Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Job Keeps On Talking—Death Is Sure

14 “Man who is born of woman lives only a short time and is full of trouble. ² He grows up and dries like a flower. He leaves like a shadow and does not stay. ³ You open Your eyes on him and decide about him. ⁴ Who can make clean what is unclean? No one! ⁵ A man’s days are numbered. You know the number of his months. He cannot live longer than the time You have set. ⁶ So now look away from him that he may rest, until he has lived the time set for him like a man paid to work.

⁷ “For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will grow again, and that its branches will not stop growing. ⁸ Its roots grow old in the ground, and the base of the tree dies in the dry ground. ⁹ But with water it will grow. Branches will grow from it like a plant. ¹⁰ But man dies and is laid low. Man dies, and where is he? ¹¹ As water goes into the air from the sea, and the river wastes away and dries up, ¹² so man lies down and does not get up again. Until the heavens are no more, he will not wake up or come out of his sleep.

¹³ “If only You would hide me in the place of the dead! If only You would hide me until Your anger is past, and set a time for me and remember me! ¹⁴ If a man dies, will he live again? I will wait all the days of my trouble until a change comes.

Jerusalem’s Hope

3 I am the man who has been suffering because of the power of God’s anger. ² He has led me and brought me into darkness and not into light. ³ For sure He has turned His hand against me again and again all day long. ⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. He has broken my bones. ⁵ He has shut me in with trouble and suffering. ⁶ He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead a long time. ⁷ He has put a wall around me so that I cannot go out. He has put heavy chains on me. ⁸ Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer. ⁹ He has stopped me with blocks of stone. He has made my paths no longer straight.

¹⁹ Remember my trouble and my traveling from place to place, the wormwood and bitter feelings. ²⁰ I remember it always, and my soul bows down within me. ²¹ But this I remember, and so I have hope. ²² It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not destroyed for His loving-pity never ends. ²³ It is new every morning. He is so very faithful. ²⁴ “The Lord is my share.” says my soul, “so I have hope in Him.”

Prayer of Trust in God

31 O Lord, in You I have found a safe place. Let me never be ashamed. Set me free, because You do what is right and good. ² Turn Your ear to me, and be quick to save me. Be my rock of strength, a strong place to keep me safe. ³ For You are my rock and my safe place. For the honor of Your name, lead me and show me the way. ⁴ You will free me from the net that they have hidden for me. For You are my strength.

¹⁵ My times are in Your hands. Free me from the hands of those who hate me, and from those who try to hurt me. ¹⁶ Make Your face shine upon Your servant. Save me in Your loving-kindness.

Following Christ Will Mean Suffering

4 Since Christ has suffered in His body, we must be ready to suffer also. Suffering puts an end to sin. ² You should no longer spend the rest of your life giving in to the sinful desires of the flesh. But do what God wants as long as you live in this world. ³ In the past you gave enough of your life over to living like the people who do not know God. You gave your life to sex sins and to sinful desires. You got drunk and went to wild parties and to drinking parties and you worshiped false gods. ⁴ Those who do not know God are surprised you do not join them in the sinful things they do. They laugh at you and say bad things against you. ⁵ Remember, they will give an answer to Him Who judges all who are living or dead. ⁶ For this reason, the Good News was preached to the dead. They stood in the flesh before the One Who judges so they might live in the Spirit as God wants.

Love Each Other

⁷ The end of the world is near. You must be the boss over your mind. Keep awake so you can pray. ⁸ Most of all, have a true love for each other. Love covers many sins.

The Grave of Jesus ^(A)

⁵⁷ When it was evening, a rich man came from the city of Arimathea. His name was Joseph. He was a follower of Jesus also. ⁵⁸ He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate said that the body should be given to him. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body and put clean linen cloth around it. ⁶⁰ He laid it in his own new grave. This grave had been cut out in the side of a rock. He pushed a big stone over the door of the grave and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed there. They were sitting near the grave.

⁶² The next day, the day after Jesus was killed, the head religious leaders and the proud religious law-keepers gathered together in front of Pilate. ⁶³ They said, “Sir, we remember what that Man Who fooled people said when He was living, ‘After three days I am to rise from the dead.’ ⁶⁴ Speak the word to have the grave watched for three days. Then His followers cannot come at night and take Him away and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ The last mistake would be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “Take the soldiers. Go and watch the grave.” ⁶⁶ Then they went and made the soldiers stand by the grave. They put a lock on the big stone door.

The Grave of Jesus ^(A)

³⁸ Joseph was from the town of Arimathea. He was a follower of Jesus but was afraid of the Jews. So he worshiped without anyone knowing it. He asked Pilate if he could take away the body of Jesus. Pilate said he could. Then Joseph came and took it away. ³⁹ Nicodemus came also. The first time he had come to Jesus had been at night. He brought with him a large box of spices. ⁴⁰ Then they took the body of Jesus with the spices and put it in linen cloths. This was the way the Jews made a body ready for the grave.

⁴¹ There was a garden near the place where He had been nailed to the cross. In the garden there was a new grave in the side of the hill. No one had ever been laid there. ⁴² This place was near by. Because it was the day the Jews got ready for the special religious gathering, they laid Jesus in it.