Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to God for His Salvation and Providence
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the [a]vow shall be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
(A)To You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will (B)provide atonement for them.
4 (C)Blessed is the man You (D)choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
(E)We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
6 Who established the mountains by His strength,
(F)Being clothed with power;
7 (G)You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
(H)And the tumult of the peoples.
8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening [b]rejoice.
9 You [c]visit the earth and (I)water it,
You greatly enrich it;
(J)The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
(K)The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
The Seventh Plague: Hail
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, (A)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may (B)serve Me, 14 for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, (C)that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 15 Now if I had (D)stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with (E)pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But indeed for (F)this purpose I have raised you up, that I may (G)show My power in you, and that My (H)name may be declared in all the earth. 17 As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. 18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. 19 Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” ’ ”
20 He who (I)feared the word of the Lord among the (J)servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. 21 But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be (K)hail in all the land of Egypt—on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” 23 And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and (L)the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 And the (M)hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 (N)Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
27 And Pharaoh sent and (O)called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, (P)“I have sinned this time. (Q)The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. 28 (R)Entreat[a] the Lord, that there may be no more [b]mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you (S)go, and you shall stay no longer.”
29 So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will (T)spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the (U)earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, (V)I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”
31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, (W)for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are [c]late crops.
33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and (X)spread out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. 34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So (Y)the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses.
Shipwrecked on Malta
39 When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. 40 And they [a]let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. 41 But striking [b]a place where two seas met, (A)they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.
42 And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, 44 and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was (B)that they all escaped safely to land.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.