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The Works of God in Nature

¹⁵ I will now call to mind the works of the Lord,
   and will declare what I have seen.
By the word of the Lord his works are made;
   and all his creatures do his will.^*
16 The sun looks down on everything with its light,
   and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.
¹⁷ The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones
   to recount all his marvellous works,
which the Lord the Almighty has established
   so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.
¹⁸ He searches out the abyss and the human heart;
   he understands their innermost secrets.
For the Most High knows all that may be known;
   he sees from of old the things that are to come.^*
19 He discloses what has been and what is to be,
   and he reveals the traces of hidden things.
²⁰ No thought escapes him,
   and nothing is hidden from him.
²¹ He has set in order the splendours of his wisdom;
   he is from all eternity one and the same.
Nothing can be added or taken away,
   and he needs no one to be his counsellor.
²² How desirable are all his works,
   and how sparkling they are to see!^*
23 All these things live and remain for ever;
   each creature is preserved to meet a particular need.^*
24 All things come in pairs, one opposite to the other,
   and he has made nothing incomplete.
²⁵ Each supplements the virtues of the other.
   Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?

Psalm 88

1  O Lord, God of my salvation, ♦︎
   I have cried day and night before you.
2  Let my prayer come into your presence; ♦︎
   incline your ear to my cry.
3  For my soul is full of troubles; ♦︎
   my life draws near to the land of death.
4  I am counted as one gone down to the Pit; ♦︎
   I am like one that has no strength,
5  Lost among the dead, ♦︎
   like the slain who lie in the grave,
6  Whom you remember no more, ♦︎
   for they are cut off from your hand.
7  You have laid me in the lowest pit, ♦︎
   in a place of darkness in the abyss.
8  Your anger lies heavy upon me, ♦︎
   and you have afflicted me with all your waves.
9  You have put my friends far from me ♦︎
   and made me to be abhorred by them.
10  I am so fast in prison that I cannot get free; ♦︎
   my eyes fail from all my trouble.

17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, ¹⁸of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.’ ¹⁹He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. ²⁰By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. ²¹By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ‘bowing in worship over the top of his staff.’ ²²By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.^*

The Faith of Moses

23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.^{* 24}By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶He considered abuse suffered for the Christ^* to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. ²⁷By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though^* he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.^*

The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. ³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,^* because she had received the spies in peace.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ ¹⁴But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ ¹⁵And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ ¹⁶Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” ¹⁸Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ²⁰But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” ²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’