Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Job and His Children

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. Now that man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

Affliction of the Body

2 Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before Adonai, and the satan also arrived among them to present himself before Adonai. ² Adonai said to him, “Where are you coming from?”

The satan answered Adonai, “From roaming the earth and from walking on it.”

³ Then Adonai said to the satan, “Have you noticed My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and spurns evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, though you incited Me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

⁴ The satan replied to Adonai saying, “Skin for skin! A man will give up all he has for his own life. ⁵ But now, stretch out Your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will certainly curse You to Your face!”

⁶ Adonai said to the satan, “Very well, he is in your hand—only spare his life!”

⁷ So the satan departed from the presence of Adonai, and afflicted Job with painful boils, from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. ⁸ He took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.

⁹ Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰ He said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Should we accept the good from God and not accept the bad?”

Through all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Walking with Integrity

Psalm 26

Superiority of the Son

1 At many times and in many ways, God spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets. ² In these last days He has spoken to us through a Son,^[a] whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He created the universe. ³ This Son is the radiance of His glory and the imprint of His being, upholding all things by His powerful word.^[b] When He had made purification for our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ^{[c] 4} Thus He became as far above the angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Yeshua Greater than Angels

⁵ For it is not to angels that God has subjected the olam ha-ba—about which we speak. ⁶ But somewhere someone has testified, saying,

For when He put all things in subjection to him, He left nothing outside his control. But for now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. ⁹ But we see One who was made for a little while lower than the angels—namely, Yeshua. He is now crowned with glory and honor, because of the death He suffered so that, by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰ For it was fitting for God—for whom and through whom all things exist—in leading many sons to glory, to perfect through sufferings the initiator of their salvation. ¹¹ For both He who sanctifies and those being sanctified are all from one—so He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, ^{[b] 12} saying,

² Pharisees came up, and to test Him they began asking, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ And He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴ The Pharisees said, “Moses permitted a man to write a bill of divorce and to put her away.”^[a]

⁵ But Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment! ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female. ⁷ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh.’^[b] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate!”

¹⁰ In the house, the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹ And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she is committing adultery.”

Let the Little Ones Come!

¹³ Now people were bringing little children to Yeshua so He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁴ But when Yeshua saw this, He got angry. He told them, “Let the little children come to Me! Do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Amen, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it!” ¹⁶ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.