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.
Job’s Reply
19 Job replied,
2 “How long will you people make me suffer?
How long will you crush me with your words?
3 You have already accused me many times.
You have attacked me without feeling any shame.
4 Suppose it’s true that I’ve gone down the wrong path.
Then it’s my concern, not yours.
5 Suppose you want to place yourselves above me.
Suppose you want to use my shame to prove I’m wrong.
6 Then I want you to know that God hasn’t treated me right.
In fact, he has captured me in his net.
7 “I cry out, ‘Someone harmed me!’
But I don’t get any reply.
I call out for help.
But I’m not treated fairly.
8 God has blocked my way, and I can’t get through.
He has made my paths so dark I can’t see where I’m going.
9 He has taken my wealth away from me.
He has stripped me of my honor.
10 He tears me down on every side until I’m gone.
He pulls up the roots of my hope as if I were a tree.
11 His anger burns against me.
He thinks I’m one of his enemies.
12 His troops march toward me in force.
They come at me from every direction.
They camp around my tent.
13 “God has caused my family to desert me.
The people I used to know are now strangers to me.
14 My relatives have gone away.
My closest friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants think of me as a stranger.
They look at me as if I were an outsider.
16 I send for my servant, but he doesn’t answer.
He doesn’t come, even though I beg him to.
17 My wife can’t stand the way my breath smells.
My own family won’t have anything to do with me.
18 Even little children mock me.
When I appear, they make fun of me.
19 All my close friends hate me.
Those I love have turned against me.
20 I’m nothing but skin and bones.
I’ve barely escaped death.
21 “Have pity on me, my friends! Please have pity!
God has struck me down with his powerful hand.
22 Why do you chase after me as he does?
Aren’t you satisfied with what you have done to me already?
God’s New Family of Jews and Gentiles
11 You who are not Jews by birth, here is what I want you to remember. You are called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “circumcised.” But they have only been circumcised in their bodies by human hands. 12 Before you believed in Christ, you were separated from him. You were not considered to be citizens of Israel. You were not included in what the covenants promised. You were without hope and without God in the world. 13 At one time you were far away from God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. He spilled his blood for you. This has brought you near to God.
14 Christ himself is our peace. He has made Jews and Gentiles into one group of people. He has destroyed the hatred that was like a wall between us. 15 Through his body on the cross, Christ set aside the law with all its commands and rules. He planned to create one new people out of Jews and Gentiles. He wanted to make peace between them. 16 He planned to bring both Jews and Gentiles back to God as one body. He planned to do this through the cross. On that cross, Christ put to death their hatred toward one another. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away. He also preached peace to those who were near. 18 Through Christ we both come to the Father by the power of one Holy Spirit.
19 So you are no longer outsiders and strangers. You are citizens together with God’s people. You are also members of God’s family. 20 You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in the building. 21 The whole building is held together by him. It rises to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord. 22 And because you belong to him, you too are being built together. You are being made into a house where God lives through his Spirit.
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