Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
To the Chief Musician; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks and praise the Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell aloud all Your wonders and marvelous deeds.
2
I will rejoice and exult in you;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3
When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish before You.
4
For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
5
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked and unrepentant;
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
6
The enemy has been cut off and has vanished in everlasting ruins,
You have uprooted their cities;
The very memory of them has perished.
7
But the Lord will remain and sit enthroned forever;
He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.(A)
8
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the nations with fairness (equity).(B)
9
The Lord also will be a refuge and a stronghold for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble;
10
And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.(C)
11
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
Declare among the peoples His [great and wondrous] deeds.
12
For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people);
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.
13
Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;
See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14
That I may tell aloud all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.
Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters
16 Then Job answered and said,
2
“I have heard many such things;
Wearisome and miserable comforters are you all.
3
“Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind?
Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?
4
“I also could speak like you,
If you were in my place;
I could compose and join words together against you
And shake my head at you.
5
“[But instead] I could strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth,
And the consolation and solace of my lips would soothe your suffering and lessen your anguish.
Job Says God Shattered Him
6
“If I speak [to you miserable comforters], my pain is not relieved;
And if I refrain [from speaking], what [pain or anguish] leaves me?
7
“But now God has exhausted me.
You [O Lord] have destroyed all my family and my household.
8
“You have taken a firm hold on me and have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness [against me];
And my leanness [and infirmity] rises up [as evidence] against me,
It testifies to my face [about my guilt].
9
“His wrath has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with his teeth;
My adversary sharpens His gaze and glares [with piercing eyes] at me.
10
“They have gaped at me with their mouths,
With contempt they have struck me on the cheek;
They massed themselves together [and conspired] against me.(A)
11
“God hands me over to [a]criminals
And tosses me [headlong] into the hands of the wicked.
12
“I was [living] at ease, but He crushed me and broke me apart,
And He has seized me by the neck and has shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.
13
“His arrows surround me.
He pierces my kidneys (vital organs) without mercy;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
14
“He attacks me, making wound after wound;
He runs at me like a warrior.
15
“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin [as a sign of mourning]
And have defiled my horn (symbol of strength) in the dust.
16
“My face is red and swollen with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death [my eyes are dimmed],
17
Although there is no violence or wrongdoing in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
18
“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard].
19
“Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven,
And my Advocate [who vouches and testifies for me] is on high.(B)
20
“My friends are scoffers [who ridicule];
My eye pours out tears to God.
21
“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]
Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend.(C)
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others [in the house] their food and supplies at the proper time?(A) 46 Blessed is that [faithful] servant when his master returns and finds him doing so. 47 I assure you and most solemnly say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that servant is evil and says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time [he will not return for a long while],’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware, 51 and will cut him in two and put him with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].
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