Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.
For the choir director; upon [a]Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.
22 (A)My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
[b](B)Far from my deliverance are the words of my [c](C)groaning.
2 O my God, I (D)cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but [d]I have no rest.
3 Yet (E)You are holy,
O You who [e]are enthroned upon (F)the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers (G)trusted;
They trusted and You (H)delivered them.
5 To You they cried out and were delivered;
(I)In You they trusted and were not [f]disappointed.
6 But I am a (J)worm and not a man,
A (K)reproach of men and (L)despised by the people.
7 All who see me [g](M)sneer at me;
They [h]separate with the lip, they (N)wag the head, saying,
8 “[i]Commit yourself to the Lord; (O)let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
9 Yet You are He who (P)brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon You I was cast (Q)from [j]birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 (R)Be not far from me, for [k]trouble is near;
For there is (S)none to help.
12 Many (T)bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of (U)Bashan have encircled me.
13 They (V)open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring (W)lion.
14 I am (X)poured out like water,
And all my (Y)bones are out of joint;
My (Z)heart is like wax;
It is melted within [l]me.
15 My (AA)strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And (AB)my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You (AC)lay me [m]in the dust of death.
Job Says He Has Become a Byword
17 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The [a](A)grave is ready for me.
2 “(B)Surely mockers are with me,
And my eye [b]gazes on their provocation.
3 “Lay down, now, a pledge (C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will [c]be my guarantor?
4 “For You have [d](D)kept their heart from understanding,
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 “He who (E)informs against friends for a share of the spoil,
The (F)eyes of his children also will languish.
6 “But He has made me a (G)byword of the people,
And I am [e]one at whom men (H)spit.
7 “My eye has also grown (I)dim because of grief,
And all my (J)members are as a shadow.
8 “The upright will be appalled at this,
And the (K)innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
9 “Nevertheless (L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And (M)he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 “But come again all of [f]you now,
For I (N)do not find a wise man among you.
11 “My (O)days are past, my plans are torn apart,
Even the wishes of my heart.
12 “They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 “If I look for (P)Sheol as my home,
I [g]make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the (Q)pit, ‘You are my father’;
To the (R)worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where now is (S)my hope?
And who regards my hope?
16 “[h]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together (T)go down into the dust?”
7 Therefore, just as (A)the Holy Spirit says,
“(B)Today if you hear His voice,
8 (C)Do not harden your hearts as [a]when they provoked Me,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 (D)Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me,
And saw My works for (E)forty years.
10 “(F)Therefore I was angry with this generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways’;
11 (G)As I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”
The Peril of Unbelief
12 (H)Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart [b]that falls away from (I)the living God. 13 But (J)encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the (K)deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, (L)if we hold fast the beginning of our (M)assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said,
16 For who (O)provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, (P)did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (Q)whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear (R)that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were (S)disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of (T)unbelief.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.