Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 22
From Suffering to Praise
For the choir director: according to “The Deer of the Dawn.”[a] A Davidic psalm.
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?(A)
Why are You so far from my deliverance(B)
and from my words of groaning?[b](C)
2 My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer,
by night, yet I have no rest.(D)
3 But You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.(E)
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
they trusted, and You rescued them.(F)
5 They cried to You and were set free;
they trusted in You and were not disgraced.(G)
6 But I am a worm and not a man,(H)
scorned by men and despised by people.(I)
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they sneer[c] and shake their heads:(J)
8 “He relies on[d] the Lord;
let Him rescue him;
let the Lord[e] deliver him,
since He takes pleasure in him.”(K)
9 You took me from the womb,
making me secure while at my mother’s breast.(L)
10 I was given over to You at birth;[f]
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.(M)
11 Do not be far from me, because distress is near
and there is no one to help.(N)
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong ones of Bashan encircle me.(O)
13 They open their mouths against me—
lions, mauling and roaring.(P)
14 I am poured out like water,(Q)
and all my bones are disjointed;(R)
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.(S)
15 My strength is dried up like baked clay;(T)
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.(U)
You put me into the dust of death.(V)
Zophar Speaks
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite(A) replied:
2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset![a]
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding[b] makes me reply.(B)
4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time man was placed on earth,
5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?(C)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,(D)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know[c] him will ask, “Where is he?”(E)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.(F)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,(G)
and his household will no longer see him.(H)
10 His children will beg from[d] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 His bones may be full of youthful vigor,
but will lie down with him in the grave.(I)
12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,(J)
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs[e] will kill him.(K)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.(L)
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.(M)
20 Because his appetite is never satisfied,[f]
he does not let anything he desires escape.
21 Nothing is left for him to consume;(N)
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
22 At the height of his success[g] distress will come to him;(O)
the full weight of misery[h] will crush him.
23 When he fills his stomach,
God will send His burning anger against him,
raining(P) it down on him while he is eating.[i]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.[j]
Terrors come over him.(Q)
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume(R) him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his iniquity,(S)
and the earth will rise up against him.(T)
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
29 This is the wicked man’s lot(U) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.
The Tradition of the Elders
15 Then(A) Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked,(B) 2 “Why do Your disciples(C) break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”[a](D)
3 He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said:[b]
Honor your father and your mother;(E)[c] and,
The one who speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death.(F)[d]
5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple”— 6 he does not have to honor his father.’[e] In this way, you have revoked God’s word[f] because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
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