Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 78[a]
God’s Goodness in the Face of Ingratitude
1 A maskil[b] of Asaph.
[c]Give ear, my people, to my teaching;
pay attention to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables[d]
and expound the mysteries of the past.
3 [e]These things we have heard and know,
for our ancestors have related them to us.
4 We will not conceal them from our children;
we will relate them to the next generation,
the glorious and powerful deeds of the Lord
and the wonders he has performed.
5 He instituted a decree in Jacob
and established a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to make known to their descendants,
6 so that they would be known to future generations,
to children yet to be born.
In turn they were to tell their children,
7 so that they would place their trust in God,
and never forget his works
but keep his commandments.
8 Nor were they to imitate their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart[f] was not steadfast
and whose spirit was unfaithful to God.
17 [a]But they still sinned[b] against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 They tested God’s patience
by demanding the food they craved.[c]
19 They railed against God, saying:
“Can God provide a banquet in the wilderness?
20 Certainly when he struck the rock,
water gushed forth and the streams overflowed.
But can he also give us bread
or provide meat for his people?”[d]
21 When the Lord heard this, he was filled with anger;
his fire blazed forth against Jacob,
and his wrath mounted against Israel,
22 because they had no faith in God
and put no trust in his saving might.
23 Yet he issued a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat,
giving them the grain of heaven.
25 Mere mortals ate the bread of angels;[e]
he sent them an abundance of provisions.
26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens
and brought forth the south wind in force.
27 He rained down meat upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sands on the seashore.
28 He let them fall within the camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate and were completely satisfied,
for he had given them what they desired.
Chapter 8
The Lord’s Kindness.1 [a]Be diligent in observing all of the commandments that I am giving you today, so that you might live and multiply, and so that you might enter and take possession of the land that the Lord promised to your fathers. 2 Remember how the Lord, your God, guided your path through the wilderness for these forty years, abasing you and testing you so that he might know what was in your heart, whether or not you would observe his commandments. 3 He brought you low, allowing you to suffer from hunger. He then fed you with manna, something with which your fathers were not familiar, so that you might come to know that man does not live by bread alone,[b] but man lives by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.
4 Throughout these forty years your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell. 5 Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son. 6 Therefore, observe the commandments of the Lord, your God. Walk in his ways and fear him. 7 The Lord, your God, is bringing you into a good land, a land filled with brooks, fountains, and springs that rush forth from the valleys and the hills. 8 It is a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees and pomegranates, a land with olive oil and honey. 9 It is a land in which you will not lack bread to eat; you will not lack anything at all. It is a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
10 Warning about Prosperity. When you have eaten your fill and are satisfied, then praise the Lord, your God, for the good land that he has given you.
Thanksgiving and Prayer.[a] 8 First of all, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith has been proclaimed throughout the world. 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is the witness on my behalf that I remember you constantly in my prayers, 10 always asking that by God’s will I may somehow be granted my desire of coming to visit you. 11 For I am longing to see you so that I may bestow on you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 or, rather, so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 I want you to be aware, brethren,[b] that I have often planned to visit you (although until now I have been prevented from doing so) because it has been my desire to achieve some harvest among you as I have among other Gentiles. 14 I have an obligation to Greeks and non-Greeks[c] alike, to both the educated and the ignorant. 15 Thus, I am ready to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
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