By day he led them with a cloud

 

Office of the Reading, Friday 7th March 2025

Psalm 78:1-39
Salvation history reveals the goodness of God and the faithfulness of his people

These events are recalled as a warning to us (1 Corinthans 10:6).

I

Give heed, my people, to my teaching; *
turn your ear to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable *
and reveal hidden lessons of the past.

The things we have heard and understood, *
the things our fathers have told us,
these we will not hide from their children *
but will tell them to the next generation:

the glories of the Lord and his might *
and the marvelous deeds he has done,
the witness he gave to Jacob, *
the law he established in Israel.

He gave a command to our fathers *
to make it known to their children
that the next generation might know it, *
the children yet to be born.

They too should arise and tell their sons *
that they too should set their hope in God
and never forget God’s deeds *
but keep every one of his commands,

so that they might not be like their fathers, *
a defiant and rebellious race,
a race whose heart was fickle, *
whose spirit was unfaithful to God.

The sons of Ephraim, armed with the bow, *
turned back in the day of battle.
They failed to keep God’s covenant *
and would not walk according to his law.

They forgot the things he has done, *
the marvelous deeds he had shown them.
He did wonders in the sight of their fathers, *
in Egypt, in the plains of Zoan.

He divided the sea and led them through *
and made the waters stand up like a wall.
By day he led them with a cloud, *
by night, with a light of fire.

He split the rocks in the desert. *
He gave them plentiful drink as from the deep.
He made streams flow out from the rock *
and made waters run down like rivers.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Our fathers have told us of the Lord’s power; they have recounted for us his marvelous deeds.

Ant. 2 The children of Israel ate the manna and drank from the spiritual rock which followed after them.