Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
64 God, hear me as I tell you my problem.
Don’t let my enemies kill me.
2 Hide me from evil people who talk about how to harm me.
Hide me from those people who are planning to do evil.
3 They make their tongues like sharp swords.
They aim their mean words like deadly arrows.
4 They shoot from their hiding places at people who aren’t guilty.
They shoot quickly and aren’t afraid of being caught.
5 They help one another make evil plans.
They talk about hiding their traps.
They say, “Who can see what we are doing?”
6 They make plans to do what is evil.
They say, “We have thought up a perfect plan!”
The hearts and minds of people are so clever!
7 But God will shoot my enemies with his arrows.
He will suddenly strike them down.
8 He will turn their own words against them.
He will destroy them.
All those who see them will shake their heads
and look down on them.
9 All people will respect God.
They will tell about his works.
They will think about what he has done.
10 Godly people will be full of joy because of what the Lord has done.
They will go to him for safety.
All those whose hearts are honest will be proud of what he has done.
The Second Speech of Bildad
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied,
2 “Job, when will you stop these speeches of yours?
Be reasonable! Then we can talk.
3 Why do you look at us as if we were cattle?
Why do you think of us as being stupid?
4 Your anger is tearing you to pieces.
Does the earth have to be deserted just to prove you are right?
Must all the rocks be moved from their places?
5 “The lamps of sinful people are blown out.
Their flames will never burn again.
6 The lights in their tents become dark.
The lamps beside those who are evil go out.
7 They walk more slowly than they used to.
Their own evil plans make them fall.
8 Their feet take them into a net.
They wander right into it.
9 A trap grabs hold of their heels.
It refuses to let them go.
10 A trap lies in their path.
A rope to catch them is hidden on the ground.
11 Terrors alarm them on every side.
They follow them every step of the way.
12 Trouble would like to eat them up.
Danger waits for them when they fall.
13 It eats away parts of their skin.
Death itself feeds on their arms and legs.
14 They are torn away from the safety of their tents.
They are marched off to the one who rules over death.
15 Fire races through their tents.
Burning sulfur is scattered over their homes.
16 Their roots dry up under them.
Their branches dry up above them.
17 No one on earth remembers them.
Their names are forgotten in the land.
18 They are driven from light into the place of darkness.
They are thrown out of the world.
19 Their family dies out among their people.
No one is left where they used to live.
20 What has happened to them shocks the people in the west.
It terrifies the people in the east.
21 Now you know what the homes of sinners are like.
Those who don’t know God live in places like that.”
Christ Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19 It is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of those who are wise.
I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart.” (Isaiah 29:14)
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where are the great thinkers of our time? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 God wisely planned that the world would not know him through its own wisdom. It pleased God to use the foolish things we preach to save those who believe. 22 Jews require signs. Greeks look for wisdom. 23 But we preach about Christ and his death on the cross. That is very hard for Jews to accept. And everyone else thinks it’s foolish. 24 But there are those God has chosen, both Jews and Greeks. To them Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 The foolish things of God are wiser than human wisdom. The weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. God chose things considered unimportant to do away with things considered important. 29 So no one can boast to God. 30 Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus. He has become God’s wisdom for us. He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free. 31 It is written, “The one who boasts should boast about what the Lord has done.” (Jeremiah 9:24)
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