Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 22
Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility
To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?(A)
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night but find no rest.(B)
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.(C)
4 In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.(D)
6 But I am a worm and not human,
scorned by others and despised by the people.(E)
7 All who see me mock me;
they sneer at me; they shake their heads;(F)
8 “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”(G)
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.(H)
10 On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.(I)
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.
Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Consider, and then we shall speak.
3 Why are we counted as cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?(A)
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
shall the earth be forsaken because of you
or the rock be removed out of its place?(B)
5 “Surely the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of their fire does not shine.(C)
6 The light is dark in their tent,
and the lamp above them is put out.
7 Their strong steps are shortened,
and their own schemes throw them down.(D)
8 For they are thrust into a net by their own feet,
and they walk into a pitfall.(E)
9 A trap seizes them by the heel;
a snare lays hold of them.(F)
10 A rope is hid for them in the ground,
a trap for them in the path.(G)
11 Terrors frighten them on every side
and chase them at their heels.(H)
12 Their strength is consumed by hunger,[a]
and calamity is ready for their stumbling.(I)
13 By disease their skin is consumed;[b]
the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.
14 They are torn from the tent in which they trusted
and are brought to the king of terrors.(J)
15 In their tents nothing remains;
sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.(K)
16 Their roots dry up beneath,
and their branches wither above.(L)
17 Their memory perishes from the earth,
and they have no name in the street.(M)
18 They are thrust from light into darkness
and driven out of the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendant among their people
and no survivor where they used to live.(N)
20 They of the west are appalled at their fate,
and horror seizes those of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly;
such is the place of those who do not know God.”(O)
The Rest That God Promised
4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.(A) 2 For indeed the good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a](B) 3 For we who have believed are entering that rest, just as God[b] has said,
“As in my anger I swore,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ”
though his works were finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”(C) 5 And again in this place it says, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he sets a certain day—“today”—saying through David much later, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”(D)
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[c] would not speak later about another day. 9 So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, 10 for those who enter God’s[d] rest also rest from their labors as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.