Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 78
A Contemplative Maskil of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter insightful sayings of old,
3 which we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but will tell the coming generation
the praises of the Lord,
and His strength, and the wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He established a rule in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
that they should make them known to their children,
6 that the generation to come might know them,
even the children who are not yet born,
who will arise and declare them to their children:
7 that they might set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep His commandments,
10 The children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 The day after the Passover, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened bread, and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate from the produce of the land, and the children of Israel no longer had manna. That year they ate what the land of Canaan yielded.
The Trumpets
6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were thrown upon the earth. A third of the trees and all the green grass were burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel sounded, and a great star from heaven, burning like a torch, fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 11 The name of this star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.
12 The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day had no light, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I watched, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the other trumpet blasts of the three angels, who are yet to sound!”
9 The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. The star was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke ascended from the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. Power was given them as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were given authority, not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. 6 In those days men will seek death but will not find it. They will desire to die, but death will elude them.
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were something like crowns of gold, and their faces were like faces of men. 8 They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running to battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions and stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek his name is Apollyon.[a]
12 The first woe is past. Now, two more woes are yet to come.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.