Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

148 Praise the Lord, O heavens! Praise him from the skies! ² Praise him, all his angels, all the armies of heaven. ³ Praise him, sun and moon and all you twinkling stars. ⁴ Praise him, skies above. Praise him, vapors high above the clouds.

⁵ Let everything he has made give praise to him. For he issued his command, and they came into being; ⁶ he established them forever and forever. His orders will never be revoked.

⁷ And praise him down here on earth, you creatures of the ocean depths. ⁸ Let fire and hail, snow, rain, wind, and weather all obey. ⁹ Let the mountains and hills, the fruit trees and cedars, ¹⁰ the wild animals and cattle, the snakes and birds, ¹¹ the kings and all the people with their rulers and their judges, ¹² young men and maidens, old men and children— ¹³ all praise the Lord together. For he alone is worthy. His glory is far greater than all of earth and heaven. ¹⁴ He has made his people strong, honoring his godly ones—the people of Israel, the people closest to him.

Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord!

⁵ “And now,” said the Lord—the Lord who formed me from my mother’s womb to serve him who commissioned me to restore to him his people Israel, who has given me the strength to perform this task and honored me for doing it!— ⁶ “you shall do more than restore Israel to me. I will make you a Light to the nations of the world to bring my salvation to them too.”

⁷ The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the One who is despised, rejected by mankind, and kept beneath the heel of the world’s rulers: “Kings shall stand at attention when you pass by; princes shall bow low because the Lord has chosen you; he, the faithful Lord, the Holy One of Israel, chooses you.”

^8-9 The Lord says, “Your request has come at a favorable time. I will keep you from harm and give you as a token and pledge to Israel, proof that I will reestablish the land of Israel and reassign it to its own people again. Through you I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, ‘Come out! I am giving you your freedom!’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on the grassy hills. ¹⁰ They shall neither hunger nor thirst; the searing sun and scorching desert winds will not reach them anymore. For the Lord in his mercy will lead them beside the cool waters. ¹¹ And I will make my mountains into level paths for them; the highways shall be raised above the valleys. ¹² See, my people shall return from far away, from north and west and south.”

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens; shout, O earth. Break forth with song, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion upon them in their sorrow.

¹⁴ Yet they say, “My Lord deserted us; he has forgotten us.”

¹⁵ “Never! Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you.

^46-47 As Jesus was speaking in a crowded house,^[a] his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk with him. When someone told him they were there, ⁴⁸ he remarked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ He pointed to his disciples. “Look!” he said, “these are my mother and brothers.” ⁵⁰ Then he added, “Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother!”