Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord’s Challenge to Job
38 Then the Lord responded to Job out of a violent storm. He said:
2 Who is this who spreads darkness over my plans
with his ignorant words?
3 Get ready for action[a] like a man!
Then I will ask you questions,
and you will inform me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you understand anything about it.
5 Who determined its dimensions?
I am sure you know.
Who stretched out the surveying line over it?
6 What supports its foundation?
Who set its cornerstone in place,
7 when the morning stars sang loud songs together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?[b]
34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of water submerges you?
35 Can you unleash the lightning bolts,
so that they come and say to you, “Here we are”?
36 Who has placed wisdom in the human heart
and given understanding to the mind?[a]
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds
and to empty the water jars of the sky,
38 when the loose dust has been poured into molds to harden,
and the clods of dirt are cemented together?
39 Can you hunt prey for a lioness?
Can you satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens,
or they lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who prepares its provisions for the raven,
when its young are screaming to God,
while they thrash around in the nest waiting for food?
Psalm 104
Bless the Lord, Who Creates Wonders
Introduction
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with splendor and majesty.
Day One—Light
2 He wears light like a robe.
Day Two—the Sky
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy.
3 He lays beams on the waters to support his upper chambers.
He makes clouds his chariot.
He travels on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes his messengers[a] winds.
His ministers are blazing fire.
Day Three—the Waters and Plants
5 He placed the earth firmly on its foundations.
It cannot be moved forever and ever.
6 You covered it with the deep as a garment.
The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled.
At the sound of your thunder they hurried away.
8 The waters surged up the mountains.
They went down into the valleys,[b]
to the place that you prepared for them.
9 You set a boundary that they cannot cross.
They will not return to cover the earth.
Days Five and Six—Animals and Man
24 How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
35 May sinners come to an end on the earth,
and the wicked—may they be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord![a]
Our High Priest Is Like Melchizedek
5 To be sure, every high priest is chosen from the people and is appointed to represent the people in the things pertaining to God, so that he may offer gifts, as well as sacrifices, for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also weak in many ways. 3 And for this reason he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, just as he does for the people.
4 No one takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, Christ did not take the glory of becoming a high priest on himself, but God said to him:
You are my Son.
Today I have begotten you.[a]
6 He also said the same thing in another place:
You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek.[b]
7 In the days of his flesh,[c] he offered prayers and pleas with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 9 After he was brought to his goal, he became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him, 10 because he was designated by God as a high priest, like Melchizedek.
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask.”
36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 They said to him, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”
38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they replied.
Jesus told them, “You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with. 40 But to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to give; rather, these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard this, they were angry with James and John.
42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.