Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
104 Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2
[You are the One] who covers Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain,
3
Who lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters [above the firmament],
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
4
Who makes winds His messengers,
Flames of fire His ministers.(A)
5
He established the earth on its foundations,
So that it will not be moved forever and ever.(B)
6
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.(C)
7
At Your rebuke they fled;
At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
To the place which You established for them.
9
You set a boundary [for the waters] that they may not cross over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10
You send springs into the valleys;
Their waters flow among the mountains.
11
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst there.
12
Beside them the birds of the heavens have their nests;
They lift up their voices and sing among the branches.(D)
13
He waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14
He causes grass to grow for the cattle,
And all that the earth produces for cultivation by man,
So that he may bring food from the earth—
15
And wine which makes the heart of man glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And bread to sustain and strengthen man’s heart.
16
The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,
17
Where the birds make their nests;
As for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
The rocks are a refuge for the [a]shephanim.
19
He made the moon for the seasons;
The sun knows the [exact] place of its setting.
20
You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night,
In which prowls about every wild beast of the forest.
21
The young lions roar after their prey
And seek their food from God.
22
When the sun arises, they withdraw
And lie down in their dens.
23
Man goes out to his work
And remains at his labor until evening.
24
O Lord, how many and varied are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.
25
There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Creatures both small and great.
26
There the ships [of the sea] sail,
And Leviathan [the sea monster], which You have formed to play there.
27
They all wait for You
To give them their food in its appointed season.
28
You give it to them, they gather it up;
You open Your hand, they are filled and satisfied with good [things].
29
You hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You take away their breath, they die
And return to their dust.
30
You send out Your Spirit, they are created;
You renew the face of the ground.
31
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice and be glad in His works—
32
He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34
May my meditation be sweet and pleasing to Him;
As for me, I will rejoice and be glad in the Lord.
35
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
The Song of Moses
32 “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2
“Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As the light rain upon the tender grass,
And as the spring showers upon the herb.
3
“For I proclaim the name [and presence] of the Lord;
Ascribe greatness and honor to our God!
4
“The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness without iniquity (injustice),
Just and upright is He.
5
“They (Israel) have acted corruptly toward Him.
They are not His children, because of their [moral] defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6
“Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is not He your Father who has acquired you [as His own]?
He has made you and established you [as a nation].
7
“Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
8
“When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel.
9
“For the Lord’s portion and chosen share is His people;
Jacob (Israel) is the allotment of His inheritance.
10
“He found him in a desert land,
In the howling wasteland of a wilderness;
He kept circling him, He took care of him,
He protected him as the [a]apple of His eye.
11
“As an eagle that protects its nest,
That flutters over its young,
He spread out His wings and took them,
He carried them on His pinions.(A)
12
“So the Lord alone led him;
There was no foreign god with him.
13
“He made him (Israel) ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And [olive] oil from the flinty rock,
14
Butter and curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat;
And you drank wine, the blood of grapes.
32 But remember the earlier days, when, after being [spiritually] enlightened, you [patiently] endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 sometimes by being made a spectacle, publicly exposed to insults and distress, and sometimes by becoming companions with those who were so treated. 34 For you showed sympathy and deep concern for those who were imprisoned, and you joyfully accepted the [unjust] seizure of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, conscious of the fact that you have a better possession and a lasting one [prepared for you in heaven]. 35 Do not, therefore, fling away your [fearless] confidence, for it has a glorious and great reward. 36 For you have need of patient endurance [to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising], so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.
37
For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38
But My righteous one [the one justified by faith] shall live by faith [respecting man’s relationship to God and trusting Him];
And if he draws back [shrinking in fear], My soul has no delight in him.(A)
39 But [a]our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul.
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