Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Job, the Good Man

1 There was a man named Job who lived in the country of Uz. He was a good, honest man. He respected God and refused to do evil.

Satan Bothers Job Again

2 Then another day came for the angels^[a] to meet with the Lord. Satan joined them for this meeting with the Lord. ² The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you been?”

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been roaming around the earth, going from place to place.”

³ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is a good, faithful man. He respects God and refuses to do evil. He is still faithful, even though you asked me to let you destroy, without reason, everything he has.”

⁴ Satan answered, “Skin for skin!^[b] A man will give everything he has to protect himself. ⁵ I swear, if you attack his flesh and bones, he will curse you to your face!”

⁶ So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, Job is in your hands, but you are not allowed to kill him.”

⁷ So Satan left the meeting with the Lord and gave Job painful sores all over his body, from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. ⁸ Job sat on the pile of ashes where he was mourning and used a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. ⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your faith? Why don’t you just curse God and die!”

¹⁰ Job answered, “You sound like one of those fools on the street corner! How can we accept all the good things that God gives us and not accept the problems?” So even after all that happened to Job, he did not sin. He did not accuse God of doing anything wrong.

A song of David.

God Has Spoken Through His Son

1 In the past God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke to them many times and in many different ways. ² And now in these last days, God has spoken to us again through his Son. He made the whole world through his Son. And he has chosen his Son to have all things. ³ The Son shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God’s nature, and he holds everything together by his powerful command. The Son made people clean from their sins. Then he sat down at the right side^[a] of God, the Great One in heaven. ⁴ The Son became much greater than the angels, and God gave him a name that is much greater than any of their names.

Christ Became Like People to Save Them

⁵ God did not choose angels to be the rulers over the new world that was coming. That future world is the world we have been talking about. ⁶ It is written some place in the Scriptures,

If God put everything under his control, then there was nothing left that he did not rule. But we don’t yet see him ruling over everything. ⁹ For a short time Jesus was made lower than the angels, but now we see him wearing a crown of glory and honor because he suffered and died. Because of God’s grace, Jesus died for everyone.

¹⁰ God—the one who made all things and for whose glory all things exist—wanted many people to be his children and share his glory. So he did what he needed to do. He made perfect the one who leads those people to salvation. He made Jesus a perfect Savior through his suffering.

¹¹ Jesus, the one who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. ¹² He says,

² Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to make him say something wrong. They asked him, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you to do?”

⁴ The Pharisees said, “Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife by writing a certificate of divorce.”^[a]

⁵ Jesus said, “Moses wrote that command for you because you refused to accept God’s teaching. ⁶ But when God made the world, ‘he made people male and female.’^{[b] 7} ‘That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. ⁸ And the two people will become one.’^[c] So they are no longer two, but one. ⁹ God has joined them together, so no one should separate them.”

¹⁰ Later, when the followers and Jesus were in the house, they asked him again about the question of divorce. ¹¹ He said, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman has sinned against his wife. He is guilty of adultery. ¹² And the woman who divorces her husband and marries another man is also guilty of adultery.”

Jesus Welcomes Children^(A)

¹³ People brought their small children to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on them to bless them. But the followers told the people to stop bringing their children to him. ¹⁴ Jesus saw what happened. He did not like his followers telling the children not to come. So he said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these little children. ¹⁵ The truth is, you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.” ¹⁶ Then Jesus held the children in his arms. He laid his hands on them and blessed them.