Psalm 104

English Standard Version

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great

104 ^(A)Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    O Lord my God, you are ^(B)very great!
^(C)You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
²    covering yourself with light as with a garment,
    ^(D)stretching out the heavens ^(E)like a tent.
³He ^(F)lays the beams of his ^(G)chambers on the waters;
he makes ^(H)the clouds his chariot;
    he rides on ^(I)the wings of the wind;
⁴he ^(J)makes his messengers winds,
    his ^(K)ministers ^(L)a flaming fire.

⁵He ^(M)set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be moved.
⁶You ^(N)covered it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷At ^(O)your rebuke they fled;
    at ^(P)the sound of your thunder they ^(Q)took to flight.
⁸The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place that you ^(R)appointed for them.
⁹You set ^(S)a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they ^(T)might not again cover the earth.

¹⁰You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills;
¹¹they ^(U)give drink to every beast of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
¹²Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
    they sing among the branches.
¹³^(V)From your lofty abode you ^(W)water the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

¹⁴You cause ^(X)the grass to grow for the livestock
    and ^(Y)plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth ^(Z)food from the earth
¹⁵    and ^(AA)wine to gladden the heart of man,
^(AB)oil to make his face shine
    and bread to ^(AC)strengthen man's heart.

¹⁶The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
    ^(AD)the cedars of Lebanon ^(AE)that he planted.
¹⁷In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has her home in the fir trees.
¹⁸The high mountains are for ^(AF)the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for ^(AG)the rock badgers.

¹⁹He made the moon to mark the ^(AH)seasons;^[a]
    the sun knows its time for setting.
²⁰^(AI)You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
²¹^(AJ)The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
²²When the sun rises, they steal away
    and lie down in their ^(AK)dens.
²³^(AL)Man goes out to his work
    and to his labor until the evening.

²⁴O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In ^(AM)wisdom have you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵Here is the sea, great and wide,
    ^(AN)which teems with creatures innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
²⁶There go the ships,
    and ^(AO)Leviathan, which you formed to ^(AP)play in it.^[b]

²⁷These ^(AQ)all look to you,
    to ^(AR)give them their food in due season.
²⁸When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you ^(AS)open your hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹When you ^(AT)hide your face, they are ^(AU)dismayed;
    when you ^(AV)take away their breath, they die
    and ^(AW)return to their dust.
³⁰When you ^(AX)send forth your Spirit,^[c] they are created,
    and you ^(AY)renew the face of the ground.

³¹May the glory of the Lord ^(AZ)endure forever;
    may the Lord ^(BA)rejoice in his works,
³²who looks on the earth and it ^(BB)trembles,
    who ^(BC)touches the mountains and they smoke!
³³I will sing to the Lord ^(BD)as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
³⁴May my ^(BE)meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵Let ^(BF)sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
^(BG)Bless the Lord, O my soul!
^(BH)Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 104:19 Or the appointed times (compare Genesis 1:14)
Psalm 104:26 Or you formed to play with
Psalm 104:30 Or breath

Exodus 13:17-14:4

English Standard Version

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

¹⁷When Pharaoh let the people go, God did ^(A)not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people ^(B)change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸But God ^(C)led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. ¹⁹Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph^[a] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ^(D)“God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” ²⁰And ^(E)they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹And ^(F)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. ²²The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the people of Israel to ^(G)turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between ^(H)Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. ³For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴And ^(I)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will ^(J)get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, ^(K)and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

Footnotes

Exodus 13:19 Samaritan, Septuagint; Hebrew he

2 Corinthians 4:14-18

English Standard Version

¹⁴knowing that ^(A)he who raised the Lord Jesus ^(B)will raise us also with Jesus and ^(C)bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵For ^(D)it is all for your sake, so that as ^(E)grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, ^(F)to the glory of God.

¹⁶So we do not lose heart. ^(G)Though our outer self^[a] is wasting away, ^(H)our inner self ^(I)is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For ^(J)this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸^(K)as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.