Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
78 (A)Listen, O my people, to my [b]instruction;
(B)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will (C)open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter (D)dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And (E)our fathers have told us.
4 We will (F)not conceal them from their children,
But (G)tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His (H)wondrous works that He has done.
5 For He established a (I)testimony in Jacob
And appointed a (J)law in Israel,
Which He (K)commanded our fathers
That they should [c](L)teach them to their children,
6 (M)That the generation to come might know, even (N)the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and (O)tell them to their children,
7 That they should put their confidence in God
And (P)not forget the works of God,
But (Q)keep His commandments,
8 And (R)not be like their fathers,
A (S)stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that (T)did not [d]prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not (U)faithful to God.
17 Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To (A)rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 And in their heart they (B)put God to the test
By asking (C)food according to their desire.
19 Then they spoke against God;
They said, “(D)Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 “Behold, He (E)struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He give bread also?
Will He provide [a](F)meat for His people?”
21 Therefore the Lord heard and [b]was (G)full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob
And anger also mounted against Israel,
22 Because they (H)did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the clouds above
And (I)opened the doors of heaven;
24 He (J)rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them [c](K)food from heaven.
25 Man did eat the bread of [d]angels;
He sent them [e]food [f](L)in abundance.
26 He (M)caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His [g]power He directed the south wind.
27 When He rained [h]meat upon them like the dust,
Even (N)winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28 Then He let them fall in the midst of [i]their camp,
Round about their dwellings.
29 So they (O)ate and were well filled,
And their desire He gave to them.
God’s Gracious Dealings
8 “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you (A)may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. 2 (B)You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has (C)led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, (D)testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you [a]understand that (E)man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 4 (F)Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 (G)Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to [b]fear Him. 7 For (H)the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When (I)you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
8 First, (A)I thank my God through Jesus Christ [a]for you all, because (B)your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For (C)God, whom I (D)serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly (E)I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by (F)the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For (G)I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be [b]established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 (H)I do not want you to be unaware, (I)brethren, that often I (J)have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some (K)fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 (L)I am [c]under obligation both to Greeks and to (M)barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to (N)preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.