Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so I long for you, God.(A)
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?” (C)
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:(D)
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.(E)
5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.(F)
6 I[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.(G)
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.(H)
8 The Lord will send his faithful love by day;(I)
his song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,(J)
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?” (K)
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?” (L)
11 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.(M)
Jethro’s Visit
18 Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian,(A) heard about everything that God had done for Moses and for God’s people Israel when the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 Now Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, had taken in Zipporah,(B) Moses’s wife, after he had sent her back, 3 along with her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom[a] (because Moses had said, “I have been a resident alien in a foreign land”)(C) 4 and the other Eliezer (because he had said, “The God of my father was my helper and rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword”).[b]
5 Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro, along with Moses’s wife and sons, came to him in the wilderness where he was camped at the mountain of God.(D) 6 He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down,(E) and then kissed him. They asked each other how they had been[c] and went into the tent. 8 Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that confronted them on the way, and how the Lord rescued them.(F)
9 Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done for Israel when he rescued them from the power of the Egyptians. 10 “Blessed be the Lord,”(G) Jethro exclaimed, “who rescued you from the power of Egypt and from the power of Pharaoh. He has rescued the people from under the power of Egypt! 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he did wonders when the Egyptians acted arrogantly against Israel.”[d](H)
12 Then Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’s father-in-law in God’s presence.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,[a] 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day(A) until now.(B) 6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work(C) in you[b] will carry it on to completion(D) until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 Indeed, it is right(E) for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart,[c] and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment(F) and in the defense(G) and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness,(H) how deeply I miss all of you(I) with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love(J) will keep on growing(K) in knowledge and every kind of discernment,(L) 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior(M) and may be pure(N) and blameless(O) in the day of Christ,(P) 11 filled with the fruit(Q) of righteousness(R) that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory(S) and praise of God.
Advance of the Gospel
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel,(T) 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ. 14 Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word[d](U) fearlessly.
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