Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul.
    O Lord, my God, you are indeed very great.
You are clothed in majesty and splendor,
²     wrapped in light^[b] as in a robe.
You have stretched out the heavens like a tent;
³     you have established your palace^[c] upon the waters.
You make the clouds serve as your chariot;
    you ride forth on the wings of the wind.
⁴ You have appointed the winds as your messengers
    and flames of fire^[d] as your ministers.
⁵ You established the earth on its foundations
    so that it will remain unshaken forever.^[e]
6 You covered it with the deep like a cloak;
    the waters rose above the mountains.
⁷ At your rebuke^[f] the waters took to flight;
    at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.
⁸ They rose up to the mountains
    and flowed down to the valleys,^[g]
    to the place that you had designated for them.
⁹ You established a boundary that they were not to cross
    so that they would never again cover the earth.

^24 [a]How countless are your works, O Lord;
    by your wisdom you have made them all;
    the earth abounds with your creatures.

³⁵ May sinners be banished from the earth,
    and may the wicked no longer exist.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.^[a]
Alleluia.

¹ “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Have you ever observed deer in labor?
² Can you accurately number the months that they carry their young
    or know the time of their delivery
³ when they crouch down to give birth
    and deliver their offspring?
⁴ Once their fawns grow strong and become independent,
    they go forth on their own and do not return.

⁵ “Who has given the wild donkey its freedom?
    Who has untied its ropes?
⁶ I gave it the wastelands as its home
    and the salt flats for its dwelling.
⁷ It scorns the noise of the city;
    it is not forced to obey a driver’s shouted order.
⁸ The mountains are the pasture over which it ranges
    in search of any green foliage.
⁹ “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
    Will it stay by your manger during the night?
¹⁰ Can you use ropes to harness its strength?
    Will it harrow the furrows after you?
¹¹ Can you depend upon its massive strength
    to do your heavy work?
¹² Can you rely upon it to return home
    and bring your grain to your threshing floor?

¹³ “The wings of an ostrich are ineffectual,
    since its pinions and its plumage are scanty.
¹⁴ It leaves its eggs on the ground
    and depends on the earth to warm them,
¹⁵ forgetting that a foot may crush them
    or that a wild animal may trample upon them.
¹⁶ It cruelly disowns its young
    as if they were not its own,
    unconcerned if its labor has been wasted.
¹⁷ For God has denied it wisdom
    and deprived it of understanding.
¹⁸ Yet with its swiftness of foot
    it leaves both horse and rider in the dust.
¹⁹ “Do you give the horse its strength?
    Have you clothed its neck with a mane?
²⁰ Do you make it leap like a locust,
    striking terror with its proud snorting?
²¹ It paws the plain jubilantly and prances
    as it charges the battle line with all its strength.
²² It laughs at fear and is frightened of nothing;
    it does not shy away when confronted with the sword.
²³ “The quiver rattles at its side;
    the spear and the javelin flash.
²⁴ Trembling with eagerness it eats up the ground,
    and when the trumpet sounds, there is no holding it back.
²⁵ At each blast of the trumpet it cries ‘Aha!’
    From afar it scents the battle,
    the shouts of the commanders, and the war cries.

²⁶ “Did your wisdom enable the hawk to soar
    as it spreads its wings toward the south?
²⁷ Does the eagle soar aloft at your command
    to build its nest on the lofty heights?
²⁸ It dwells on the cliff in security,
    spending its nights on a rocky crag.
²⁹ From there it watches for its prey;
    its eyes are able to behold it from afar.
³⁰ Its young ones hungrily drink the blood;
    wherever the slain are, it is there.”