Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Vanity of Life.
For the choir director, for [a]Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
39 I said, “I will (A)guard my ways
That I (B)may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard (C)my mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was (D)mute [b]and silent,
I [c]refrained even from good,
And my [d]sorrow grew worse.
3 My (E)heart was hot within me,
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, make me to know (F)my end
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how (G)transient I am.
5 “Behold, You have made (H)my days as handbreadths,
And my (I)lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Surely every man [e]at his best is [f]a mere (J)breath. [g]Selah.
6 “Surely every man (K)walks about as [h]a phantom;
Surely they make an (L)uproar for nothing;
He (M)amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My (N)hope is in You.
8 “(O)Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Make me not the (P)reproach of the foolish.
9 “I have become (Q)mute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is (R)You who have done it.
10 “(S)Remove Your plague from me;
Because of (T)the opposition of Your hand I am [i]perishing.
11 “With (U)reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;
You (V)consume as a moth what is precious to him;
Surely (W)every man is a mere breath. Selah.
Elihu in Anger Rebukes Job
32 Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was (A)righteous in his own eyes. 2 But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the (B)Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned (C)because he justified himself [a](D)before God. 3 And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 4 Now Elihu had waited [b]to speak to Job because they were years older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned.
6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite [c]spoke out and said,
“I am young in years and you are (E)old;
Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you [d]what I think.
7 “I [e]thought [f](F)age should speak,
And [g]increased years should teach wisdom.
8 “But it is a spirit in man,
And the (G)breath of the Almighty gives them (H)understanding.
9 “The [h]abundant in years may not be wise,
Nor may (I)elders understand justice.
10 “So I [i]say, ‘Listen to me,
I too will tell [j]what I think.’
11 “Behold, I waited for your words,
I listened to your reasonings,
While you [k]pondered what to say.
12 “I even paid close attention to you;
[l]Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job,
Not one of you who answered his words.
13 “Do not say,
‘(J)We have found wisdom;
God will [m]rout him, not man.’
14 “For he has not arranged his words against me,
Nor will I reply to him with your [n]arguments.
15 “They are dismayed, they no longer answer;
Words have [o]failed them.
16 “Shall I wait, because they do not speak,
Because they [p]stop and no longer answer?
17 “I too will answer my share,
I also will tell my opinion.
18 “For I am full of words;
The spirit within me constrains me.
19 “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine,
Like new wineskins it is about to burst.
20 “Let me speak that I may get relief;
Let me open my lips and answer.
21 “Let me now (K)be partial to no one,
Nor flatter any man.
22 “For I do not know how to flatter,
Else my Maker would soon take me away.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus (A)was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22 Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to (B)Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 In (C)Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘(D)Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in (E)this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that (F)during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 And [a]besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may (G)warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have (H)Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, (I)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.