Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Book Five

Psalm 107

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!

² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary,

³ And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the [Red] Sea in the south.

⁴ Some wandered in the wilderness in a solitary desert track; they found no city for habitation.

⁵ Hungry and thirsty, they fainted; their lives were near to being extinguished.

⁶ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.

⁷ He led them forth by the straight and right way, that they might go to a city where they could establish their homes.

³³ He turns rivers into a wilderness, water springs into a thirsty ground,^(A)

³⁴ A fruitful land into a barren, salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.^(B)

³⁵ He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry ground into water springs;^(C)

³⁶ And there He makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation,

³⁷ And sow fields, and plant vineyards which yield fruits of increase.

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ minister,^(A)

² Moses My servant is dead. So now arise [take his place], go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, the Israelites.

³ Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread, that have I given to you, as I promised Moses.

⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river Euphrates—all the land of the ^[a]Hittites [Canaan]—and to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea on the west shall be your territory.

⁵ No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

⁶ Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

⁷ Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good ^[b]success.

⁹ Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

¹¹ Pass through the camp and command the people, Prepare your provisions, for within three days you shall pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

¹⁷ But if you bear the name of Jew and rely upon the Law and pride yourselves in God and your relationship to Him,

¹⁸ And know and understand His will and discerningly approve the better things and have a sense of what is vital, because you are instructed by the Law;

¹⁹ And if you are confident that you [yourself] are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, and [that

²⁰ You are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

²¹ Well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you teach against stealing, do you steal (take what does not really belong to you)?

²² You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery [are you unchaste in action or in thought]? You who abhor and loathe idols, do you rob temples [do you appropriate to your own use what is consecrated to God, thus robbing the sanctuary and ^[a]doing sacrilege]?

²³ You who boast in the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law [by stealthily infringing upon or carelessly neglecting or openly breaking it]?

²⁴ For, as it is written, The name of God is maligned and blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you! [The words to this effect are from your own Scriptures.]^(A)

²⁵ Circumcision does indeed profit if you keep the Law; but if you habitually transgress the Law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.

²⁶ So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be credited to him as [equivalent to] circumcision?

²⁷ Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the Law will condemn you who, although you have the code in writing and have circumcision, break the Law.

²⁸ For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical.

²⁹ But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and [true] circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal [matter]. His praise is not from men but from God.