Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption
A Psalm of David.
26 Vindicate (A)me, O Lord,
For I have (B)walked in my integrity.
(C)I have also trusted in the Lord;
I shall not slip.
2 (D)Examine me, O Lord, and [a]prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And (E)I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not (F)sat with idolatrous mortals,
Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
5 I have (G)hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence;
So I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And tell of all Your wondrous works.
8 Lord, (H)I have loved the habitation of Your house,
And the place [b]where Your glory dwells.
9 (I)Do[c] not gather my soul with sinners,
Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme,
And whose right hand is full of (J)bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 (K)My foot stands in an even place;
In the congregations I will bless the Lord.
Job’s Three Friends
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the (A)Temanite, Bildad the (B)Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come (C)and mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and (D)sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him on the ground (E)seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
Job Deplores His Birth
3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job [a]spoke, and said:
3 “May(F) the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
5 May darkness and (G)the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not [b]rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!
8 May those curse it who curse the day,
Those (H)who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the [c]dawning of the day;
10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 “Why(I) did I not die at birth?
Why did I not [d]perish when I came from the womb?
12 (J)Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who (K)built ruins for themselves,
15 Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
16 Or why was I not hidden (L)like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the [e]weary are at (M)rest.
18 There the prisoners [f]rest together;
(N)They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.
20 “Why(O) is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the (P)bitter of soul,
21 Who (Q)long[g] for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than (R)hidden treasures;
22 Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the (S)grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
(T)And whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before [h]I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.
25 For the thing I greatly (U)feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, [a]kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore (A)the law was our [b]tutor to bring us to Christ, (B)that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Sons and Heirs
26 For you (C)are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For (D)as many of you as were baptized into Christ (E)have put on Christ. 28 (F)There is neither Jew nor Greek, (G)there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all (H)one in Christ Jesus. 29 And (I)if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s (J)seed, and (K)heirs according to the promise.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.