Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God Is Good to His People

78 O my people, hear my teaching. Listen to the words of my mouth. ² I will open my mouth in picture-stories. I will tell things which have been kept secret from long ago, ³ which we have heard and known because our fathers have told us. ⁴ We will not hide them from their children. But we will tell the children-to-come the praises of the Lord, and of His power and the great things He has done.

⁵ For He has made His will known to Jacob. He made the Law in Israel, which He told our fathers to teach their children. ⁶ So the children-to-come might know, even the children yet to be born. So they may rise up and tell it to their children. ⁷ Then they would put their trust in God and not forget the works of God. And they would keep His Law. ⁸ They would not be like their fathers, who were not right with God and would not obey Him or be faithful to Him.

¹⁷ But they still kept on sinning against Him. They did not obey the Most High in the desert. ¹⁸ They tested God in their hearts by asking for the food they wanted. ¹⁹ Then they spoke against God, saying, “Can God set a table in the desert? ²⁰ See, He hit the rock and water poured out and rivers flowed over. Can He give bread also? Will He give meat to His people?”

²¹ The Lord was full of anger when He heard them. And a fire was set against Jacob. His anger went up against Israel, ²² because they did not believe in God. They did not trust in Him to save them. ²³ Yet He spoke to the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven. ²⁴ He sent down bread from heaven for them to eat. He gave them food from heaven. ²⁵ Men ate the bread of angels. He sent them all the food they could eat. ²⁶ He made the east wind blow in the heavens. And He brought in the south wind by His power. ²⁷ He sent meat down on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the sea. ²⁸ He let them fall in the place where they were staying, all around their tents. ²⁹ So they ate until they were full. He gave them what they wanted.

² And all the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert, ³ saying, “We should have died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. For you have brought us out into this desert to kill all of us with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people will go out and gather a day’s share every day, so I may test them to see if they will follow My Law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as they gather each day.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to the people of Israel, “This evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you will see the greatness of the Lord. For He hears your complaining against the Lord. What are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸ Moses said, “The Lord is giving you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning. For He hears how you complain against Him. What are we? You complain not against us, but against the Lord.” ⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the people of Israel, ‘Come near to the Lord, for He has heard your complaining.’” ¹⁰ When Aaron spoke to all the people of Israel, they looked toward the desert. And they saw in the cloud the shining-greatness of the Lord. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘In the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening quails came and covered the place where the people were staying. And in the early morning a little water was around the tents. ¹⁴ When the water had gone, there were small white pieces all over the ground of the desert. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

³¹ The people of Israel called it bread from heaven. It was like coriander seed, white, and tasted like bread made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Let a jar of it be kept for your children and grandchildren to come, so they may see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar full of the bread from heaven. And put it before the Lord, to be kept for all your children to come.” ³⁴ As the Lord told Moses, Aaron put it in front of the special box of the agreement to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ate the bread from heaven forty years, until they came to a land where other people lived. They ate the bread from heaven until they came to the land of Canaan.

The Feeding of the Four Thousand ^(A)

³² Then Jesus called His followers to Him. He said, “I pity these people because they have been with Me three days and they have no food. I do not want to send them home without food. They might get too weak as they go.” ³³ The followers said to Jesus, “Where can we get enough bread to feed them all in this desert?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They said, “Seven loaves and a few small fish.” ³⁵ He told the people to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks. He broke them and gave them to His followers. The followers gave them to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven baskets full of pieces of bread and fish after the people finished eating. ³⁸ Four thousand men ate. Women and children ate also. ³⁹ After this Jesus sent the people away. Then He got into a boat and came to a place called Magadan.