Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
1 Once there was a man from Uz by the name of Job. He was a very good man—his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believed in God that he sought to honor Him in all things. He deliberately avoided evil in all of his affairs.
2 Now one day, it was time for the sons of God, God’s heavenly messengers, to present themselves to the Eternal One to give reports and receive instructions. The Accuser[a] was with them there again, also ready to present himself to Him.
Eternal One (to the Accuser): 2 Where have you been?
The Accuser: Oh, roaming here and there, running about the earth and observing its inhabitants.
Eternal One: 3 Well, have you looked into the man, Job, My servant? He is unlike any other person on the whole earth—a very good man—his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believes in Me that he seeks, in all things, to honor Me and deliberately avoids evil in all of his affairs. And I have found him to be unswervingly committed, despite the fact that you provoked Me to wreck him for no particular reason, to take away My protection and his prosperity.
The Accuser: 4 Well, as they say, “Skin for skin!” It is easy to be so pious in the face of such health. Surely a man will give what he has for the sake of his own life, 5 so now extend Your hand! Afflict him, both bone and body, and he will curse You, right to Your face.
Eternal One: 6 Well then, this is how it will be: he is now in your hand. One thing, though: you will not take his life. Job must not be killed.
7 With that, the Accuser left the court and the Eternal’s presence, and he infected Job with a painful skin disease. From the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, his body was covered with boils. 8 Job took a broken piece of pottery to scrape his wounds, and while he sat in the ashes just outside of town, 9 his wife found him.
Job’s Wife: Will you still not swerve in your commitments? Curse God and die!
Job: 10 You’re speaking nonsense like some depraved woman. Are we to accept the good that comes from God, but not accept the bad?
Throughout all of this, Job did not sin with his mouth; he would not curse God as the Accuser predicted.
Psalm 26
A song of David.
1 Declare my innocence, O Eternal One!
I have walked blamelessly down this path.
I placed my trust in the Eternal and have yet to stumble.
2 Put me on trial and examine me, O Eternal One!
Search me through and through—from my deepest longings to every thought that crosses my mind.
3 Your unfailing love is always before me;
I have journeyed down Your path of truth.
A great theme throughout the psalms is the experience of coming before God. This Davidic psalm affirms the integrity of the worshiper before the Lord even while pleading for God’s mercy.
4 My life is not wasted among liars;
my days are not spent among cheaters.
5 I despise every crowd intent on evil;
I do not commune with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in the fountain of innocence
so that I might join the gathering that surrounds Your altar, O Eternal One.
7 From my soul, I will join the songs of thanksgiving;
I will sing and proclaim Your wonder and mystery.
8 Your house, home to Your glory, O Eternal One, radiates its light.
I am fixed on this place and long to be nowhere else.
9 When Your wrath pursues those who oppose You,
those swift to sin and thirsty for blood,
spare my soul and grant me life.
10 These men hold deceit in their left hands,
and in their right hands, bribery and lies.
11 But God, I have walked blamelessly down this path,
and this is my plea for redemption.
This is my cry for Your mercy.
12 Here I stand secure and confident
before all the people; I will praise the Eternal.
1 Long ago, at different times and in various ways, God’s voice came to our ancestors through the Hebrew prophets. 2 But in these last days, it has come to us through His Son, the One who has been given dominion over all things and through whom all worlds were made.
3 This is the One who—imprinted with God’s image, shimmering with His glory—sustains all that exists through the power of His word. He was seated at the right hand of God once He Himself had made the offering that purified us from all our sins. 4 This Son of God is elevated as far above the heavenly messengers as His holy name is elevated above theirs.
This letter is punctuated with passages that sound an alarm: danger, both imminent and eternal, is at hand. The real danger is the gentle erosion of rock-solid commitments.
How often it happens! A person makes a decision to follow Jesus. He practically explodes with joy. Then life happens and the invisible forces that shape culture in our world—the idols of consumerism, relativism, and materialism—begin their exacting work to shape us into an image that no longer reflects our Savior. Over and over again, the writer warns us to be careful. Don’t neglect this great salvation. Make sure the anchor holds.
5 Now clearly God didn’t set up the heavenly messengers to bring the final word or to rule over the world that is coming. 6 I have read something somewhere:
I can’t help but wonder why You care about mortals
or choose to love the son of man.
7-8 Though he was born below the heavenly messengers,
You honored the son of man like royalty,
crowning him with glory and honor,
Raising him above all earthly things,
placing everything under his feet.[a]
When God placed everything under the son of man, He didn’t leave out anything. Maybe we don’t see all that happening yet; 9 but what we do see is Jesus, born a little lower than the heavenly messengers, who is now crowned with glory and honor because He willingly suffered and died. And He did that so that through God’s grace, He might taste death on behalf of everyone.
Here is God’s Son: Creator, Sustainer, Great High Priest. Jesus has to take on our feeble flesh and suffer a violent death. He suffers for what we need.
10 It only makes sense that God, by whom and for whom everything exists, would choose to bring many of us to His side by using suffering to perfect Jesus, the founder of our faith, the pioneer of our salvation. 11 As I will show you, it’s important that the One who brings us to God and those who are brought to God become one, since we are all from one Father. This is why Jesus was not ashamed to call us His family, 12 saying, in the words of the psalmist,
I will speak Your Name to My brothers and sisters
when I praise You in the midst of the community.[b]
2 Some Pharisees came to Him to test Him on His adherence to the law of Moses.
Pharisees: Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?
Jesus: 3 What did Moses say to you?
Pharisees: 4 Moses permitted us to write a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.[a]
Jesus: 5 Moses gave you this law as a concession because of the hardness of your hearts. 6 But truly, God created humans male and female in the beginning.[b] 7 As it is written in the Hebrew Scriptures, “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother [to marry his wife],[c] 8 and the two of them will become one flesh and blood.”[d] So they are no longer two people, but one. 9 What God has joined together in this way, no one may sever.
10 In the privacy of their dwelling that evening, the disciples asked Him about this teaching, 11 and He went even further.
Jesus: If any husband divorces his wife and then marries another woman, he commits adultery against her. 12 And if a wife should divorce her husband and marry another, then she commits adultery against him.
The Pharisees hope to trip Jesus. Instead of taking a side, Jesus goes to the purpose and meaning of marriage: not just from a social but a spiritual perspective.
13 When the crowd gathered again, the people brought their children to see Jesus, hoping that He might grant them His blessing through His touch.
His disciples turned them all away; 14 but when Jesus saw this, He was incensed.
Jesus (to the disciples): Let the children come to Me, and don’t ever stand in their way, for this is what the kingdom of God is all about. 15 Truly anyone who doesn’t accept the kingdom of God as a little child does can never enter it.
16 Jesus gathered the children in His arms, and He laid His hands on them to bless them.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.