Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 How blessed is the nation whose God is Adonai,
the people he chose as his heritage!
13 Adonai looks out from heaven;
he sees every human being;
14 from the place where he lives
he watches everyone living on earth,
15 he who fashioned the hearts of them all
and understands all they do.
16 A king is not saved by the size of his army,
a strong man not delivered by his great strength.
17 To rely on a horse for safety is vain,
nor does its great power assure escape.
18 But Adonai’s eyes watch over those who fear him,
over those who wait for his grace
19 to rescue them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We are waiting for Adonai;
he is our help and shield.
21 For in him our hearts rejoice,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 May your mercy, Adonai, be over us,
because we put our hope in you.
21 Then Iyov responded:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the comfort you give me.
3 Bear with me as I speak;
then, after I have spoken, you can go on mocking.
4 “As for me, is my complaint merely to other people?
Don’t I have grounds for being short-tempered?
5 Look at me, and be appalled;
cover your mouth with your hand!
6 Whenever I recall it, I am in shock;
my whole body shudders.
7 “Why do the wicked go on living,
grow old and keep increasing their power?
8 They see their children settled with them,
their posterity assured.
9 Their houses are safe, with nothing to fear;
God’s rod is not on them.
10 Their bulls are fertile without fail,
their cows get pregnant and don’t miscarry.
11 They produce flocks of babies,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing with tambourines and lyres
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14 “Yet to God they said, ‘Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know about your ways.
15 What is Shaddai, that we should serve him?
What do we gain if we pray to him?’
16 Isn’t their prosperity already theirs?
The plans of the wicked are far from me.
9 I am speaking the truth — as one who belongs to the Messiah, I do not lie; and also bearing witness is my conscience, governed by the Ruach HaKodesh: 2 my grief is so great, the pain in my heart so constant, 3 that I could wish myself actually under God’s curse and separated from the Messiah, if it would help my brothers, my own flesh and blood, 4 the people of Isra’el! They were made God’s children, the Sh’khinah has been with them, the covenants are theirs, likewise the giving of the Torah, the Temple service and the promises; 5 the Patriarchs are theirs; and from them, as far as his physical descent is concerned, came the Messiah, who is over all. Praised be Adonai for ever! Amen.
6 But the present condition of Isra’el does not mean that the Word of God has failed.
For not everyone from Isra’el is truly part of Isra’el; 7 indeed, not all the descendants are seed of Avraham;[a] rather, “What is to be called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”[b] 8 In other words, it is not the physical children who are children of God, but the children the promise refers to who are considered seed. 9 For this is what the promise said: “At the time set, I will come; and Sarah will have a son.”[c]
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.