Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Prayer of an Innocent Believer
Of David.
26 Lord, defend me because I have lived an innocent life.
I have trusted the Lord and never doubted.
2 Lord, try me and test me;
look closely into my heart and mind.
3 I see your love,
and I live by your truth.
4 I do not spend time with liars,
nor do I make friends with those who hide their sin.
5 I hate the company of evil people,
and I won’t sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands to show I am innocent,
and I come to your altar, Lord.
7 I raise my voice in praise
and tell of all the miracles you have done.
8 Lord, I love the Temple where you live,
where your glory is.
9 Do not kill me with those sinners
or take my life with those murderers.
10 Evil is in their hands,
and they do wrong for money.
11 But I have lived an innocent life,
so save me and have mercy on me.
12 I stand in a safe place.
Lord, I praise you in the great meeting.
Job’s Three Friends Come to Help
11 Now Job had three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When these friends heard about Job’s troubles, they agreed to meet and visit him. They wanted to show their concern and to comfort him. 12 They saw Job from far away, but he looked so different they almost didn’t recognize him. They began to cry loudly and tore their robes and put dirt on their heads to show how sad they were. 13 Then they sat on the ground with Job seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw how much he was suffering.
Job Curses His Birth
3 After seven days Job cried out and cursed the day he had been born, 2 saying:
3 “Let the day I was born be destroyed,
and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born!’
4 Let that day turn to darkness.
Don’t let God care about it.
Don’t let light shine on it.
5 Let darkness and gloom have that day.
Let a cloud hide it.
Let thick darkness cover its light.
6 Let thick darkness capture that night.
Don’t count it among the days of the year
or put it in any of the months.
7 Let that night be empty,
with no shout of joy to be heard.
8 Let those who curse days curse that day.
Let them prepare to wake up the sea monster Leviathan.
9 Let that day’s morning stars never appear;
let it wait for daylight that never comes.
Don’t let it see the first light of dawn,
10 because it allowed me to be born
and did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born?
Why didn’t I die when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did my mother’s knees receive me,
and my mother’s breasts feed me?
13 If they had not been there,
I would be lying dead in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest
14 with kings and wise men of the earth
who built places for themselves that are now ruined.
15 I would be asleep with rulers
who filled their houses with gold and silver.
16 Why was I not buried like a child born dead,
like a baby who never saw the light of day?
17 In the grave the wicked stop making trouble,
and the weary workers are at rest.
18 In the grave there is rest for the captives
who no longer hear the shout of the slave driver.
19 People great and small are in the grave,
and the slave is freed from his master.
20 “Why is light given to those in misery?
Why is life given to those who are so unhappy?
21 They want to die, but death does not come.
They search for death more than for hidden treasure.
22 They are very happy
when they get to the grave.
23 They cannot see where they are going.
God has hidden the road ahead.
24 I make sad sounds as I eat;
my groans pour out like water.
25 Everything I feared and dreaded
has happened to me.
26 I have no peace or quietness.
I have no rest, only trouble.”
23 Before this faith came, we were all held prisoners by the law. We had no freedom until God showed us the way of faith that was coming. 24 In other words, the law was our guardian leading us to Christ so that we could be made right with God through faith. 25 Now the way of faith has come, and we no longer live under a guardian.
26-27 You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This means that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 28 In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. 29 You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You will inherit all of God’s blessings because of the promise God made to Abraham.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.