Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the Director: Accompanied by female voices.[a] A Davidic Psalm.
A Cry for God’s Justice
9 [b]I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
I will declare all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praises to your name, Most High!
3 When my enemies turn back,
they will stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have brought about justice for me and my cause;
you sit on the throne judging righteously.
5 You rebuked the nations,
you destroyed the wicked,
you wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy has perished,
reduced to ruins forever.
You uprooted their cities,
the very memory of them vanished.
7 But the Lord sits on his throne[c] forever;
his throne is established for judgment.
8 He will judge the world righteously
and make just decisions for the people.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of distress.
10 Those who know your name will trust you,
for you have not forsaken those who seek you, Lord.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion;
declare his mighty deeds among the peoples.
12 As an avenger of blood, he remembers them;
he has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.
Job Reasons with Eliphaz
16 In response, Job said:
2 “I’ve heard many things like this.
What miserable comforters you all are!
3 Will windy words like yours never end?
What is upsetting you that you keep on arguing?
4 “I could also talk like you
if only you were in my place!
Then I would put together an argument[a] against you.
I would shake my head at you
5 and encourage you with what I have to say;[b]
my words of comfort would lessen your pain.
6 “But if I speak, my pain isn’t assuaged;
if I refrain from speaking, what do I have to lose?”
Job Claims of God’s Mistreatment
7 “God[c] has certainly worn me out;
you devastated my entire world.[d]
8 You’ve arrested me, making me testify against myself!
My leanness rises up to attack me, accusing[e] me to my face.
9 His anger tears me in his persistent resentment against me;
he gnashes his teeth at me.
My adversary glares[f] at me.
10 People gaped at me with mouths wide open;
they slap me in their scorn
and gather together against me.
11 God has delivered me over to the ungodly,
throwing me into the control of the wicked.
12 “He tore me apart when I was at ease;
grabbing me by my neck, he shook me to pieces—
then he really made me his target.
13 His archers surround me,
slashing open my kidneys without pity;
he pours out my gall on the ground.
14 Attack follows attack as he breaks through my defenses!
He runs over me like a mighty warrior.
15 “I’ve even sewn sackcloth directly to my skin;
I’ve buried my strength[g] in the dust.
16 My face is red from my tears,
and dark shadows encircle my eyelids,
17 even though violence is not my intention,
and my prayer is pure.”
Job Appeals to Witnesses
18 “Listen, earth! Don’t cover my blood,
for my outcry has no place to rest.
19 Even now, behold! I have a witness in heaven,
my Advocate is on high.
20 My friends mock me,
while my eyes overflow with tears to God,
21 crying for him to arbitrate between this[h] man and God;
as a human being does with his fellow neighbor.
The Faithful or the Wicked Servant(A)
45 “Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others[a] their food at the right time? 46 How blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he comes! 47 I tell all of you[b] with certainty, he will put him in charge of all his property.
48 “But if that wicked servant says to himself,[c] ‘My master has been delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunks, 50 that servant’s master will come on a day when he doesn’t expect him and at an hour that he doesn’t know. 51 Then his master[d] will punish him severely[e] and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”[f]
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