Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
65 Our God, we look forward to praising you in Zion.
We will keep our promises to you.
2 All people will come to you,
because you hear and answer prayer.
3 When our sins became too much for us,
you forgave our lawless acts.
4 Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to worship you.
You bring us into the courtyards of your holy temple.
There in your house we are filled with all kinds of good things.
5 God our Savior, you answer us with right and wonderful deeds.
People all over the world and beyond the farthest oceans
put their hope in you.
6 You formed the mountains by your power.
You showed how strong you are.
7 You calmed the oceans and their roaring waves.
You calmed the angry words and actions of the nations.
8 Everyone on earth is amazed at the wonderful things you have done.
What you do makes people from one end of the earth to the other sing for joy.
9 You take care of the land and water it.
You make it able to grow many crops.
You fill your streams with water.
You do that to provide the people with grain.
That’s what you have decided to do for the land.
10 You water its rows.
You smooth out its bumps.
You soften it with showers.
And you bless its crops.
11 You bring the year to a close with huge crops.
You provide more than enough food.
12 The grass grows thick even in the desert.
The hills are dressed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks and herds.
The valleys are dressed with grain.
They sing and shout for joy.
The Plague of Hail
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Get up early in the morning. Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 14 If you do not let them go, I will send the full force of my plagues against you this time. They will strike your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in the whole earth. 15 By now I could have reached out my hand. I could have struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I had a special reason for making you king. I decided to show you my power. I wanted my name to become known everywhere on earth. 17 But you are still against my people. You will not let them go. 18 So at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm ever to fall on Egypt in its entire history. 19 Give an order now to bring your livestock inside to a safe place. Bring in everything that is outside. The hail will fall on all the people and animals that are left outside. They will die.” ’ ”
20 The officials of Pharaoh who had respect for what the Lord had said obeyed him. They hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. 21 But others didn’t pay attention to what the Lord had said. They left their slaves and livestock outside.
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Reach out your hand toward the sky. Then hail will fall all over Egypt. It will beat down on people and animals alike. It will strike everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 23 Moses reached out his walking stick toward the sky. Then the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning flashed down to the ground. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 Hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in Egypt’s entire history. 25 Hail struck everything in the fields all over Egypt. It fell on people and animals alike. It beat down everything growing in the fields. It tore all the leaves off the trees. 26 The only place it didn’t hail was in the area of Goshen. That’s where the people of Israel were.
27 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “This time I’ve sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord has done what is right. I and my people have done what is wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord, because we’ve had enough thunder and hail. I’ll let you and your people go. You don’t have to stay here any longer.”
29 Moses replied, “When I’ve left the city, I’ll lift up my hands and pray to the Lord. The thunder will stop. There won’t be any more hail. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30 But I know that you and your officials still don’t have any respect for the Lord God.”
31 The barley was ripe. The flax was in bloom. So they were both destroyed. 32 But the wheat and spelt weren’t destroyed. That’s because they ripen later.
33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. Moses lifted up his hands and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped. The rain didn’t pour down on the land any longer. 34 Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped. So he sinned again. He and his officials became stubborn. 35 So Pharaoh was stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
39 When daylight came, they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They didn’t recognize the place. But they decided to run the ship onto the beach if they could. 40 So they cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that held the rudders. They lifted the sail at the front of the ship to the wind. Then they headed for the beach. 41 But the ship hit a sandbar. So the front of it got stuck and wouldn’t move. The back of the ship was broken to pieces by the pounding of the waves.
42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners. They wanted to keep them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the commander wanted to save Paul’s life. So he kept the soldiers from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim to land. 44 The rest were supposed to get there on boards or other pieces of the ship. That is how everyone reached land safely.
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.