Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
BOOK THREE
Psalms 73–89
Psalm 73
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to the pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet almost stumbled;
my steps had almost slipped.
3 For I was envious at the boastful;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death;
their bodies are fat.
5 They are not in trouble as other people;
nor are they plagued like others.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge with fatness;
they have more than a heart could wish.
8 They mock and speak with evil oppression;
they speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore people turn to them,
and abundant waters are drunk by them.
11 They say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
12 Observe, these are the wicked, always at ease;
they increase in riches.
13 Surely I have kept my heart pure for nothing,
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I am plagued,
and chastened every morning.
15 If I said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought to understand this,
it was troublesome in my eyes,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their end.
18 Surely You have set them in slippery places;
You have brought them down to ruin.
19 How they come to desolation, as in a moment!
They have come to an end, utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
so, O Lord, when You awake,
You will despise their form.
21 Thus my heart was embittered,
and I was pierced in my feelings.
22 I was a brute and did not understand;
I was as a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have held me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fails,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 For those who are far from You will perish;
You destroy everyone who is unfaithful to You.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have taken my refuge in the Lord God,
that I may declare all Your works.
The Lord Challenges Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7 “Prepare yourself now like a man;
I will question you,
and you will answer Me.
8 “Will you indeed annul My judgment?
Will you condemn Me, that you may be righteous?
9 Have you an arm like God?
Or can you thunder with a voice like Him?
10 Adorn yourself now with majesty and excellence,
and array yourself with glory and beauty.
11 Let loose the rage of your wrath,
and look on every one who is proud and abase him;
12 look on every one who is proud and bring him low,
and tread down the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them in the dust together,
and imprison them in the hidden place of the grave.
14 Then I will also confess to you
that your own right hand can save you.
Job’s Repentance
42 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 “I know that You can do everything,
and that no thought can be withheld from You.
3 ‘Who is he who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me which I did not know.
4 “ ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you declare to Me.’
5 I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Peter’s Denial Foretold
31 Then the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to have you to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have repented, strengthen your brothers.”
33 He said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death.”
Peter’s Denial of Jesus(A)
54 Then they arrested Him, and led Him away, and brought Him into the high priest’s house. Peter followed at a distance. 55 But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a servant girl saw him as he sat near the fire, and gazed at him, and said, “This man was with Him.”
57 But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
59 About an hour later another man firmly declared, “Certainly, this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” Immediately, while he was yet speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And Peter went outside and wept bitterly.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.