Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
BOOK V
(Psalms 107–150)
Psalm 107
107 “Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his faithful love lasts forever!”
2 That’s what those who are redeemed by the Lord say,
the ones God redeemed from the power of their enemies,
3 the ones God gathered from various countries,
from east and west, north and south.
33 God turns rivers into desert,
watery springs into thirsty ground,
34 fruitful land into unproductive dirt,
when its inhabitants are wicked.
35 But God can also turn the desert into watery pools,
thirsty ground into watery springs,
36 where he settles the hungry.
They even build a city and live there!
37 They plant fields and vineyards
and obtain a fruitful harvest.
38 God blesses them, and they become many.
God won’t even let their cattle diminish.
39 But when they do diminish—
when they’re brought down by oppression, trouble, and grief—
40 God pours contempt on their leaders,
making them wander aimlessly in the wastelands.
41 But God raises the needy from their suffering;
he makes their families as numerous as sheep!
42 Those who do right see it and celebrate,
but every wicked person shuts their mouth.
43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things,
carefully considering the Lord’s faithful love.
Invitation to the feast
55 All of you who are thirsty, come to the water!
Whoever has no money, come, buy food and eat!
Without money, at no cost, buy wine and milk!
2 Why spend money for what isn’t food,
and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy?
Listen carefully to me and eat what is good;
enjoy the richest of feasts.
3 Listen and come to me;
listen, and you will live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful loyalty to David.
4 Look, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a prince and commander of peoples.
5 Look, you will call a nation you don’t know,
a nation you don’t know will run to you
because of the Lord your God,
the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you.
6 Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
7 Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.
8 My plans aren’t your plans,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my plans than your plans.
Jesus feeds four thousand people
8 In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and told them, 2 “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they won’t have enough strength to travel, for some have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples responded, “How can anyone get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy these people?”
5 Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
They said, “Seven loaves.”
6 He told the crowd to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them apart, and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they gave the bread to the crowd. 7 They also had a few fish. He said a blessing over them, then gave them to the disciples to hand out also. 8 They ate until they were full. They collected seven baskets full of leftovers. 9 This was a crowd of about four thousand people! Jesus sent them away, 10 then got into a boat with his disciples and went over to the region of Dalmanutha.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible