Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 39[a]
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
39 I decided,[b] “I will watch what I say
and make sure I do not sin with my tongue.[c]
I will put a muzzle over my mouth
while in the presence of an evil person.”[d]
2 I was stone silent;[e]
I held back the urge to speak.[f]
My frustration grew;[g]
3 my anxiety intensified.[h]
As I thought about it, I became impatient.[i]
Finally I spoke these words:[j]
4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality
and the brevity of life.[k]
Let me realize how quickly my life will pass.[l]
5 Look, you make my days short-lived,[m]
and my life span is nothing from your perspective.[n]
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.[o] (Selah)
6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts.[p]
Surely they accumulate worthless wealth
without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”[q]
7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?
You are my only hope![r]
8 Deliver me from all my sins of rebellion.
Do not make me the object of fools’ insults.
9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth
because of what you have done.[s]
10 Please stop wounding me.[t]
You have almost beaten me to death.[u]
11 You severely discipline people for their sins;[v]
like a moth you slowly devour their strength.[w]
Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord.
Listen to my cry for help.
Do not ignore my sobbing.[x]
For I am a resident foreigner with you,
a temporary settler,[y] just as all my ancestors were.
13 Turn your angry gaze away from me, so I can be happy
before I pass away.[z]
Job’s Reply to Bildad[a]
26 Then Job replied:
2 “How you have helped[b] the powerless![c]
How you have saved the person who has no strength![d]
3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,
and abundantly[e] revealed your insight!
4 To whom[f] did you utter these words?
And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth?[g]
A Better Description of God’s Greatness[h]
5 “The dead[i] tremble[j]—
those beneath the waters
and all that live in them.[k]
6 The underworld[l] is naked before God;[m]
the place of destruction lies uncovered.[n]
7 He spreads out the northern skies[o] over empty space;[p]
he suspends the earth on nothing.[q]
8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
9 He conceals[r] the face of the full moon,[s]
shrouding it with his clouds.
10 He marks out the horizon[t] on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars[u] of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke.[v]
12 By his power he stills[w] the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster[x] to pieces.[y]
13 By his breath[z] the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.[aa]
14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways![ab]
How faint is the whisper[ac] we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?”
9 After these things I looked, and here was[a] an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe,[b] people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God,[c] who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels stood[d] there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground[e] before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
“Amen! Praise and glory,
and wisdom and thanksgiving,
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then[f] one of the elders asked[g] me, “These dressed in long white robes—who are they and where have they come from?” 14 So[h] I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.”[i] Then[j] he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They[k] have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve[l] him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them.[m] 16 They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat,[n] 17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[o]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.