Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 22[a]
For the music director, according to the tune “Morning Doe”;[b] a psalm of David.
22 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?[c]
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.[d]
2 My God, I cry out during the day,
but you do not answer,
and during the night my prayers do not let up.[e]
3 You are holy;
you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel.[f]
4 In you our ancestors[g] trusted;
they trusted in you[h] and you rescued them.
5 To you they cried out, and they were saved;
in you they trusted and they were not disappointed.[i]
6 But I[j] am a worm,[k] not a man;[l]
people insult me and despise me.[m]
7 All who see me taunt[n] me;
they mock me[o] and shake their heads.[p]
8 They say,[q]
“Commit yourself[r] to the Lord!
Let the Lord[s] rescue him!
Let the Lord[t] deliver him, for he delights in him.”[u]
9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out[v] from the womb
and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
10 I have been dependent on you since birth;[w]
from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God.[x]
11 Do not remain far away from me,
for trouble is near and I have no one to help me.[y]
12 Many bulls[z] surround me;
powerful bulls of Bashan[aa] hem me in.
13 They[ab] open their mouths to devour me[ac]
like a roaring lion that rips its prey.[ad]
14 My strength drains away like water;[ae]
all my bones are dislocated.
My heart[af] is like wax;
it melts away inside me.
15 The roof of my mouth[ag] is as dry as a piece of pottery;
my tongue sticks to my gums.[ah]
You[ai] set me in the dust of death.[aj]
Bildad’s Second Speech[a]
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long until you[b] make an end of words?[c]
You must consider,[d] and then[e] we can talk.
3 Why should we be regarded as beasts,
and considered stupid[f] in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself[g] to pieces in your anger,
will the earth be abandoned[h] for your sake?
Or will a rock be moved from its place?[i]
5 “Yes,[j] the lamp[k] of the wicked is extinguished;
his flame of fire[l] does not shine.
6 The light in his tent grows dark;
his lamp above him is extinguished.[m]
7 His vigorous steps[n] are restricted,[o]
and his own counsel throws him down.[p]
8 For he has been thrown into a net by his feet[q]
and he wanders into a mesh.[r]
9 A trap[s] seizes him by the heel;
a snare[t] grips him.
10 A rope is hidden for him[u] on the ground
and a trap for him[v] lies on the path.
11 Terrors[w] frighten him on all sides
and dog[x] his every step.
12 Calamity is[y] hungry for him,[z]
and misfortune is ready at his side.[aa]
13 It eats away parts of his skin;[ab]
the most terrible death[ac] devours his limbs.
14 He is dragged from the security of his tent,[ad]
and marched off[ae] to the king of terrors.[af]
15 Fire resides in his tent;[ag]
over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.
16 Below his roots dry up,
and his branches wither above.
17 His memory perishes from the earth,
he has no name in the land.[ah]
18 He is driven[ai] from light into darkness
and is banished from the world.
19 He has neither children nor descendants[aj] among his people,
no survivor in those places he once stayed.[ak]
20 People of the west[al] are appalled at his fate;[am]
people of the east are seized with horror,[an] saying,[ao]
21 ‘Surely such is the residence[ap] of an evil man;
and this is the place of one who has not known God.’”[aq]
God’s Promised Rest
4 Therefore we must be wary[a] that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in[b] with those who heard it in faith.[c] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[d] And yet God’s works[e] were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[f] 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier:[g] “They will never enter my rest!” 6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience. 7 So God[h] again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David[i] after so long a time, as in the words quoted before,[j] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![k] Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[l] would not have spoken afterward about another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s[m] rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
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