Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer of a Good Man

26 O Lord, stand by me for I have lived my life without blame. I have trusted in the Lord without changing. ² Test me and try me, O Lord. Test my mind and my heart. ³ For Your loving-kindness is always in front of my eyes. And I have walked in Your truth. ⁴ I do not sit with men who lie about the truth. I would not be seen with those who pretend to be someone they are not. ⁵ I hate the meeting of sinners, and will not sit with the sinful. ⁶ I will wash my hands of any guilt. And I will go around Your altar, O Lord. ⁷ I will speak with the voice of thanks, and tell of all Your great works.

⁸ O Lord, I love the house where You live, the place where Your shining-greatness lives. ⁹ Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men who kill other people. ¹⁰ Sinful plans are in their hands. And their right hand is full of pay for hurting others. ¹¹ But as for me, I will live a life without blame. Make me free, and show me loving-kindness. ¹² My foot stands on a good place. I will give honor to the Lord, in the meeting of worship.

Job Keeps On Talking

7 “Is not man made to work on earth? Are not his days like the days of a man paid to work? ² Like a servant who desires to be out of the sun, and like a working man who waits for his pay, ³ I am given months of pain and nights of suffering for no reason. ⁴ When I lie down I say, ‘When will I get up?’ But the night is long, and I am always turning from side to side until morning. ⁵ My flesh is covered with worms and dirt. My skin becomes hard and breaks open. ⁶ My days are faster than a cloth-maker’s tool, and come to their end without hope.

⁷ “Remember that my life is only a breath. My eye will not again see good. ⁸ The eye of him who sees me will see me no more. Your eyes will be on me, but I will be gone. ⁹ When a cloud goes away, it is gone. And he who goes down to the place of the dead does not come back. ¹⁰ He will not return to his house, and his place will not know him any more.

¹¹ “So I will not keep my mouth shut. I will speak in the suffering of my spirit. I will complain because my soul is bitter. ¹² Am I the sea, or a large sea animal, that You put someone to watch me? ¹³ When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, and there I will find rest from my complaining,’ ¹⁴ then You send dreams to me which fill me with fear. ¹⁵ So a quick death by having my breath stopped would be better to me than my pains. ¹⁶ I hate my life. I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are only a breath. ¹⁷ What is man, that You make so much of him? Why do You care about him, ¹⁸ that You look at him every morning, and test him all the time? ¹⁹ How long will it be until You look away from me? Will You not let me alone until I swallow my spit? ²⁰ Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have you made me something to shoot at, so that I am a problem to myself? ²¹ Why then do You not forgive my wrong-doing and take away my sin? For now I will lie down in the dust. You will look for me, but I will not be.”

Jesus Teaches That the Law Is Not Finished

¹⁴ The proud religious law-keepers heard all these things. They loved money so they made fun of Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “You are the kind of people who make yourselves look good before other people. God knows your hearts. What men think is good is hated in the eyes of God. ¹⁶ Until John came, you had the writings of the Law and of the early preachers. From that time until now the Good News of the holy nation of God has been preached. Everyone is pushing his way in. ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one small part of a word in the Law to be of no more use.

¹⁸ “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman is not faithful in marriage and is guilty of sex sins.