Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
104 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great;
You are (B)clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 Covering Yourself with (C)light as with a cloak,
(D)Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
3 [a]He (E)lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
[b]He makes the (F)clouds His chariot;
[c]He walks upon the (G)wings of the wind;
4 [d]He makes [e](H)the winds His messengers,
[f]Flaming (I)fire His ministers.
5 He (J)established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not [g]totter forever and ever.
6 You (K)covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 At Your (L)rebuke they fled,
At the (M)sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down
To the (N)place which You established for them.
9 You set a (O)boundary that they may not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10 [h]He sends forth (P)springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
11 They (Q)give drink to every beast of the field;
The (R)wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 [i]Beside them the birds of the heavens (S)dwell;
They [j]lift up their voices among the branches.
13 [k]He (T)waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
(U)The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 [l]He causes the (V)grass to grow for the [m]cattle,
And (W)vegetation for the [n]labor of man,
So that [o]he may bring forth [p]food (X)from the earth,
15 And (Y)wine which makes man’s heart glad,
(Z)So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And [q]food which (AA)sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord [r]drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the (AB)birds build their nests,
And the (AC)stork, whose home is the [s]fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the (AD)wild goats;
The (AE)cliffs are a refuge for the [t](AF)shephanim.
19 He made the moon (AG)for the seasons;
The (AH)sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You (AI)appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the (AJ)beasts of the forest [u]prowl about.
21 The (AK)young lions roar after their prey
[v]And (AL)seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw
And lie down in their (AM)dens.
23 Man goes forth to (AN)his work
And to his labor until evening.
24 O Lord, how (AO)many are Your works!
[w]In (AP)wisdom You have made them all;
The (AQ)earth is full of Your [x]possessions.
25 [y]There is the (AR)sea, great and [z]broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
26 There the (AS)ships move along,
And [aa](AT)Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.
27 They all (AU)wait for You
To (AV)give them their food in [ab]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (AW)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (AX)hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You (AY)take away their [ac]spirit, they expire
And (AZ)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [ad](BA)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 Let the (BB)glory of the Lord endure forever;
Let the Lord (BC)be glad in His works;
32 [ae]He (BD)looks at the earth, and it (BE)trembles;
He (BF)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [af]I will sing to the Lord [ag](BG)as long as I live;
[ah]I will (BH)sing praise to my God [ai]while I have my being.
34 Let my (BI)meditation be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (BJ)be glad in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be (BK)consumed from the earth
And let the (BL)wicked be no more.
(BM)Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[aj](BN)Praise [ak]the Lord!
Elijah Predicts Drought
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of [a](A)the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “(B)As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely (C)there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 The word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is [b]east of the Jordan. 4 It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and (D)I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is [c]east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to (E)Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, (F)I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and (G)he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a [d]jar, that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “(H)As the Lord your God lives, (I)I have no [e]bread, only a handful of flour in the [f]bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering [g]a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and (J)die.” 13 Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from [h]it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The [i]bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil [j]be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’” 15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The [k]bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil [l]become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed (A)what is written, so that no one of you will (B)become [a]arrogant (C)in behalf of one against the other. 7 For who regards you as superior? (D)What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8 You are (E)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. 9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men (F)condemned to death; because we (G)have become a spectacle to the world, [b]both to angels and to men. 10 We are (H)fools for Christ’s sake, but (I)you are prudent in Christ; (J)we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To this present hour we are both (K)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and we toil, (L)working with our own hands; when we are (M)reviled, we bless; when we are (N)persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to [c]conciliate; we have (O)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to (P)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved (Q)children. 15 For if you were to have countless (R)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in (S)Christ Jesus I (T)became your father through the (U)gospel. 16 Therefore I exhort you, be (V)imitators of me. 17 For this reason I (W)have sent to you (X)Timothy, who is my (Y)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, (Z)just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some have become [d](AA)arrogant, as though I were not (AB)coming to you. 19 But I (AC)will come to you soon, (AD)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the [e]words of those who are (AE)arrogant but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does (AF)not consist in [f]words but in power. 21 What do you desire? (AG)Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
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