Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 76

To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A song.

¹ In Judah God is known and renowned; His name is highly praised and is great in Israel.

² In [Jeru]Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place is in Zion.

³ There He broke the bow’s flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁴ Glorious and excellent are You from the mountains of prey [splendid and majestic, more than the everlasting mountains].

⁵ The stouthearted are stripped of their spoil, they have slept the sleep [of death]; and none of the men of might could raise their hands.

⁶ At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot [rider] and horse are cast into a dead sleep [of death].^(A)

⁷ You, even You, are to be feared [with awe and reverence]! Who may stand in Your presence when once Your anger is roused?

⁸ You caused sentence to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still—

⁹ When God arose to [establish] judgment, to save all the meek and oppressed of the earth. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

¹⁰ Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; the remainder of wrath shall You restrain and gird and arm Yourself with it.

¹¹ Vow and pay to the Lord your God; let all who are round about Him bring presents to Him Who ought to be [reverently] feared.

¹² He will cut off the spirit [of pride and fury] of princes; He is terrible to the [ungodly] kings of the earth.

¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. [Instead of the tyranny of the present] I will appoint peace as your officers and righteousness as your taskmasters.

¹⁸ Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders, but you shall call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.

¹⁹ The sun shall no more be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you, but the Lord shall be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory and your beauty.^(A)

²⁰ Your sun shall no more go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.

²¹ Your people also shall all be [uncompromisingly and consistently] righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.

²² The least one shall become a thousand [a clan], and the small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its [appointed] time.

²⁵ Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another.^(A)

²⁶ When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.

²⁷ Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

²⁸ Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.

²⁹ Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

³¹ Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

³² And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.

5 Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].

² And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a ^[a]slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.^(B)