Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Prayer of a Suffering Man
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of Dawn.” A song of David.
22 My God, my God, why have you left me alone?
You are too far away to save me.
You are too far away to hear my moans.
2 My God, I call to you during the day.
But you do not answer.
And I call at night.
I am not silent.
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.
Bildad Answers Job
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “When will you stop these speeches?
Be sensible, and then we can talk.
3 You think of us as only cattle.
You think we are stupid.
4 You tear yourself to pieces in your anger.
Does everyone have to leave the earth just for you?
Do the rocks have to be moved from their place for you?
5 “The lamp of the wicked person will be put out.
The flame in his lamp will stop burning.
6 The light in his tent will become dark.
The lamp by his side will go out.
7 His footsteps will become weak and lose their strength.
He will fall into his own evil trap.
8 His feet are caught in a net
when he walks into its web.
9 A trap will catch him by the heel.
And it will hold him tight.
10 A trap for him is hidden on the ground.
It lies in his path.
11 Terrible things startle him from every side.
They chase him at every step.
12 Hunger takes away his strength.
Disaster is at his side.
13 Disease eats away parts of his skin.
The signs of death begin to eat away at his arms and legs.
14 The evil person is torn from the safety of his tent.
He is dragged off to Death, the King of Terrors.
15 His tent is set on fire.
Burning sulfur is scattered over his home.
16 His roots dry up below ground,
and his branches above ground die.
17 People on earth will not remember him.
His name will be forgotten in the land.
18 He will be driven from the light into darkness.
He will be chased out of the world.
19 He has no children or descendants among his people.
No one will be left alive where he once lived.
20 People of the west are shocked at what has happened to him.
People of the east are very frightened.
21 This is surely what will happen to the home of an evil person.
This is the place of one who does not know God.”
4 Now God has left us that promise that we may enter and have his rest. Let us be very careful, then, so that none of you will fail to get that rest. 2 The Good News was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching they heard did not help them. They heard it but did not accept it with faith.[a] 3 We who have believed are able to enter and have God’s rest. As God has said,
“So I was angry and made a promise.
‘They will never enter my land of rest.’” Psalm 95:11
But God’s work was finished from the time he made the world. 4 Somewhere in the Scriptures he talked about the seventh day of the week: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”[b] 5 And again in the Scripture God said, “They will never enter my land of rest.”
6 It is still true that some people will enter and have God’s rest. But those who first heard the way to be saved did not enter. They did not enter because they did not obey. 7 So God planned another day, called “today.” He spoke about that day through David a long time later. It is the same Scripture used before:
“Today listen to what he says.
Do not be stubborn.” Psalm 95:7-8
8 We know that Joshua[c] did not lead the people into that rest. We know this because God spoke later about another day. 9 This shows that the seventh-day rest[d] for God’s people is still coming. 10 For anyone who enters and has God’s rest will rest from his work as God did. 11 So let us try as hard as we can to enter God’s rest. We must try hard so that no one will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.