Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

123 O God enthroned in heaven, I lift my eyes to you.

² We look to Jehovah our God for his mercy and kindness just as a servant keeps his eyes upon his master or a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.

^3-4 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy. For we have had our fill of contempt and of the scoffing of the rich and proud.

21 Job’s reply:

¹⁷ Yet the wicked get away with it every time. They never have trouble, and God skips them when he distributes his sorrows and anger. ¹⁸ Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm? Not at all!

¹⁹ “‘Well,’ you say, ‘at least God will punish their children!’ But I say that God should punish the man who sins, not his children! Let him feel the penalty himself. ²⁰ Yes, let him be destroyed for his iniquity. Let him drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty. ²¹ For when he is dead, then he will never again be able to enjoy his family.

²² “But who can rebuke God, the supreme Judge? ^23-24 He destroys those who are healthy, wealthy, fat, and prosperous; ²⁵ God also destroys those in deep and grinding poverty who have never known anything good. ²⁶ Both alike are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same worms.

²⁷ “I know what you are going to say— ²⁸ you will tell me of rich and wicked men who came to disaster because of their sins. ²⁹ But I reply, Ask anyone who has been around and he can tell you the truth, ^30-32 that the evil man is usually spared in the day of calamity and allowed to escape. No one rebukes him openly. No one repays him for what he has done. And an honor guard keeps watch at his grave. ³³ A great funeral procession precedes and follows him as the soft earth covers him. ³⁴ How can you comfort me when your whole premise is so wrong?”

¹ From: John, the old Elder of the church.

To: That dear woman Cyria, one of God’s very own, and to her children whom I love so much, as does everyone else in the church. ² Since the Truth is in our hearts forever, ³ God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will bless us with great mercy and much peace, and with truth and love.

⁴ How happy I am to find some of your children here and to see that they are living as they should, following the Truth, obeying God’s command.

⁵ And now I want to urgently remind you, dear friends, of the old rule God gave us right from the beginning, that Christians should love one another. ⁶ If we love God, we will do whatever he tells us to. And he has told us from the very first to love each other.

⁷ Watch out for the false leaders—and there are many of them around—who don’t believe that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being with a body like ours. Such people are against the truth and against Christ. ⁸ Beware of being like them and losing the prize that you and I have been working so hard to get. See to it that you win your full reward from the Lord. ⁹ For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will leave God behind; while if you are loyal to Christ’s teachings, you will have God too. Then you will have both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰ If anyone comes to teach you, and he doesn’t believe what Christ taught, don’t even invite him into your home. Don’t encourage him in any way. ¹¹ If you do, you will be a partner with him in his wickedness.

¹² Well, I would like to say much more, but I don’t want to say it in this letter, for I hope to come to see you soon, and then we can talk over these things together and have a joyous time.

¹³ Greetings from the children of your sister—another choice child of God.

Sincerely, John