Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 75[a]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph, a song.
75 We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks.
You reveal your presence;[c]
people tell about your amazing deeds.
2 God says,[d]
“At the appointed times,[e]
I judge[f] fairly.
3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear,[g]
I make its pillars secure.”[h] (Selah)
4 [i] I say to the proud, “Do not be proud,”
and to the wicked, “Do not be so confident of victory.[j]
5 Do not be so certain you have won.[k]
Do not speak with your head held so high.[l]
6 For victory does not come from the east or west,
or from the wilderness.[m]
7 For God is the judge.[n]
He brings one down and exalts another.[o]
8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices,[p]
and pours it out.[q]
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.”[r]
9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done;[s]
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 God says,[t]
“I will bring down all the power of the wicked;
the godly will be victorious.”[u]
Footnotes
- Psalm 75:1 sn Psalm 75. The psalmist celebrates God’s just rule, which guarantees that the godly will be vindicated and the wicked destroyed.
- Psalm 75:1 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-59.
- Psalm 75:1 tn Heb “and near [is] your name.”
- Psalm 75:2 tn The words “God says” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify that God speaks in vv. 2-3.
- Psalm 75:2 tn Heb “when I take an appointed time.”
- Psalm 75:2 tn Heb “I, [in] fairness, I judge.” The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically executes fair judgment as he governs the world. One could take this as referring to an anticipated (future) judgment, “I will judge.”
- Psalm 75:3 tn Heb “melt.”
- Psalm 75:3 tn The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically prevents the world from being overrun by chaos. One could take this as referring to an anticipated event, “I will make its pillars secure.”
- Psalm 75:4 tn The identity of the speaker in vv. 4-6 is unclear. The present translation assumes that the psalmist, who also speaks in vv. 7-9 (where God/the Lord is spoken of in the third person) here addresses the proud and warns them of God’s judgment. The presence of כִּי (ki, “for”) at the beginning of both vv. 6-7 seems to indicate that vv. 4-9 are a unit. However, there is no formal indication of a new speaker in v. 4 (or in v. 10, where God appears to speak). Another option is to see God speaking in vv. 2-6 and v. 10 and to take only vv. 7-9 as the words of the psalmist. In this case one must interpret כִּי at the beginning of v. 7 in an asseverative or emphatic sense (“surely; indeed”).
- Psalm 75:4 tn Heb “do not lift up a horn.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Here the idiom seems to refer to an arrogant attitude that assumes victory has been achieved.
- Psalm 75:5 tn Heb “do not lift up on high your horn.”
- Psalm 75:5 tn Heb “[do not] speak with unrestrained neck.” The negative particle is understood in this line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).sn The image behind the language of vv. 4-5 is that of a powerful wild ox that confidently raises its head before its enemies.
- Psalm 75:6 tn Heb “for not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness of the mountains.” If one follows this reading the sentence is elliptical. One must supply “does help come,” or some comparable statement. However, it is possible to take הָרִים (harim) as a Hiphil infinitive from רוּם (rum), the same verb used in vv. 4-5 of “lifting up” a horn. In this case one may translate the form as “victory.” In this case the point is that victory does not come from alliances with other nations.
- Psalm 75:7 tn Or “judges.”
- Psalm 75:7 tn The imperfects here emphasize the generalizing nature of the statement.
- Psalm 75:8 tn Heb “for a cup [is] in the hand of the Lord, and wine foams, it is full of a spiced drink.” The noun מֶסֶךְ (mesekh) refers to a “mixture” of wine and spices.
- Psalm 75:8 tn Heb “and he pours out from this.”
- Psalm 75:8 tn Heb “surely its dregs they slurp up and drink, all the wicked of the earth.”sn The psalmist pictures God as forcing the wicked to gulp down an intoxicating drink that will leave them stunned and vulnerable. Divine judgment is also depicted this way in Ps 60:3; Isa 51:17-23; Hab 2:16.
- Psalm 75:9 tn Heb “I will declare forever.” The object needs to be supplied; God’s just judgment is in view.
- Psalm 75:10 tn The words “God says” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation to clarify that God speaks in v. 10.
- Psalm 75:10 tn Heb “and all the horns of the wicked I will cut off, the horns of the godly will be lifted up.” The imagery of the wild ox’s horn is once more utilized (see vv. 4-5).
