Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the Overcomer: Maschil, for the sons of Korah.

¹ ¶ As the hart pants after the water brooks, so does my soul pant after thee, O God.

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

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

⁴ I will remember these things; I will pour out my soul in me. When I shall be included in the number; I will go with them to the house of God with voice of joy and praise, dancing in the multitude.

⁵ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted against me? Wait thou for God, for I shall yet praise him for the wellbeing of his presence.

⁶ ¶ O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore I will remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the mountain of Mizar.

⁷ Deep calls unto deep at the voice of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

⁸ Yet the LORD will command his mercy in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

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

¹⁰ It is as death in my bones when my enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

¹¹ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the saving health of my countenance and my God.

¹³ ¶ And it came to pass another day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning unto the evening.

¹⁴ And when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone and all the people stand before thee from morning unto evening?

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

¹⁶ When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I declare unto them the statutes of God and his laws.

¹⁷ Then Moses’ father-in-law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.

¹⁸ Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee; for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

¹⁹ Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people before God that thou may submit the causes unto God.

²⁰ And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws and shalt show them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do.

²¹ Moreover thou shalt consider out of all the people men of virtue, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place princes over them, of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

²² And let them judge the people at all seasons; and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge, so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

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

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

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

²⁶ And they judged the people at all seasons; the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

²⁷ And Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went to his own land.

¹⁵ Some indeed preach the Christ even out of envy and strife, but others also out of good will.

¹⁶ Some preach the Christ out of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add tribulation to my bonds,

¹⁷ but the others out of charity, knowing that I am placed here for the defense of the gospel.

¹⁸ What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, and will even rejoice.

¹⁹ For I know that this shall become my saving health through your prayer and the nourishment of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

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

²¹ ¶ For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.