Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ When I look at the heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
        the moon and the stars that you established—
⁴ what is man that you take notice of him,
    or the son of man^[c] that you pay attention to him?
⁵ You made him a little less than divine,^[d]
    but you crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You gave him dominion over the work of your hands,
    you put all things under his feet:
⁷ Sheep and cattle—all of them,
    wild creatures of the field,
⁸ birds in the sky,
    fish in the sea—
        whatever moves through the currents of the oceans.

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how excellent is your name in all the earth!

¹² “Have you ever commanded the morning at any time during your life?^[a]
    Do you know where the dawn lives,
¹³ where it seizes the edge of the earth
    and shakes the wicked out of it?
¹⁴ Like clay is molded by a signet ring,
    the earth’s hills and valleys^[b] then stand out
        like the colors of a garment.
¹⁵ Then from the wicked their light is withheld
    and their upraised arm is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you been to the source of the sea
    and walked about in the recesses of the deepest ocean?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
    Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
¹⁸ Do you understand the breadth of the earth?
    Tell me, since you know it all!

¹⁹ “Where is the road to where the light lives?
    Or where does the darkness live?
²⁰ Can you take it to its homeland,
    since you know the path to his house?
²¹ You should know! After all, you had been born back then,
    so the number of your days is great!