Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Tell the Coming Generation
A Maskil[a] of (A)Asaph.
78 (B)Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 (C)I will open my mouth (D)in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our (E)fathers have told us.
4 We will not (F)hide them from their children,
but (G)tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and (H)the wonders that he has done.
5 He established (I)a testimony in (J)Jacob
and appointed a law in (K)Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that (L)the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget (M)the works of God,
but (N)keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be (O)like their fathers,
(P)a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation (Q)whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
(A)rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They (B)tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
(C)“Can God (D)spread a table in the wilderness?
20 (E)He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
(F)a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22 because they (G)did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above
and (H)opened the doors of heaven,
24 and he (I)rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them (J)the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of (K)the angels;
he sent them food (L)in abundance.
26 He (M)caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained meat on them like (N)dust,
winged birds like (O)the sand of the seas;
28 he (P)let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all round their dwellings.
29 And they (Q)ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they (R)craved.
2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel (A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, (B)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, (C)when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain (D)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may (E)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, (F)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, (G)“At evening (H)you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the (I)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For (J)what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—(K)what are we? Your grumbling is not (L)against us but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses (M)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, (N)‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness, and behold, the (O)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I (P)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At (Q)twilight you shall eat meat, and (R)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 In the evening (S)quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning (T)dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, (U)“What is it?”[a] For they (V)did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, (W)“It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
31 Now the house of Israel called its name (A)manna. It was (B)like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a (C)jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before (D)the testimony to be kept. 35 The people of Israel (E)ate the manna for forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till (F)they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
32 (A)Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, (B)“I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, (C)“Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and (D)having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And (E)they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of (F)Magadan.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.