Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
24 Lord, ·you have made many things;
with your wisdom you made them all [Prov. 8:22–31].
The earth is full of your ·riches [or creatures].
25 Look at the sea, so big and wide,
with creatures large and small, ·creeping [swarming] things that cannot be counted.
26 Ships travel over the ocean,
and there is Leviathan [C a sea monster and symbol of chaos; 74:14; Job 3:8; 41:1; Is. 27:1],
which you made to play there.
27 All these things ·depend [hope; wait] on you
to give them their food at the right time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up.
When you open your hand,
they are ·filled [satisfied] with good food.
29 When you ·turn away [L hide your face] from them,
they ·become frightened [are terrified].
When you take away their breath,
they ·die [expire] and turn to dust [Gen. 2:7; Eccl. 12:7].
30 When you ·breathe [L send your breath/or Spirit] on them,
they are created [Gen. 2:7],
and you make the land new again.
31 May the glory of the Lord [C his manifest presence] be forever.
May the Lord ·enjoy [rejoice in] what he has made.
32 He just looks at the earth, and it ·shakes [trembles].
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will ·sing praises [make a psalm] to my God as long as I live.
34 May my ·thoughts [meditations] please him;
I ·am happy [will rejoice] in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be ·destroyed [obliterated] from the earth,
and let the wicked live no longer.
·My whole being [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
The Lord Restores the Land
18 Then the Lord became ·concerned about [jealous/zealous for] his land
and ·felt sorry [had compassion] for his people.
19 He ·said to [answered] them:
“[L Look; T Behold] I will send you grain, new wine, and olive oil,
so that you will ·have plenty [be satisfied].
No more will I ·shame you [make you a reproach/object of scorn]
among the nations.
20 I will ·force the army from the north to leave your land [L drive the northern one far from you]
and go into a dry, ·empty [desolate] land.
·Their soldiers [L Those] in front will be forced into the ·Dead [L Eastern] Sea,
and those in the rear into the ·Mediterranean [L Western] Sea.
·Their bodies will rot and stink [His stench and foul smell will rise].
The Lord has surely done ·a wonderful thing [great things]!”
21 Land, don’t be afraid;
be ·happy [glad] and ·full of joy [rejoice],
because the Lord has done ·a wonderful thing [great things].
22 ·Wild animals [L Beasts of the field], don’t be afraid,
because the ·open [wilderness] pastures ·have grown grass [L are sprouting green].
The trees ·have given [bear] fruit;
the fig trees and the grapevines ·have grown much fruit [provide riches].
23 So be happy, ·people of Jerusalem [L sons/children of Zion; 2:1];
·be joyful [rejoice] in the Lord your God.
Because he ·does what is right,
he has brought you rain [or has vindicated you by giving you rain];
he has sent the ·fall [L early] rain
and the ·spring [L late] rain for you, as before.
24 And the threshing floors will be full of grain;
the ·barrels [vats] will overflow with new wine and olive oil.
The Lord Speaks
25 “Though I sent my great army against you—
those ·swarming [or great] locusts and ·hopping [or crawling; or young] locusts,
the ·destroying [consuming] locusts and the ·cutting [chewing; or swarming] locusts that ate your crops [see 1:4]—
I will ·pay you back
for [or restore to you] those ·years of trouble [L years].
26 Then you will have plenty to eat
and be ·full [satisfied].
You will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has ·done miracles [or acted wondrously/marvelously] for you.
My people will never again be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am ·among [in the midst of] the people of Israel,
that I am the Lord your God,
and there is no ·other God [L other].
My people will never be shamed again.
28 “After this,
I will pour out my Spirit on all ·kinds of people [humanity; flesh; Acts 2:17–21; Is. 32:15; Ezek. 39:29; Zech. 12:10].
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 ·At that time [L In those days] I will pour out my Spirit
·also [even] on male ·slaves [servants] and female ·slaves [servants].
Our Future Glory
18 [L For I consider that] The sufferings we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will be ·shown [revealed] to us. 19 ·Everything God made [L The creation] is waiting with ·excitement [eager expectation] for ·God to show his children’s glory completely [the revelation of the children/sons of God]. 20 ·Everything God made [L For the creation] was ·changed to become useless [subjected to futility/meaninglessness; Gen. 3; Eccl. 1:2], not by its own wish but because God ·wanted [L subjected] it ·and because all along there was this hope [yet with the hope…]: 21 that ·everything God made [the creation itself] would be set free from ·ruin [inevitable decay; L the slavery of decay] to have the ·freedom and glory [or glorious freedom] that belong to God’s children.
22 We know that ·everything God made [all creation] has been ·waiting until now in pain, like a woman ready to give birth [L groaning with labor pains until now]. 23 Not only the world, but we also ·have been waiting with pain inside us [L groan within ourselves]. We have the Spirit as the ·first part of God’s promise [L firstfruits; C as the first crops confirmed the future harvest, so the Spirit’s presence confirms believers’ final salvation]. So we are [eagerly] waiting for ·God to finish making us his own children [L our adoption], which means ·our bodies will be made free [L the redemption of our bodies]. 24 We were saved, ·and we have this hope [or …by this hope; L in hope]. If we see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. ·People do not hope [L For who hopes…?] for something they already have.
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