Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendour and majesty.

² The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
³     and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
    and rides on the wings of the wind.
⁴ He makes winds his messengers,^[a]
    flames of fire his servants.

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations;
    it can never be moved.
⁶ You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ But at your rebuke the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
⁸ they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned for them.
⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

²⁴ How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.^[a]

39 ‘Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
² Do you count the months till they bear?
    Do you know the time they give birth?
³ They crouch down and bring forth their young;
    their labour pains are ended.
⁴ Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
    they leave and do not return.

⁵ ‘Who let the wild donkey go free?
    Who untied its ropes?
⁶ I gave it the wasteland as its home,
    the salt flats as its habitat.
⁷ It laughs at the commotion in the town;
    it does not hear a driver’s shout.
⁸ It ranges the hills for its pasture
    and searches for any green thing.

⁹ ‘Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
    Will it stay by your manger at night?
¹⁰ Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
    Will it till the valleys behind you?
¹¹ Will you rely on it for its great strength?
    Will you leave your heavy work to it?
¹² Can you trust it to haul in your grain
    and bring it to your threshing-floor?

¹³ ‘The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
    though they cannot compare
    with the wings and feathers of the stork.
¹⁴ She lays her eggs on the ground
    and lets them warm in the sand,
¹⁵ unmindful that a foot may crush them,
    that some wild animal may trample them.
¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
    she cares not that her labour was in vain,
¹⁷ for God did not endow her with wisdom
    or give her a share of good sense.
¹⁸ Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
    she laughs at horse and rider.

¹⁹ ‘Do you give the horse its strength
    or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
²⁰ Do you make it leap like a locust,
    striking terror with its proud snorting?
²¹ It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
    and charges into the fray.
²² It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
    it does not shy away from the sword.
²³ The quiver rattles against its side,
    along with the flashing spear and lance.
²⁴ In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
    it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, “Aha!”
    It catches the scent of battle from afar,
    the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶ ‘Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
    and spread its wings towards the south?
²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command
    and build its nest on high?
²⁸ It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
    a rocky crag is its stronghold.
²⁹ From there it looks for food;
    its eyes detect it from afar.
³⁰ Its young ones feast on blood,
    and where the slain are, there it is.’