Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 Blessed is the nation whose Elohim is Yahweh.
Blessed are the people he has chosen as his own.
13 Yahweh looks down from heaven.
He sees all of Adam’s descendants.
14 From the place where he sits enthroned,
he looks down upon all who live on earth.
15 The one who formed their hearts
understands everything they do.
16 No king achieves a victory with a large army.
No warrior rescues himself by his own great strength.
17 Horses are not a guarantee for victory.
Their great strength cannot help someone escape.
18 Yahweh’s eyes are on those who fear him,
on those who wait with hope for his mercy
19 to rescue their souls from death
and keep them alive during a famine.
20 We wait for Yahweh.
He is our help and our Magen.
21 In him our hearts find joy.
In his holy name we trust.
22 Let your mercy rest on us, O Yahweh,
since we wait with hope for you.
Job Speaks: Comfort Me by Listening to Me
21 Then Job replied to his friends,
2 “Listen carefully to my words,
and let that be the comfort you offer me.
3 Bear with me while I speak.
Then after I’ve spoken, you may go on mocking.
4 Am I complaining about a person?
Why shouldn’t I be impatient?
5 Look at me, and be shocked,
and put your hand over your mouth.
6 When I remember it, I’m terrified,
and shuddering seizes my body.
Wicked People Do Not Suffer for Their Sins
7 “Why do the wicked go on living, grow old,
and even become more powerful?
8 They see their children firmly established with them,
and they get to see their descendants.
9 Their homes are free from fear,
and Eloah doesn’t use his rod on them.
10 Their bulls are fertile when they breed.
Their cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 They send their little children out to play
like a flock of lambs,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing with the tambourine and lyre,
and they are happy with the music of the flute.
13 They spend their days in happiness,
and they go peacefully to the grave.
14 But they say to El,
‘Leave us alone.
We don’t want to know your ways.
15 Who is Shadday that we should serve him?
What do we gain if we pray to him?’
16 Anyhow, isn’t their happiness in their own power?
(The plan of the wicked is foreign to my way of thinking.)
Paul’s Concern for the Jewish People
9 As a Christian, I’m telling you the truth. I’m not lying. The Holy Spirit, along with my own thoughts, supports me in this. 2 I have deep sorrow and endless heartache. 3 I wish I could be condemned and cut off from Christ for the sake of others who, like me, are Jewish by birth. 4 They are Israelites, God’s adopted children. They have the Lord’s glory, the pledges,[a] Moses’ Teachings, the true worship, and the promises. 5 The Messiah is descended from their ancestors according to his human nature. The Messiah is God over everything, forever blessed. Amen.
6 Now it is not as though God’s word has failed. Clearly, not everyone descended from Israel is part of Israel 7 or a descendant of Abraham. However, as Scripture says, “Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.” 8 This means that children born by natural descent from Abraham are not necessarily God’s children. Instead, children born by the promise are considered Abraham’s descendants.
9 For example, this is what the promise said, “I will come back at the right time, and Sarah will have a son.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.