Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Mercy
A song for going up to worship.
123 Lord, I look upward to you,
you who live in heaven.
2 Slaves depend on their masters,
and a female servant depends on her mistress.
In the same way, we depend on the Lord our God;
we wait for him to show us mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord. Have mercy on us,
because we have been insulted.
4 We have suffered many insults from lazy people
and much cruelty from the proud.
Job Answers Zophar
21 Then Job answered:
17 Yet how often are the lamps of evil people turned off?
How often does trouble come to them?
How often do they suffer God’s angry punishment?
18 How often are they like straw in the wind
or like chaff that is blown away by a storm?
19 It is said, ‘God saves up a person’s punishment for his children.’
But God should punish the wicked themselves so they will know it.
20 Their eyes should see their own destruction,
and they should suffer the anger of the Almighty.
21 They do not care about the families they leave behind
when their lives have come to an end.
22 “No one can teach knowledge to God;
he is the one who judges even the most important people.
23 One person dies while he still has all his strength,
feeling completely safe and comfortable.
24 His body was well fed,
and his bones were strong and healthy.
25 But another person dies with an unhappy heart,
never enjoying any happiness.
26 They are buried next to each other,
and worms cover them both.
27 “I know very well your thoughts
and your plans to wrong me.
28 You ask about me, ‘Where is this great man’s house?
Where are the tents where the wicked live?’
29 Have you never asked those who travel?
Have you never listened to their stories?
30 On the day of God’s anger and punishment,
it is the wicked who are spared.
31 Who will accuse them to their faces?
Who will pay them back for the evil they have done?
32 They are carried to their graves,
and someone keeps watch over their tombs.
33 The dirt in the valley seems sweet to them.
Everybody follows after them,
and many people go before them.
34 “So how can you comfort me with this nonsense?
Your answers are only lies!”
1 From the Elder.[a]
To the chosen lady[b] and her children:
I love all of you in the truth,[c] and all those who know the truth love you. 2 We love you because of the truth that lives in us and will be with us forever.
3 Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, will be with us in truth and love.
4 I was very happy to learn that some of your children are following the way of truth, as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, this is not a new command but is the same command we have had from the beginning. I ask you that we all love each other. 6 And love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: Live a life of love.
7 Many false teachers are in the world now who do not confess that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human. Anyone who does not confess this is a false teacher and an enemy of Christ. 8 Be careful yourselves that you do not lose everything you[d] have worked for, but that you receive your full reward.
9 Anyone who goes beyond Christ’s teaching and does not continue to follow only his teaching does not have God. But whoever continues to follow the teaching of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If someone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not welcome or accept that person into your house. 11 If you welcome such a person, you share in the evil work.
12 I have many things to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so we can be full of joy. 13 The children of your chosen sister[e] greet you.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.