Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A song by David for worship.)

Thanking the Lord for Victory

God's Promise to Noah

9 ^(A) God said to Noah and his sons:

I am giving you my blessing. Have a lot of children and grandchildren, so people will live everywhere on this earth. ² All animals, birds, reptiles, and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them under your control, ³ and I have given them to you for food. From now on, you may eat them, as well as the green plants that you have always eaten. ^4 (B) But life is in the blood, and you must not eat any meat that still has blood in it. ^5-6 (C) I created humans to be like me, and I will punish any animal or person that takes a human life. If an animal kills someone, that animal must die. And if a person takes the life of another, that person must be put to death.

^7 (D) I want you and your descendants to have many children, so people will live everywhere on earth.

⁸ Again, God said to Noah and his sons:

⁹ I am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who will live after you. ¹⁰ This includes the birds and the animals that came out of the boat. ¹¹ I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood.

^12-13 The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. ¹⁴ When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, ¹⁵ I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life. ¹⁶ When I see the rainbow in the sky, I will always remember the promise that I have made to every living creature. ¹⁷ The rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise.

^32 (A) What else can I say? There isn't enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ^33 (B) Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions ^34 (C) and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.

^35 (D) Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life. ^36 (E) Others were made fun of and beaten with whips, and some were chained in jail. ^37 (F) Still others were stoned to death or sawed in two^[a] or killed with swords. Some had nothing but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated, and tortured. ³⁸ The world did not deserve these good people, who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹ All of them pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised. ⁴⁰ This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us.