Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book V
Psalms 107–150
Psalm 107
He Redeemed Them From Trouble
Invocation to Give Thanks
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say this,
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.[a]
Curses and Blessings
33 He turned rivers into a wilderness
and flowing springs into thirsty ground.
34 He turned fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived in it.
35 He turned the wilderness into pools of water
and the desert into flowing springs.
36 Then he let the hungry live there,
and they founded a city where they could live.
37 Then they sowed fields, and they planted vineyards,
which produced abundant fruit.
38 Then he blessed them, so they increased greatly in number.
He did not let their herds of cattle decrease.
39 But then their numbers decreased,
and they were humbled by oppression, disaster, and sorrow.
40 He who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in confusion
where there was no road.
41 But he lifted up the needy out of affliction
and made their families like a flock.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
but all wickedness shuts its mouth.
Application: Be Wise
43 Whoever is wise, let him keep these things.
Let them take to heart the mercies of the Lord.
Elders Appointed to Assist Moses
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather seventy men from the elders of Israel for me, men whom you know to be elders and officers for the people. Take them to the Tent of Meeting and make them stand there with you. 17 I will come down and talk with you there. I will take from the Spirit that is on you and will put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it by yourself.
18 “Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves to be ready for tomorrow. You will eat meat because you have wept and the Lord has heard you say, “Who will give us meat to eat? Yes, things were good for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat. 19 You will eat not just for one day, for two days, for five days, for ten days, not even just for twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until meat comes out of your nostrils, and you begin to loathe it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and you have wept in his presence, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
21 Moses said, “I am in the middle of a people with six hundred thousand foot soldiers, and now you say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a whole month.’ 22 If flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would that be enough for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would that be enough for them?”
23 The Lord said to Moses, “Is the arm of the Lord too short? Now you will see whether what I have said to you will happen or not.”
Quail and a Plague From the Lord
31 A wind sent out from the Lord brought quail in from the sea. The wind scattered them throughout the camp (and about a day’s journey in any direction around the camp) about three feet deep[a] on the ground. 32 All that day, all that night, and all the next day, the people got up and gathered the quail. No one gathered fewer than sixty bushels.[b] They spread them out around the camp.
Living Changed Lives
17 So I tell you this and testify to it in the Lord: Do not walk any longer as the Gentiles walk, in their futile way of thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their hearts. 19 Because they have no sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality, with an ever-increasing desire to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But you did not learn Christ in that way, 21 if indeed you have heard of him and were taught in him (since the truth is in Jesus). 22 As far as your former way of life is concerned, you were taught to take off the old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed continually in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.