Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ I remember God, and I groan;
    I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah
⁴ You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵ I have considered the days of old,
    the years long ago.
⁶ May I remember my song in the night;
    may I meditate in my heart;
    my spirit made a diligent search:

⁷ “Will the Lord cast off forever,
    and will He be favorable no more?
⁸ Has His mercy ceased forever,
    and have His promises failed for all time?
⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious,
    and has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” Selah

¹⁰ Then I said, “This is my grief;
    yet I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
¹¹ I will remember the works of the Lord;
    surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
¹² I will meditate also on all Your work
    and ponder on Your mighty deeds.

¹³ Your way, O God, is holiness;
    what god is as great as our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who can do wonders;
    You have declared Your strength among the nations.
¹⁵ You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶ The waters saw You, O God.
    The waters saw You; they were afraid;
    the depths also trembled.
¹⁷ The clouds poured out water;
    the skies thundered.
    Your arrows flashed about.
¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind,
    and Your lightning lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
¹⁹ Your way is through the sea,
    and Your path in the great waters,
    and your footsteps are not seen.

²⁰ You led Your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

² “If one attempts a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?
³ Surely you have instructed many,
    and you have strengthened the weak hands.
⁴ Your words have raised up him who was falling,
    and you have fortified the feeble knees.
⁵ But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
    it reaches even you, and you are terrified.
⁶ Is not your reverence your confidence?
    And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷ “Remember now, who being innocent ever perished?
    Or where were the upright ever wiped out?
⁸ Just like I have seen, those who plow iniquity
    and sow trouble, reap the same.
⁹ By the breath of God they perish,
    and by the blast of His anger they are destroyed.
¹⁰ The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,
    and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
¹¹ The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹² “Now a word was brought to me secretly,
    and my ear received a whisper of it.
¹³ Amid disquieting thoughts from night visions,
    when deep sleep falls on mortals,
¹⁴ terror and trembling came to me,
    which made all my bones shake.
¹⁵ A breath of wind was passing before my face,
    and the hair on my body was standing up.
¹⁶ It stood still,
    but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form was in front of my eyes,
    there was stillness, then I heard a voice saying:
¹⁷ ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
    Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
¹⁸ He does not trust in His servants,
    and He charges His angels with error;
¹⁹ Even more, those who dwell in houses of clay,
    whose foundation is in the dust,
    who are crushed before the moth.
²⁰ They are broken in pieces from morning to evening;
    they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
²¹ Are not their tent ropes plucked up,
    so they die, even without wisdom?’