Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 78[a]
A New Beginning in Zion and David
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Attend, my people, to my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable,[b]
unfold the puzzling events of the past.(A)
3 What we have heard and know;
things our ancestors have recounted to us.(B)
4 We do not keep them from our children;
we recount them to the next generation,
The praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and his strength,
the wonders that he performed.(C)
52 Then God led forth his people like sheep,
guided them like a flock through the wilderness.(A)
53 He led them on secure and unafraid,
while the sea enveloped their enemies.(B)
54 And he brought them to his holy mountain,
the hill his right hand had won.(C)
55 He drove out the nations before them,
allotted them as their inherited portion,
and settled in their tents the tribes of Israel.
B
56 But they tested and rebelled against God Most High,
his decrees they did not observe.
57 They turned disloyal, faithless like their ancestors;
they proved false like a slack bow.
58 They enraged him with their high places,
and with their idols provoked him[a] to jealous anger.(D)
C
59 God heard and grew angry;
he rejected Israel completely.
60 He forsook the shrine at Shiloh,[b](E)
the tent he set up among human beings.
61 He gave up his might into captivity,
his glorious ark into the hands of the foe.(F)
62 God delivered his people to the sword;
he was enraged against his heritage.
63 Fire consumed their young men;
their young women heard no wedding songs.(G)
64 Their priests fell by the sword;
their widows made no lamentation.
D
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a warrior shouting from the effects of wine.
66 He put his foes to flight;
everlasting shame he dealt them.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph,
chose not the tribe of Ephraim.
68 [c]God chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which he loved.(H)
69 He built his shrine like the heavens,
like the earth which he founded forever.
70 He chose David his servant,
took him from the sheepfolds.(I)
71 From tending ewes God brought him,
to shepherd Jacob, his people,
Israel, his heritage.(J)
72 He shepherded them with a pure heart;
with skilled hands he guided them.
13 In the evening, quail(A) came up and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all about the camp, 14 and when the layer of dew evaporated, fine flakes were on the surface of the wilderness, fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. 15 On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?”[a] for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.(B)
Regulations Regarding the Manna. 16 “Now, this is what the Lord has commanded. Gather as much of it as each needs to eat, an omer[b] for each person for as many of you as there are, each of you providing for those in your own tent.” 17 The Israelites did so. Some gathered a large and some a small amount. 18 [c]But when they measured it out by the omer, the one who had gathered a large amount did not have too much, and the one who had gathered a small amount did not have too little. They gathered as much as each needed to eat. 19 Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some kept a part of it over until morning, and it became wormy and stank. Therefore Moses was angry with them.
21 Morning after morning they gathered it, as much as each needed to eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers for each person. When all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses, 23 he told them, “That is what the Lord has prescribed. Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy sabbath of the Lord. Whatever you want to bake, bake; whatever you want to boil, boil; but whatever is left put away and keep until the morning.” 24 When they put it away until the morning, as Moses commanded, it did not stink nor were there worms in it. 25 Moses then said, “Eat it today, for today is the sabbath of the Lord. Today you will not find any in the field. 26 Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, it will not be there.”
19 [a]You will say to me then, “Why [then] does he still find fault? For who can oppose his will?”(A) 20 But who indeed are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(B) Will what is made say to its maker, “Why have you created me so?” 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for an ignoble one? 22 What if God, wishing to show his wrath and make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction?(C) 23 This was to make known the riches of his glory to the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared previously for glory, 24 namely, us whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.
Witness of the Prophets. 25 As indeed he says in Hosea:
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved[b] I will call ‘beloved.’(D)
26 And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they shall be called children of the living God.”(E)
27 (F)And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the Israelites were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved; 28 for decisively and quickly will the Lord execute sentence upon the earth.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted:
“Unless the Lord of hosts had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom
and have been made like Gomorrah.”(G)
Righteousness Based on Faith.[c]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.