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Psalm 104

1  Bless the Lord, O my soul. ♦︎
   O Lord my God, how excellent is your greatness!
2  You are clothed with majesty and honour, ♦︎
   wrapped in light as in a garment.
3  You spread out the heavens like a curtain ♦︎
   and lay the beams of your dwelling place in the waters above.
4  You make the clouds your chariot ♦︎
   and ride on the wings of the wind.
5  You make the winds your messengers ♦︎
   and flames of fire your servants.
6  You laid the foundations of the earth, ♦︎
   that it never should move at any time.
7  You covered it with the deep like a garment; ♦︎
   the waters stood high above the hills.
8  At your rebuke they fled; ♦︎
   at the voice of your thunder they hastened away.
9  They rose up to the hills and flowed down to the valleys beneath, ♦︎
   to the place which you had appointed for them.
10  You have set them their bounds that they should not pass, ♦︎
   nor turn again to cover the earth.
26  O Lord, how manifold are your works! ♦︎
   In wisdom you have made them all;
      the earth is full of your creatures.
37  Let sinners be consumed out of the earth
      and the wicked be no more. ♦︎
   Bless the Lord, O my soul.
      Alleluia.

Elihu Exalts God’s Goodness

36Elihu continued and said:
² ‘Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
   for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.
³ I will bring my knowledge from far away,
   and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
⁴ For truly my words are not false;
   one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵ ‘Surely God is mighty and does not despise any;
   he is mighty in strength of understanding.
⁶ He does not keep the wicked alive,
   but gives the afflicted their right.
⁷ He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,
   but with kings on the throne
   he sets them for ever, and they are exalted.
⁸ And if they are bound in fetters
   and caught in the cords of affliction,
⁹ then he declares to them their work
   and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.
¹⁰ He opens their ears to instruction,
   and commands that they return from iniquity.
¹¹ If they listen, and serve him,
   they complete their days in prosperity,
   and their years in pleasantness.
¹² But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword,
   and die without knowledge.

¹³ ‘The godless in heart cherish anger;
   they do not cry for help when he binds them.
¹⁴ They die in their youth,
   and their life ends in shame.^*
15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction,
   and opens their ear by adversity.
¹⁶ He also allured you out of distress
   into a broad place where there was no constraint,
   and what was set on your table was full of fatness.

The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike

7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
‘Therefore I will confess^* you among the Gentiles,
   and sing praises to your name’;
¹⁰and again he says,
‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;
¹¹and again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
   and let all the peoples praise him’;
¹²and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come,
   the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.’
¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.