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.

2 Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as scouts, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. And they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there.

² It was told the king of Jericho, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the Israelites to search out the country.

³ And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out the land.

⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, Yes, two men came to me, but I did not know from where they had come.

⁵ And at gate closing time, after dark, the men went out. Where they went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.

⁶ But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order there.

⁷ So the men pursued them to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone, the city’s gate was shut.

⁸ Before the two men had lain down, Rahab came up to them on the roof,

⁹ And she said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the [east] side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

¹¹ When we heard it, our hearts melted, neither did spirit or courage remain any more in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.^(A)

¹² Now then, I pray you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a sure sign,

¹³ And save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all they have, and deliver us from death.

¹⁴ And the men said to her, Our lives for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.

2 But also [in those days] there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly and stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even denying and disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

² And many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed.

³ And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning) arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep.