Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to God Who Made the World
104 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with glory and majesty;
2 you wear light like a robe.
You stretch out the skies like a tent.
3 You build your room above the clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot,
and you ride on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers,
and flames of fire are your servants.
5 You built the earth on its foundations
so it can never be moved.
6 You covered the earth with oceans;
the water was above the mountains.
7 But at your command, the water rushed away.
When you thundered your orders, it hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank.
The water went to the places you made for it.
9 You set borders for the seas that they cannot cross,
so water will never cover the earth again.
24 Lord, you have made many things;
with your wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
35 Let sinners be destroyed from the earth,
and let the wicked live no longer.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the deer gives birth to her fawn?
2 Do you count the months until they give birth
and know the right time for them to give birth?
3 They lie down, their young are born,
and then the pain of giving birth is over.
4 Their young ones grow big and strong in the wild country.
Then they leave their homes and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I am the one who gave the donkey the desert as its home;
I gave it the desert lands as a place to live.
7 The wild donkey laughs at the confusion in the city,
and it does not hear the drivers shout.
8 It roams the hills looking for pasture,
looking for anything green to eat.
9 “Will the wild ox agree to serve you
and stay by your feeding box at night?
10 Can you hold it to the plowed row with a harness
so it will plow the valleys for you?
11 Will you depend on the wild ox for its great strength
and leave your heavy work for it to do?
12 Can you trust the ox to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap happily,
but they are not like the feathers of the stork.
14 The ostrich lays its eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand.
15 It does not stop to think that a foot might step on them and crush them;
it does not care that some animal might walk on them.
16 The ostrich is cruel to its young, as if they were not even its own.
It does not care that its work is for nothing,
17 because God did not give the ostrich wisdom;
God did not give it a share of good sense.
18 But when the ostrich gets up to run, it is so fast
that it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Job, are you the one who gives the horse its strength
or puts a flowing mane on its neck?
20 Do you make the horse jump like a locust?
It scares people with its proud snorting.
21 It paws wildly, enjoying its strength,
and charges into battle.
22 It laughs at fear and is afraid of nothing;
it does not run away from the sword.
23 The bag of arrows rattles against the horse’s side,
along with the flashing spears and swords.
24 With great excitement, the horse races over the ground;
and it cannot stand still when it hears the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet blows, the horse snorts, ‘Aha!’
It smells the battle from far away;
it hears the shouts of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Is it through your wisdom that the hawk flies
and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Are you the one that commands the eagle to fly
and build its nest so high?
28 It lives on a high cliff and stays there at night;
the rocky peak is its protected place.
29 From there it looks for its food;
its eyes can see it from far away.
30 Its young eat blood,
and where there is something dead, the eagle is there.”
Be Like a Servant
24 The apostles also began to argue about which one of them was the most important. 25 But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the non-Jewish people rule over them, and those who have authority over others like to be called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But you must not be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the leader should be like the servant. 27 Who is more important: the one sitting at the table or the one serving? You think the one at the table is more important, but I am like a servant among you.
28 “You have stayed with me through my struggles. 29 Just as my Father has given me a kingdom, I also give you a kingdom 30 so you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.