Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
O God of Our Salvation
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 Praise (A)is due to you,[a] O God, in Zion,
and to you shall (B)vows be performed.
2 O you who (C)hear prayer,
to you (D)shall all flesh come.
3 When (E)iniquities prevail against me,
you (F)atone for our transgressions.
4 (G)Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to (H)dwell in your courts!
We shall be (I)satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
5 By (J)awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all (K)the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being (L)girded with might;
7 who (M)stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
(N)the tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (O)water it;[b]
you greatly enrich it;
(P)the river of God is full of water;
(Q)you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with (R)showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks (S)overflow with abundance.
12 (T)The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills (U)gird themselves with joy,
13 (V)the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they (W)shout and sing together for joy.
The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 (A)Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand (B)the staff that turned into a (C)serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The (D)Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, (E)that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this (F)you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and (G)it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will (H)grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and (I)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he (J)lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the (K)water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians (L)could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But (M)the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So (N)Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as (O)the Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
The Storm at Sea
13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, (A)struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda,[a] we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would (B)run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear,[b] and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day (C)to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, (D)you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this (E)injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to (F)take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night (G)there (H)stood before me (I)an angel of the God (J)to whom I belong and (K)whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; (L)you must stand before Caesar. And behold, (M)God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But (N)we must (O)run aground on some island.”
27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms.[c] A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.[d] 29 And fearing that we might (P)run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered (Q)the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.
33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength,[e] for (R)not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and (S)giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all (T)were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276[f] (U)persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, (V)throwing out the wheat into the sea.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.