Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ You turn human beings back to dust.
    You say to them, “Return to dust.”
⁴ To you a thousand years
    are like a day that has just gone by.
    They are like a few hours of the night.
⁵ Yet you sweep people away, and they die.
    They are like new grass that grows in the morning.
⁶ In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it’s all dried up.

¹³ Lord, please stop punishing us!
    How long will you keep it up?
    Be kind to us.
¹⁴ Satisfy us with your faithful love every morning.
    Then we can sing for joy and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have made us suffer.
    Give us joy for as many years as we’ve had trouble.
¹⁶ Show us your mighty acts.
    Let our children see your glorious power.

¹⁷ May the Lord our God always be pleased with us.
    Lord, make what we do succeed.
    Please make what we do succeed.

32 Heavens, listen to me. Then I will speak.
    Earth, hear the words of my mouth.
² Let my teaching fall like rain.
    Let my words come down like dew.
Let them be like raindrops on new grass.
    Let them be like rain on tender plants.

³ I will make known the name of the Lord.
    Praise God! How great he is!
⁴ He is the Rock. His works are perfect.
    All his ways are right.
He is faithful. He doesn’t do anything wrong.
    He is honest and fair.

⁵ Israel, you have sinned against him very much.
    It’s too bad for you that you aren’t his children anymore.
    You have become a twisted and evil nation.
⁶ Is that how you thank the Lord?
    You aren’t wise. You are foolish.
Remember, he’s your Father. He’s your Creator.
    He made you. He formed you.

⁷ Remember the days of long ago.
    Think about what the Lord did through those many years.
Ask your father. He will tell you.
    Ask your elders. They’ll explain it to you.
⁸ The Most High God gave the nations their lands.
    He divided up the human race.
He set up borders for the nations.
    He did it based on the number of the angels in his heavenly court.
⁹ The Lord’s people are his share.
    Jacob is the nation he has received.

¹⁰ The Lord found Israel in a desert.
    He found them in an empty and windy land.
He took care of them and kept them safe.
    He guarded them as he would guard his own eyes.
¹¹ He was like an eagle that stirs up its nest.
    It hovers over its little ones.
It spreads out its wings to catch them.
    It carries them up in the air on its feathers.
¹² The Lord was the only one who led Israel.
    No other god was with them.

¹³ The Lord made them ride on the highest places in the land.
    He fed them what grew in the fields.
He gave them the sweetest honey.
    He fed them olive oil from a rocky hillside.
¹⁴ He gave them butter and milk from the herds and flocks.
    He fed them the fattest lambs and goats.
He gave them the best of Bashan’s rams.
    He fed them the finest wheat.
    They drank the bubbling red juice of grapes.