Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] Aijeleth Hashshahar (The Doe of the Dawn). A Psalm of David.
22 [a]My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?(A)
2
O my God, I call out by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I find no rest nor quiet.
3
But You are holy,
O You who are enthroned in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered].
4
In You our fathers trusted [leaned on, relied on, and were confident];
They trusted and You rescued them.
5
They cried out to You and were delivered;
They trusted in You and were not disappointed or ashamed.
6
But I am [treated as] a worm [insignificant and powerless] and not a man;
I am the scorn of men and despised by the people.(B)
7
All who see me laugh at me and mock me;
They [insultingly] open their lips, they shake their head, saying,(C)
8
“He trusted and committed himself to the Lord, let Him save him.
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”(D)
9
Yet You are He who pulled me out of the womb;
You made me trust when on my mother’s breasts.
10
I was cast upon You from birth;
From my mother’s womb You have been my God.
11
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near;
And there is no one to help.
12
Many [enemies like] bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.(E)
13
They open wide their mouths against me,
Like a ravening and a roaring lion.
14
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax;
It is melted [by anguish] within me.
15
My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery;
And my [dry] tongue clings to my jaws;
And You have laid me in the dust of death.(F)
Bildad Speaks of the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2
“How long will you hunt for words and continue these speeches?
Do some clear thinking and show understanding and then we can talk.
3
“Why are we regarded as beasts,
As if [we are] stupid (senseless) in your eyes?
4
“You who tear yourself apart in anger,
Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock to be moved out of its place?
5
“Indeed, the light of the wicked will be put out,
And the flame of his fire will not shine.(A)
6
“The light will be dark in his tent,
And his lamp beside him will be put out.(B)
7
“The vigorous stride will be shortened,
And his own counsel and the scheme [in which he trusted] will bring his downfall.
8
“For the wicked is thrown into a net by his own feet (wickedness),
And he steps on the webbing [of the lattice-covered pit].
9
“A snare catches him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
10
“A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.
11
“Terrors frighten him on every side
And chase at his heels.
12
“The strength [of the wicked] is famished and weakened,
And disaster is ready at his side [if he stops].
13
“His skin is devoured by disease;
The firstborn of death [the worst of diseases] consumes his limbs.
14
“He is torn from his tent which he trusted [for safety],
And he is marched and brought to the king of terrors (death).
15
“Nothing of his dwells in his tent;
Brimstone (burning sulfur) is scattered over his dwelling [to purify it].
16
“The roots [of the wicked] are dried up below,
And above, his branch is cut off and withers.
17
“Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name on the street.
18
“He is driven and propelled from light into darkness,
And chased from the inhabited world.
19
“He has no offspring or prosperity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
20
“Those in the west are astonished and appalled at his fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.
21
“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked and the ungodly,
And such is the place of him who does not know or recognize or honor God.”
The Believer’s Rest
4 Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late. 2 For indeed we have had the good news [of salvation] preached to us, just as the Israelites also [when the good news of the promised land came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united with faith [in God] by those who heard. 3 For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power], just as He has said,
“As I swore [an oath] in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”
[this He said] although His works were [a]completed from the foundation of the world [waiting for all who would believe].(A)
4 For somewhere [in Scripture] He has said this about the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;(B) 5 and again in this, “They shall not enter My rest.”(C) 6 Therefore, since the promise remains for some to enter His rest, and those who formerly had the good news preached to them failed to [grasp it and did not] enter because of [their unbelief evidenced by] disobedience, 7 He again sets a definite day, [a new] “Today,” [providing another opportunity to enter that rest by] saying through David after so long a time, just as has been said before [in the words already quoted],
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”(D)
8 [This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak about another day [of opportunity] after that. 9 So there remains a [full and complete] Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own.(E) 11 Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [as those who died in the wilderness].
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