Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A maskil of Asaph.
78 My people, listen to my teaching.
Pay attention to what I say.
2 I will open my mouth and tell a story.
I will speak about things that were hidden.
They happened a long time ago.
3 We have heard about them and we know them.
Our people who lived before us have told us about them.
4 We won’t hide them from our children.
We will tell them to those who live after us.
We will tell them what the Lord has done that is worthy of praise.
We will talk about his power and the wonderful things he has done.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock.
He led them like sheep through the desert.
53 He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid.
But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies.
54 And so he brought his people to the border of his holy land.
He led them to the central hill country he had taken by his power.
55 He drove out the nations to make room for his people.
He gave to each family a piece of land to pass on to their children.
He gave the tribes of Israel a place to make their homes.
56 But they tested God.
They refused to obey the Most High God.
They didn’t keep his laws.
57 They were like their people who lived long ago.
They turned away from him and were not faithful.
They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight.
They couldn’t be trusted.
58 They made God angry by going to their high places.
They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.
59 When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry.
He turned away from them completely.
60 He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh.
He left the tent he had set up among his people.
61 He allowed the ark to be captured.
Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested.
62 He let his people be killed by swords.
He was very angry with them.
63 Fire destroyed their young men.
Their young women had no one to marry.
64 Their priests were killed by swords.
Their widows weren’t able to weep.
65 Then the Lord woke up as if he had been sleeping.
He was like a warrior waking up from the deep sleep caused by wine.
66 He drove back his enemies.
He put them to shame that will last forever.
67 He turned his back on the tents of the people of Joseph.
He didn’t choose to live in the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose to live in the tribe of Judah.
He chose Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 There he built his holy place as secure as the heavens.
He built it to last forever, like the earth.
70 He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending sheep
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob.
He made him the shepherd of Israel, his special people.
72 David cared for them with a faithful and honest heart.
With skilled hands he led them.
13 That evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning the ground around the camp was covered with dew. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes appeared on the desert floor. They looked like frost on the ground. 15 The people of Israel saw the flakes. They asked each other, “What’s that?” They didn’t know what it was.
Moses said to them, “It’s the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 Here is what the Lord has commanded. He has said, ‘Everyone should gather as much as they need. Take three pounds for each person who lives in your tent.’ ”
17 The people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, and some gathered a little. 18 When they measured it out, the one who gathered a lot didn’t have too much. And the one who gathered a little had enough. Everyone gathered only what they needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it until morning.”
20 Some of them didn’t pay any attention to Moses. They kept part of it until morning. But it was full of maggots and began to stink. So Moses became angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed. But by the hottest time of the day, the thin flakes had melted away. 22 On the sixth day, the people gathered twice as much. It amounted to six pounds for each person. The leaders of the community came and reported that to Moses. 23 He said to them, “Here is what the Lord commanded. He said, ‘Tomorrow will be a day of rest. It will be a holy Sabbath day. It will be set apart for the Lord. So bake what you want to bake. Boil what you want to boil. Save what is left. Keep it until morning.’ ”
24 So they saved it until morning, just as Moses commanded. It didn’t stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said. “Today is a Sabbath day to honor the Lord. You won’t find any flakes on the ground today. 26 Gather them for six days. But on the seventh day there won’t be any. It’s the Sabbath day.”
19 One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still blame us? Who can oppose what he wants to do?” 20 But you are a mere human being. So who are you to talk back to God? Scripture says, “Can what is made say to the one who made it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” (Isaiah 29:16; 45:9) 21 Isn’t the potter free to make different kinds of pots out of the same lump of clay? Some are for special purposes. Others are for ordinary use.
22 What if God chose to show his great anger? What if he chose to make his power known? But he put up with the people he was angry with. They were made to be destroyed. 23 What if he put up with them to show the riches of his glory to other people? Those other people are the ones he shows his mercy to. He made them to receive his glory. 24 We are those people. He has chosen us. We do not come only from the Jewish race. Many of us are not Jews. 25 God says in Hosea,
“I will call those who are not my people ‘my people.’
I will call the one who is not my loved one ‘my loved one.’ ” (Hosea 2:23)
26 He also says,
“Once it was said to them,
‘You are not my people.’
In that very place they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ” (Hosea 1:10)
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel. He says,
“The number of people from Israel may be like the sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be saved.
28 The Lord will carry out his sentence.
He will be quick to carry it out on earth, once and for all.” (Isaiah 10:22,23)
29 Earlier Isaiah had said,
“The Lord who rules over all
left us children and grandchildren.
If he hadn’t, we would have become like Sodom.
We would have been like Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9)
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