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True Worship
66 Thus says the Lord:
Heaven is My throne,
and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is the house that you could build for Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2 For My hand made all those things,
thus all those things have come to be,
says the Lord.
But to this man I will look,
even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and trembles at My word.
3 He who kills a bull
is as if he kills a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb,
as if he breaks a dog’s neck;
he who offers a grain offering,
as if he offers swine’s blood;
he who burns incense,
as if he blesses an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations;
4 I also will choose their punishments
and will bring their fears on them,
because when I called, no one answered;
when I spoke, they did not listen;
but they did evil before My eyes
and chose that in which I did not delight.
The Vindication of Zion
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at His word:
Your brothers who hate you,
who cast you out for My name’s sake, said,
“Let the Lord be glorified
that we may see your joy.”
Yet they shall be ashamed.
6 A voice of noise from the city,
a voice from the temple,
the voice of the Lord
who renders recompense to His enemies.
7 Before she was in labor,
she gave birth;
before her pain came,
she delivered a son.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
she brought forth her sons.
9 Shall I bring to the point of birth
and not cause delivery? says the Lord.
Shall I who cause delivery
shut the womb? says your God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice exceedingly with her,
all you who mourn for her,
11 that you may feed and be satisfied
with her consoling breasts,
that you may feed
and be delighted with the abundance of her bosom.
12 For thus says the Lord:
I will extend peace to her like a river
and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream.
Then you shall nurse, you shall be carried on her sides,
and dandled on her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you;
and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
God’s Reign and Final Judgment
14 Then you shall see this, and your heart shall rejoice,
and your bones shall flourish like an herb;
and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward His servants,
and His indignation toward His enemies.
15 For the Lord shall come with fire
and with His chariots like a whirlwind,
to render His anger with fury
and His rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by His sword on all flesh,
the Lord shall execute judgment;
and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
17 Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and abominable things, and mice shall be consumed together, says the Lord.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts. The time shall come to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.
19 I will set a sign among them, and send from them survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud—who draw the bow—to Tubal, and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the nations. 20 They shall bring all your brothers out of all nations as an offering to the Lord on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on swift beasts to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain. 23 From one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord. 24 And they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, nor shall their fire be quenched. And they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.
4 though I also have confidence in the flesh.
If any other man thinks that he has reason to trust in the flesh, I have more: 5 I was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and a Hebrew of Hebrews; as concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; and concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, I have counted these things to be loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Yes, certainly, I count everything as loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have forfeited the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ, 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,[a] the righteousness which is of God on the basis of faith, 10 to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if somehow I might make it to the resurrection of the dead.
Pressing Toward the Mark
12 Not that I have already attained or have already been perfected, but I follow after it so that I may lay hold of that for which I was seized by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not count myself to have attained, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let those of us who are mature be thus minded. And if you think differently in any way, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, according to what we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
17 Brothers, become fellow imitators with me and observe those who walk according to our example. 18 For many are walking in such a way that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. I have told you of them often and tell you again, even weeping. 19 Their destination is destruction, their god is their appetite, their glory is in their shame, their minds are set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, from where also we await for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our body of humiliation, so that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working of His power even to subdue all things to Himself.
Psalm 74
A Contemplative Maskil of Asaph.
1 O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
the rod of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed,
this Mount Zion, where You have lived.
3 Move Your footsteps to the perpetual desolations,
to all the harm the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
they set up their miracles for signs.
5 They seem like men who lift up axes
on a thicket of trees.
6 But now they strike down its carved work altogether
with axes and hammers.
7 They have cast fire into Your sanctuary;
they have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them together.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
nor is there among us any who knows how long.
10 O God, how long will the adversary scorn?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, Your right hand?
Draw it out of Your bosom and destroy them!
12 For God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the dragons on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
and gave him for food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You split the fountain and the flood;
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have established all the borders of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has scorned, O Lord,
and that the foolish people have blasphemed Your name.
19 Do not give the life of Your turtledove to a wild animal;
do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
20 Have regard for the covenant;
for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
21 May the oppressed not return ashamed;
may the poor and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
remember how the fool insults You daily.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies,
the tumult of those who rise up against You continually.
Saying Twenty-Seven
15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
do not spoil his resting place;
16 for a just man falls seven times and rises up again,
but the wicked will fall into mischief.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.