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Psalm 95

1  O come, let us sing to the Lord; ♦︎
   let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation.
2  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving ♦︎
   and be glad in him with psalms.
3  For the Lord is a great God ♦︎
   and a great king above all gods.
4  In his hand are the depths of the earth ♦︎
   and the heights of the mountains are his also.
5  The sea is his, for he made it, ♦︎
   and his hands have moulded the dry land.
6  Come, let us worship and bow down ♦︎
   and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7  For he is our God; ♦︎
   we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8  O that today you would listen to his voice: ♦︎
   ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
      on that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9  ‘When your forebears tested me, and put me to the proof, ♦︎
   though they had seen my works.
10  ‘Forty years long I detested that generation and said, ♦︎
   “This people are wayward in their hearts;
      they do not know my ways.”
11  ‘So I swore in my wrath, ♦︎
   “They shall not enter into my rest.” ’

Psalm 96

1  Sing to the Lord a new song; ♦︎
   sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2  Sing to the Lord and bless his name; ♦︎
   tell out his salvation from day to day.
3  Declare his glory among the nations ♦︎
   and his wonders among all peoples.
4  For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; ♦︎
   he is more to be feared than all gods.
5  For all the gods of the nations are but idols; ♦︎
   it is the Lord who made the heavens.
6  Honour and majesty are before him; ♦︎
   power and splendour are in his sanctuary.
7  Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; ♦︎
   ascribe to the Lord honour and strength.
8  Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; ♦︎
   bring offerings and come into his courts.
9  O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; ♦︎
   let the whole earth tremble before him.
10  Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is king. ♦︎
   He has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
      he will judge the peoples with equity.
11  Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; ♦︎
   let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
12  Let the fields be joyful and all that is in them; ♦︎
   let all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord.
13  For he comes, he comes to judge the earth; ♦︎
   with righteousness he will judge the world
      and the peoples with his truth.

Psalm 97

1  The Lord is king: let the earth rejoice; ♦︎
   let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2  Clouds and darkness are round about him; ♦︎
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3  Fire goes before him ♦︎
   and burns up his enemies on every side.
4  His lightnings lit up the world; ♦︎
   the earth saw it and trembled.
5  The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, ♦︎
   at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6  The heavens declared his righteousness, ♦︎
   and all the peoples have seen his glory.
7  Confounded be all who worship carved images
      and delight in mere idols. ♦︎
   Bow down before him, all you gods.
8  Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced, ♦︎
   because of your judgements, O Lord.
9  For you, Lord, are most high over all the earth; ♦︎
   you are exalted far above all gods.
10  The Lord loves those who hate evil; ♦︎
   he preserves the lives of his faithful
      and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11  Light has sprung up for the righteous ♦︎
   and joy for the true of heart.
12  Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, ♦︎
   and give thanks to his holy name.

The Lord Answers Job

38Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
² ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
³ Gird up your loins like a man,
   I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

⁴ ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
   Tell me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
   Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
   or who laid its cornerstone
⁷ when the morning stars sang together
   and all the heavenly beings^* shouted for joy?

⁸ ‘Or who shut in the sea with doors
   when it burst out from the womb?—
⁹ when I made the clouds its garment,
   and thick darkness its swaddling band,
¹⁰ and prescribed bounds for it,
   and set bars and doors,
¹¹ and said, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
   and here shall your proud waves be stopped”?

¹² ‘Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
   and caused the dawn to know its place,
¹³ so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
   and the wicked be shaken out of it?
¹⁴ It is changed like clay under the seal,
   and it is dyed^* like a garment.
¹⁵ Light is withheld from the wicked,
   and their uplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶ ‘Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
   or walked in the recesses of the deep?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
   or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
¹⁸ Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
   Declare, if you know all this.

¹⁹ ‘Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
   and where is the place of darkness,
²⁰ that you may take it to its territory
   and that you may discern the paths to its home?
²¹ Surely you know, for you were born then,
   and the number of your days is great!

²² ‘Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
   or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
²³ which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
   for the day of battle and war?
²⁴ What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
   or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

²⁵ ‘Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain,
   and a way for the thunderbolt,
²⁶ to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
   on the desert, which is empty of human life,
²⁷ to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
   and to make the ground put forth grass?

²⁸ ‘Has the rain a father,
   or who has begotten the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb did the ice come forth,
   and who has given birth to the hoar-frost of heaven?
³⁰ The waters become hard like stone,
   and the face of the deep is frozen.

³¹ ‘Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
   or loose the cords of Orion?
³² Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
   or can you guide the Bear with its children?
³³ Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
   Can you establish their rule on the earth?

³⁴ ‘Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
   so that a flood of waters may cover you?
³⁵ Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
   and say to you, “Here we are”?
³⁶ Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,^*
   or given understanding to the mind?^*
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
   Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
³⁸ when the dust runs into a mass
   and the clods cling together?

³⁹ ‘Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
   or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens,
   or lie in wait in their covert?
⁴¹ Who provides for the raven its prey,
   when its young ones cry to God,
   and wander about for lack of food?

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members^* and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, ²³with the following letter: ‘The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers^* of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. ²⁴Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds,^{* 25}we have decided unanimously to choose representatives^* and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: ²⁹that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled^* and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.’

30 So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹When its members^* read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. ³²Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.^{* 33}After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers^* to those who had sent them.^{* 35}But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.