Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book III
(Psalms 73–89)
Psalm 73
Plea for Relief from Oppressors
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.(A)
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.(B)
3 For I was envious of the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(C)
4 For they have no pain;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people.(D)
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.(E)
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.(F)
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.(G)
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them[a]
and find no fault in them.[b]
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”(H)
12 Such are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.(I)
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.(J)
14 For all day long I have been plagued
and am punished every morning.(K)
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,(L)
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.(M)
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.(N)
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!(O)
20 They are[c] like a dream when one awakes;
on awaking you despise their phantoms.(P)
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like a brute beast toward you.(Q)
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me with honor.[d](R)
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.(S)
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[e] of my heart and my portion forever.(T)
God’s Challenge to Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:(A)
7 “Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you declare to me.(B)
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be justified?(C)
9 Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?(D)
10 “Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.(E)
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on all who are proud and humble them.(F)
12 Look on all who are proud and bring them low;
tread down the wicked where they stand.(G)
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.[a]
14 Then I will also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can give you victory.(H)
Job Is Humbled and Satisfied
42 Then Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.(A)
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me that I did not know.(B)
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.’(C)
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;(D)
6 therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”(E)
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
31 “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded[a] to sift all of you like wheat,(A) 32 but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail, and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”(B) 33 And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!”
Peter Denies Jesus
54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance.(A) 55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a female servant, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.”(B) 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.