Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
24 O Lord, how (A)many are Your works!
[a]In (B)wisdom You have made them all;
The (C)earth is full of Your [b]possessions.
25 [c]There is the (D)sea, great and [d]broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
26 There the (E)ships move along,
And [e](F)Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.
27 They all (G)wait for You
To (H)give them their food in [f]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (I)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (J)hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You (K)take away their [g]spirit, they expire
And (L)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [h](M)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 Let the (N)glory of the Lord endure forever;
Let the Lord (O)be glad in His works;
32 [i]He (P)looks at the earth, and it (Q)trembles;
He (R)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [j]I will sing to the Lord [k](S)as long as I live;
[l]I will (T)sing praise to my God [m]while I have my being.
34 Let my (U)meditation be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (V)be glad in the Lord.
Deliverance Promised
18 Then the Lord [a]will be (A)zealous for His land
And [b]will have (B)pity on His people.
19 The Lord [c]will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to (C)send you grain, new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with [d]them;
And I will (D)never again make you a reproach among the nations.
20 “But I will remove the (E)northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the (F)eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the (G)western sea.
And its (H)stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it has done great things.”
21 (I)Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For the Lord has done (J)great things.
22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the (K)pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded [e]in full.
23 So rejoice, O (L)sons of Zion,
And (M)be glad in the Lord your God;
For He has (N)given you [f]the early rain for your vindication.
And He has poured down for you the rain,
The [g]early and [h](O)latter rain [i]as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will (P)overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will make up to you for the years
That the swarming (Q)locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26 “You will have plenty to (R)eat and be satisfied
And (S)praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has (T)dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will (U)never be put to shame.
27 “Thus you will (V)know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God,
And there is (W)no other;
And My people will never be (X)put to shame.
The Promise of the Spirit
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (A)are not worthy to be compared with the (B)glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the (C)anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for (D)the revealing of the (E)sons of God. 20 For the creation (F)was subjected to (G)futility, not willingly, but (H)because of Him who subjected it, [a]in hope 21 that (I)the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation (J)groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 (K)And not only this, but also we ourselves, having (L)the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves (M)groan within ourselves, (N)waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, (O)the redemption of our body. 24 For (P)in hope we have been saved, but (Q)hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
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