Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 104
God the Creator
1 My soul, bless the Lord!
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with majesty and splendor.(A)
2 He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe,
spreading out the sky like a canopy,(B)
3 laying the beams of his palace
on the waters above,(C)
making the clouds his chariot,(D)
walking on the wings of the wind,(E)
4 and making the winds his messengers,[a]
flames of fire his servants.(F)
5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be shaken.(G)
6 You covered it with the deep
as if it were a garment;
the water stood above the mountains.(H)
7 At your rebuke the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder they hurried away(I)—
8 mountains rose and valleys sank[b]—
to the place you established for them.(J)
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never cover the earth again.(K)
35 May sinners vanish from the earth
and wicked people be no more.(A)
My soul, bless the Lord!
Hallelujah!
39 Do you know when mountain goats give birth?
Have you watched the deer in labor?
2 Can you count the months they are pregnant[a]
so you can know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down to give birth to their young;
they deliver their newborn.[b]
4 Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field.
They leave and do not return.[c]
5 Who set the wild donkey free?
Who released the swift donkey from its harness?
6 I made the desert(A) its home,
and the salty(B) wasteland its dwelling.
7 It scoffs at the noise of the village
and never hears the shouts of a driver.(C)
8 It roams the mountains for its pastureland,
searching for anything green.
9 Would the wild ox be willing to serve you?
Would it spend the night by your feeding trough?
10 Can you hold the wild ox(D) to a furrow by its harness?
Will it plow the valleys behind you?
11 Can you depend on it because its strength is great?
Would you leave it to do your hard work?
12 Can you trust the wild ox to harvest your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but are her feathers and plumage like the stork’s?[d](E)
14 She abandons her eggs on the ground
and lets them be warmed in the sand.
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them
or that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,
with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom;
he has not endowed her with understanding.(F)
18 When she proudly[e] spreads her wings,
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 Do you give strength to the horse?
Do you adorn his neck with a mane?[f]
20 Do you make him leap like a locust?
His proud snorting fills one with terror.
21 He paws[g] in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
he charges into battle.[h]
22 He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing;
he does not run from the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side,
along with a flashing spear and a javelin.
24 He charges ahead[i] with trembling rage;
he cannot stand still at the sound of the ram’s horn.
25 When the ram’s horn blasts, he snorts defiantly.[j]
He smells the battle from a distance;
he hears the officers’ shouts and the battle cry.
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding
and spread its wings to the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and make its nest(G) on high?
28 It lives on a cliff where it spends the night;
its stronghold is on a rocky crag.
29 From there it searches for prey;(H)
its eyes penetrate the distance.
30 Its brood gulps down blood,
and where the slain are, it is there.(I)
The Dispute over Greatness
24 Then a dispute also arose among them about who should be considered the greatest.(A) 25 But he said to them,(B) “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them have themselves called[a] ‘Benefactors.’ 26 It is not to be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you should become like the youngest,(C) and whoever leads, like the one serving. 27 For who is greater, the one at the table or the one serving? Isn’t it the one at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.(D) 28 You are those who stood by me in my trials.(E) 29 I bestow on you a kingdom,(F) just as my Father bestowed one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.(G) And you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.(H)
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