Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Davidic
A Man of Integrity Pleads for Justice
26 Vindicate me, Lord,
because I have walked in integrity;
I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, Lord, and inspect me!
Test my heart and mind.[a]
3 For your gracious love precedes me,
and I continuously walk according to your truth.
4 I do not sit with those committed to what is false,
nor do I travel with hypocrites.
5 I hate the company of those who practice evil,
nor do I sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands innocently.
I go around your altar, Lord,
7 so I may praise you loudly with thanksgiving
and declare all your wondrous acts.
8 Lord, I love the dwelling place that is your house,
the place where your glory resides.
9 Do not group me[b] with sinners,
nor include me[c] with men who shed blood.
10 Their hands are filled with wicked schemes,
and their right hands with bribes.
11 But as for me,
I walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me!
12 My feet stand on level ground;
among the worshiping congregations
I will bless the Lord.
Job’s Friends Visit
11 When Job’s three friends heard all these tragedies that happened to him, they each traveled from their home towns[a] to visit him. Eliphaz came from Teman,[b] Bildad came from Shuah,[c] and Zophar came from Naamath.[d] They met together and went to console and comfort him. 12 Observing him from a distance, at first they didn’t even recognize him, so they raised their voices and burst into tears. They each ripped their robes, threw ashes into the air on their heads, 13 and sat with Job[e] on the ground for a full week[f] without saying a word, since they could see the great extent of his anguish.
Job Laments the Day He was Born
3 After this, Job spoke up solemnly, cursing[g] the day he was born.[h] 2 This is what Job said:
3 “Let the day when I was born be annihilated,
along with the night when it was announced,
‘It’s a boy!’[i]
4 Let that day be dark;
let God above not care about it;
let no light shine over it.
5 Let darkness and deep gloom reclaim it;
let clouds settle down on it;
let blackness in mid-day terrify it.
6 Let darkness carry that night away;
let it not take its place joyfully among the days of the year;
let it not be entered into the calendar.[j]
7 “Yes, let that night be barren;
let it not appear with its joyful shout.
8 Let whoever curses days curse it—
those who are ready to awaken monsters.[k]
9 Let the stars of its evening twilight be dark;
let it hope for light but let there be none;
let it not see the breaking rays[l] of the dawn.
10 “Because that night[m] refused to shut the doors of my mother’s[n] womb;
it failed to keep me from seeing this trouble.
11 Why didn’t I die while I was still in the womb,
or die while I was being born?
12 Why was there a lap[o] to hold me,
and why were there breasts to nurse me?
13 “If I had died,[p] I would be lying down by now,
undisturbed, asleep, and at rest,
14 along with kings and counselors of the earth,
who used to build for themselves what are now only[q] ruins,
15 or princes who amassed[r] gold for themselves,
and who kept filling their houses with silver.
16 “Or why was I not buried[s] like a stillborn child,[t]
like babies[u] who never saw the light?
17 In that place, the wicked stop causing trouble,
and there, those whose strength is exhausted are at rest.
18 In that place, those who once were prisoners will be at ease together;
they won’t hear the voice of oppressors.
19 The unimportant and the important are both there,
and the servant is free from his master.
20 “Why does God[v] give light to the sufferer
or life to the bitter person:
21 To those who are longing for death—
even though it does not come?
To those who search for it
more than for hidden treasure?
22 To those who are happy beyond measure[w]
when they reach their graves?
23 To the formerly successful[x] man who lost his way in life,
and God fenced him in?
24 “As far as I’m concerned, my food comes to me in the form of sighs,
and my cries of anguish pour out like water.
25 For the dreaded thing that I feared has happened to me,
what caused me to worry has engulfed[y] me.
26 I will not be at ease;
I will not be quiet;
I will not rest;
because trouble has arrived.”
23 Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed. 24 And so the Law was our guardian until the Messiah[a] came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come about, we are no longer under a guardian.
You are God’s Children
26 For all of you are God’s children through faith in the Messiah[b] Jesus. 27 Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah[c] have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.[d] 28 Because all of you are one in the Messiah[e] Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. 29 And if you belong to the Messiah,[f] then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.
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