Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 When the Israelites went out of Egypt,
the people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place;
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away;
the Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into a spring of water.
2 While Jonah was inside the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God and said,
2 “When I was in danger,
I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
I was about to die,
so I cried to you,
and you heard my voice.
3 You threw me into the sea,
down, down into the deep sea.
The water was all around me,
and your powerful waves flowed over me.
4 I said, ‘I was driven out of your presence,
but I hope to see your Holy Temple again.’
5 The waters of the sea closed around my throat.
The deep sea was all around me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 When I went down to where the mountains of the sea start to rise,
I thought I was locked in this prison forever,
but you saved me from the pit of death,
Lord my God.
7 “When my life had almost gone,
I remembered the Lord.
I prayed to you,
and you heard my prayers in your Holy Temple.
8 “People who worship useless idols
give up their loyalty to you.
9 But I will praise and thank you
while I give sacrifices to you,
and I will keep my promises to you.
Salvation comes from the Lord!”
10 Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and the fish threw up Jonah onto the dry land.
The People Ask for a Miracle
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law answered Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want to see you work a miracle as a sign.”
39 Jesus answered, “Evil and sinful people are the ones who want to see a miracle for a sign. But no sign will be given to them, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 Jonah was in the stomach of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights. 41 On the Judgment Day the people from Nineveh[a] will stand up with you people who live now, and they will show that you are guilty. When Jonah preached to them, they were sorry and changed their lives. And I tell you that someone greater than Jonah is here. 42 On the Judgment Day, the Queen of the South[b] will stand up with you people who live today. She will show that you are guilty, because she came from far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching. And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is here.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.