Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 124
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
now may Israel say,
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up,
when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have overwhelmed us,
the torrent would have passed over our lives;
5 then the surging waters
would have gone over us.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us for a prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
The Noahic Covenant
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 Every beast of the earth and every bird of the sky and all that moves on the earth and all the fish of the sea will fear you and be terrified of you. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. I give you everything, just as I gave you the green plant.
4 “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 But for your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; from every animal will I require it; of man, too, will I require a reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man.
6 Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for God made man
in His own image.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.”
8 Again God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “As for Me, I establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 I establish My covenant with you. Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 Then God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations. 13 I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 When I bring a cloud over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the cloud; 15 then I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow will appear in the cloud, and I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in fighting, and turned the armies of foreign enemies to flight. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured and did not accept deliverance, so that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trials of mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered around in sheepskins and goatskins, while destitute, afflicted, and tormented. 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 These all have obtained a good report through faith, but they did not receive the promise. 40 For God provided something better for us, so that with us they would be made perfect.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.