Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to Yahweh for His Creation and Providence
104 Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
O Yahweh my God, you are very great.
You clothe yourself with splendor and majesty,
2 you who cover yourself with light as with a garment,
who stretch out the heavens like a tent curtain,
3 the one who sets beams in the waters for his upper chambers,
who makes clouds his chariot,
who rides[a] on the wings of the wind,
4 who makes his messengers the winds,
his attendants a flame of fire.
5 He established the earth on her foundations,
so that it will not be moved forever and ever.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment.
The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they ran off.
8 They ascended the mountains and drained though the valleys
to the place that you established[b] for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not cross over,
so that they would not return to cover the earth.
10 You are the one who sends forth springs into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.
11 They give drink for every beast of the field.
The wild donkeys quench[c] their thirst.
12 Along them the birds of the heavens abide.
From among the branches they sing.[d]
13 You are the one who waters[e] the mountains
from his upper chambers.
The earth is full[f] with the fruit of your labors:
14 who causes grass to grow for the cattle
and herbs for the service of humankind,
to bring forth food from the earth,
15 and wine that makes glad the heart of man,
so that their faces shine from oil,
and bread that strengthens the heart of man.
16 The trees of Yahweh drink their fill,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
17 where birds make their nest.
The stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon for appointed times;
the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
when[g] all the animals of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions are roaring for the prey
and seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they gather together
and lie down in their dens.
23 Humankind goes out to its work,
and to its labor until evening.
24 How many are your works, O Yahweh;
all of them you have done in wisdom.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 This is the great and wide[h] sea,
in which are moving animals without number,
living things small and great.
26 There the ships sail.
Leviathan is there that you formed to play with.[i]
27 They all wait for you
to give them their food at the proper time.[j]
28 You give to them; they gather it.
You open your hand, they are filled with what is good.
29 You hide your face, they are terrified.
You take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
30 You send forth your Spirit,[k] they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of Yahweh endure forever.
May Yahweh be glad in his works,
32 the one who looks at the earth and it quakes,
and touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to Yahweh throughout my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I remain alive.[l]
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him.
I will be glad in Yahweh.
35 Let sinners perish completely from the earth,
and the wicked not remain alive.[m]
Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
Praise Yah.[n]
The Song of Moses
32 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching trickle like the dew,
my words like rain showers on tender grass,
and like spring showers on new growth.
3 For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh;
ascribe greatness to our God!
4 The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are just;
he is a faithful God, and without injustice;[a]
righteous and upright is he.
5 They have behaved corruptly toward[b] him;
they are not his children; this is their flaw,
a generation crooked and perverse.
6 Like this do you treat Yahweh,
foolish and unwise[c] people?
Has he not, your father, created you?
He made you, and he established you.
7 Remember the old days, the years long past;[d]
ask your father, and he will inform you,
your elders and they will tell you.[e]
8 When the Most High apportioned[f] the nations,
at his dividing up of the sons of humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples,
according to the number of the children of Israel.[g]
9 For Yahweh’s portion was his people,
Jacob the share of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land,
and in a howling, desert wasteland;
he encircled him,[h] he cared for him,
he protected him like the apple[i] of his eye.
11 As an eagle stirs up its nest,
hovers over its young,
spreads out its wings, takes them,[j]
carries them[k] on its pinions,[l]
12 so Yahweh alone guided him,[m]
and there was no foreign god accompanying him.[n]
13 And he set him on the high places of the land,
and he fed him the crops[o] of the field,
and he nursed him with honey from crags,[p]
and with oil from flinty rock,
14 With curds[q] from the herd,
and with milk from the flock,
with the fat of young rams,
and rams, the offspring of Bashan,
and with goats along with the finest kernels of wheat,
and from the blood of grapes[r] you drank fermented wine.[s]
32 But remember the former days in which, after you[a] were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed both to insults and to afflictions, and sometimes becoming sharers with those who were treated in this way. 34 For you both sympathized with the prisoners and put up with the seizure of your belongings with joy because you[b] knew that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, in order that after you[c] have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet
“a very, very little while,
and the one who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith,
and if he shrinks back, my soul is not well pleased with him.”[d]
39 But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but among those who have faith to the preservation of our souls.
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