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)
Job’s Reply to Bildad
19 Then Job answered:
2 How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat[a] me without shame.(A)
4 Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only[b] me.
5 If you really want to appear superior(B) to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in his net.(C)
7 I cry out, “Violence!” but get no response;(D)
I call for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked(E) my way so that I cannot pass through;
he has veiled my paths with darkness.(F)
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined.[c]
He uproots my hope like a tree.(G)
11 His anger(H) burns against me,
and he regards me as one of his enemies.(I)
12 His troops advance together;
they construct a ramp[d] against me
and camp(J) around my tent.
13 He has removed my brothers from me;
my acquaintances have abandoned me.(K)
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My house guests[e] and female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.(L)
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
and my own family[f] finds me repulsive.
18 Even young boys scorn me.
When I stand up, they mock me.(M)
19 All of my best friends[g] despise me,(N)
and those I love have turned against me.(O)
20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, my friends,(P) have mercy,
for God’s hand(Q) has struck me.(R)
22 Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
Unity in Christ
11 So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,”(A) which is done in the flesh by human hands.(B) 12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise,(C) without hope(D) and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood(E) of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one(F) and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create(G) in himself one(H) new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body(I) through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.[a] 17 He came and proclaimed the good news(J) of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.(K) 18 For through him we both have access(L) in one Spirit to the Father.(M) 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,(N) with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together,(O) grows into a holy temple in the Lord.(P) 22 In him you are also being built together(Q) for God’s dwelling(R) in the Spirit.
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