Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
In Praise of the Creator
104 Praise the Lord, my soul!
O Lord, my God, how great you are!
You are clothed with majesty and glory;
2 you cover yourself with light.
You have spread out the heavens like a tent
3 and built your home on the waters above.[a]
You use the clouds as your chariot
and ride on the wings of the wind.
4 (A)You use the winds as your messengers
and flashes of lightning as your servants.
5 You have set the earth firmly on its foundations,
and it will never be moved.
6 You placed the ocean over it like a robe,
and the water covered the mountains.
7 When you rebuked the waters, they fled;
they rushed away when they heard your shout of command.
8 They flowed over the mountains and into the valleys,
to the place you had made for them.
9 You set a boundary they can never pass,
to keep them from covering the earth again.
24 Lord, you have made so many things!
How wisely you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures.
35 May sinners be destroyed from the earth;
may the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
37 The storm makes my heart beat wildly.
2 Listen, all of you, to the voice of God,
to the thunder that comes from his mouth.
3 He sends the lightning across the sky,
from one end of the earth to the other.
4 Then the roar of his voice is heard,
the majestic sound of thunder,
and all the while the lightning flashes.
5 At God's command amazing things happen,
wonderful things that we can't understand.
6 He commands snow to fall on the earth,
and sends torrents of drenching rain.
7 He brings our work to a stop;
he shows us what he can do.[a]
8 The wild animals go to their dens.
9 The storm winds come from the south,
and the biting cold from the north.
10 The breath of God freezes the waters,
and turns them to solid ice.
11 Lightning flashes from the clouds,[b]
12 as they move at God's will.
They do all that God commands,
everywhere throughout the world.
13 God sends rain to water the earth;
he may send it to punish us,
or to show us his favor.
14 Pause a moment, Job, and listen;
consider the wonderful things God does.
15 Do you know how God gives the command
and makes lightning flash from the clouds?
16 Do you know how clouds float in the sky,
the work of God's amazing skill?
17 No, you can only suffer in the heat
when the south wind oppresses the land.
18 Can you help God stretch out the sky
and make it as hard as polished metal?
19 Teach us what to say to God;
our minds are blank; we have nothing to say.
20 I won't ask to speak with God;
why should I give him a chance to destroy me?
21 And now the light in the sky is dazzling,
too bright for us to look at it;
and the sky has been swept clean by the wind.
22 A golden glow is seen in the north,
and the glory of God fills us with awe.
23 God's power is so great that we cannot come near him;
he is righteous and just in his dealings with us.
24 No wonder, then, that everyone is awed by him,
and that he ignores those who claim to be wise.
The Famous Prostitute
17 (A)Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came to me and said, “Come, and I will show you how the famous prostitute is to be punished, that great city that is built near many rivers. 2 (B)The kings of the earth practiced sexual immorality with her, and the people of the world became drunk from drinking the wine of her immorality.”
3 (C)The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a red beast that had names insulting to God written all over it; the beast had seven heads and ten horns. 4 (D)The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and covered with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a gold cup full of obscene and filthy things, the result of her immorality. 5 On her forehead was written a name that has a secret meaning: “Great Babylon, the mother of all prostitutes and perverts in the world.” 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's people and the blood of those who were killed because they had been loyal to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was completely amazed. 7 “Why are you amazed?” the angel asked me. “I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast that carries her, the beast with seven heads and ten horns. 8 (E)That beast was once alive, but lives no longer; it is about to come up from the abyss and will go off to be destroyed. The people living on earth whose names have not been written before the creation of the world in the book of the living, will all be amazed as they look at the beast. It was once alive; now it no longer lives, but it will reappear.
9 “This calls for wisdom and understanding. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings: 10 five of them have fallen, one still rules, and the other one has not yet come; when he comes, he must rule only a little while. 11 And the beast that was once alive, but lives no longer, is itself an eighth king who is one of the seven and is going off to be destroyed.
12 (F)“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet begun to rule, but who will be given authority to rule as kings for one hour with the beast. 13 These ten all have the same purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will fight against the Lamb; but the Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings.”
15 The angel also said to me, “The waters you saw, on which the prostitute sits, are nations, peoples, races, and languages. 16 The ten horns you saw and the beast will hate the prostitute; they will take away everything she has and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and destroy her with fire. 17 For God has placed in their hearts the will to carry out his purpose by acting together and giving to the beast their power to rule until God's words come true.
18 “The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.