Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

147 Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord! How good it is to sing his praises! How delightful, and how right!

² He is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing back the exiles. ³ He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds. ⁴ He counts the stars and calls them all by name. ⁵ How great he is! His power is absolute! His understanding is unlimited. ⁶ The Lord supports the humble, but brings the wicked into the dust.

⁷ Sing out your thanks to him; sing praises to our God, accompanied by harps. ⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds, sends down the showers, and makes the green grass grow in mountain pastures. ⁹ He feeds the wild animals, and the young ravens cry to him for food. ¹⁰ The speed of a horse is nothing to him. How puny in his sight is the strength of a man. ¹¹ But his joy is in those who reverence him, those who expect him to be loving and kind.

²⁰ something he has not done with any other nation; they have not known his commands.

Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord!

36 Elihu continued:

² “Let me go on and I will show you the truth of what I am saying. For I have not finished defending God! ³ I will give you many illustrations of the righteousness of my Maker. ⁴ I am telling you the honest truth, for I am a man of well-rounded knowledge.

⁵ “God is almighty and yet does not despise anyone! And he is perfect in his understanding. ⁶ He does not reward the wicked with his blessings, but gives them their full share of punishment. ⁷ He does not ignore the good men but honors them by placing them upon eternal, kingly thrones. ⁸ If troubles come upon them and they are enslaved and afflicted, ⁹ then he takes the trouble to point out to them the reason, what they have done that is wrong, or how they have behaved proudly. ¹⁰ He helps them hear his instruction to turn away from their sin.

¹¹ “If they listen and obey him, then they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives. ¹² If they won’t listen to him, they shall perish in battle and die because of their lack of good sense. ¹³ But the godless reap his anger. They do not even return to him when he punishes them. ¹⁴ They die young after lives of dissipation and depravity. ¹⁵ He delivers by distress! This makes them listen to him!

¹⁶ “How he wanted to lure you away from danger into a wide and pleasant valley and to prosper you there. ¹⁷ But you are too preoccupied with your imagined grievances against others. ¹⁸ Watch out! Don’t let your anger at others lead you into scoffing at God! Don’t let your suffering embitter you at the only one who can deliver you. ¹⁹ Do you really think that if you shout loudly enough against God, he will be ashamed and repent? Will this put an end to your chastisement?

²⁰ “Do not desire the nighttime, with its opportunities for crime. ²¹ Turn back from evil, for it was to prevent you from getting into a life of evil that God sent this suffering.

²² “Look, God is all-powerful. Who is a teacher like him? ²³ Who can say that what he does is absurd or evil?

9 I am an apostle, God’s messenger, responsible to no mere man. I am one who has actually seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes. And your changed lives are the result of my hard work for him. ² If in the opinion of others, I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you, for you have been won to Christ through me. ³ This is my answer to those who question my rights.

⁴ Or don’t I have any rights at all? Can’t I claim the same privilege the other apostles have of being a guest in your homes? ⁵ If I had a wife, and if she were a believer,^[a] couldn’t I bring her along on these trips just as the other disciples do, and as the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter does? ⁶ And must Barnabas and I alone keep working for our living while you supply these others? ⁷ What soldier in the army has to pay his own expenses? And have you ever heard of a farmer who harvests his crop and doesn’t have the right to eat some of it? What shepherd takes care of a flock of sheep and goats and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? ⁸ And I’m not merely quoting the opinions of men as to what is right. I’m telling you what God’s law says. ⁹ For in the law God gave to Moses he said that you must not put a muzzle on an ox to keep it from eating when it is treading out the wheat. Do you suppose God was thinking only about oxen when he said this? ¹⁰ Wasn’t he also thinking about us? Of course he was. He said this to show us that Christian workers should be paid by those they help. Those who do the plowing and threshing should expect some share of the harvest.

¹¹ We have planted good spiritual seed in your souls. Is it too much to ask, in return, for mere food and clothing? ¹² You give them to others who preach to you, and you should. But shouldn’t we have an even greater right to them? Yet we have never used this right but supply our own needs without your help. We have never demanded payment of any kind for fear that, if we did, you might be less interested in our message to you from Christ.

¹³ Don’t you realize that God told those working in his temple to take for their own needs some of the food brought there as gifts to him? And those who work at the altar of God get a share of the food that is brought by those offering it to the Lord. ¹⁴ In the same way the Lord has given orders that those who preach the Gospel should be supported by those who accept it.

¹⁵ Yet I have never asked you for one penny. And I am not writing this to hint that I would like to start now. In fact, I would rather die of hunger than lose the satisfaction I get from preaching to you without charge. ¹⁶ For just preaching the Gospel isn’t any special credit to me—I couldn’t keep from preaching it if I wanted to. I would be utterly miserable. Woe unto me if I don’t.