Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 104
1 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great! You are clothed with honor and majesty—
2 [You are the One] Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain or a tent,
3 Who lays the beams of the upper room of His abode 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 You laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.(B)
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.(C)
7 At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which You appointed for them.
9 You have set a boundary [for the waters] which they may not pass over, that they turn not again to deluge the earth.
10 He sends forth springs into the valleys; their waters run among the mountains.
11 They give drink to every [wild] beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst there.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens have their nests; they sing among the branches.(D)
13 He waters the mountains from His upper rooms; the earth is satisfied and abounds with the fruit of His works.
14 He causes vegetation to grow for the cattle, and all that the earth produces for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth—
15 And wine that gladdens the heart of man, to make his face shine more than oil, and bread to support, refresh, and strengthen man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly and are filled with sap, 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 conies and badgers.
19 [The Lord] appointed the moon for the seasons; the sun knows [the exact time of] its setting.
20 You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night, in which creeps forth 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 themselves and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth to his work and remains at his task until evening.
24 O Lord, how many and varied are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, in which are swarms of innumerable creeping things, creatures both small and great.
26 There go the ships of the sea, and Leviathan (the sea monster), which You have formed to sport in it.
27 These all wait and are dependent upon You, that You may give them their food in due season.
28 When You give it to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, and they are filled with good things.
29 When You hide Your face, they are troubled and dismayed; when You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 When You send forth Your Spirit and give them breath, they are created, and You replenish the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works—
32 Who looks on the earth, and it quakes and trembles, Who 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 any being.
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; as for me, I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
17 Elijah the Tishbite, of the temporary residents of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years but according to My word.
2 And the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
3 Go from here and turn east and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.
4 You shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.
5 So he did according to the word of the Lord; he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.
7 After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the Lord came to him:
9 Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her, Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.
12 And she said, As the Lord your God lives, I have not a loaf baked but only a handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the bottle. See, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it—and die.
13 Elijah said to her, Fear not; go and do as you have said. But make me a little cake of [it] first and bring it to me, and afterward prepare some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: The jar of meal shall not waste away or the bottle of oil fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.
15 She did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The jar of meal was not spent nor did the bottle of oil fail, according to the word which the Lord spoke through Elijah.
6 Now I have applied all this [about parties and factions] to myself and Apollos for your sakes, brethren, so that from what I have said of us [as illustrations], you may learn [to think of men in accordance with Scripture and] not to go beyond that which is written, that none of you may be puffed up and inflated with pride and boast in favor of one [minister and teacher] against another.
7 For who separates you from the others [as a faction leader]? [Who makes you superior and sets you apart from another, giving you the preeminence?] What have you that was not given to you? If then you received it [from someone], why do you boast as if you had not received [but had gained it by your own efforts]?
8 [[a]You behave as if] you are already filled and think you have enough [you are full and content, feeling no need of anything more]! Already you have become rich [in spiritual gifts and graces]! [Without any counsel or instruction from us, in your conceit], you have ascended your thrones and come into your kingdom without including us! And would that it were true and that you did reign, so that we might be sharing the kingdom with you!
9 For it seems to me that God has made an exhibit of us apostles, exposing us to view last [of all, like men in a triumphal procession who are] sentenced to death [and displayed at the end of the line]. For we have become a spectacle to the world [a show in the world’s amphitheater] with both men and angels [as spectators].
10 We are [looked upon as] fools on account of Christ and for His sake, but you are [supposedly] so amazingly wise and prudent in Christ! We are weak, but you are [so very] strong! You are highly esteemed, but we are in disrepute and contempt!
11 To this hour we have gone both hungry and thirsty; we [[b]habitually] wear but one undergarment [and shiver in the cold]; we are roughly knocked about and wander around homeless.
12 And we still toil unto weariness [for our living], working hard with our own hands. When men revile us [[c]wound us with an accursed sting], we bless them. When we are persecuted, we take it patiently and endure it.
13 When we are slandered and defamed, we [try to] answer softly and bring comfort. We have been made and are now the rubbish and filth of the world [the offscouring of all things, the scum of the earth].
14 I do not write this to shame you, but to warn and counsel you as my beloved children.
15 After all, though you should have ten thousand teachers (guides to direct you) in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the glad tidings (the Gospel).
16 So I urge and implore you, be imitators of me.
17 For this very cause I sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, who will recall to your minds my methods of proceeding and course of conduct and way of life in Christ, such as I teach everywhere in each of the churches.
18 Some of you have become conceited and arrogant and pretentious, counting on my not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you [and] shortly, if the Lord is willing, and then I will perceive and understand not what the talk of these puffed up and arrogant spirits amount to, but their force ([d]the moral power and excellence of soul they really possess).
20 For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on not talk but power ([e]moral power and excellence of soul).
21 Now which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of correction, or with love and in a spirit of gentleness?
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