Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Adonai,
the people He chose for His own inheritance.
13 Adonai looks down from heaven.
He observes all humanity.
14 From His dwelling place He gazes
on all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 He who fashions the hearts of all,
who discerns all their deeds.
16 No king is saved by his great army,
no warrior is delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a false hope for victory,
nor can its great strength save.
18 Behold, the eyes of Adonai are on those who fear Him,
waiting for His love,
19 to deliver their souls from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for Adonai—
He is our help and our shield.
21 Our heart rejoices in Him,
because we trusted in His holy Name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, Adonai,
be upon us, as we have waited for You.
Job’s Dialogue on the Wicked
21 Then Job replied:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me as I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint against man?
If so, why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled;
put your hand over your mouth.
6 When I think of it, I am terrified
and my flesh shudders.
7 Why do the wicked go on living,
growing old and increasing in power?
8 Their children are established in their presence,
their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes have peace and are free from fear;
no rod of God is on them.
10 His bull breeds without fail;
his cow calves and do not miscarry.
11 They send out their little ones like a flock
and their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp
and rejoice at the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in a moment go down to Sheol.
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know Your ways.
15 Who is Shaddai that we should serve Him?
What would we gain if we pray to Him?’
16 Look, their prosperity is not in their own hands;
the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
The Role of Israel
9 I tell the truth in Messiah—I do not lie, my conscience assuring me in the Ruach ha-Kodesh— 2 that my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart unending. 3 For I would pray that I myself were cursed, banished from Messiah for the sake of my people—my own flesh and blood, [a] 4 who are Israelites. To them belong the adoption[b] and the glory[c] and the covenants and the giving of the Torah[d] and the Temple service[e] and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs—and from them, according to the flesh, the Messiah, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s seed; rather, “Your seed shall be called through Isaac.” [f] 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God; rather, the children of the promise are counted as seed. 9 For the word of promise is this: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.