Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 17
A prayer of David.
1 Listen, O Eternal One, to my cry for justice.
These words of mine are true—turn Your ear toward me.
2 Announce that I am free of all the charges against me—only You can see into my heart to know that to be true.
Treat me with fairness; look at me with justice.
3 You have searched me—my heart and soul—awakened me from dreaming and tested me.
You’ve found nothing against me.
I have resolved not to sin in what I say.
4 The path violent men have followed,
I will not travel. Violence is not my way.
Your ways and Your voice now guide my journey.
5 I will press on—moving steadfastly forward along Your path.
I will not look back. I will not stumble.
6 I am crying aloud to You, O True God, for I long to know Your answer.
Hear me, O God. Hear my plea. Hear my prayer for help.
7 Put Your marvelous love on display for all to see.
Liberator of those who long for shelter beside You,
set them safely away from their enemies, ever welcomed by grace.
8 Keep close watch over me as the apple of Your eye;
shelter me in the shadow of Your wings.
9 Protect me from the wicked who are poised to attack,
from the enemies swarming around me and closing in quickly.
10 Like clay baking in the sun, their hearts have hardened;
arrogance spills from their mouths.
11 They’ve tracked me down like quarry.
They’re surrounding me
and are poised to throw me down into the dirt.
12 Like a lion—crouching in the brush—they are ready to tear me apart.
Like young lions in their hiding places, they are poised to strike.
13 Rise up and confront them, O Eternal One! Make them pay.
By Your sword, set me free from my wicked enemies!
14 May Your rescue find me here.
By Your hand, save me from my enemies, Eternal One.
Save me from men whose hopes are rooted in this world.
But as for those You cherish,
may they feast on all You have set aside for them;
may their children never be in need;
may they have enough so their children will inherit their wealth.
15 But as for me, my hope is to see Your face.
When I am vindicated, I will look upon the holy face of God,
and when I awake, the longing of my soul will be satisfied in the glow of Your presence.
1 Once there was a man from Uz by the name of Job. He was a very good man—his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believed in God that he sought to honor Him in all things. He deliberately avoided evil in all of his affairs. 2 He had 7 sons and 3 daughters; 3 he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a large number of servants. Among Easterners, he was the most powerful and influential man. 4 His sons, who were all wealthy landowners, too, all used to gather together on each others’ birthdays and special occasions. The brothers would take turns hosting the others in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When these days of feasting were through, Job would call all of his family to his own house and purify them, rising up early in the morning to offer burnt sacrifices for each one.
Job: God, forgive my children for any secret sins or grudges they have against You deep in their hearts.
No worshiper of God could ever curse Him, so the Hebrew says “bless God” when the reality is, as Job says, they have “grudges . . . deep in their hearts.”
Job did this again and again.
6 Now one day, it came time for the sons of God, God’s heavenly messengers, to present themselves to the Eternal One to give reports and receive instructions. The Accuser[a] was with them there.
The dialogue between the Accuser and God is similar to what might be heard during a court case. Job is a person of the utmost integrity; he is someone God highly respects as His servant. Attacked by the Accuser in God’s heavenly court, Job’s actions are both supported and evaluated by God, who fills the roles of both Job’s Advocate and the Promoter of Justice.
Eternal One (to the Accuser): 7 Where have you been?
The Accuser: Oh, roaming here and there, running about the earth and observing its inhabitants.
Eternal One: 8 Well, have you looked into the man, Job, My servant? He is unlike any other person on the whole earth—a very good man—his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believes in Me that he seeks, in all things, to honor Me and deliberately avoids evil in all of his affairs.
The Accuser: 9 I won’t argue with You that he is pious, but is all of this believing in You and honoring You for no reason? 10 Haven’t You encircled him with Your very own protection, and not only him but his entire household and all that he has? Not only this, but Your blessing accompanies whatever his hand touches, and see how his possessions have grown. It is easy to be so pious in the face of such prosperity. 11 So now extend Your hand! Destroy all of these possessions of his, and he will certainly curse You, right to Your face.
Eternal One: 12 I delegate this task to you. His possessions are now in your hand. One thing, though: you are not to lay a finger on the man himself. Job must not be touched.
With that, the Accuser left the court and the Eternal’s presence.
13 Now one day, all of Job’s children were gathered together under the roof of Job’s firstborn for their usual celebration—feasting and drinking wine— 14 when a messenger came to Job.
Messenger: We were in the field. The oxen were plowing, the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and out of nowhere, the Sabeans attacked. They stole your animals, all 1,000 oxen and donkeys, and as for your servants, they put their swords to us, and everyone is dead—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away from the fields to tell you.
16 And while the words were still leaving the messenger’s mouth, another messenger arrived.
Second Messenger: Lightning has struck! The fire of God fell from the sky and burned the 7,000 sheep alive . . . alive! Shepherds, too—all of them burned; everyone is dead—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away from the pastures to tell you.
17 And while the words were still leaving that messenger’s mouth, a third messenger arrived.
Third Messenger: Chaldeans! Three groups of them attacked us. They converged on the camels and stole your 3,000 animals, and as for your servants, they put their swords to us, and everyone is dead—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away to tell you.
18 And while the words were still leaving that messenger’s mouth, yet a fourth messenger arrived.
Fourth Messenger: All of your children were gathered together today under the roof of your firstborn to celebrate—eating a feast and drinking wine— 19 and then a powerful wind rose up from the other side of the desert, and it struck all four corners of the house. It collapsed! Everyone is dead—all of those young people—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away from your son’s house to tell you.
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground. Face down, Job sprawled in the dirt to worship.
21 Job: I was naked, with nothing, when I came from my mother’s womb;
and naked, with nothing, I will return to the earth.
The Eternal has given, and He has taken away.
May the name of the Eternal One be blessed.
22 In all of this Job neither sinned nor did he make foolish charges against God.
34 So be careful. Guard your hearts. They can be made heavy with moral laxity, with drunkenness, with the hassles of daily life. Then the day I’ve been telling you about might catch you unaware and trap you. 35 Because it’s coming—nobody on earth will escape it. 36 So you have to stay alert, praying that you’ll be able to escape the coming trials so you can stand tall in the presence of the Son of Man.
37-38 Through this whole period of time, He taught in the temple each day. People would arrive at the temple early in the morning to listen. Then, at day’s end, He would leave the city and sleep on Mount Olivet.
22 This daily pattern continued as they came closer to the holiday of Unleavened Bread, also known as the Passover.
Jesus teaches of judgment to come and the destruction of the temple. All things move toward a collision of ideas and faith at the most important feast of the year.
2 The chief priests and religious scholars continued looking for a way to kill Jesus; they hadn’t been able to act yet due to their fear of the people’s reaction. 3 At this point, Satan entered into one of the twelve, Judas (also called Iscariot). 4 Judas set up a private meeting with the chief priests and the captains of the temple police to discuss a plan for betraying Jesus and putting Him in their hands. 5 This was just the kind of break they had been waiting for, so they were thrilled and agreed to a handsome payment. 6 Everything was settled, and Judas simply waited for the right moment, when the crowds weren’t around, to betray Jesus into their custody.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.