Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ “I am calling out to all of you.
    I am speaking to everyone.

²² “The Lord made me in the beginning,
    long before he did anything else.
²³ I was formed a long time ago,
    before the world was made.
²⁴ I was born before there was an ocean,
    before the springs began to flow.
²⁵ I was born before the mountains and hills
    were set into place,
²⁶ before the earth and fields were made,
    before the dust of this world was formed.
²⁷ I was there when he set up the skies,
    when he drew a circle in the ocean to make a place for the land.
²⁸ I was there when he put the clouds in the sky
    and made the deep springs flow.
²⁹ I was there when he set the limits on the sea
    to make it stop where he said.
I was there when he laid the foundations of the earth.
³⁰ I grew up as a child by his side,^[a]
    laughing and playing all the time.
³¹ I played in the world he made
    and enjoyed the people he put there.

² From the mouths of children and babies come songs of praise to you.
    They sing of your power to silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.

³ I look at the heavens you made with your hands.
    I see the moon and the stars you created.
⁴ And I wonder, “Why are people so important to you?
    Why do you even think about them?
Why do you care so much about humans^[a]?
    Why do you even notice them?”

⁵ But you made them almost like gods
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You put them in charge of everything you made.
    You put everything under their control.
⁷ People rule over the sheep and cattle and all the wild animals.
⁸ They rule over the birds in the sky
    and the fish that swim in the sea.
⁹ Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!