Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Should the Wicked Be Rich?
A psalm of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel,
to those who have pure hearts.
2 But I had almost stopped believing;
I had almost lost my faith
3 because I was jealous of proud people.
I saw wicked people doing well.
4 They are not suffering;
they are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like the rest of us;
they don’t have problems like other people.
6 They wear pride like a necklace
and put on violence as their clothing.
7 They are looking for profits
and do not control their selfish desires.
8 They make fun of others and speak evil;
proudly they speak of hurting others.
9 They brag to the sky.
They say that they own the earth.
10 So their people turn to them
and give them whatever they want.
11 They say, “How can God know?
What does God Most High know?”
12 These people are wicked,
always at ease, and getting richer.
13 So why have I kept my heart pure?
Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?
14 I have suffered all day long;
I have been punished every morning.
15 God, if I had decided to talk like this,
I would have let your people down.
16 I tried to understand all this,
but it was too hard for me to see
17 until I went to the Temple of God.
Then I understood what will happen to them.
18 You have put them in danger;
you cause them to be destroyed.
19 They are destroyed in a moment;
they are swept away by terrors.
20 It will be like waking from a dream.
Lord, when you rise up, they will disappear.
21 When my heart was sad
and I was angry,
22 I was senseless and stupid.
I acted like an animal toward you.
23 But I am always with you;
you have held my hand.
24 You guide me with your advice,
and later you will receive me in honor.
25 I have no one in heaven but you;
I want nothing on earth besides you.
26 My body and my mind may become weak,
but God is my strength.
He is mine forever.
27 Those who are far from God will die;
you destroy those who are unfaithful.
28 But I am close to God, and that is good.
The Lord God is my protection.
I will tell all that you have done.
God Calls and Jonah Obeys
3 The Lord spoke his word to Jonah again and said, 2 “Get up, go to the great city Nineveh, and preach to it what I tell you to say.”
3 So Jonah obeyed the Lord and got up and went to Nineveh. It was a very large city; just to walk across it took a person three days. 4 After Jonah had entered the city and walked for one day, he preached to the people, saying, “After forty days, Nineveh will be destroyed!”
5 The people of Nineveh believed God. They announced that they would fast for a while, and they put on rough cloth to show their sadness. All the people in the city did this, from the most important to the least important.
6 When the king of Nineveh heard this news, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, and covered himself with rough cloth and sat in ashes to show how upset he was.
7 He sent this announcement through Nineveh:
By command of the king and his important men: No person or animal, herd or flock, will be allowed to taste anything. Do not let them eat food or drink water. 8 But every person and animal should be covered with rough cloth, and people should cry loudly to God. Everyone must turn away from evil living and stop doing harm all the time. 9 Who knows? Maybe God will change his mind. Maybe he will stop being angry, and then we will not die.
10 When God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil, he changed his mind and did not do what he had warned. He did not punish them.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The skies will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in them will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be exposed.[a] 11 In that way everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and serve God, 12 as you wait for and look forward to the coming of the day of God. When that day comes, the skies will be destroyed with fire, and everything in them will melt with heat. 13 But God made a promise to us, and we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth where goodness lives.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.