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).
17 ¶ Then Elijah, the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3 Leave this place and turn to the east and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan,
4 and thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD; for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
8 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, go to Zarephath of Zidon, and thou shalt dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks; and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her again and said, Bring me also, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.
12 And she said, As the LORD thy God lives, I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a pitcher and a little oil in a cruse; and now I was gathering two sticks that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said; but first make me a little cake of bread baked under the ashes and bring it unto me, and afterwards thou shalt make for thee and for thy son.
14 For thus hath said the LORD God of Israel, The pitcher of meal shall not be consumed, neither shall the cruse of oil fail until that day when the LORD shall send rain upon the earth.
15 And she went and did as Elijah told her; and he and she and her house ate for many days.
16 And the pitcher of meal was not consumed, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by Elijah.
6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that in us ye might not learn above that which is written, lest because of one, some of you become puffed up against others.
7 ¶ For who makes thee to judge? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, what dost thou glory of, as if thou hadst not received it?
8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye reign as kings without us, and I wish ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
9 For I think that God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death; for we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are ill clad and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place
12 and labour, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it;
13 being blasphemed, we intreat; we are made as the filth of this world and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
14 ¶ I do not write these things to shame you, but to warn you, as to my beloved sons.
15 For though ye may have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet ye shall not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
16 Therefore, I beseech you that ye imitate me.
17 ¶ For this cause I have sent Timothy unto you, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every congregation. {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}
18 Now some are puffed up as though I will never come to you.
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and will know not the words of those who are puffed up, but the virtue.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in words, but in virtue.
21 What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod or in charity and in the spirit of meekness?
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