◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 105:1-11 45b (Give thanks to God); Genesis 29:9-14 (Jacob meets Rachel’s family); Acts 7:44-53 (Solomon’s temple cannot contain God) (New Catholic Bible)

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July 28, 2023

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 105:1-11

Psalm 105^[a]

God’s Faithfulness to the Covenant

¹^[b]Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;^[c]
    proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
²Offer him honor with songs of praise;
    recount all his marvelous deeds.
³Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts^[d] of those who seek the Lord exult.
⁴Reflect on the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face continually.
⁵Remember the marvels he has wrought,
    his portents, and the judgments^[e] he has set forth.
⁶You are the offspring of his servant Abraham,
    the children of Jacob, his chosen ones.^[f]
⁷He is the Lord, our God;
    his judgments prevail all over the earth.
⁸He is mindful of his covenant^[g] forever,
    the promise he laid down for a thousand generations,
⁹the covenant he made with Abraham
    and the oath he swore to Isaac.^[h]
¹⁰^[i]He established it as a decree for Jacob,
    and as an everlasting covenant for Israel,
¹¹saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as the portion of your heritage.”

Footnotes

Psalm 105:1 The magnificent hymn in praise of God for creation (see Ps 104) does not suffice for believers. God is he who comes among human beings; hence, they proclaim God’s greatness in history by delivering the human race from slavery and leading it to salvation. In order to voice its joy and thanks, Israel loves to recall the events that marked the beginnings of its adventure: the promise made to Abraham and renewed to the patriarchs (vv. 8-15), the adventure of Joseph (vv. 16-23; see Gen 37–50), Moses and the plagues in Egypt (vv. 24-36; see Ex 1–13), the Exodus and the miracles in the wilderness (vv. 37-43; see Ex 14–15), and lastly the entrance into Canaan, the land promised as an inheritance (v. 44).
Contrary to the following psalm (Ps 106), the author is silent about Israel’s sins; he wishes to sing of nothing but the action of God. The Lord has always kept his word; he has multiplied wonders for his people, and his providence has guided their steps. Now he has a right to expect them to be faithful to him (v. 45).
This psalm becomes the song of the Church, a people chosen by God in Christ and saved by his Passover (see Eph 1). Since our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Mk 12:26), unchanged and also faithful, we can legitimately base our confidence in him on the promises and proofs he gave to our distant spiritual ancestors. Let us not forget, however, that these promises have received eminent confirmation in the life of Christ, whom God has led—through the dreadful detour of death—from this exile to the true Promised Land. This last proof constitutes the primary foundation of our enthusiasm and confidence.
The first fifteen verses of this psalm are found again in 1 Chr 16:8-22.
Psalm 105:1 These three verses can be regarded as a prelude, and they are counterbalanced by the conclusion comprising verses 44-45.
Psalm 105:1 Name: see note on Ps 5:12. Proclaim his deeds among the peoples: see note on Ps 9:2.
Psalm 105:3 Hearts: see note on Ps 4:8.
Psalm 105:5 Judgments: see note on Ps 48:11.
Psalm 105:6 Here begin the allusions to Genesis (Gen 22:17; see Isa 51:2). Children of Jacob, his chosen ones: most manuscripts read instead: “Children of Jacob, his chosen one,” which seems to fit better with the previous line.
Psalm 105:8 Covenant: see Gen 15:9-21. This verse (and v. 9) are alluded to in Lk 1:72f.
Psalm 105:9 The oath he swore to Isaac: another possible translation is “the oath concerning Isaac.”
Psalm 105:10 These verses recall the promise (see Gen 15:18) on which rest the hopes of Israel (see Pss 47:5; 72:8; Deut 4:31, 40).

Psalm 105:45

⁴⁵so that they might keep his decrees
and observe his laws.
Alleluia.

Genesis 29:9-14

⁹He was still speaking with them when Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. ¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, together with the sheep of his uncle Laban, he got up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and gave water to the sheep of his uncle Laban. ¹¹Jacob then kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹²He revealed to Rachel that he was a relative of her father, for he was the son of Rebekah. So she ran to tell her father.

¹³When Laban heard about Jacob, the son of his sister, he ran to meet him. He embraced him, kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all about what had happened to him. ¹⁴Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”

Jacob lived with him for a month.

Acts 7:44-53

⁴⁴“While they were in the desert, our ancestors had the Tent of Testimony, as God commanded when he directed Moses to make it according to the pattern he had been shown. ⁴⁵Our ancestors with Joshua brought it with them when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. It remained there until the time of David, ⁴⁶who found favor with God and desired to provide a dwelling for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷“However, it was Solomon who built a house for him. ⁴⁸Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands. As the prophet says,

⁴⁹‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house can you build for me? asks the Lord.
Where shall my resting place be?
⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?’

⁵¹“You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. ⁵²Was there ever a prophet whom your fathers did not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. ⁵³You received the Law through God’s angels, and yet you have not observed it.”

New Catholic Bible (NCB)