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.
Bildad Answers
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “God rules and he must be honored;
he set up order in his high heaven.
3 No one can count God’s armies.
His light shines on all people.
4 So no one can be good in the presence of God,
and no one born to a woman can be pure.
5 Even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes.
6 People are much less! They are like insects.
They are only worms!”
Job Answers Bildad
26 Then Job answered:
2 “You are no help to the helpless!
You have not aided the weak!
3 Your advice lacks wisdom!
You have shown little understanding!
4 Who has helped you say these words?
And where did you get these ideas?
5 “The spirits of the dead tremble,
those who are beneath and in the waters.
6 Death is naked before God;
destruction is uncovered before him.
7 God stretches the northern sky out over empty space
and hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He wraps up the waters in his thick clouds,
but the clouds do not break under their weight.
9 He covers the face of the moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
10 He draws the horizon like a circle on the water
at the place where light and darkness meet.
11 Heaven’s foundations shake
when he thunders at them.
12 With his power he quiets the sea;
by his wisdom he destroys Rahab, the sea monster.
13 He breathes, and the sky clears.
His hand stabs the fleeing snake.
14 And these are only a small part of God’s works.
We only hear a small whisper of him.
Who could understand God’s thundering power?”
Jesus Has God’s Authority
19 But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what he sees the Father doing, because the Son does whatever the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows the Son all the things he himself does. But the Father will show the Son even greater things than this so that you can all be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he wants to. 22 In fact, the Father judges no one, but he has given the Son power to do all the judging 23 so that all people will honor the Son as much as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life. 25 I tell you the truth, the time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will have life. 26 Life comes from the Father himself, and he has allowed the Son to have life in himself as well. 27 And the Father has given the Son the approval to judge, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be surprised at this: A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. 29 Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever, but those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.