Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
55 Hear my prayer, O God, and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Hear me and answer me. I mourn in my prayer and make a noise
3 for the voice of the enemy, for the troubling of the wicked; because they have brought iniquity upon me and furiously hate me.
4 My heart trembles within me; and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling have come upon me; and a horrible fear has covered me.
6 And I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away and rest!
7 “Behold, I would wander far off and lodge in the wilderness. Selah.
8 “He would hurry for my deliverance from the stormy wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O LORD, and divide their tongues; for I have seen cruelty and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof. Both iniquity and mischief are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof. Deceit and guile do not depart from her streets.
12 Surely my enemy did not defame me (for I could have borne it); nor did my adversary exalt himself against me (for I would have hidden myself from him).
13 But it was you, O man, even my companion, my guide, and my intimate.
14 We delighted in consulting together; and went into the House of God as companions.
15 Let death seize them. Let them go down quick into the grave; for wickedness is in their dwellings, even in the midst of them.
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, and said,
2 “How long will you talk of these things? And how long shall the words of your mouth be as a mighty wind?
3 “Does God pervert judgment? Or does the Almighty subvert justice?
4 “If your sons have sinned against Him, and He has sent them into the place of their iniquity,
5 “if you will seek God early, and pray to the Almighty,
6 “if you are pure and upright, then surely He will be stirred up. And He will make the habitation of your righteousness peaceful.
7 “And though your beginning was small, your future shall greatly increase.
8 “Please inquire, therefore, of the previous age, and prepare yourself to search their fathers.
9 “(For we are but from yesterday and are ignorant. For our days upon Earth are but a shadow).
10 “Shall they not teach you and tell you and utter the words of their heart?
11 “Can a reed grow without a marsh? Or can the grass grow without water?
12 “Though it is green and not cut down, it shall still wither before any other herb.
13 “So are the paths of all who forget God. And the hypocrite’s hope shall perish.
14 “His confidence also shall be cut off. And his trust shall be as the web of a spider.
15 “He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand. He shall hold himself fast to it, yet it shall not endure.
16 “He is green before the Sun, and his branches spread over his garden.
17 “His roots are wrapped around the heap and are folded around the stones.
18 “If anyone pulls him from his place, it denies him, saying, ‘I have not seen you’.
19 “Behold, he will rejoice by this means, so that others may grow out of the earth.
20 “Behold, God will not cast away an upright man. Nor will He take the wicked by the hand
21 “until He has filled your mouth with laughter, and your lips with joy.
22 “Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. And the dwelling of the wicked shall not remain.”
7 Now, concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have a wife for himself, and let every woman have her own husband.
3 Let the husband give to the wife her due affection, and likewise also the wife to the husband.
4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. And likewise, also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
5 Do not deprive one another, unless with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer. And come together again, so that Satan does not tempt you for your intemperance.
6 Yet, I speak this by permission, not by Commandment.
7 For I would that all were still as I myself. But everyone has his proper gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that.
8 Therefore I say to the unmarried, and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain just as I.
9 But if they cannot abstain, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn.
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