Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer of Thanks

118 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. ² Let Israel say, “His loving-kindness lasts forever.”

¹⁴ The Lord is my strength and my song. He is the One Who saves me.

¹⁵ The joy of being saved is being heard in the tents of those who are right and good. The right hand of the Lord does powerful things. ¹⁶ The Lord’s right hand is lifted high. The right hand of the Lord does powerful things. ¹⁷ I will not die but live. And I will tell of what the Lord has done. ¹⁸ The Lord has punished me but He has not given me over to death.

¹⁹ Open to me the gates of what is right and good. I will go through them and give thanks to the Lord. ²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord. Those who are right with God will pass through it. ²¹ I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me. And You are the One Who saves me.

²² The stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important stone in the building. ²³ The Lord has done this. We think it is great! ²⁴ This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it.

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is praised for His greatness. He has thrown the horse and horseman into the sea. ² The Lord is my strength and song. He is the One Who saves me. He is my God and I will praise Him. He is my father’s God and I will honor Him. ³ The Lord is a fighter. The Lord is His name. ⁴ He has thrown Pharaoh’s war-wagons and army into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s leaders are under the Red Sea. ⁵ The water covers them. They went down in the deep water like a stone. ⁶ O Lord, Your right hand is great in power. O Lord, Your right hand destroys those who hate You. ⁷ In the greatness of Your power You destroy those who fight against You. You send Your burning anger and it burns them like straw. ⁸ The waters were lifted up by Your breath. The flowing waters stood up like a wall. The water became hard in the middle of the sea. ⁹ Those who hated us said, ‘I will go after them. I will catch them. I will divide the riches taken from them. My soul will have its way against them. I will take out my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You, Lord, blew with Your wind and the sea covered them. They went down like iron in the powerful sea. ¹¹ Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, great and holy, praised in fear, doing powerful works? ¹² You put out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them. ¹³ You have led with loving-kindness the people You have made free. You have led them in Your strength to Your holy place. ¹⁴ The nations have heard of it, and they shake in fear. Pain has come upon the people of Philistia. ¹⁵ Now the leaders of Edom are afraid. The leaders of Moab shake in fear. All the people of Canaan have become weak. ¹⁶ Much fear comes upon them. They see Your strength, O Lord. They are afraid and do not move until Your people have passed by, the people You have bought and made free. ¹⁷ You will bring them in and put them on Your own mountain. It is the place, O Lord, where You have made Your house, the holy place, which Your hands have built. ¹⁸ The Lord will rule forever and ever.”

¹² God has chosen you. You are holy and loved by Him. Because of this, your new life should be full of loving-pity. You should be kind to others and have no pride. Be gentle and be willing to wait for others. ¹³ Try to understand other people. Forgive each other. If you have something against someone, forgive him. That is the way the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And to all these things, you must add love. Love holds everything and everybody together and makes all these good things perfect. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ have power over your hearts. You were chosen as a part of His body. Always be thankful.

¹⁶ Let the teaching of Christ and His words keep on living in you. These make your lives rich and full of wisdom. Keep on teaching and helping each other. Sing the Songs of David and the church songs and the songs of heaven with hearts full of thanks to God. ¹⁷ Whatever you say or do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through the Lord Jesus.