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.
Job Answers Bildad
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you hurt me
and crush me with your words?
3 You have insulted me ten times now
and attacked me without shame.
4 Even if I have sinned,
it is my worry alone.
5 If you want to make yourselves look better than I,
you can blame me for my suffering.
6 Then know that God has wronged me
and pulled his net around me.
7 “I shout, ‘I have been wronged!’
But I get no answer.
I scream for help
but I get no justice.
8 God has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
he has covered my paths with darkness.
9 He has taken away my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He beats me down on every side until I am gone;
he destroys my hope like a fallen tree.
11 His anger burns against me,
and he treats me like an enemy.
12 His armies gather;
they prepare to attack me.
They camp around my tent.
13 “God has made my brothers my enemies,
and my friends have become strangers.
14 My relatives have gone away,
and my friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants treat me like a stranger;
they look at me as if I were a foreigner.
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even when I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My wife can’t stand my breath,
and my own family dislikes me.
18 Even the little boys hate me
and talk about me when I leave.
19 All my close friends hate me;
even those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, my friends, pity me,
because the hand of God has hit me.
22 Why do you chase me as God does?
Haven’t you hurt me enough?
One in Christ
11 You were not born Jewish. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.”[a] Those who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do on their bodies.) 12 Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you had no part in the agreements[b] with the promise that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away from God are brought near through the blood of Christ’s death. 14 Christ himself is our peace. He made both Jewish people and those who are not Jews one people. They were separated as if there were a wall between them, but Christ broke down that wall of hate by giving his own body. 15 The Jewish law had many commands and rules, but Christ ended that law. His purpose was to make the two groups of people become one new people in him and in this way make peace. 16 It was also Christ’s purpose to end the hatred between the two groups, to make them into one body, and to bring them back to God. Christ did all this with his death on the cross. 17 Christ came and preached peace to you who were far away from God, and to those who were near to God. 18 Yes, it is through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit.
19 Now you who are not Jewish are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. 20 You are like a building that was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone[c] in that building, 21 and that whole building is joined together in Christ. He makes it grow and become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Christ you, too, are being built together with the Jews into a place where God lives through the Spirit.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.