Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
104 (A)Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord my God, You are very great;
You are (B)clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 Covering Yourself with (C)light as with a cloak,
(D)Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
3 [a]He (E)lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
[b]He makes the (F)clouds His chariot;
[c]He walks on the (G)wings of the wind;
4 [d]He makes [e](H)the winds His messengers,
[f]Flaming (I)fire His ministers.
5 He (J)established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not [g]totter forever and ever.
6 You (K)covered it with the deep sea as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 They fled from Your (L)rebuke,
At the (M)sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down
To the (N)place which You established for them.
9 You set a (O)boundary so that they will not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10 [h]He sends forth (P)springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
11 They (Q)give drink to every animal of the field;
The (R)wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky (S)dwell [i]beside them;
They [j]lift up their voices from among the branches.
13 [k]He (T)waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
(U)The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 [l]He causes the (V)grass to grow for the [m]cattle,
And (W)vegetation for the labor of mankind,
So that [n]they may produce [o]food (X)from the earth,
15 And (Y)wine, which makes a human heart cheerful,
(Z)So that he makes his face gleam with oil,
And [p]food, which (AA)sustains a human heart.
16 The trees of the Lord [q]drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the (AB)birds build their nests,
And the (AC)stork, whose home is the juniper trees.
18 The high mountains are for the (AD)wild goats;
The (AE)cliffs are a refuge for the (AF)rock hyrax.
19 He made the moon (AG)for the seasons;
The (AH)sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You (AI)appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the (AJ)animals of the forest [r]prowl about.
21 The (AK)young lions roar for their prey
[s]And (AL)seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw,
And they lie down in their (AM)dens.
23 A person goes out to (AN)his work
And to his labor until evening.
24 Lord, how (AO)many are Your works!
[t]In (AP)wisdom You have made them all;
The (AQ)earth is full of Your [u]possessions.
25 [v]There is the (AR)sea, great and [w]broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
26 The (AS)ships move along there,
And [x](AT)Leviathan, which You have formed to have fun in it.
27 They all (AU)wait for You
To (AV)give them their food in [y]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (AW)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (AX)hide Your face, they are terrified;
You (AY)take away their breath, they perish
And (AZ)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [z](BA)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 May the (BB)glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord (BC)rejoice in His works;
32 [aa]He (BD)looks at the earth, and it (BE)trembles;
He (BF)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [ab]I will sing to the Lord [ac](BG)as long as I live;
[ad]I will (BH)sing praise to my God [ae]while I have my being.
34 May my (BI)praise be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (BJ)rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners be (BK)removed from the earth
And may the (BL)wicked be no more.
(BM)Bless the Lord, my soul.
[af](BN)Praise [ag]the Lord!
Elijah Predicts Drought
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of [a](A)the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “(B)As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, (C)there shall certainly be neither dew nor rain during these years, except by my word.” 2 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is [b]east of the Jordan. 4 And it shall be that you will drink from the brook, and (D)I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there.” 5 So he went and did everything according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is [c]east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 But it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to (E)Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, (F)I have commanded a widow there to provide food for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and (G)he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a [d]cup, so that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “(H)As the Lord your God lives, (I)I have no food, only a handful of flour in the [e]bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering [f]a few sticks so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may [g]eat it and (J)die.” 13 However, Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said. Just make me a little bread loaf from [h]it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The [i]bowl of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil become empty, until the day that the Lord provides rain on the face of the earth.’” 15 So she went and did everything in accordance with the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The [j]bowl of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
6 Now these things, brothers and sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos on your account, so that in us you may learn not to exceed (A)what is written, so that no one of you will (B)become [a]arrogant (C)in behalf of one against the other. 7 For who considers you as superior? (D)What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8 You are (E)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you! 9 For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men (F)condemned to death, because we (G)have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind. 10 We are (H)fools on account of Christ, but (I)you are prudent in Christ! (J)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor! 11 Up to this present hour we are both (K)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless; 12 and we labor, (L)working with our own hands; when we are (M)verbally abused, we bless; when we are (N)persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we [b]reply as friends; we have (O)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to (P)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved (Q)children. 15 For if you were to have countless (R)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in (S)Christ Jesus I (T)became your father through the (U)gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, be (V)imitators of me. 17 For this reason I (W)have sent to you (X)Timothy, who is my (Y)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, (Z)just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some have become [c](AA)arrogant, as though I were not (AB)coming to you. 19 But I (AC)will come to you soon, (AD)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the [d]words of those who are (AE)arrogant, but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God is (AF)not in [e]words, but in power. 21 What do you desire? (AG)That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
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