Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A (A)Contemplation[a] of Asaph.
78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a (B)parable;
I will utter [b]dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 (C)We will not hide them from their children,
(D)Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For (E)He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That (F)they should make them known to their children;
6 (G)That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover (A)on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and [a]parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then (B)the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck
7 The first angel sounded: (A)And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown (B)to the [a]earth. And a third (C)of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck
8 Then the second angel sounded: (D)And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, (E)and a third of the sea (F)became blood. 9 (G)And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck
10 Then the third angel sounded: (H)And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, (I)and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 (J)The name of the star is Wormwood. (K)A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck
12 (L)Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day [b]did not shine, and likewise the night.
13 And I looked, (M)and I heard an [c]angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, (N)“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit
9 Then the fifth angel sounded: (O)And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to (P)the [d]bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the (Q)sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, (R)as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded (S)not to harm (T)the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have (U)the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And [e]they were not given authority to kill them, (V)but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days (W)men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 (X)The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. (Y)On their heads were crowns of something like gold, (Z)and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and (AA)their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was (AB)like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them (AC)the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is [f]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name [g]Apollyon.
12 (AD)One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.