Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 65
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion;
and to You a vow will be fulfilled.
2 O You who hears prayer,
to You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities are stronger than me;
as for our transgressions, You atone for them.
4 Blessed is the man You choose and allow to draw near;
he will dwell in Your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
even of Your holy temple.
5 In righteousness You will answer us gloriously,
O God of our salvation,
You, who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
and of those who are afar off on the sea;
6 who established the mountains by His strength,
being clothed with might;
7 who stills the noise of the seas,
the noise of their waves,
and the tumult of peoples.
8 Those who dwell in the uttermost parts
are in awe because of Your signs;
You make the going out of the morning and evening rejoice.
9 You visit the earth, and water it;
You enrich it
with the river of God, which is full of water;
You prepare their grain,
for thus You have established it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly;
You settle its ridges;
You soften it with showers;
You bless its sprouting.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
and Your paths drip abundance.
12 They drip on the pastures of the wilderness,
and the hills clothe themselves with rejoicing.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
the valleys also are covered with grain;
they shout for joy, they also sing.
The First Plague: Waters Turn to Blood
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You must take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. 16 Then you are to say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness.” But up to this point you have not listened! 17 Thus says the Lord, “In this you shall know that I am the Lord: Indeed, I will strike the waters of the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink so that the Egyptians shall be weary of drinking the river’s water.” ’ ”
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, so that they may become blood. And there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.’ ”
20 Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. And he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river. Blood was everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.
22 Nevertheless, the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not concern himself with this either. 24 So all the Egyptians dug around about the river for water to drink, because they could not drink of the water of the river.
The Storm at Sea
13 When a south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained the necessary conditions, they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 But soon afterward a tempestuous wind swept through, called the Euroclydon.[a] 15 When the ship was overpowered and could not head into the wind, we let her drift. 16 Drifting under the lee of an island called Cauda, we could scarcely secure the rowboat. 17 When they had hoisted it aboard, they used ropes to undergird the ship. And fearing that they might run aground on the sand of Syrtis, they let down the mast, and so were driven. 18 We were violently tossed by the storm. The next day they threw cargo overboard. 19 On the third day we threw the tackle of the ship overboard with our own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was upon us, all hope that we should be saved was lost.
21 After they had long abstained from food, Paul stood in their midst and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete, incurring this injury and loss. 22 But now I advise you to take courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. And, look! God has given you all those who sail with you.’ 25 Therefore, men, take courage, for I believe God that it will be exactly as it was told to me. 26 Nevertheless, we must be shipwrecked on a certain island.”
27 When the fourteenth night came, while we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors supposed that they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found the water to be one hundred and twenty feet deep.[b] When they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be ninety feet deep.[c] 29 Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30 When the sailors strove to abandon ship and lowered the rowboat into the sea, under the pretext of lowering anchors out of the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these sailors remain in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the rowboat and let her fall off.
33 As day was about to dawn, Paul asked them all to eat, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have waited and continued without food, having eaten nothing. 34 So I urge you to eat. This is for your preservation, for not a hair shall fall from your head.” 35 When he had said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all. And when he had broken it he began to eat. 36 Then they were all encouraged, and they also ate food themselves. 37 In all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship. 38 When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw the wheat into the sea.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.