Psalm 78
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 78
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude
A Maskil of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.(A)
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,(B)
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.(C)
4 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might
and the wonders that he has done.(D)
5 He established a decree in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children,(E)
6 that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,(F)
7 so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;(G)
8 and that they should not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.(H)
9 The Ephraimites, armed with[a] the bow,
turned back on the day of battle.(I)
10 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to walk according to his law.(J)
11 They forgot what he had done
and the miracles that he had shown them.(K)
12 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.(L)
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it
and made the waters stand like a heap.(M)
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud
and all night long with a fiery light.(N)
15 He split rocks open in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.(O)
16 He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.(P)
18 They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.(Q)
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?(R)
20 Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out
and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”(S)
21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of rage;
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
his anger mounted against Israel,(T)
22 because they had no faith in God
and did not trust his saving power.(U)
23 Yet he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven;(V)
24 he rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them the grain of heaven.(W)
25 Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;(X)
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;(Y)
28 he let them fall within their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29 And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.(Z)
30 But before they had satisfied their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed the strongest of them
and laid low the flower of Israel.(AA)
32 In spite of all this they still sinned;
they did not believe in his wonders.(AB)
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath
and their years in terror.(AC)
34 When he killed them, they searched for him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.(AD)
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.(AE)
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.(AF)
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
forgave their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
often he restrained his anger
and did not stir up all his wrath.(AG)
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and does not come again.(AH)
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!(AI)
41 They tested God again and again
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.(AJ)
42 They did not keep in mind his power
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43 when he displayed his signs in Egypt
and his miracles in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.(AK)
45 He sent among them swarms of flies that devoured them
and frogs that destroyed them.(AL)
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.(AM)
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.(AN)
49 He let loose on them his fierce anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.(AO)
50 He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 He struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.(AP)
52 Then he led out his people like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.(AQ)
53 He led them in safety so that they were not afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.(AR)
54 And he brought them to his holy hill,
to the mountain that his right hand had won.(AS)
55 He drove out nations before them;
he apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.(AT)
56 Yet they tested the Most High God
and rebelled against him.
They did not observe his decrees(AU)
57 but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors;
they twisted like a treacherous bow.(AV)
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
they moved him to jealousy with their idols.(AW)
59 When God heard, he was full of wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mortals,(AX)
61 and delivered his power to captivity,
his glory to the hand of the foe.(AY)
62 He gave his people to the sword
and vented his wrath on his heritage.(AZ)
63 Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no marriage song.(BA)
64 Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows made no lamentation.(BB)
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a warrior shouting because of wine.(BC)
66 He put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting disgrace.(BD)
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.(BE)
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.(BF)
70 He chose his servant David
and took him from the sheepfolds;(BG)
71 from tending the nursing ewes he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel, his inheritance.(BH)
72 With upright heart he tended them
and guided them with skillful hand.(BI)
Footnotes
- 78.9 Heb armed with shooting
Joel 1:15-2:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty[a] it comes.(A)
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?(B)
17 The seed shrivels under the clods;[b]
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are ruined
because the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle wander about
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep are perishing.(C)
19 To you, O Lord, I cry,
for fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
and flames have burned
all the trees of the field.(D)
20 Even the wild animals cry to you
because the watercourses are dried up,
and fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.(E)
2 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—(F)
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains,
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.(G)
Revelation 19:1-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Rejoicing in Heaven
19 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power to our God,(A)
2 for his judgments are true and just;
he has judged the great whore[a]
who corrupted the earth with her prostitution,
and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”(B)
3 Once more they said,
“Hallelujah!
The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.”(C)
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying,
“Amen. Hallelujah!”(D)
5 And from the throne came a voice saying,
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord[c] God
the Almighty reigns.(F)
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready;(G)
8 to her it has been granted to be clothed
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.(H)
9 And the angel said[d] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”(I) 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus.[e] Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus[f] is the spirit of prophecy.”(J)
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Luke 14:25-35
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.(A) 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.(B) 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.(C)
About Salt
34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?[a](D) 35 It is useful neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. If you have ears to hear, then hear!”(E)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 14.34 Or how can it be used for seasoning?
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.