Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

² “Why are you using your ignorance to deny my providence? ³ Now get ready to fight, for I am going to demand some answers from you, and you must reply.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. ⁵ Do you know how its dimensions were determined, and who did the surveying? ^6-7 What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

^8-9 “Who decreed the boundaries of the seas when they gushed from the depths? Who clothed them with clouds and thick darkness ¹⁰ and barred them by limiting their shores, ¹¹ and said, ‘Thus far and no farther shall you come, and here shall your proud waves stop’?

107 Say thank you to the Lord for being so good, for always being so loving and kind. ² Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.

³ He brought the exiles back from the farthest corners of the earth.

²³ And then there are the sailors sailing the seven seas, plying the trade routes of the world. ²⁴ They, too, observe the power of God in action. ²⁵ He calls to the storm winds; the waves rise high. ²⁶ Their ships are tossed to the heavens and sink again to the depths; the sailors cringe in terror. ²⁷ They reel and stagger like drunkards and are at their wit’s end. ²⁸ Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and he saves them. ²⁹ He calms the storm and stills the waves. ³⁰ What a blessing is that stillness as he brings them safely into harbor! ³¹ Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds! ³² Let them praise him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.

6 As God’s partners, we beg you not to toss aside this marvelous message of God’s great kindness. ² For God says, “Your cry came to me at a favorable time, when the doors of welcome were wide open. I helped you on a day when salvation was being offered.” Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you.

³ We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the Lord. ⁴ In fact, in everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God.

We patiently endure suffering and hardship and trouble of every kind. ⁵ We have been beaten, put in jail, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, stayed awake through sleepless nights of watching, and gone without food. ⁶ We have proved ourselves to be what we claim by our wholesome lives and by our understanding of the Gospel and by our patience. We have been kind and truly loving and filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁷ We have been truthful, with God’s power helping us in all we do. All of the godly man’s arsenal—weapons of defense, and weapons of attack—have been ours.

⁸ We stand true to the Lord whether others honor us or despise us, whether they criticize us or commend us. We are honest, but they call us liars.

⁹ The world ignores us, but we are known to God; we live close to death, but here we are, still very much alive. We have been injured but kept from death. ¹⁰ Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything.

¹¹ Oh, my dear Corinthian friends! I have told you all my feelings; I love you with all my heart. ¹² Any coldness still between us is not because of any lack of love on my part but because your love is too small and does not reach out to me and draw me in. ¹³ I am talking to you now as if you truly were my very own children. Open your hearts to us! Return our love!

³⁵ As evening fell, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶ So they took him just as he was and started out, leaving the crowds behind (though other boats followed). ³⁷ But soon a terrible storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water and about to sink. ³⁸ Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they wakened him, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to drown?”

³⁹ Then he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet down!” And the wind fell, and there was a great calm!

⁴⁰ And he asked them, “Why were you so fearful? Don’t you even yet have confidence in me?”

⁴¹ And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, “Who is this man, that even the winds and seas obey him?”