Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God in the Thunderstorm
A psalm of David.
29 Praise the Lord, you angels;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
2 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name;
worship the Lord because he is holy.
3 The Lord’s voice is heard over the sea.
The glorious God thunders;
the Lord thunders over the ocean.
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful;
the Lord’s voice is majestic.
5 The Lord’s voice breaks the trees;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf
and Mount Hermon jump like a baby bull.
7 The Lord’s voice makes the lightning flash.
8 The Lord’s voice shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The Lord’s voice shakes the oaks
and strips the leaves off the trees.
In his Temple everyone says, “Glory to God!”
10 The Lord controls the flood.
The Lord will be King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
39 “Do you hunt food for the female lion
to satisfy the hunger of the young lions
40 while they lie in their dens
or hide in the bushes waiting to attack?
41 Who gives food to the birds
when their young cry out to God
and wander about without food?
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the deer gives birth to her fawn?
2 Do you count the months until they give birth
and know the right time for them to give birth?
3 They lie down, their young are born,
and then the pain of giving birth is over.
4 Their young ones grow big and strong in the wild country.
Then they leave their homes and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I am the one who gave the donkey the desert as its home;
I gave it the desert lands as a place to live.
7 The wild donkey laughs at the confusion in the city,
and it does not hear the drivers shout.
8 It roams the hills looking for pasture,
looking for anything green to eat.
9 “Will the wild ox agree to serve you
and stay by your feeding box at night?
10 Can you hold it to the plowed row with a harness
so it will plow the valleys for you?
11 Will you depend on the wild ox for its great strength
and leave your heavy work for it to do?
12 Can you trust the ox to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
Gifts from the Holy Spirit
12 Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand about spiritual gifts. 2 You know the way you lived before you were believers. You let yourselves be influenced and led away to worship idols—things that could not speak. 3 So I want you to understand that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “Jesus be cursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” without the help of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.