Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Book 5: Psalms 107–150
God Saves from Many Dangers
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His ·love [loyalty] continues forever.
2 That is what those whom the Lord has ·saved [redeemed] should say.
He has ·saved [redeemed] them from the ·enemy [foe]
3 and has gathered them from other lands,
from east and west, north and south [Is. 51:11; C perhaps after the Babylonian exile].
17 Some ·fools turned against God [L became fools in the way of transgression]
and ·suffered [were afflicted] ·for the evil they did [L because of their guilt].
18 ·They refused to eat anything [L Their appetite loathed any food],
so they ·almost died [L approached the gates of death].
19 In their ·misery [distress] they cried out to the Lord,
and he ·saved them [gave them victory] from their troubles [vv. 6, 13, 28].
20 God ·gave the command [L sent forth his word] and healed them,
so they were ·saved [rescued] from ·dying [destruction; or their pits].
21 Let them ·give thanks to [praise] the Lord for his ·love [loyalty]
and for the ·miracles [wonderful works] he does for people [vv. 8, 15, 31].
22 Let them offer ·sacrifices to thank him [thanksgiving offerings].
With joy they should ·tell [recount] what he has done.
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “·Now [or Look] I am making my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you and your ·people [seed] ·who will live after you [L after you], 10 and with every living thing that is with you—the birds, the ·tame [livestock; cattle] and the wild animals, and with everything that came out of the ·boat [ark] with you—with every living thing on earth. 11 I ·make [establish] this ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you: ·I will never again destroy all living things by a flood [L a flood will never again cut off all flesh]. A flood will never again destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign [C a symbol that represents this relationship between God and Noah; 17:11; Ex. 31:13, 17] of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. 13 I am putting my ·rainbow [bow; C may represent God hanging up his weapon after warring against humanity] in the clouds as the sign of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and a ·rainbow [bow] appears in them, 15 I will remember my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and you and every living thing [L of all flesh]. [L The waters of the] Floods will never again destroy all ·life on the earth [L flesh]. 16 When the ·rainbow [bow] appears in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the ·agreement that continues forever [L eternal covenant] between me and every living thing [L of all flesh] on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “·The rainbow [L This] is a ·sign [9:12] of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] that I made with all living things on earth.”
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 ·Praise be to [or Blessed is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly ·world [realms; places]. 4 ·That is [or Just as; or For; Because], in Christ, he chose us before the ·world was made [L foundation of the world] so that we would be his holy people—people ·without blame [or unblemished; C as are sacrificial animals] before him. 5 Because of his love [C this phrase may go with the previous sentence], God ·had already decided to make us his own children [L predestined us for adoption] through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him, 6 and it brings praise to God because of his ·wonderful [glorious] grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in ·Christ, the One he loves [L the Beloved].
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