Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

³ Be kind to us, Lord. Be kind to us
    because we have been insulted.
⁴ We have suffered many insults from lazy people
    and much cruelty from the proud.

² “God rules and 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 man can be good in the presence of God.
    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 Man is much less! He is like an insect.
    He is only a worm!”

² “You are no help to a person who has no strength!
    You have given no help to one whose arm is weak!
³ You have given advice to me as if I had no wisdom!
    This is not great wisdom you have shown!
⁴ Who has helped you say these words?
    And where did you get these words you speak?

⁵ “The spirits of the dead beneath the waters shake.
    And so do those that live 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 he hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ God wraps up the waters in his thick clouds.
    But the clouds do not break under the weight of the water.
⁹ God covers the face of the full moon.
    He spreads his clouds over it.
¹⁰ God 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 God’s power controls the sea.
    By his wisdom he destroyed Rahab, the sea monster.
¹³ God breathes, and the sky becomes clear.
    God’s hand stabs the gliding snake.
¹⁴ And these are only a small part of God’s works.
    We only hear a small whisper of him.
    So who can understand God’s thundering power?”