Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the chief Musician. An instruction; of the sons of Korah.

42 As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

² My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

³ My tears have been my bread day and night, while they say unto me all the day, Where is thy God?

⁴ These things I remember and have poured out my soul within me: how I passed along with the multitude, how I went on with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, a festive multitude.

⁵ Why art thou cast down, my soul, and art disquieted in me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, [for] the health of his countenance.

⁶ My God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan, and the Hermons, from mount Mizar.

⁷ Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy cataracts; all thy breakers and thy billows are gone over me.

⁸ In the day-time will Jehovah command his loving-kindness, and in the night his song shall be with me, a prayer unto the God of my life.

⁹ I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

¹⁰ As with a crushing in my bones mine adversaries reproach me, while they say unto me all the day, Where is thy God?

¹¹ Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.

¹³ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening.

¹⁴ And Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did with the people, and said, What is this thing which thou art doing with the people? why dost thou sit alone, and all the people are standing by thee from morning to evening?

¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to enquire of God.

¹⁶ When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known [to them] the statutes of God, and his laws.

¹⁷ And Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that thou art doing is not good.

¹⁸ Thou wilt be quite exhausted, both thou and this people that is with thee; for the thing is too heavy for thee: thou canst not perform it alone.

¹⁹ Hearken now to my voice: I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people with God, and bring the matters before God;

²⁰ and teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do.

²¹ But do thou provide among all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place [them] over them, chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens,

²² that they may judge the people at all times; and it shall be [that] they shall bring to thee every great matter, and that they shall judge every small matter, and they shall lighten [the task] on thee, and they shall bear [it] with thee.

²³ If thou do this thing, and God command thee [so], thou wilt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

²⁴ And Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.

²⁵ And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens.

²⁶ And they judged the people at all times: the hard matters they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged.

²⁷ And Moses sent away his father-in-law, and he departed into his land.

¹⁵ Some indeed also for envy and strife, but some also for good will, preach the Christ.

¹⁶ These indeed out of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the glad tidings;

¹⁷ but those out of contention, announce the Christ, not purely, supposing to arouse tribulation for my bonds.

¹⁸ What is it then? at any rate, in every way, whether in pretext or in truth, Christ is announced; and in this I rejoice, yea, also I will rejoice;

¹⁹ for I know that this shall turn out for me to salvation, through your supplication and [the] supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ;

²⁰ according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but in all boldness, as always, now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether by life or by death.

²¹ For for me to live [is] Christ, and to die gain;