Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²² “The^(A) Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
^23 (B)I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
^25 (C)Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
²⁶ While as yet He had not made the earth or the ^[a]fields,
Or the ^[b]primal dust of the world.
²⁷ When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
^29 (D)When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When ^(E)He marked out the foundations of the earth,
^30 (F)Then I was beside Him as ^[c]a master craftsman;
^(G)And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
³¹ Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And ^(H)my delight was with the sons of men.

^2 (C)Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ^[b]ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence ^(D)the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I ^(E)consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
^4 (F)What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You ^(G)visit^[c] him?
⁵ For You have made him a little lower than ^[d]the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

^6 (H)You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
^(I)You have put all things under his feet,
⁷ All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
⁸ The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.

^9 (J)O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!