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]
No Price Can Buy Wisdom
12 “But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Mankind does not know its place;[a]
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep[b] says, ‘It is not with[c] me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be measured out for purchase[d] with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx[e] or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal[f] can be compared with it,
nor can a vase[g] of gold match its worth.
18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price[h] of wisdom is more than pearls.[i]
19 The topaz of Cush[j] cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
God Alone Has Wisdom
20 “But wisdom—where does it come from?[k]
Where is the place of understanding?
21 For[l] it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
22 Destruction[m] and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’[n]
23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
25 When he made[o] the force of the wind
and measured[p] the waters with a gauge,
26 when he imposed a limit[q] for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,[r]
27 then he looked at wisdom[s] and assessed its value;[t]
he established[u] it and examined it closely.[v]
28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord[w]—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”[x]
IV. Job’s Concluding Soliloquy (29:1-31:40)
Job Recalls His Former Condition[y]
29 Then Job continued[z] his speech:
2 “O that I could be[aa] as[ab] I was
in the months now gone,[ac]
in the days[ad] when God watched over[ae] me,
3 when[af] he caused[ag] his lamp[ah]
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked[ai] through darkness;[aj]
4 just as I was in my most productive time,[ak]
when God’s intimate friendship[al] was experienced in my tent,
5 when the Almighty[am] was still with me
and my children were[an] around me;
6 when my steps[ao] were bathed[ap] with butter[aq]
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil![ar]
7 When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square,[as]
8 the young men would see me and step aside,[at]
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
9 the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,[au]
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
The Seventh Seal
8 Now[a] when the Lamb[b] opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then[c] I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another[d] angel holding[e] a golden censer[f] came and was stationed[g] at the altar. A[h] large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 4 The[i] smoke coming from the incense,[j] along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then[k] the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring,[l] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
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