Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Director: With stringed instruments. A Davidic instruction.[a]
Betrayal by a Friend
55 Pay attention to my prayer, God,
and do not hide yourself from my appeal.
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.
I moan and groan in my thoughts,
3 because of the voice of the enemy,
and because of the oppression of the wicked.
They bring down evil upon me,
and in anger they hate me.
4 My heart is trembling within me,
and the terrors of death have assaulted me.
5 Fear and trembling have overwhelmed me,
and horror has covered me.
6 I said, “O, who will give me the wings of a dove,
so that I could fly away and live somewhere else?
7 Look, I want to flee far away;
I want to settle down in the wilderness.
8 I want to deliver myself quickly
from this windstorm and tempest.”
9 Confound them, Lord,
and confuse their speech,
because I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl around its walls;
evil and iniquity are within it.
11 Wickedness is at the center of it;
fraud and lies never leave its streets.
12 For it is not an enemy who insults me—
I could have handled that—
nor is it someone who hates me and who now arises against me—
I could have hidden myself from him—
13 but it is you—
a man whom I treated as my equal—
my personal confidant,
my close friend!
14 We had good fellowship together;
and we even walked together in the house of God!
15 Let death seize them!
May they be plunged alive into the afterlife,[b]
for wicked things are in their homes
and among them.
Zophar Accuses Job
11 Zophar from Naamath had this to say:
2 “Shouldn’t a multitude of words be answered,
or a person who talks too much[a] be vindicated?
3 Will your irrational babble silence people,
and when you mock them,
will you escape without being shamed?[b]
4 You’ve said, ‘My teaching is flawless;
I’m clean[c] in God’s[d] sight.’
5 “But what if God were to speak?
What if he were[e] to talk[f] with you,
6 and disclose his wise secrets?
After all, there’s so much more[g] to understanding.
So be aware that God will exact from you
less than your sin deserves.”
God’s Wisdom is Unfathomable
7 “Can you search through God’s complex things?
Can you uncover the limits of the Almighty?
8 These things are higher than the heavens,
so what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol,[h]
so what can you know?
9 They are longer than the earth’s circumference,[i]
and broader than the ocean.
10 “If he bypasses, or imprisons, or convenes a court,[j]
who can stop[k] him?
11 For he knows mankind’s[l] deceitfulness;
when he sees iniquity, won’t he himself consider it?
12 An empty-headed person will gain understanding
when a wild donkey is born a human being!”
Zophar Counsels Job to Repent
13 “Now for you, if you will prepare your heart,
spread out your hands to him.
14 If you have any iniquity, throw it far away.
Don’t let evil[m] live in your residence.[n]
15 Then your confidence will be flawless,
and your security will keep you from terror.
16 You’ll forget your suffering;
you’ll remember it like water that has evaporated.[o]
17 Your life will be brighter than noonday.
Even its darkness will be like dawn.
18 You’ll be secure, because there is hope;
you’ll see that you’re at rest and safe.
19 When you sleep, there’ll be nothing to fear;
and many will court your favor.[p]
20 But what the wicked look for will fail;
their way of escape will be taken away[q] from them;
their only hope is to take their final breath.”[r]
10 To married people I give this command (not really I, but the Lord): A wife must not leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave him, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. Likewise, a husband must not abandon[a] his wife.
12 I (not the Lord) say to the rest of you: If a brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she is willing to live with him, he must not abandon[b] her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he is willing to live with her, she must not abandon[c] him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified because of her husband.[d] Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner[e] leaves, let him go. In such cases the brother or sister is not under obligation. God has called you[f] to live in peace. 16 Wife, you might be able to save your husband. Husband, you might be able to save your wife.
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