Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Comfort in Times of Trouble

77 My voice goes up to God, and I will cry out. My voice goes up to God and He will hear me. ² I looked to the Lord when I was in trouble. I put out my hand at night, and it did not get tired. My soul would not be comforted. ³ When I remember God, then I am troubled. When I am in deep thought, then my spirit becomes weak. ⁴ You keep my eyes from closing. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I have thought about the days of old, the years of long ago. ⁶ I remember my song in the night. I think with my heart. And my spirit asks questions.

⁷ Will the Lord turn away forever? Will He never show favor again? ⁸ Has His loving-kindness stopped forever? Has His promise come to an end for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be loving and kind? Has He in anger taken away His loving-pity? ¹⁰ Then I said, “It is my sorrow that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹ I will remember the things the Lord has done. Yes, I will remember the powerful works of long ago. ¹² I will think of all Your work, and keep in mind all the great things You have done. ¹³ O God, Your way is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God Who does great works. You have shown Your power among the people. ¹⁵ You have set free Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, with Your strong arm.

¹⁶ The waters saw You, O God. The waters saw You and shook. The sea shook also. ¹⁷ The clouds poured down water. The sky sounded with thunder. Your arrows of lightning went this way and that. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the turning wind. The lightning lit up the world. The earth shook. ¹⁹ Your way was through the sea. Your paths went through the powerful waters. And it cannot be known where You stepped. ²⁰ You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Eliphaz Talks

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, ² “If one speaks with you, will you want him to stop? But who can keep from speaking? ³ See, you have taught many, and you have given strength to weak hands. ⁴ Your words have helped him stand who would have fallen. You have given strength to weak knees. ⁵ But now it has come to you, and you are not happy. It touches you, and you are troubled and sad. ⁶ Is not your fear of God what gives you strength and your good ways that give you hope?

⁷ “Think now, who without guilt was ever destroyed? ⁸ As I have seen, those who plow sin and plant trouble gather the same. ⁹ By the breath of God they are destroyed. They are destroyed by the wind of His anger. ¹⁰ The noise of the lion, the voice of the angry lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken. ¹¹ The strong lion dies because there is no food to get. And the young of the lioness are sent everywhere.

¹² “Now a word was brought to me in secret. My ear heard it spoken in a quiet voice. ¹³ With troubled thoughts from the dreams of the night, when deep sleep comes upon men, ¹⁴ fear came to me and I shook. It made all my bones shake. ¹⁵ A spirit passed by my face. The hair of my flesh stood up. ¹⁶ The spirit stood still, but I could not understand what I saw. Something was in front of my eyes. All was quiet, then I heard a voice: ¹⁷ ‘Can man be right more than God? Can a man be pure more than his Maker? ¹⁸ He puts no trust even in His servants. He finds mistakes among His angels. ¹⁹ How much more those who live in houses of clay, who build upon the dust, who are crushed like the moth! ²⁰ Between morning and evening they are destroyed. Without anyone seeing it they become lost forever. ²¹ Is not their tent-rope pulled up within them? They die, and have no wisdom.’

God Saved Us from Sin

2 At one time you were dead because of your sins. ² You followed the sinful ways of the world and obeyed the leader of the power of darkness. He is the devil who is now working in the people who do not obey God. ³ At one time all of us lived to please our old selves. We gave in to what our bodies and minds wanted. We were sinful from birth like all other people and would suffer from the anger of God.

⁴ But God had so much loving-kindness. He loved us with such a great love. ⁵ Even when we were dead because of our sins, He made us alive by what Christ did for us. You have been saved from the punishment of sin by His loving-favor. ⁶ God raised us up from death when He raised up Christ Jesus. He has given us a place with Christ in the heavens. ⁷ He did this to show us through all the time to come the great riches of His loving-favor. He has shown us His kindness through Christ Jesus.

⁸ For by His loving-favor you have been saved from the punishment of sin through faith. It is not by anything you have done. It is a gift of God. ⁹ It is not given to you because you worked for it. If you could work for it, you would be proud. ¹⁰ We are His work. He has made us to belong to Christ Jesus so we can work for Him. He planned that we should do this.