Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; according to ayyeleth hashachar; [a] a psalm by David.
22 My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away from helping me,
so far away from the words of my groaning?
2 My God,
I cry out by day, but you do not answer—
also at night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet, you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted you.
They trusted, and you rescued them.
5 They cried to you and were saved.
They trusted you and were never disappointed.
6 Yet, I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned by humanity and despised by people.
7 All who see me make fun of me.
Insults pour from their mouths.
They shake their heads and say,
8 “Put yourself in the Lord’s hands.
Let the Lord save him!
Let God rescue him since he is pleased with him!”
9 Indeed, you are the one who brought me out of the womb,
the one who made me feel safe at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was placed in your care from birth.
From my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be so far away from me.
Trouble is near, and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls from Bashan have encircled me.
13 They have opened their mouths to attack me
like ferocious, roaring lions.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
It has melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like pieces of broken pottery.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You lay me down in the dust of death.
Job Pleads with God to Declare Him Honest
17 “My spirit is broken.
My days have been snuffed out.
The cemetery ⌞is waiting⌟ for me.
2 Certainly, mockers are around me.
My eyes are focused on their opposition.
3 Please guarantee my bail yourself.
Who else will guarantee it with a handshake?
4 You have closed their minds so that they cannot understand.
That is why you will not honor them.
5 (Whoever turns in friends to get their property
should have his children’s eyesight fail.)
Job Says to His Friends: I’m Still Wiser Than You
6 “Now he has made me a laughingstock for many people.
Now they spit in my face.
7 Now my eyes are blurred from grief.
Now all my limbs are like a shadow.
8 Decent people are shocked by this,
and it stirs up the innocent against godless people.
9 Yet, the righteous person clings to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
10 “But now, all of you, come and try again!
I won’t find one wise man among you.
11 My days are passing by.
My plans are broken.
My dreams ⌞are shattered⌟.
12 You say that night is day.
Light has nearly become darkness.
13 If I look for the grave as my home
and make my bed in the darkness,
14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and sister,’
15 then where is my hope?
Can you see any hope left in me?
16 Will hope go down with me to the gates of the grave?
Will my hope rest with me in the dust?”
7 As the Holy Spirit says,
“If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn.
8 Don’t be stubborn like those who rebelled
and tested me in the desert.
9 That is where your ancestors tested me,
10 although they had seen what I had done for 40 years.
That is why I was angry with those people. So I said,
‘Their hearts continue to stray,
and they have not learned my ways.’
11 So I angrily took a solemn oath
that they would never enter my place of rest.”
12 Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you ever develop a wicked, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn. 14 After all, we will remain Christ’s partners only if we continue to hold on to our original confidence until the end.
15 Scripture says,
“If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn.
Don’t be stubborn like those who rebelled.”
16 Who heard God and rebelled? All those whom Moses led out of Egypt rebelled. 17 With whom was God angry for 40 years? He was angry with those who sinned and died in the desert. 18 Who did God swear would never enter his place of rest? He was talking about those who didn’t obey him. 19 So we see that they couldn’t enter his place of rest because they didn’t believe.
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