Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A New Song of Praise
1 Shout praises to the Lord!
Sing him a new song of praise
when his loyal people meet.
2 People of Israel, rejoice
because of your Creator.
People of Zion, celebrate
because of your King.
3 Praise his name by dancing
and playing music on harps
and tambourines.
4 The Lord is pleased
with his people,
and he gives victory
to those who are humble.
5 All of you faithful people,
praise our glorious Lord!
Celebrate and worship.
6 (A) Praise God with songs
on your lips
and a sword in your hand.
7 Take revenge and punish
the nations.
8 Put chains of iron
on their kings and rulers.
9 Punish them as they deserve;
this is the privilege
of God's faithful people.
Shout praises to the Lord!
Darkness
21 (A) The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch your arm toward the sky, and everything will be covered with darkness thick enough to touch.” 22 (B) Moses stretched his arm toward the sky, and Egypt was covered with darkness for three days. 23 During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived.
24 The king[a] sent for Moses and told him, “Go worship the Lord! And take your families with you. Just leave your sheep, goats, and cattle.”
25 “No!” Moses replied. “You must let us offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, 26 and we won't know which animals we will need until we get there. That's why we can't leave even one of them here.”
27 This time the Lord made the king so stubborn 28 that he said to Moses, “Get out and stay out! If you ever come back, you're dead!”
29 “Have it your way,” Moses answered. “You won't see me again.”
15 (A) And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news. 16 (B) Yet not everyone has believed the message. For example, the prophet Isaiah asked, “Lord, has anyone believed what we said?”
17 No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ. 18 (C) But am I saying that the people of Israel did not hear? No, I am not! The Scriptures say,
“The message was told
everywhere on earth.
It was announced
all over the world.”
19 (D) Did the people of Israel understand or not? Moses answered this question when he told that the Lord had said,
“I will make Israel jealous
of people
who are a nation
of nobodies.
I will make them angry
with people
who don't understand
a thing.”
20 (E) Isaiah was fearless enough to tell that the Lord had said,
“I was found by people
who were not looking
for me.
I appeared to the ones
who were not asking
about me.”
21 (F) And Isaiah said about the people of Israel,
“All day long the Lord
has reached out
to people who are stubborn
and refuse to obey.”
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.