Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 Oh, bless our God, you people,
and make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 who keeps our soul among the living,
and does not allow our feet to slip.
10 For You, O God, have proved us;
You have refined us, as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into the net;
You placed distress on our backs.
12 You have allowed people to ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
but You brought us out into a well-watered place.
13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
I will fulfill my vows to You,
14 which my lips have uttered,
and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
with the incense of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
and He was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me;
19 but certainly God has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
who has not turned away my prayer,
nor His mercy from me.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually only evil. 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah and the Flood
9 These are the generations of Noah.
Noah was a just man and blameless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth and saw it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 So God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make an ark of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 And this is how you must make it: The length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, the width of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.[a] 16 Make an opening[b] one cubit[c] below the top of the ark all around; and you must set the door of the ark on the side. Make it with a lower, a second, and a third story. 17 I will bring a flood of waters on the earth to destroy all flesh, wherever there is the breath of life under heaven, and everything that is on the earth will die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; you must go into the ark—you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 Bring every living thing of all flesh, two of every kind, into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of creeping thing of the earth will come to you to be kept alive. 21 Also, take with you of every kind of food that is eaten and gather it to yourself, and it will be for food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Paul Sails for Rome
27 When it was decided that we should sail into Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan Regiment, named Julius. 2 Boarding a ship from Adramyttium, we put out to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.
3 The next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be given care. 4 From there we put out to sea and sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 Sailing across the sea off of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing to Italy, and he put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to proceed, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
9 As much time had been lost and as the voyage was now dangerous, because the Day of Atonement was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion was persuaded more by the captain and the owner of the ship than by what Paul said. 12 Since the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority decided to sail on from there, if somehow we might reach Phoenix, a harbor in Crete, facing southwest and northwest, and winter there.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.