Jerusalem is Corrupt
3 Beware to the filthy,[a] stained city;
the city filled with oppressors![b]
2 She is disobedient;[c]
she has refused correction.[d]
She does not trust the Lord;
she has not sought the advice of[e] her God.
3 Her princes[f] are as fierce as roaring lions;[g]
her rulers[h] are as hungry as wolves in the desert,[i]
who completely devour their prey by morning.[j]
4 Her prophets are proud;[k]
they are deceitful men.
Her priests have defiled what is holy;[l]
they have broken God’s laws.[m]
5 The just Lord resides[n] within her;
he commits no unjust acts.[o]
Every morning he reveals[p] his justice.
At dawn he appears without fail.[q]
Yet the unjust know no shame.
The Lord’s Judgment will Purify
6 “I destroyed[r] nations;
their walled cities[s] are in ruins.
I turned their streets into ruins;
no one passes through them.
Their cities are desolate;[t]
no one lives there.[u]
7 I thought,[v] ‘Certainly you will respect[w] me!
Now you will accept correction!’
If she had done so, her home[x] would not be destroyed[y]
by all the punishments I have threatened.[z]
But they eagerly sinned
in everything they did.[aa]
8 Therefore you must wait patiently[ab] for me,” says the Lord,
“for the day when I attack and take plunder.[ac]
I have decided[ad] to gather nations together
and assemble kingdoms,
so I can pour out my fury on them—
all my raging anger.
For[ae] the whole earth will be consumed
by my fiery anger.
9 Know for sure that I will then enable
the nations to give me acceptable praise.[af]
All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray,[ag]
and will worship him in unison.[ah]
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,[ai]
those who pray to me, my dispersed people,[aj]
will bring me tribute.
11 In that day you[ak] will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me,[al]
for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast,[am]
and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.
12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people,[an]
and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence.[ao]
13 The Israelites who remain[ap] will not act deceitfully.
They will not lie,
and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths.
Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep[aq] and lie down;
no one will terrify them.”
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 3:1 tn The present translation assumes מֹרְאָה (morʾah) is derived from רֹאִי (roʾi, “excrement”; see Jastrow 1436 s.v. רֳאִי). The following participle, “stained,” supports this interpretation (cf. NEB “filthy and foul”; NRSV “soiled, defiled”). Another option is to derive the form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”); in this case the term should be translated “rebellious” (cf. NASB, NIV “rebellious and defiled”). This idea is supported by v. 2. For discussion of the two options, see HALOT 630 s.v. I מרא and J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 206.
- Zephaniah 3:1 sn The following verses show that Jerusalem, personified as a woman (“she”), is the referent.
- Zephaniah 3:2 tn Heb “she has not listened to a voice.” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.
- Zephaniah 3:2 tn Heb “she has not received correction.” The Hebrew phrase, when negated, refers elsewhere to rejecting verbal advice (Jer 17:23; 32:33; 35:13) and refusing to learn from experience (Jer 2:30; 5:3).
- Zephaniah 3:2 tn Heb “draw near to.” The translation assumes that the expression “draw near to” refers to seeking God’s will (see 1 Sam 14:36).
- Zephaniah 3:3 tn Or “officials.”
- Zephaniah 3:3 tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.
- Zephaniah 3:3 tn Traditionally “judges.”
- Zephaniah 3:3 tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.
- Zephaniah 3:3 tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.
- Zephaniah 3:4 sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).
- Zephaniah 3:4 tn Or “defiled the temple.”sn These priests defiled what is holy by not observing the proper distinctions between what is ritually clean and unclean (see Ezek 22:26).
- Zephaniah 3:4 tn Heb “they treated [the] law violently.”
- Zephaniah 3:5 tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.
- Zephaniah 3:5 tn Or “he does no injustice.”
- Zephaniah 3:5 tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”
- Zephaniah 3:5 tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”
- Zephaniah 3:6 tn Heb “cut off.”
- Zephaniah 3:6 tn Heb “corner towers”; NEB, NRSV “battlements.”
- Zephaniah 3:6 tn This Hebrew verb (צָדָה, tsadah) occurs only here in the OT, but its meaning is established from the context and from an Aramaic cognate.
- Zephaniah 3:6 tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”
- Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “said.”
- Zephaniah 3:7 tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed. sn God’s judgment of the nations (v. 6) was an object lesson for Israel’s benefit.
- Zephaniah 3:7 tn Or “dwelling place.”
- Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “cut off.”
- Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.
- Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “But they got up early, they made corrupt all their actions.” The phrase “they got up early” probably refers to their eagerness to engage in sinful activities.
