Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book Three
God Is My Strength and Portion For Ever
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to (B)Israel,
to those who are (C)pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 (D)For I was (E)envious of the arrogant
when I saw the (F)prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not (G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is (H)their necklace;
violence covers them as (I)a garment.
7 Their (J)eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and (K)speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find (L)no fault in them.[a]
11 And they say, (M)“How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they (N)increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I (O)kept my heart clean
and (P)washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been (Q)stricken
and (R)rebuked (S)every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus”,
I would have betrayed (T)the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me (U)a wearisome task,
17 until I went into (V)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their (W)end.
18 Truly you set them in (X)slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed (Y)in a moment,
swept away utterly by (Z)terrors!
20 Like (AA)a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when (AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was (AC)brutish and ignorant;
I was like (AD)a beast towards you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you (AE)hold my right hand.
24 You (AF)guide me with your counsel,
and afterwards you will (AG)receive me to glory.
25 (AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 (AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is (AJ)the strength[b] of my heart and my (AK)portion (AL)for ever.
27 For behold, those who are (AM)far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is (AN)unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to (AO)be near God;
I have made the Lord God my (AP)refuge,
that I may (AQ)tell of all your works.
The Lord Challenges Job
6 Then the Lord (A)answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7 (B)“Dress for action[a] like a man;
(C)I will question you, and you make it known to me.
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that (D)you may be in the right?
9 Have you (E)an arm like God,
and can you thunder with (F)a voice like his?
10 “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
(G)clothe yourself with glory and splendour.
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is (H)proud and abase him.
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and (I)tread down the wicked (J)where they stand.
13 (K)Hide them all in (L)the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.[b]
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own (M)right hand can save you.
Job's Confession and Repentance
42 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 “I know that you can (A)do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 (B)‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things (C)too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
(D)I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent[a] in (E)dust and ashes.”
Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, (A)Satan demanded to have you,[a] (B)that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but (C)I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, (D)strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter[b] said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both (E)to prison and (F)to death.”
Peter Denies Jesus
54 (A)Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, (B)and Peter was following at a distance. 55 (C)And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of (D)the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another (E)insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and (F)looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, (G)“Before the cock crows today, you will (H)deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.