Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David wrote this prayer.

A prayer for help

Job was a good man

1 There was a man who lived in a place called Uz. His name was Job. He was a good and honest man. He was afraid to make God angry. He refused to do evil things. ² Job had seven sons and three daughters. ³ He had 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels. He had 500 pairs of oxen and 500 donkeys. He also had many servants. He was the richest person in the east part of the world.

⁴ Each of Job's sons would give parties for each other in their homes. They sent messages to their three sisters to come and eat the feast with them. ⁵ After each party, Job would ask his children to come and visit him. He wanted to make them clean again if they were guilty of bad things. He thought, ‘Perhaps they have done something that is bad. Perhaps they have thought bad things against God.’ So he would get up early in the morning. He would offer a burnt offering as a sacrifice for each of his children. Job always did this after each party that his children had.

Satan meets with God

⁶ One day, the angels came to meet with the Lord in heaven.^[a] Satan also came and he stood there with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan replied, ‘I have been travelling all over the earth. I have been watching the things that happen there.’

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘You have seen Job, who is my servant. What do you think about him? There is no one on earth that is like him. He is a good and honest man. He is afraid to make me angry. He refuses to do evil things.’

⁹ Satan answered the Lord, ‘There is a very good reason why Job obeys you. ¹⁰ You do not let any bad things happen to him. You keep him, his family and all his things safe. You have given him success with everything that he does. His many farm animals are everywhere! ¹¹ You should take away from him all the things that he has. Then he will certainly curse you very strongly.’

¹² So the Lord said to Satan, ‘I agree to give you power over all the things that belong to Job. But you must do nothing to hurt Job himself.’

After that, Satan went away.^[b]

Satan destroys all Job's things

¹³ One day, Job's sons and daughters were at a party in the home of his oldest son. ¹⁴ A servant brought a message to Job. He said, ‘We were using your oxen to plough the fields. Your donkeys were eating grass beside them. ¹⁵ Some men from Sheba suddenly came and they attacked us. They took away all your oxen and your donkeys. They also killed all your other servants. I was the only one who escaped. I ran here to tell you what has happened.’

¹⁶ That servant was still speaking, when another servant arrived. He said to Job, ‘God has sent lightning down from the sky. It has killed your sheep and your servants. I was the only one who escaped. I ran here to tell you what has happened.’

¹⁷ Before that servant had finished speaking, a third servant arrived. He said to Job, ‘Some robbers from Chaldea suddenly attacked us. They took away all your camels and they killed your servants. I was the only one who escaped. I ran here to tell you what has happened.’

¹⁸ That servant was still speaking, when a fourth servant arrived. He said to Job, ‘Your children were eating a feast at a party in the home of your oldest son. ¹⁹ Suddenly there was a strong storm that came from the desert. The wind destroyed the house where your children were. The house fell on them and it killed them. I was the only one who escaped. I ran here to tell you what has happened.’

²⁰ When Job heard this news he was very upset. He tore his clothes and he cut off all his hair. Then he bent down low on the ground to worship God. ²¹ He said, ‘When I was born, I had nothing. When I die, I will take nothing with me. The Lord has given me all the things that I have. The Lord may choose to take those things away. I will continue to praise the name of the Lord!’

²² Even after all these things had happened, Job still did not do anything bad. He did not say that God had done something wrong to him.

³⁴ But be careful, and watch how you live. Do not eat or drink too much. Do not waste your time like that. Do not waste time by having troubles in your mind about your life. If you do, that day will surprise you. It will come when you are not looking. ³⁵ It will surprise everyone who lives on all the earth. ³⁶ So watch all the time! Continue to pray that you will be strong. Then you will be safe through all these things! You will stand in front of the Son of Man and you will not be afraid.’

³⁷ Every day Jesus was teaching people in the temple. Each night he went out of the city and he stayed on the hill that is called the Mount of Olives. ³⁸ Each morning he returned to the temple. All the people were going there early in the morning to hear him.

Judas agrees to catch Jesus

22 The Passover festival when the Jews eat flat bread was coming soon.^[a]

² The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law wanted to kill Jesus. They were talking together about how they could do this. It was difficult because they were afraid of the people.

³ Then Satan began to live inside Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. ⁴ He went to the leaders of the priests and he talked with them. The police that worked at the temple were also there. Judas told them how he could give Jesus to them secretly. ⁵ They were very happy and they promised to give him some money to do this. ⁶ So Judas said that he would do it. Then he waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus. He wanted to do it when the crowd was not there with Jesus.