Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer Against Enemies
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
64 God, listen to my complaint.
I am afraid of my enemies;
protect my life from them.
2 Hide me from those who plan wicked things,
from that gang who does evil.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and shoot bitter words like arrows.
4 From their hiding places they shoot at innocent people;
they shoot suddenly and are not afraid.
5 They encourage each other to do wrong.
They talk about setting traps,
thinking no one will see them.
6 They plan wicked things and say,
“We have a perfect plan.”
The mind of human beings is hard to understand.
7 But God will shoot them with arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.
8 Their own words will be used against them.
All who see them will shake their heads.
9 Then everyone will fear God.
They will tell what God has done,
and they will learn from what he has done.
10 Good people will be happy in the Lord
and will find protection in him.
Let everyone who is honest praise the Lord.
Bildad Answers Job
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “When will you stop these speeches?
Be sensible, and then we can talk.
3 You think of us as cattle,
as if we are stupid.
4 You tear yourself to pieces in your anger.
Should the earth be vacant just for you?
Should the rocks move from their places?
5 “The lamp of the wicked will be put out,
and the flame in their lamps will stop burning.
6 The light in their tents will grow dark,
and the lamps by their sides will go out.
7 Their strong steps will grow weak;
they will fall into their own evil traps.
8 Their feet will be caught in a net
when they walk into its web.
9 A trap will catch them by the heel
and hold them tight.
10 A trap for them is hidden on the ground,
right in their path.
11 Terrible things startle them from every side
and chase them at every step.
12 Hunger takes away their strength,
and disaster is at their side.
13 Disease eats away parts of their skin;
death gnaws at their arms and legs.
14 They are torn from the safety of their tents
and dragged off to Death, the King of Terrors.
15 Their tents are set on fire,
and sulfur is scattered over their homes.
16 Their roots dry up below ground,
and their branches die above ground.
17 People on earth will not remember them;
their names will be forgotten in the land.
18 They will be driven from light into darkness
and chased out of the world.
19 They have no children or descendants among their people,
and no one will be left alive where they once lived.
20 People of the west will be shocked at what has happened to them,
and people of the east will be very frightened.
21 Surely this is what will happen to the wicked;
such is the place of one who does not know God.”
Christ Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 The teaching about the cross is foolishness to those who are being lost, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 It is written in the Scriptures:
“I will cause the wise to lose their wisdom;
I will make the wise unable to understand.” Isaiah 29:14
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the educated person? Where is the skilled talker of this world? God has made the wisdom of the world foolish. 21 In the wisdom of God the world did not know God through its own wisdom. So God chose to use the message that sounds foolish to save those who believe. 22 The Jews ask for miracles, and the Greeks want wisdom. 23 But we preach a crucified Christ. This causes the Jews to stumble and is foolishness to non-Jews. 24 But Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God to those people God has called—Jews and Greeks. 25 Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, look at what you were when God called you. Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence. Not many of you came from important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and he chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose what the world thinks is unimportant and what the world looks down on and thinks is nothing in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. 29 God did this so that no one can brag in his presence. 30 Because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. In Christ we are put right with God, and have been made holy, and have been set free from sin. 31 So, as the Scripture says, “If people want to brag, they should brag only about the Lord.”[a]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.