Hi, I'm John Benzinger, and my reading from the Legacy Standard Bible is from Psalm 107. "Oh, give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his lovingkindness endures forever. Let the redeemed of Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness along the way of the wasteland; they did not find an inhabited city. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble; he delivered them out of their distress. He led them by a straight way to go to an inhabited city.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness and for his wondrous deeds to the sons of men, for he has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul he has filled with what is good. There were those who inhabited darkness and the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and irons, because they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

So he subdued their heart with labor; they stumbled, and there was none to help. Then they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble; he saved them out of their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands apart. Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness and for his wondrous deeds to the sons of men, for he has shattered the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

Ignorant fools, because of their way of transgression and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food, and they reached the gates of death. And they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble; he saved them out of their distress. He sent his word and healed them and provided them escape from their destructions.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness and for his wondrous deeds to the sons of men. Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and recount his works with joyful singing. Those who go down to the sea in ships who do business on many waters, they have seen the works of Yahweh and his wondrous deeds in the deep.

He spoke and set up the stormy wind, which raised up the waves of the sea. They went up to the heavens, they went down to the depths, their soul melted away in the calamity. They staggered and swayed like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was swallowed up. Then they cried to Yahweh in their distress, in their trouble, and brought them out of their distress.

He caused the storm to stand still, so that its waves were hushed. And they were glad because they were quiet. So he led them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness and for his wondrous deeds to the sons of men. Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people and praise him at the seat of the elders.

He makes rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salt waste because of the evil of those who inhabited it. He makes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water. And there he causes the hungry to inhabit, so that they may establish an inhabited city, and sow fields and plant vineyards and produce a fruitful harvest.

He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly, and he does not let their cattle decrease. But when they decrease and are bowed down through oppression, evil, and sorrow, he pours contempt upon nobles and makes them wander in a pathless void. But he sets the needy securely on high, away from affliction, and makes his families like a flock.

The upright see it and are glad, but all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. Who is wise? Let him keep these things and carefully consider the lovingkindness of Yahweh. Amen.