it not My hand which made all these things?’
51 “You men who are (J)stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 (K)Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of (L)the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers (M)you have now become; 53 you who received the law as (N)ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.