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.
2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel (A)complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, (B)“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, (C)when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain (D)bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather [a]a certain quota every day, that I may (E)test them, whether they will (F)walk in My law or not. 5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and (G)it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, (H)“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you shall see (I)the glory of the Lord; for He (J)hears your complaints against the Lord. But (K)what are we, that you complain against us?” 8 Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but (L)against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, (M)‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord (N)appeared in the cloud.
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 (O)“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, (P)‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and (Q)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13 So it was that (R)quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning (S)the dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was (T)a small round (U)substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
And Moses said to them, (V)“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.
31 And the house of Israel called its name [a]Manna. And (A)it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, (B)“Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up (C)before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel (D)ate manna (E)forty years, (F)until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
Feeding the Four Thousand(A)
32 (B)Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
33 (C)Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And (D)He took the seven loaves and the fish and (E)gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 (F)And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of [a]Magdala.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.