Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Is Good to His People

78 O my people, hear my teaching. Listen to the words of my mouth. ² I will open my mouth in picture-stories. I will tell things which have been kept secret from long ago, ³ which we have heard and known because our fathers have told us. ⁴ We will not hide them from their children. But we will tell the children-to-come the praises of the Lord, and of His power and the great things He has done.

⁵ For He has made His will known to Jacob. He made the Law in Israel, which He told our fathers to teach their children. ⁶ So the children-to-come might know, even the children yet to be born. So they may rise up and tell it to their children. ⁷ Then they would put their trust in God and not forget the works of God. And they would keep His Law.

³⁰ Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Mount Ebal. ³¹ It was built just as the Lord’s servant Moses had told the people of Israel, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses. It was an altar made of stones which had not been cut. No one had used an iron object on them. On the altar they gave burnt gifts in worship to the Lord. And there they gave peace gifts in worship. ³² There Joshua wrote on the stones the Law of Moses in front of the people of Israel. ³³ All Israel stood on both sides of the special box, in front of the Levite religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement of the Lord. Strangers stood there as well as those born among the people, with their leaders and heads and men who judge between what is right or wrong. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim. The other half stood in front of Mount Ebal. They did just as the Lord’s servant Moses had told them before. They prayed for good to come to the people of Israel. ³⁴ After this Joshua read all the words of the Law, the good and the bad that will happen. He read all that is written in the book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses had said which Joshua did not read. He read it in front of all the people of Israel, with the women and children and strangers who were living among them.

The Sixth Horn—the Angels That Kill

¹³ The sixth angel blew his horn. I heard a voice coming from the four corners of the altar made of gold that is before God. ¹⁴ The voice said to the sixth angel who had the horn, “Let the four angels loose that have been chained at the big river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ They had been kept ready for that hour and day and month and year. They were let loose so they could kill one-third part of all men that were living. ¹⁶ The army had 200 million soldiers on horses. I heard them say how many there were.

¹⁷ I saw, as God wanted to show me, the horses and the men on them. The men had pieces of iron over their chests. These were red like fire and blue like the sky and yellow like sulphur. The heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions. Fire and smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸ One-third part of all men was killed by the fire and smoke and sulphur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like the heads of snakes and with them they could bite and kill. ²⁰ The men that were still living after these troubles were past would not turn away from worshiping demons. They would not turn away from false gods made from gold and silver and brass and stone and wood. None of these false gods can see or hear or walk. ²¹ These men were not sorry for their sins and would not turn away from all their killing and their witchcraft. They would not stop their sex sins and their stealing.