Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not Thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me and hear me; I mourn in my complaint and moan,
3 because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
4 My heart is sorely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof; deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him.
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down alive into hell; for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
11 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite and said:
2 “Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
4 For thou hast said, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in Thine eyes.’
5 But oh, that God would speak and open His lips against thee,
6 and that He would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
7 “Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
8 It is as high as heaven: What canst thou do? Deeper than hell: What canst thou know?
9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10 If He cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder Him?
11 For He knoweth vain men; He seeth wickedness also. Will He not then consider it?
12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
13 “If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward Him,
14 if iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast and shalt not fear,
16 because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away.
17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape; and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.”
10 And unto the married I command (yet not I, but the Lord): let not the wife depart from her husband.
11 But if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not the husband put away his wife.
12 But to the rest I speak (not the Lord): if any brother hath a wife who believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
13 And the woman who hath a husband who believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Else your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
15 But if the unbelieving spouse depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases, for God hath called us to peace.
16 For how knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?
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