Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ The voice of the Eternal echoes over the great waters;
    God’s magnificence roars like thunder.
    The Eternal’s presence hovers over all the waters.
⁴ His voice explodes in great power over the earth.
    His voice is both regal and grand.

⁵ The Eternal’s voice shatters the cedars;
    His power splinters the great cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He speaks, and Lebanon leaps like a young calf;
    Sirion jumps like a wild, youthful ox.

⁷ The voice of the Eternal cuts through with flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of the Eternal rumbles through the wilderness
    with great quakes;
    He causes Kadesh to tremble.

⁹ The Eternal’s voice brings life from the doe’s womb;
    His voice strips the forest bare,
    and all the people in the temple declare, “Glory!”

¹⁰ The Eternal is enthroned over the great flood;
    His reign is unending.
¹¹ We ask You, Eternal One, to give strength to Your people;
    Eternal One, bless them with the gift of peace.

¹³     The ostrich flaps her wings,
        and the ringing joy is heard.
        But her wings and pinions are not like a stork’s. She cannot fly.
¹⁴     She is different from other birds,
        for she lays her eggs straight on the ground,
        and she incubates them in the bare dust.
¹⁵     She forgets that a foot might crush them
        or a wild animal trample them.
¹⁶     She is harsh to her young, as if they were not even hers.
        She is unconcerned at the futility of her labor,
¹⁷     For God denied her a share of wisdom,
        and in doling out understanding, He passed her by.
¹⁸     Oh and yet, look at her when the time comes to run—
        she spreads her strange wings and laughs at the horse who must be guided by his rider
        although she is an absurd bird who can’t even fly.

¹⁹     And oh, of course—now let us speak of the horse!
        Do you give that creature its power?
        Do you adorn its neck with that flowing mane?
²⁰     Do you make it leap like a locust
        and terrify the enemy with its dreadful snorting?
²¹     It paws and stamps the valley ground, prancing and gloating at its strength;
        and it greets the battle with a charge.
²²     It laughs at fear, is a stranger to panic,
        and will not turn away from any oncoming blade.
²³     Though the quiver’s arrows rattle at its side,
        though the spear and lance flash in its eyes,
²⁴     It is a storm and a fury devouring the ground ahead,
        set off by the blast of the trumpet, unable to stand still.
²⁵     Stirred by the trumpet sound to charge,
        the horse responds with its own blast
        and smells the blood of battle from a distance,
        amid commands barked by officers and shouts of alarm.