Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Jehovah’s care over all his works.
104 Bless Jehovah, O my soul.
O Jehovah my God, thou art very great;
Thou art clothed with honor and majesty:
2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment;
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;
3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters;
Who maketh the clouds his chariot;
Who walketh upon the wings of the wind;
4 Who maketh [a]winds his messengers;
Flames of fire his ministers;
5 [b]Who laid the foundations of the earth,
That it should not be moved for ever.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture;
The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled;
At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away
8 [c](The mountains rose, the valleys sank down)
Unto the place which thou hadst founded for them.
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over;
That they turn not again to cover the earth.
10 He sendeth forth springs into the valleys;
They run among the mountains;
11 They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation;
They [d]sing among the branches.
13 He watereth the mountains from his chambers:
The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,
And herb for the [e]service of man;
That he may bring forth [f]food out of the earth,
15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
[g]And oil to make his face to shine,
And bread that strengtheneth man’s heart.
16 The trees of Jehovah are filled with moisture,
The cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
17 Where the birds make their nests:
As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
The rocks are a refuge for the conies.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons:
The sun knoweth his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night,
Wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey,
And seek their food from God.
22 The sun ariseth, they get them away,
And lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goeth forth unto his work
And to his labor until the evening.
24 O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works!
In wisdom hast thou made them all:
The earth is full of thy [h]riches.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
Wherein are things creeping innumerable,
Both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships;
There is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to play [i]therein.
27 These wait all for thee,
That thou mayest give them their food in due season.
28 Thou givest unto them, they gather;
Thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled;
Thou [j]takest away their breath, they die,
And return to their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created;
And thou renewest the face of the ground.
31 Let the glory of Jehovah endure for ever;
Let Jehovah rejoice in his works:
32 Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth;
He toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
34 Let my meditation be sweet unto him:
I will rejoice in Jehovah.
35 Let sinners be consumed out of the earth.
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless Jehovah, O my soul.
[k]Praise ye Jehovah.
32 Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain;
My speech shall distil as the dew,
As the small rain upon the tender grass,
And as the showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah:
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4 The Rock, his work is perfect;
For all his ways are justice:
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
Just and right is he.
5 They have [a]dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, [b]it is their blemish;
They are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do ye thus requite Jehovah,
O foolish people and unwise?
Is not he thy father that hath [c]bought thee?
He hath made thee, and established thee.
7 Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations:
Ask thy father, and he will show thee;
Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the children of men,
He set the bounds of the peoples
According to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For Jehovah’s portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wilderness;
He compassed him about, he cared for him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,
That fluttereth over her young,
[d]He spread abroad his wings, he took them,
He bare them on his pinions.
12 Jehovah alone did lead him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he did eat the increase of the field;
And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,
And oil out of the flinty rock;
14 Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the [e]finest of the wheat;
And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings; 33 partly, being made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, becoming partakers with them that were so used. 34 For ye both had compassion on them that were in bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that [a]ye have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward. 36 For ye have need of [b]patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise.
37 [c]For yet a very little while,
He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry.
38 But [d]my righteous one shall live by faith:
And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not [e]of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the [f]saving of the soul.
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