Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 68
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered;
let those who hate Him flee before Him.
2 As smoke is driven away,
You drive them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
so may the wicked perish before God.
3 But let the righteous be glad;
let them rejoice before God;
let them rejoice exceedingly.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
raise a song to Him who rides through the deserts—
His name is the Lord;
exult before Him.
5 A father of the fatherless, and a protector of the widows,
is God in His holy habitation.
6 God sets the deserted in families;
He brings out prisoners into prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
7 O God, when You went forth before Your people,
when You marched through the wasteland, Selah
8 the earth shook;
the heavens also poured down rain
at the presence of God; even Sinai shook
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You, O God, sent plentiful rain;
You established Your inheritance when it was weary.
10 Your congregation has lived in it;
You, O God, by Your goodness have prepared for the poor.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits,
even the God who is our salvation. Selah
20 That God is for us, the God of saving acts;
and to God the Lord belongs escape from death.
Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Can a man be profitable to God,
as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?
4 “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
and enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great,
and your iniquity infinite?
6 For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have not given water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he possessed the earth,
and the honorable man lived in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty,
and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
10 Therefore snares are all around you,
and sudden fear troubles you,
11 or darkness, so that you cannot see;
and an abundance of waters covers you.
12 “Is not God in the height of heaven?
And see the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 And you say, ‘What does God know?
Can He judge through the dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds are His covering, so He cannot see;
and He walks above the circle of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way,
that wicked men have trod?
16 They were cut down before their time;
their foundations were swept away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’
and, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet He filled their houses with good things;
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 “The righteous see it and are glad,
and the innocent laugh them to scorn:
20 ‘Surely our adversaries are cut down,
and the fire consumes their remnant.’
Paul Accepted by the Other Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and also took Titus with me. 2 I went up in response to a revelation and communicated to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. But privately I communicated to those who were of reputation, in case I might be running, or had run, in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised. 4 This happened because false brothers were secretly brought in, who sneaked in to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. 5 We did not yield to subjection to them, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
6 But of these who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality to anyone—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, as the gospel to the circumcised was to Peter. 8 For He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles. 9 When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, understood the grace that was given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only they requested that we should remember the poor, which I also was eager to do.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.