Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 65[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.
65 Praise awaits you,[b] O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
2 You hear prayers;[c]
all people approach you.[d]
3 Our record of sins overwhelms me,[e]
but you forgive[f] our acts of rebellion.
4 How blessed[g] is the one whom you choose,
and allow to live in your palace courts.[h]
May we be satisfied with the good things of your house—
your holy palace.[i]
5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior.[j]
All the ends of the earth trust in you,[k]
as well as those living across the wide seas.[l]
6 You created the mountains by your power,[m]
and demonstrated your strength.[n]
7 You calmed the raging seas[o]
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations.[p]
8 Even those living in the remotest areas are awestruck by your acts;[q]
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you.[r]
9 You visit the earth and give it rain;[s]
you make it rich and fertile.[t]
God’s streams are full of water;[u]
you provide grain for the people of the earth,[v]
for you have prepared the earth in this way.[w]
10 You saturate[x] its furrows,
and soak[y] its plowed ground.[z]
With rain showers you soften its soil,[aa]
and make its crops grow.[ab]
11 You crown the year with your good blessings,[ac]
and you leave abundance in your wake.[ad]
12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture,[ae]
and the hills are clothed with joy.[af]
13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
Plague One: Water to Blood
14 [a] The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard;[b] he refuses to release[c] the people. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when[d] he goes out to the water. Position yourself[e] to meet him by the edge of the Nile,[f] and take[g] in your hand the staff[h] that was turned into a snake. 16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say,[i] “Release my people, that they may serve me[j] in the wilderness!” But until now[k] you have not listened.[l] 17 This is what the Lord has said: “By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike[m] the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood.[n] 18 Fish[o] in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable[p] to drink water from the Nile.”’” 19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters—over their rivers, over their canals,[q] over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs[r]—so that it becomes[s] blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in[t] the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.” 20 Moses and Aaron did so,[u] just as the Lord had commanded. He raised[v] the staff[w] and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes[x] of Pharaoh and his servants,[y] and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.[z] 21 When the fish[aa] that were in the Nile died, the Nile began[ab] to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood[ac] everywhere in the land of Egypt! 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same[ad] by their secret arts, and so[ae] Pharaoh’s heart remained hard,[af] and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron[ag]—just as the Lord had predicted. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this.[ah] 24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink,[ai] because they could not drink the water of the Nile.
13 When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought[a] they could carry out[b] their purpose, so they weighed anchor[c] and sailed close along the coast[d] of Crete. 14 Not long after this, a hurricane-force[e] wind called the northeaster[f] blew down from the island.[g] 15 When the ship was caught in it[h] and could not head into[i] the wind, we gave way to it and were driven[j] along. 16 As we ran under the lee of[k] a small island called Cauda,[l] we were able with difficulty to get the ship’s boat[m] under control. 17 After the crew[n] had hoisted it aboard,[o] they used supports[p] to undergird the ship. Fearing they would run aground[q] on the Syrtis,[r] they lowered the sea anchor,[s] thus letting themselves be driven along. 18 The next day, because we were violently battered by the storm,[t] they began throwing the cargo overboard,[u] 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s gear[v] overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent[w] storm continued to batter us,[x] we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.[y]
21 Since many of them had no desire to eat,[z] Paul[aa] stood up[ab] among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me[ac] and not put out to sea[ad] from Crete, thus avoiding[ae] this damage and loss. 22 And now I advise[af] you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship will be lost.[ag] 23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong[ah] and whom I serve[ai] came to me[aj] 24 and said,[ak] ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before[al] Caesar,[am] and God has graciously granted you the safety[an] of all who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God[ao] that it will be just as I have been told. 26 But we must[ap] run aground on some island.”
27 When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven[aq] across the Adriatic Sea,[ar] about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land.[as] 28 They took soundings[at] and found the water was twenty fathoms[au] deep; when they had sailed a little farther[av] they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms[aw] deep. 29 Because they were afraid[ax] that we would run aground on the rocky coast,[ay] they threw out[az] four anchors from the stern and wished[ba] for day to appear.[bb] 30 Then when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship’s boat into the sea, pretending[bc] that they were going to put out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion[bd] and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you[be] cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes[bf] of the ship’s boat and let it drift away.[bg]
33 As day was about to dawn,[bh] Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have been in suspense[bi] and have gone[bj] without food; you have eaten nothing.[bk] 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is important[bl] for your survival.[bm] For not one of you will lose a hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, Paul[bn] took bread[bo] and gave thanks to God in front of them all,[bp] broke[bq] it, and began to eat. 36 So all of them were encouraged and took food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276[br] persons on the ship.)[bs] 38 When they had eaten enough to be satisfied,[bt] they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat[bu] into the sea.
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