Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise God Who Helps His People
147 Praise the Lord!
It is good to sing praises to our God.
It is good and pleasant to praise him.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem.
He brings back the scattered Israelites who were taken captive.
3 He heals the brokenhearted.
He bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the stars
and names each one.
5 Our Lord is great and very powerful.
There is no limit to what he knows.
6 The Lord defends those who are not proud.
But he throws the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing praises to the Lord.
Praise our God with harps.
8 He fills the sky with clouds.
He sends rain to the earth.
He makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives food to cattle
and to the little birds that call.
10 He is not pleased by the strength of a horse
or the power of a man.
11 The Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
with those who trust his love.
20 He didn’t do this for any other nation.
They don’t know his laws.
Praise the Lord!
Elihu’s Speech Continues
36 Elihu continued:
2 “Listen to me a little longer. Then I will show you
that there is more to be said for God’s side.
3 What I know comes from far away.
I will show that God, my Maker, is right.
4 You can be sure that my words are not false.
One who really knows is with you.
5 “God is powerful, but he does not hate people.
He is powerful and sure of what he wants to do.
6 God will not keep evil people alive.
But he gives troubled people their rights.
7 God does not stop watching over those who do right.
He sets them on thrones with kings.
And he lifts them up on high forever.
8 People may be bound in chains.
Or trouble may tie them up like ropes around them.
9 But then God tells them what they have done.
He tells them they have sinned by being too proud.
10 God makes them listen to his warning.
He commands them to change from doing evil.
11 If they obey and serve him,
the rest of their lives will be successful.
And the rest of their years will be happy.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will die by the sword.
And they will die without knowing better.
13 “People who have wicked hearts hold on to anger.
Even when God ties them down with trouble, they do not cry for help.
14 They die while they are still young.
They die among the male prostitutes at the places of worship.
15 But God will save suffering people by their suffering.
He gets them to listen through their pain.
16 “God is gently calling you from the jaws of trouble.
He is calling you to an open place of freedom.
There he has set your table full of the best food.
17 But now you are given the punishment evil people should have.
Now you are being punished.
18 Be careful! Don’t be led away from God by riches.
Don’t let a promise of much money turn you away.
19 Neither your wealth nor all your great strength
will keep you out of trouble.
20 Don’t wish for the night.
That is when people are taken from their homes.
21 Be careful not to turn to evil,
which you seem to want more than suffering.
22 “God does great things by his power.
No other teacher is like him.
23 No one has planned his ways for him.
No one has said to God, ‘You have done wrong.’
Paul Is Like the Other Apostles
9 I am a free man. I am an apostle. I have seen Jesus our Lord. You people are all an example of my work in the Lord. 2 Others may not accept me as an apostle, but surely you accept me. You are proof that I am an apostle in the Lord.
3 Some people want to judge me. So this is the answer I give them: 4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to bring a believing wife with us when we travel? The other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Peter all do this. 6 And are Barnabas and I the only ones who must work to earn our living? 7 No soldier ever serves in the army and pays his own salary. No one ever plants a vineyard without eating some of the grapes himself. No person takes care of a flock of sheep without drinking some of the milk himself.
8 This is not only what men think. God’s law says the same thing. 9 Yes, it is written in the law of Moses: “When an ox is working in the grain, do not cover its mouth and keep it from eating.”[a] When God said this, was he thinking only about oxen? No. 10 He was really talking about us. Yes, that Scripture was written for us. The one who plows and the one who works in the grain should hope to get some of the grain for their work. 11 We planted spiritual seed among you. So we should be able to harvest from you some things for this life. Surely this is not asking too much. 12 Other men have the right to get something from you. So surely we have this right, too. But we do not use this right. No, we put up with everything ourselves so that we will not stop anyone from obeying the Good News of Christ. 13 Surely you know that those who work at the Temple get their food from the Temple. And those who serve at the altar get part of what is offered at the altar. 14 It is the same with those who tell the Good News. The Lord has commanded that those who tell the Good News should get their living from this work.
15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this now to get anything from you. I would rather die than to have my reason for bragging taken away. 16 Telling the Good News is not my reason for bragging. Telling the Good News is my duty—something I must do. And how bad it will be for me if I do not tell the Good News.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.