Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 46

To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah, set to treble voices. A song.

¹ God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas,

³ Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early [at the dawn of the morning].

⁶ The nations raged, the kingdoms tottered and were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our Fortress and High Tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations and wonders in the earth.

⁹ He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two; He burns the chariots in the fire.

¹⁰ Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!

¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our High Tower and Stronghold). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

1 In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth.^(A)

² The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

³ And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

⁴ And God saw that the light was good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it; and God separated the light from the darkness.^(B)

⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶ And God said, Let there be a firmament [the expanse of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below] from the waters [above].

⁷ And God made the firmament [the expanse] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so.

⁸ And God called the firmament Heavens. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be collected into one place [of standing], and let the dry land appear. And it was so.

¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the accumulated waters He called Seas. And God saw that this was good (fitting, admirable) and He approved it.

¹¹ And God said, Let the earth put forth [tender] vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees yielding fruit whose seed is in itself, each according to its kind, upon the earth. And it was so.

¹² The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed according to their own kinds and trees bearing fruit in which was their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) and He approved it.

¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs and tokens [of God’s provident care], and [to mark] seasons, days, and years,^(C)

¹⁵ And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light upon the earth. And it was so.

¹⁶ And God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars.

¹⁷ And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth,

¹⁸ To rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) and He approved it.

¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly and swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.

²¹ God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) and He approved it.

²² And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth.

²³ And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and [wild] beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so.

²⁵ And God made the [wild] beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and domestic animals according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) and He approved it.

²⁶ God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.^(D)

²⁷ So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.^(E)

²⁸ And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.

²⁹ And God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.

³⁰ And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.

³¹ And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.^(F)

³ And God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done.^(G)

⁴ This is the history of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens—

¹⁷ But if you bear the name of Jew and rely upon the Law and pride yourselves in God and your relationship to Him,

¹⁸ And know and understand His will and discerningly approve the better things and have a sense of what is vital, because you are instructed by the Law;

¹⁹ And if you are confident that you [yourself] are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, and [that

²⁰ You are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

²¹ Well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you teach against stealing, do you steal (take what does not really belong to you)?

²² You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery [are you unchaste in action or in thought]? You who abhor and loathe idols, do you rob temples [do you appropriate to your own use what is consecrated to God, thus robbing the sanctuary and ^[a]doing sacrilege]?

²³ You who boast in the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law [by stealthily infringing upon or carelessly neglecting or openly breaking it]?

²⁴ For, as it is written, The name of God is maligned and blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you! [The words to this effect are from your own Scriptures.]^(A)

²⁵ Circumcision does indeed profit if you keep the Law; but if you habitually transgress the Law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.

²⁶ So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be credited to him as [equivalent to] circumcision?

²⁷ Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the Law will condemn you who, although you have the code in writing and have circumcision, break the Law.

²⁸ For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical.

²⁹ But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and [true] circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal [matter]. His praise is not from men but from God.