Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 64
Protection from Evildoers
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 God, hear my voice when I am in anguish.(A)
Protect my life from the terror of the enemy.(B)
2 Hide me from the scheming of wicked people,(C)
from the mob of evildoers,(D)
3 who sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim bitter words like arrows,(E)
4 shooting from concealed places at the blameless.
They shoot at him suddenly and are not afraid.(F)
5 They adopt[a] an evil plan;
they talk about hiding traps and say,
“Who will see them?” [b](G)
6 They devise crimes and say,
“We have perfected a secret plan.”(H)
The inner man and the heart are mysterious.(I)
7 But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly, they will be wounded.(J)
8 They will be made to stumble;
their own tongues work against them.
All who see them will shake their heads.(K)
9 Then everyone will fear
and will tell about God’s work,
for they will understand what he has done.(L)
10 The righteous one rejoices in the Lord
and takes refuge in him;
all those who are upright in heart
will offer praise.(M)
Bildad Speaks
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite(A) replied:
2 How long until you stop talking?
Show some sense, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we regarded as cattle,
as stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in anger[a]—
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?
5 Yes, the light(B) of the wicked(C) is extinguished;
the flame of his fire does not glow.
6 The light in his tent grows dark,(D)
and the lamp beside him is put out.
7 His powerful stride is shortened,
and his own schemes trip him up.(E)
8 For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.
9 A trap catches him by the heel;
a noose seizes him.
10 A rope lies hidden for him on the ground,
and a snare waits for him along the path.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side(F)
and harass him at every step.
12 His strength is depleted;
disaster lies ready for him to stumble.[b]
13 Parts of his skin are eaten away;
death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.
14 He is ripped from the security of his tent
and marched away to the king of terrors.
15 Nothing he owned remains in his tent.
Burning sulfur(G) is scattered over his home.
16 His roots below dry up,
and his branches above wither away.(H)
17 All memory(I) of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name anywhere.[c]
18 He is driven from light to darkness
and chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has no children or descendants among his people,
no survivor where he used to live.(J)
20 Those in the west are appalled(K) at his fate,
while those in the east tremble in horror.
21 Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,
and this is the place of the one who does not know God.(L)
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.(A) 19 For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.[a](B)
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law?[b] Where is the debater of this age?(C) Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs(D) and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified,(E) a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.[c] 24 Yet to those who are called,(F) both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Boasting Only in the Lord
26 Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective,[d] not many powerful,(G) not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen(H) what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world(I)—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one[e] may boast in his presence.(J) 30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness,(K) sanctification,(L) and redemption(M)— 31 in order that, as it is written:(N) Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.[f](O)
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