Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A (A)Contemplation[a] of Asaph.
78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a (B)parable;
I will utter [b]dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 (C)We will not hide them from their children,
(D)Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For (E)He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That (F)they should make them known to their children;
6 (G)That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8 And (H)may not be like their fathers,
(I)A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation (J)that did not [c]set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
17 But they sinned even more against Him
By (A)rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 And (B)they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
19 (C)Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 (D)Behold, He struck the rock,
So that the waters gushed out,
And the streams overflowed.
Can He give bread also?
Can He provide meat for His people?”
21 Therefore the Lord heard this and (E)was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
22 Because they (F)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
(G)And opened the doors of heaven,
24 (H)Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the [a]bread of (I)heaven.
25 Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to [b]the full.
26 (J)He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He brought in the south wind.
27 He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29 (K)So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
Remember the Lord Your God
8 “Every commandment which I command you today (A)you must [a]be careful to observe, that you may live and (B)multiply,[b] and go in and possess the land of which the Lord [c]swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God (C)led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and (D)test you, (E)to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, (F)allowed you to hunger, and (G)fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall (H)not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 4 (I)Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 (J)You should [d]know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.
6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, (K)to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, (L)a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of 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 in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 (M)When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
Desire to Visit Rome
8 First, (A)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that (B)your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For (C)God is my witness, (D)whom I serve [a]with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that (E)without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that (F)I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by (G)the mutual faith both of you and me.
13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but (H)was hindered until now), that I might have some (I)fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.