Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Davidic[a]
Praise God, who Creates
104 Bless the Lord, my soul;
Lord, my God, you are very great.
You are clothed in splendor and majesty;
2 you are wrapped in light like a garment,
stretching out the sky like a curtain.
3 He lays the beams of his roof loft on the water above,[b]
making clouds his chariot,
walking on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes the winds his messengers,
blazing fires his servants.
5 He established the earth on its foundations,
so that it never falters.
6 You covered the primeval ocean like a garment;
the water stood above the mountains.
7 They flee at your rebuke;
they rush away at the sound of your thunders.
8 Mountains rise up and valleys sink
to the place you have ordained for them.
9 You have set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never again cover the earth.
10 He causes springs to gush forth into rivers
that flow between the[c] mountains.
11 They give water[d] for animals of the field to drink;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Birds of the sky live beside them
and chirp a song[e] among the foliage.
13 He waters the mountains from his heavenly rooms;
the earth is satisfied from the fruit of your work.
14 He causes grass to sprout for the cattle
and plants for people to cultivate,
to produce food from the land,
15 like wine that makes the heart of people[f] happy,
oil that makes the face glow,
and food[g] that sustains people.[h]
16 The loftiest trees[i] are satisfied,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
17 the birds build their nests there,
and the heron builds[j] its nest among the evergreen.
18 The high mountains are for wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for the rock badger.
19 He made the moon to mark time;[k]
the sun knows its setting time.
20 You bring darkness and it becomes night;
when every beast of the forest prowls.
21 Young lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they[l] gather
and lie down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work
and labor until evening.
24 How numerous are your works, Lord!
You have made them all wisely;
the earth is filled with your creations.[m]
25 There is the deep and wide sea,
teeming with numberless creatures,
living things small and great.
26 There, the ships pass through;
Leviathan, which you created, frolics in it.
27 All of them look to you
to provide them[n] their food at the proper time.
28 They receive what you give them;
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you withdraw your favor,[o]
they are disappointed;
Take away their breath,
and[p] they die[q] and return to dust.
30 When you send your spirit,[r] they are[s] created,
and you replenish the surface of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord last forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works!
32 He looks at the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord with my whole being;[t]
I will sing to my God continually!
34 May my thoughts be pleasing to him;
indeed, I will rejoice in the Lord!
35 May sinners disappear from the land
and the wicked live no longer.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah!
The Song of Moses
32 Hear, heavens, and I will speak!
Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth!
2 May my instructions descend like rain
and may my words flow like dew,
as light rain upon the grass,
and as showers upon new plants.
3 For I’ll proclaim the name of our Lord.
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 Flawless is the work of the Rock,
because all his ways are just.
A faithful God—never unjust—
righteous and upright is he.
5 But those who are not his children
acted corruptly against him;
they are a defective and perverted generation.
6 This is not the way to repay the Lord, is it,
you foolish and witless people?
Is he not your father,
who bought you, formed you, and established you?
An Exhortation to Remember God’s Work
7 Remember the days of old,
reflect on the years of previous generations.
Ask your father,
and he’ll tell you;
your elders will inform you.
8 When the Most High gave nations as their inheritance,
when he separated the human race,
he set boundaries for the people
according to the number of the children of God.[a]
9 For the Lord’s portion is his people;
Jacob is his allotted portion.
The Lord’s Work on Behalf of Israel
10 The Lord[b] found him[c] in a desert land,
in a barren, eerie[d] wilderness.
He surrounded, cared for, and guarded him
as the pupil of his eye.
11 Like an eagle stirs its nest,
hovering near its young,
spreading out his wings to take him
and carry him on his pinions,
12 the Lord alone guided him.
There was no foreign god with him.
13 He mounted him on a high place above the earth,
feeding him from the produce of the field.
He nourished[e] him with honey from the rock
and with oil from the flint rock,
14 with curds from cattle and with milk from sheep,
with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan,
with the fat of goats, with the finest[f] of wheat—
and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
32 But you must continue to remember those earlier days, how after you were enlightened you endured a hard and painful struggle. 33 At times you were made a public spectacle by means of insults and persecutions, while at other times you associated with people who were treated this way. 34 For you sympathized[a] with the prisoners and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, because you know that you have a better and more permanent possession.
35 So don’t lose your confidence, since it holds a great reward for you. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will you can receive what he has promised. 37 For
“in a very little while
the one who is coming will return—
he will not delay;
38 but my righteous one will live by faith,
and if he turns back,
my soul will take no pleasure in him.”[b]
39 Now, we do not belong to those who turn back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
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