The Works and the Word of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

A Psalm of Praise.

The Flood

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be ^(A)righteous before Me in this generation. ² You shall take ^[a]with you ^[b]seven pairs of every ^(B)clean animal, a male and his female; and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and his female; ³ also of the birds of the sky, ^[c]seven pairs, male and female, to keep their ^[d]offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For after ^(C)seven more days, I will send rain on the earth for ^(D)forty days and forty nights; and I will wipe out from the face of the land ^(E)every living thing that I have made.” ⁵ So ^(F)Noah acted in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Now Noah was ^(G)six hundred years old when the flood of water ^[e]came upon the earth. ⁷ Then ^(H)Noah and his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the waters of the flood. ^8 (I)Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that crawls on the ground, ⁹ they all went into the ark to Noah ^[f]by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ Now it came about after ^(J)the seven days, that the waters of the flood ^[g]came upon the earth.

¹⁷ Then the flood ^[a]came upon the earth for ^(A)forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. ¹⁸ The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark ^[b]floated on the ^[c]surface of the water. ¹⁹ And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains ^[d]everywhere under the heavens were covered. ²⁰ The water prevailed ^[e]fifteen cubits higher, ^(B)and the mountains were covered. ²¹ So ^(C)all ^[f]creatures that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; ²² of all that was on the dry land, all ^(D)in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. ²³ So He wiped out ^[g]every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from mankind to animals, to crawling things, and the birds of the sky, and they were wiped out from the earth; and only ^(E)Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

Unity of the Spirit

4 Therefore I, ^(A)the prisoner of the Lord, ^(B)urge you to ^(C)walk in a manner worthy of the ^(D)calling with which you have been ^(E)called, ² with all ^(F)humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another ^(G)in love, ³ being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the ^(H)bond of peace. ⁴ There is ^(I)one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one ^(J)hope of your calling; ^5 (K)one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all ^(L)who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But ^(M)to each one of us ^(N)grace was given ^(O)according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore ^[a]it says,

⁹ (Now this expression, “He ^(R)ascended,” what ^[b]does it mean except that He also ^[c]had descended into ^(S)the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ^(T)far above all the heavens, so that He might ^(U)fill all things.) ¹¹ And He ^(V)gave ^(W)some as apostles, some as prophets, some as ^(X)evangelists, some as ^[d]pastors and ^(Y)teachers, ^12 (Z)for the equipping of the ^[e]saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of ^(AA)the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to ^(AB)the unity of the faith, and of the ^[f](AC)knowledge of the Son of God, to a ^(AD)mature man, to the measure of the stature ^[g]which belongs to the ^(AE)fullness of Christ. ^14 [h]As a result, we are ^(AF)no longer to be children, ^(AG)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by ^(AH)craftiness ^[i]in ^(AI)deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but ^[j]speaking the truth ^(AJ)in love, ^[k]we are to ^(AK)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^(AL)head, that is, Christ, ¹⁶ from whom ^(AM)the whole body, being fitted and held together ^[l]by what every joint supplies, according to the ^[m]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^(AN)in love.

^7 (A)Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and ^(B)a large multitude from Galilee followed, and also from Judea, ⁸ and from Jerusalem, and from ^(C)Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of ^(D)Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard about everything that He was doing and came to Him. ^9 (E)And He told His disciples to see that a boat would be ready for Him because of the ^[a]masses, so that they would not crowd Him; ¹⁰ for He had ^(F)healed many, with the result that all those who had ^(G)diseases pushed in around Him in order to ^(H)touch Him. ¹¹ And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are ^(I)the Son of God!” ¹² And He ^(J)strongly warned them not to ^[b]reveal who He was.

The Twelve Are Chosen

¹³ And He *went up on ^(K)the mountain and *^(L)summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. ¹⁴ And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to cast out the demons. ¹⁶ And He appointed the twelve: ^(M)Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), ^17 [c]James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of ^[d]James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); ¹⁸ and Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, ^[e]James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the ^[f]Zealot; ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.