Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ You sit as the Holy One.
    The praises of Israel are your throne.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted you.
    They trusted you, and you saved them.
⁵ They called to you for help.
    And they were rescued.
They trusted you.
    And they were not disappointed.

⁶ But I am like a worm instead of a man.
    Men make fun of me.
    They look down on me.
⁷ Everyone who looks at me laughs.
    They stick out their tongues.
    They shake their heads.
⁸ They say, “Turn to the Lord for help.
    Maybe he will save you.
If he likes you,
    maybe he will rescue you.”

⁹ You had my mother give birth to me.
    You made me trust you
    while I was just a baby.
¹⁰ I have leaned on you since the day I was born.
    You have been my God since my mother gave birth to me.
¹¹ So don’t be far away from me.
    Now trouble is near,
    and there is no one to help.
¹² Men have surrounded me like angry bulls.
    The strong bulls of Bashan are on every side.
¹³ Like hungry, roaring lions
    they open their jaws at me.
¹⁴ My strength is gone
    like water poured out onto the ground.
All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
    It has melted inside me.
¹⁵ My strength has dried up like a piece of a broken pot.
    My tongue sticks to the top of my mouth.
    You laid me in the dust of death.

17 My spirit is broken.
The days of my life are almost gone.
    The grave is waiting for me.
² Those who laugh at me surround me.
    I watch them insult me.

³ “God, make me a promise.
    No one else will make a promise for me.
⁴ You have closed the minds of my friends so they do not understand.
    So you will not let them win over me.
⁵ A man might speak against his friends for money.
    But if he does, the eyes of his children go blind.

⁶ “God has caused people to use my name as a curse word.
    People spit in my face.
⁷ My sight has grown weak because of my sadness.
    My body is so thin it’s like a shadow.
⁸ Honest people are upset about this.
    Innocent people are upset with people who do wrong.
⁹ But people who do right will continue to do right.
    And those whose hands are not dirty with sin will grow stronger.

¹⁰ “But, all of you, come and try again!
    I do not find a wise man among you!
¹¹ My days are gone, and my plans have been destroyed.
    The desires of my heart are also destroyed.
¹² These men think night is day.
    When it is dark, they say, ‘Light is near.’
¹³ It might be that the only home I hope for is where the dead are.
    I might spread out my bed in darkness.
¹⁴ I might say to the grave, ‘You are my father.’
    And I might say to the worm, ‘You are my mother’ or ‘You are my sister.’
¹⁵ If these things are true, I have no hope.
    No one can see any hope for me.
¹⁶ Hope will go down to the gates of death.
    We will go down together into the dust.”

“Today listen to what he says.
⁸     Do not be stubborn as in the past
    when you turned against God.
There you tested God in the desert.
⁹     For 40 years in the desert your ancestors saw the things I did.
    But they tested me and my patience.
¹⁰ I was angry with them.
    I said, ‘They are not loyal to me.
    They have not understood my ways.’
¹¹ So I was angry and made a promise.
    ‘They will never enter my land of rest.’”^[a] Psalm 95:7-11

“Today listen to what he says.
    Do not be stubborn as in the past
    when you turned against God.” Psalm 95:7-8