Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
104 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD, my God, You are exceedingly great. You are clothed with Glory and honor.
2 The One Who covers Himself with light, as with a garment, and spread the heavens like a curtain.
3 The One Who lays the beams of His chambers in the waters, and makes the clouds His chariot, and walks upon the wings of the wind.
4 The One Who makes the spirits His messengers, and a flaming fire His ministers.
5 The One Who sets the Earth upon her foundations, so that it shall never move.
6 You cover it with the deep, as with a garment. The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke they flee; at the voice of Your thunder they hurry away.
8 The mountains ascend. The valleys descend to the place which You have established for them.
9 You have set them a boundary which they shall not pass. They shall not return to cover the Earth.
10 He sends the springs into the valleys, which run between the mountains.
11 They shall give drink to all the beasts of the field, and the wild asses shall quench their thirst.
12 By these springs shall the birds of the heaven dwell and sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from His chambers. The Earth is filled with the fruit of Your works.
14 He causes grass to grow for the cattle and herbs for the use of man; so that he may bring forth bread out of the Earth
15 and wine that makes the heart of man glad and oil to make his face shine and bread that strengthens man’s heart.
16 The high trees are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,
17 so that the birds may make their nests there. The stork dwells in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He appointed the Moon for certain seasons; the Sun knows its going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
21 The lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.
22 When the Sun rises, they retire and lie down in their dens.
23 Then man goes forth to his work, and to his labor, until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom, You have made them all. The Earth is full of Your riches!
25 So great and wide is the sea; in which are innumerable creeping things, both small beasts and great.
26 Thereupon go the ships, and therein plays that Leviathan, whom You have made.
27 All these wait upon You, so that You may give them food in due season.
28 You give it to them, and they gather it. You open Your hand, and they are filled with good things.
29 If You hide Your face, they are troubled. If You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your spirit, and they are created; You renew the face of the Earth.
31 Glory be to the LORD forever. 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 to the LORD all my life. I will praise my God while I live.
34 Let my words be acceptable to Him. I will rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the Earth, and the wicked, until there are no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
17 And Elijah the Tishbite, one of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before Whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, but according to my Word.”
2 And the Word of the LORD came to him, saying:
3 “Go, and turn eastward, and hide yourself near the river, Cherith, that faces Jordan.
4 “And you shall drink from the river. And I have Commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the Word of the LORD. For he went and remained by the river, Cherith, that faces 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 river.
7 And after a while, the river dried up, because no rain fell upon the Earth.
8 And the Word of the LORD came to him, saying:
9 “Up! Get to Zarephath, which is in Sidon, and remain there. Behold, I have Commanded a widow there to sustain you.”
10 So, he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow was there, gathering sticks. And he called her, and said, “Please bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have a cake, but only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a jar. And behold, I am gathering a few sticks with which to go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may eat it, and die.”
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear. Come, do as you have said. But make me a little cake from it first and bring it to me. And afterward make some for you and your son.
14 “For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The meal in the barrel shall not be finished, nor shall the oil in the jar be depleted, until the time that the LORD sends rain upon the Earth.’”
15 So she went and did as Elijah said. And she ate. So did he and her house for a certain time.
16 The barrel of the meal was not used up, nor was the oil in the jar finished, according to the Word of the LORD which He spoke by the hand of Elijah.
6 Now these things, brothers, I have figuratively applied to my own self and Apollos, for your sakes, that you might learn by us; that no one presumes above that which is written, that no one is puffed up over another.
7 For who separates you? And what do you have, that you have not received? If you have received it, why do you boast as though you had not received it?
8 Now you are full. Now you are made rich. You reign as kings without us. And I would that you did reign, so that we also might reign with you.
9 For I think that God has set us forth, the last Apostles, as men appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, and to the angels, and to man.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake; and you, wise in Christ. We are weak, and you strong. You honorable, and we despised.
11 Unto this hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place;
12 and labor, working with our own hands. We are reviled, and we bless. We are persecuted. We suffer it.
13 We are slandered, and we pray. We are made as the filth of the world, the scum of all things, unto this time.
14 I do not write these things to shame you. But as my beloved children, I admonish you.
15 For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you, through the Gospel.
16 Therefore, I encourage you, be followers of me.
17 For this cause have I sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord; who shall put you in remembrance of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Now, some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the words of those who are puffed up, but the power.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21 What is your will? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and in the spirit of meekness?
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