Psalm 104:24-35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
V
24 How varied are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.(A)
25 There is the sea, great and wide!
It teems with countless beings,
living things both large and small.(B)
26 There ships ply their course
and Leviathan,[a] whom you formed to play with.(C)
VI
27 All of these look to you
to give them food in due time.(D)
28 When you give it to them, they gather;
when you open your hand, they are well filled.
29 [b]When you hide your face, they panic.
Take away their breath, they perish
and return to the dust.(E)
30 Send forth your spirit, they are created
and you renew the face of the earth.
VII
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord be glad in his works!
32 Who looks at the earth and it trembles,
touches the mountains and they smoke!(F)
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.(G)
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him;
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners vanish from the earth,
and the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah![c]
Footnotes
- 104:26 Leviathan: a sea monster symbolizing primeval chaos, cf. Ps 74:14; Is 27:1; Jb 40:25. God does not destroy chaos but makes it part of the created order.
- 104:29–30 On one level, the spirit (or wind) of God is the fall and winter rains that provide food for all creatures. On another, it is the breath (or spirit) of God that makes beings live.
- 104:35 Hallelujah: a frequent word in the last third of the Psalter. The word combines the plural imperative of praise (hallelu) with an abbreviated form of the divine name Yah(weh).
Joel 2:18-27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Lord Relents. 18 Then the Lord grew jealous[a] for his land and took pity on his people. 19 In response the Lord said to his people:
I am sending you
grain, new wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied by them;
Never again will I make you
a disgrace among the nations.
20 The northerner[b] I will remove far from you,
driving them out into a dry and desolate land,
Their vanguard to the eastern sea,
their rearguard to the western sea,
And their stench will rise,
their stink will ascend,
What great deeds the Lord has done!
21 Do not fear, O land!
delight and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things!(A)
22 Do not fear, you animals in the wild,
for the wilderness pastures sprout green grass.
The trees bear fruit,
the fig tree and the vine produce their harvest.
23 Children of Zion, delight
and rejoice in the Lord, your God!
For he has faithfully given you the early rain,[c]
sending rain down on you,
the early and the late rains as before.(B)
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
the vats spilling over with new wine and oil.
25 I will repay you double
what the swarming locust has eaten,
The hopper, the consuming locust, and the cutter,
my great army I sent against you.(C)
26 You will eat until you are fully satisfied,
then you will praise the name of the Lord, your God,
Who acts so wondrously on your behalf!
My people will never again be put to shame.
27 Then you will know that I am in the midst of Israel:
I, the Lord, am your God, and there is no other;
my people will never again be put to shame.(D)
Footnotes
- 2:18 Jealous: the Hebrew word describes the passionate empathetic bond the Lord has with Israel. The people’s wholehearted participation in Joel’s call for fasting and prayer sparks the Lord’s longing to protect and love his people Israel. This desire moves him to withhold punishment and to send the blessing of v. 14 instead.
- 2:20 The northerner: the locusts, pictured as an invading army, which traditionally came from the north (Jer 1:14–15; Ez 26:7; 38:6, 15). Locusts are not usually an annual threat in Palestine, nor are they often associated with the north. However, to demonstrate the extent of the Lord’s care for Judah and control over what happens within its borders, Joel assures his audience that the Lord will quickly drive the locusts out of Judah the coming spring, should they reappear. Dead locusts will litter the shores of the “eastern” (the Dead Sea) and the “western” (the Mediterranean) seas.
- 2:23 This autumn rain teaches the people to recognize God’s compassionate presence in nature and history. There is a play on the double meaning of the Hebrew word moreh: “early rain” and “teacher.” In the Dead Sea Scrolls, the word is used in the phrase “teacher (= moreh) of righteousness.”
Romans 8:18-24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.(A) 19 For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; 20 for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it,(B) in hope 21 that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.(C) 22 We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;(D) 23 and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.(E) 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees?(F)
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