Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 149

¹ Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, praise Him in the assembly of His saints!

² Let Israel rejoice in Him, their Maker; let Zion’s children triumph and be joyful in their King!^(A)

³ Let them praise His name in chorus and choir and with the [single or group] dance; let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre!

⁴ For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation and adorn the wretched with victory.

⁵ Let the saints be joyful in the glory and beauty [which God confers upon them]; let them sing for joy upon their beds.

⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their throats and a two-edged sword in their hands,^(B)

⁷ To wreak vengeance upon the nations and chastisement upon the peoples,

⁸ To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron,

⁹ To execute upon them the judgment written. He [the Lord] is the honor of all His saints. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness which may be felt.

²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt.

²³ The Egyptians could not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the Israelites had natural light in their dwellings.

²⁴ And Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, Go, serve the Lord; let your little ones also go with you; it is only your flocks and your herds that must not go.

²⁵ But Moses said, You must give into our hand also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

²⁶ Our livestock also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for of them must we take to serve the Lord our God, and we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.

²⁷ But the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stronger and more stubborn, and he would not let them go.

²⁸ And Pharaoh said to Moses, Get away from me! See that you never enter my presence again, for the day you see my face again you shall die!

²⁹ And Moses said, You have spoken truly; I will never see your face again.

¹⁵ And how can men [be expected to] preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings! [How welcome is the coming of those who preach the good news of His good things!]^(A)

¹⁶ But they have not all heeded the Gospel; for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed (had faith in) what he has heard from us?^(B)

¹⁷ So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).

¹⁸ But I ask, Have they not heard? Indeed they have; [for the Scripture says] Their voice [that of nature bearing God’s message] has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the far bounds of the world.^(C)

¹⁹ Again I ask, Did Israel not understand? [Did the Jews have no warning that the Gospel was to go forth to the Gentiles, to all the earth?] First, there is Moses who says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.^(D)

²⁰ Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek Me; I have shown (revealed) Myself to those who did not [consciously] ask for Me.^(E)

²¹ But of Israel he says, All day long I have stretched out My hands to a people unyielding and disobedient and self-willed [to a faultfinding, contrary, and contradicting people].^(F)