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 Seventh Plague: Hail
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 14 For I will at this time send all My plagues upon you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out My hand, so that I might strike you and your people with pestilence, and you would be cut off from the earth. 16 But, indeed, for this cause I have raised you up, in order to show in you My power and so that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. 17 Still, you exalt yourself against My people by forbidding them to go. 18 Certainly, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very severe hail, such as has not happened in Egypt since it was founded until now. 19 Send therefore now and bring your livestock and all that you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast which shall be found in the field and not brought home when the hail comes down upon them will die.’ ”
20 He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses. 21 But he that failed to regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.
22 So the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” 23 Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along upon the ground. So the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail. It was so severe that there had been none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
27 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28 Entreat the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s mighty thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder shall cease, and there shall no longer be any more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”
31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they grow up later.
33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was no longer poured upon the earth. 34 However, when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 The heart of Pharaoh hardened, and he would not let the children of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken by Moses.
The Shipwreck
39 When it was day, they did not recognize the land. But they noticed a bay with a shore, into which they were determined to run the ship if possible. 40 Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while loosening the ropes that secured the rudders. Then they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. 41 But striking a sandbar where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was broken up by the violent surf.
42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, prevented them from their intent and ordered those who could swim to abandon ship first and get to land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And in this way they all escaped safely to land.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.