Psalms
Chapter 75
This psalm is a song of thanks to God, who says he alone sets the time for judging and keeps the shaking earth steady. God tells proud and wicked people to stop boasting, because no direction on the map can raise a person up. Only God brings one person down and lifts another up, and he holds a cup of wine that the wicked must drink to the last drop.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
1We thank you, God. We thank you again. Your name is near, and the wonderful things you do tell everyone about you.
2When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
2God says: "I pick the right time, and when it comes I will judge people fairly."
3The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
3"When the earth shakes and everyone on it is afraid, I am the one holding up its pillars." Selah.
"Selah" is a word left in Hebrew. It probably marked a pause or a music cue for the singers.
4I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
4"I say to those who show off, 'Stop boasting.' And I say to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horn.'"
A "horn" is an animal's horn, like a bull's. In the Bible it stands for a person's strength. To "lift up your horn" means to show off your power.
5Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
5"Do not raise your horn against heaven. Do not talk with your neck stretched out in pride."
6For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
6No one is raised to a high place by help from the east, or the west, or the desert in the south.
The King James Version says "promotion." It means being lifted to a high or powerful position, not a job promotion.
7But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
7God is the judge. He brings one person down and lifts another person up.
8For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
8The LORD holds a cup of foaming wine, mixed with spices. He pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it to the last bitter drop.
9But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
9But I will keep telling about God forever. I will sing songs of praise to the God of Jacob.
10All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
10God says: "I will cut off every horn of the wicked, but I will lift up the horns of those who do right."
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