Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A song of David.
68 Let God come and scatter his enemies.
Let those who hate him run away.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is driven away by the wind.
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked be destroyed before God.
3 But those who do right should be glad.
They should rejoice before God.
They should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God. Sing praises to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides through the desert.
His name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy Temple.
He is a father to orphans.
He defends the widows.
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out with joy.
But those who turn against God will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out.
You marched through the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook,
and the sky poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain.
You refreshed your tired land.
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
19 Praise the Lord, day by day.
God our Savior helps us. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us.
The Lord God saves us from death.
Eliphaz Answers
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “A man cannot be of any real use to God.
Even a wise man does him no good.
3 It does not help God All-Powerful for you to be good.
He gains nothing if you are innocent.
4 God does not punish you for respecting him.
He does not bring you into court for this.
5 No! It is because your evil is without limits.
And your sins have no end.
6 You took your brothers’ things to pay a debt they didn’t owe.
You took clothes from people and left them naked.
7 You did not give water to tired people.
And you kept food away from the hungry.
8 You were a powerful man who owned land.
You were honored and lived in the land.
9 But you sent widows away without giving them anything.
You even mistreated orphans.
10 That is why traps are all around you.
That is why sudden danger frightens you.
11 That is why it is so dark you cannot see.
And that is why a flood of water covers you.
12 “God is in the highest part of heaven.
See how high the highest stars are!
13 But you say, ‘God knows nothing.
He cannot judge us through the dark clouds.
14 Thick clouds cover him so he cannot see us.
He walks around high up in the sky.’
15 Are you going to stay on the old path
where evil people walk?
16 They were carried away before their time was up.
Their foundations were washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
God All-Powerful can do nothing to us.’
18 But it was God who filled their houses with good things.
He did this even though their way of thinking was not godly.
19 “Good people can watch and be glad.
Innocent people can laugh at them and say,
20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed.
And fire burns up their wealth.’
Other Apostles Accepted Paul
2 After 14 years, I went to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas. I also took Titus with me. 2 I went because God showed me that I should go. I met with those men who were the leaders of the believers. When we were alone, I told them the Good News that I preach to the non-Jewish people. I did not want my past work and the work I am now doing to be wasted. 3 Titus was with me. But Titus was not forced to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 We talked about this problem because some false brothers had come into our group secretly. They came in like spies to find out about the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves. 5 But we did not agree with anything those false brothers wanted! We wanted the truth of the Good News to continue for you.
6 Those men who seemed to be important did not change the Good News that I preach. (It doesn’t matter to me if they were “important” or not. To God all men are the same.) 7 But these leaders saw that God had given me special work, just as he had to Peter. God gave Peter the work of telling the Good News to the Jews. But God gave me the work of telling the Good News to the non-Jewish people. 8 God gave Peter the power to work as an apostle for the Jewish people. But he also gave me the power to work as an apostle for those who are not Jews. 9 James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be the leaders, saw that God had given me this special grace. So they accepted Barnabas and me. They said, “Paul and Barnabas, we agree that you should go to the people who are not Jews. We will go to the Jews.” 10 They asked us to do only one thing—to remember to help the poor. And this was something that I really wanted to do.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.