Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
1 ¶ Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty,
2 who dost cover thyself with light as with a garment, who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain,
3 who dost establish his chambers between the waters, who makes the clouds his chariot, who walks upon the wings of the wind,
4 who makes his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire,
5 who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved by any age.
6 Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8 The mountains were exposed; they descended through the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they not turn again to cover the earth.
10 ¶ Thou art he who sends the springs into the valleys, which run among the mountains.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Next to them the fowls of the heavens have their habitation; they sing among the leaves.
13 He waters the mountains from his chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
14 He causes the hay to grow for the cattle and grass for the service of man, that he may bring forth bread out of the earth
15 and wine that makes glad the heart of man, making his face to shine with oil and bread which sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are satisfied; the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted,
17 that the birds may make their nests there: the stork makes her house among the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies.
19 ¶ He appointed the moon for times and seasons; the sun knows his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest move.
21 The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.
22 The sun arises, they withdraw and lay themselves down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom thou hast made them all; the earth is full of thy riches.
25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are innumerable creeping things, both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou didst make to play therein.
27 These wait all upon thee, that thou may give them their food in due season.
28 Thou givest unto them, they gather; thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their spirit, they cease to exist and return to their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth.
31 ¶ Let the glory of the LORD endure for ever; let the LORD rejoice in his works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles: he touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Halelu- JAH (Praise ye the LORD).
32 ¶ Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, 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 herb and as the showers upon the grass.
3 Because I will invoke the name of the LORD, ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4 The strong One, whose work is perfect: for all his ways are right; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is that they are not his sons; they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do ye thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not thy father that has possessed thee? He 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; thy elders, and they will tell thee;
8 when the most High caused the Gentiles to be inherited, when he separated the sons of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the measuring line of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings,
12 so the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth that he might eat the fruits of the field; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the strong flint,
14 butter of cows and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs and rams of the sons of Bashan (or fruitfulness) and goats with the fat of kidneys, of wheat; and thou didst drink the blood of the grape, pure wine.
32 But bring to memory the former days, in which, after ye received the light, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 on the one hand ye were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and on the other ye became companions of those that were so used.
34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing that in yourselves ye have a better substance in the heavens, and that abides.
35 Do not lose, therefore, this your confidence, which has great recompense of reward;
36 for patience is necessary, so that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of those who draw back unto perdition, but faithful unto the saving of the soul.
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