Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

^6 (5) Let the heavens praise your wonders, Adonai,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the angels.
^7 (6) For who in the skies can be compared with Adonai?
Which of these gods can rival Adonai,
^8 (7) a God dreaded in the great assembly of the holy ones
and feared by all around him?

^9 (8) Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot!
Who is as mighty as you, Yah?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
^10 (9) You control the raging of the sea;
when its waves rear up, you calm them.
^11 (10) You crushed Rahav like a carcass;
with your strong arm you scattered your foes.
^12 (11) The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
you founded the world and everything in it.
^13 (12) You created north and south;
Tavor and Hermon take joy in your name.

^14 (13) Your arm is mighty, your hand is strong,
your right hand is lifted high.
^15 (14) Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
grace and truth attend you.

^16 (15) How happy are the people who know the joyful shout!
They walk in the light of your presence, Adonai.
^17 (16) They rejoice in your name all day
and are lifted up by your righteousness,
^18 (17) for you yourself are the strength in which they glory.
Our power grows by pleasing you,
^19 (18) for our shield comes from Adonai —
our king is from the Holy One of Isra’el.

^20 (19) There was a time when you spoke in a vision;
you declared to your loyal [prophets],
“I have given help to a warrior,
I have raised up someone chosen from the people.
^21 (20) I have found David my servant
and anointed him with my holy oil.
^22 (21) My hand will always be with him,
and my arm will give him strength.
^23 (22) No enemy will outwit him,
no wicked man overcome him.
^24 (23) I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
^25 (24) My faithfulness and grace will be with him;
through my name his power will grow.
^26 (25) I will put his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
^27 (26) He will call to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
^28 (27) I will give him the position of firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
^29 (28) I will keep my grace for him forever,
and in my covenant be faithful with him.
^30 (29) I will establish his dynasty forever,
and his throne as long as the heavens last.

^31 (30) “If his descendants abandon my Torah
and fail to live by my rulings,
^32 (31) if they profane my regulations
and don’t obey my mitzvot,
^33 (32) I will punish their disobedience with the rod
and their guilt with lashes.
^34 (33) But I won’t withdraw my grace from him
or be false to my faithfulness.
^35 (34) I will not profane my covenant
or change what my lips have spoken.
^36 (35) I have sworn by my holiness once and for all;
I will not lie to David —
^37 (36) his dynasty will last forever,
his throne like the sun before me.

51 “Listen to me, you pursuers of justice,
you who seek Adonai:
consider the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug —
² consider Avraham your father
and Sarah, who gave birth to you;
in that I called him when he was only one person,
then blessed him and made him many.
³ For Adonai will comfort Tziyon,
will comfort all her ruined places,
will make her desert like ‘Eden,
her ‘Aravah like the garden of Adonai.
Joy and gladness will be there,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
⁴ “Pay attention to me, my people!
My nation, listen to me!
For Torah will go out from me;
I will calm them with my justice
as a light for the peoples.
⁵ My righteousness is at hand,
my salvation goes out,
my arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands are putting their hope in me,
trusting in my arm.

⁶ “Raise your eyes toward the skies,
look at the earth below.
The skies will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like clothing.
Those living on it will die like flies;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my justice will never end.

⁷ “Listen to me, you who know justice,
you people who have my Torah in your heart:
don’t be afraid of people’s taunts,
don’t be upset by their insults.
⁸ For the moth will eat them up like clothing,
the worm will eat them like wool;
but my justice will be forever,
and my salvation for all generations.”

⁹ Awake! Awake! Arm of Adonai,
clothe yourself with strength!
Awake, as in days of old,
as in ancient generations!
Wasn’t it you who hacked Rahav to pieces,
you who pierced the sea monster?*

¹⁰ Wasn’t it you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
you who made the sea bottom a road
for the redeemed to cross?
¹¹ Those ransomed by Adonai will return
and come with singing to Tziyon;
on their heads will be everlasting joy.
They will acquire gladness and joy,
while sorrow and sighing will flee.

¹² “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you!
Why are you afraid of a man, who must die;
of a human being, who will wither like grass?
¹³ You have forgotten Adonai, your maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
Instead, you are in constant fear all day
because of the oppressor’s rage,
as he prepares to destroy!
But where is the oppressor’s rage?
¹⁴ The captive will soon be set free;
he will not die and go down to Sh’ol;
on the contrary, his food supply will be secure.
¹⁵ For I am Adonai your God,
who stirs up the sea, who makes its waves roar —
Adonai-Tzva’ot is my name.
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you with the shadow of my hand,
in order to plant the skies [anew],
lay the foundations of the earth [anew]
and say to Tziyon, ‘You are my people.’”