Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
22 (A)My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so (B)far from saving me, from the words of my (C)groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by (D)day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are (E)holy,
(F)enthroned on (G)the praises[a] of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they (H)cried and were rescued;
in you they (I)trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am (J)a worm and not a man,
(K)scorned by mankind and (L)despised by the people.
7 All who see me (M)mock me;
they make mouths at me; they (N)wag their heads;
8 (O)“He trusts in the Lord; let him (P)deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he (Q)delights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who (R)took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from (S)my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Be not (T)far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is (U)none to help.
Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked
18 Then (A)Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you (B)hunt for words?
Consider, and then we will speak.
3 Why are we counted as (C)cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?
4 You who (D)tear yourself in your anger,
shall the earth be forsaken for you,
or (E)the rock be removed out of its place?
5 “Indeed, (F)the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of his fire does not shine.
6 The light is (G)dark in his tent,
and his lamp above him is put out.
7 His strong steps are shortened,
and his (H)own schemes throw him down.
8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
and he walks on its mesh.
9 (I)A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare lays hold of him.
10 A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
a trap for him in the path.
11 (J)Terrors frighten him on every side,
and chase him at his heels.
12 His strength is famished,
and calamity is (K)ready for his stumbling.
13 It consumes the parts of his skin;
(L)the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14 He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
and is brought to (M)the king of terrors.
15 In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
(N)sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
16 His (O)roots dry up beneath,
and his branches (P)wither above.
17 His (Q)memory perishes from the earth,
and he has no name in the street.
18 (R)He is thrust from light into darkness,
and driven out of the world.
19 He has no (S)posterity or progeny among his people,
and no survivor where he used to live.
20 They of the west are appalled at his (T)day,
and (U)horror seizes them of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
such is the place of him who (V)knows not God.”
4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem (A)to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because (B)they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
(C)“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: (D)“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
(E)“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news (F)failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
(G)“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[b] would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also (H)rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so (I)that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.