- Zephaniah 3:8 tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.
- Zephaniah 3:8 tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (ʿad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (ʿed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (leʿad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).
- Zephaniah 3:8 tn Heb “for my decision is.”
- Zephaniah 3:8 tn Or “certainly.”
- Zephaniah 3:9 tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.” sn I will then enable the nations to give me acceptable praise. This apparently refers to a time when the nations will reject their false idol-gods and offer genuine praise to the one true God.
- Zephaniah 3:9 tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”
- Zephaniah 3:9 tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”
- Zephaniah 3:10 tn Or “Nubia”; Heb “Cush.” “Cush” is traditionally assumed to refer to the region south of Egypt, i.e., Nubia or northern Sudan, referred to as “Ethiopia” by classical authors (not the more recent Abyssinia).
- Zephaniah 3:10 tn Heb “those who pray to me, the daughter of my dispersed ones.” The meaning of the phrase is unclear. For a discussion of various options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 134-35.sn It is not certain if those who pray to me refers to the converted nations or to God’s exiled covenant people.
- Zephaniah 3:11 sn The second person verbs and pronouns are feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed here.
- Zephaniah 3:11 tn Heb “In that day you will not be ashamed because of all your actions, [in] which you rebelled against me.”
- Zephaniah 3:11 tn Heb “the arrogant ones of your pride.”
- Zephaniah 3:12 tn Heb “needy and poor people.” The terms often refer to a socioeconomic group, but here they may refer to those who are humble in a spiritual sense.
- Zephaniah 3:12 tn Heb “and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.” sn Safety in the Lord’s presence. From the time the Lord introduced his special covenant name (Yahweh) to Moses, it served as a reminder of his protective presence as Israel’s faithful deliverer.
- Zephaniah 3:13 tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”
- Zephaniah 3:13 tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
An Appeal from Allegory
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?[a] 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the[b] slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent,[c] while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. 24 These things may be treated as an allegory,[d] for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free,[e] and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children;[f]
break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,
because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
than those of the woman who has a husband.”[g]
28 But you,[h] brothers and sisters,[i] are children of the promise like Isaac. 29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent[j] persecuted the one born according to the Spirit,[k] so it is now. 30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son”[l] of the free woman. 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters,[m] we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.
Freedom of the Believer
5 For freedom[n] Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke[o] of slavery.
Footnotes
- Galatians 4:21 tn Or “will you not hear what the law says?” The Greek verb ἀκούω (akouō) means “hear, listen to,” but by figurative extension it can also mean “obey.” It can also refer to the process of comprehension that follows hearing, and that sense fits the context well here.
- Galatians 4:22 tn Paul’s use of the Greek article here and before the phrase “free woman” presumes that both these characters are well known to the recipients of his letter. This verse is given as an example of the category called “well-known (‘celebrity’ or ‘familiar’) article” by ExSyn 225.
- Galatians 4:23 tn Grk “born according to the flesh”; BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4 has “Of natural descent τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκός children by natural descent Ro 9:8 (opp. τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας). ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται Gal 4:23; cp. vs. 29.”
- Galatians 4:24 tn Grk “which things are spoken about allegorically.” Paul is not saying the OT account is an allegory, but rather that he is constructing an allegory based on the OT account.
- Galatians 4:26 sn The meaning of the statement the Jerusalem above is free is that the other woman represents the second covenant (cf. v. 24); she corresponds to the Jerusalem above that is free. Paul’s argument is very condensed at this point.
- Galatians 4:27 tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
- Galatians 4:27 tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”sn A quotation from Isa 54:1.
- Galatians 4:28 tc Most mss (א A C D2 Ψ 062 1241 1505 2464 M lat sy bo) read “we” here, while “you” is found in P46 B D* F G 0261vid 0278 33 1175 1739 al sa. It is more likely that a copyist, noticing the first person pronouns in vv. 26 and 31, changed a second person pronoun here to first person for consistency.
- Galatians 4:28 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
- Galatians 4:29 tn Grk “according to the flesh”; see the note on the phrase “by natural descent” in 4:23.
- Galatians 4:29 tn Or “the one born by the Spirit’s [power].”
- Galatians 4:30 sn A quotation from Gen 21:10. The phrase of the free woman does not occur in Gen 21:10.
- Galatians 4:31 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
- Galatians 5:1 tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.
- Galatians 5:1 sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.