Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Comfort in Times of Trouble

77 My voice goes up to God, and I will cry out. My voice goes up to God and He will hear me. ² I looked to the Lord when I was in trouble. I put out my hand at night, and it did not get tired. My soul would not be comforted. ³ When I remember God, then I am troubled. When I am in deep thought, then my spirit becomes weak. ⁴ You keep my eyes from closing. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I have thought about the days of old, the years of long ago. ⁶ I remember my song in the night. I think with my heart. And my spirit asks questions.

⁷ Will the Lord turn away forever? Will He never show favor again? ⁸ Has His loving-kindness stopped forever? Has His promise come to an end for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be loving and kind? Has He in anger taken away His loving-pity? ¹⁰ Then I said, “It is my sorrow that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹ I will remember the things the Lord has done. Yes, I will remember the powerful works of long ago. ¹² I will think of all Your work, and keep in mind all the great things You have done. ¹³ O God, Your way is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God Who does great works. You have shown Your power among the people. ¹⁵ You have set free Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, with Your strong arm.

¹⁶ The waters saw You, O God. The waters saw You and shook. The sea shook also. ¹⁷ The clouds poured down water. The sky sounded with thunder. Your arrows of lightning went this way and that. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the turning wind. The lightning lit up the world. The earth shook. ¹⁹ Your way was through the sea. Your paths went through the powerful waters. And it cannot be known where You stepped. ²⁰ You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

3 Joshua got up early in the morning. He and all the people of Israel left Shittim and came to the Jordan. And they stayed there before they crossed. ² After three days the leaders went among the tents. ³ They told the people, “When you see the special box of the agreement of the Lord your God with the religious leaders carrying it, leave your places and follow it. ⁴ Then you may know the way to go, for you have not passed this way before. But stay about 1,000 long steps away from it. Do not come near it.”

⁵ Then Joshua said to the people, “Make yourselves holy. For tomorrow the Lord will do powerful works among you.” ⁶ Joshua said to the religious leaders, “Take up the special box of the agreement and cross over in front of the people.” So they took up the special box of the agreement and went in front of the people.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to give you honor in the eyes of all Israel. Then they may know that I will be with you just as I have been with Moses. ⁸ Tell the religious leaders who are carrying the special box of the agreement, ‘When you come to the water of the Jordan River, stand still in it.’” ⁹ Then Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here. Listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “You will know that the living God is among you because He will be sure to drive away from in front of you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite and the Jebusite. ¹¹ See, the special box of the agreement of the Lord of All the earth is crossing over in front of you in the Jordan. ¹² Now choose twelve men from the families of Israel, one man for each family. ¹³ The religious leaders who carry the special box of the agreement of the Lord of All the earth, will rest their feet in the water of the Jordan. Then the water of the Jordan will be cut off. The water flowing down from above will gather together in one place.”

¹⁴ So the people left their tents to cross the Jordan. The religious leaders carried the special box of the agreement in front of the people. ¹⁵ They carried it to the Jordan and put their feet in the water. (For the Jordan water floods during the time of gathering grain.) ¹⁶ Then the water flowing down from above stood and rose up in one place far away at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The water flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, was all cut off. So the people crossed beside Jericho. ¹⁷ The religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. And all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had crossed the Jordan.

²³ Because of faith, Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months. They saw that he was a beautiful child. They were not afraid of the king when he said that all baby boys should be killed.

²⁴ Because Moses had faith, he would not be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he grew up. ²⁵ He chose to suffer with God’s people instead of having fun doing sinful things for awhile. ²⁶ Any shame that he suffered for Christ was worth more than all the riches in Egypt. He kept his eyes on the reward God was going to give him.

²⁷ Because Moses had faith, he left Egypt. He was not afraid of the king’s anger. Moses did not turn from the right way but kept seeing God in front of him. ²⁸ Because Moses had faith, he told all the Jews to put blood over their doors. Then the angel of death would pass over their houses and not kill their oldest sons.

²⁹ Because the Jews had faith, they went through the Red Sea as if they were on dry ground. But when the people of Egypt tried to go through, they were all killed by the water.