Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Betrayal by a Friend
Psalm 55
1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, a contemplative song of David.
2 Give ear, O God, to my prayer
and do not ignore my plea for help.
3 Listen to me and answer me.
I am restless in my complaint and moan—
4 because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the pressure of the wicked.
For they thrust trouble on me,
and in anger bear a grudge against me.
5 My heart shudders within me
and the terrors of death sweep over me.
6 Fear and trembling come upon me
and horror has overwhelmed me.
7 So I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.
8 Surely I would flee far away.
I would stay in the wilderness. Selah
9 I would hurry to my shelter
from the rushing wind of the storm.”
10 Lord, confuse and confound their speech,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
11 Day and night they make the rounds on her walls.
Iniquity and mischief are within her.
12 Ruins are in her midst.
Oppression and deceit never leave her square.
13 For if it were an enemy taunting me,
I could endure it.
If my foe was exalting himself over me,
I could hide from him.
14 But it is you, a man like me—
my companion and my close friend!
15 Together we enjoyed great fellowship.
We used to walk with the throng in the House of God.
Bildad: God Restores the Righteous
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you say these things?
The words of your mouth are like a mighty wind.
3 Does God pervert justice?
Does Shaddai pervert justice?
4 If your children sinned against Him,
He handed them over to their rebellion.
5 If you would seek God
and plead with Shaddai,
6 if you are pure and upright,
even now He will awaken for you
and restore your righteous abode.
7 And though your beginning was small,
your future would flourish.
8 Now ask the previous generation;
consider the findings of their fathers;
9 for we were born yesterday
and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their hearts?
11 “Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh?
Can reeds flourish without water?
12 When still in bloom and uncut,
it withers more quickly than other grass.
13 Such are the ways of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless perishes—
14 whose confidence is snapped off,
his trust is a spider’s web.
15 He leans against his house but it does not stand,
He holds fast to it, but it does not hold up.
16 He is a well-watered plant in the sun,
spreading his shoots over his garden;
17 he entwines his roots around a heap of stones,
and looks for a place between the rocks.
18 If he is uprooted from his place,
it denies him saying, ‘I never saw you.’
19 Such is his joyous course,
and from the earth others spring up.
20 Surely God does not spurn the blameless
or strengthen the hand of evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame.
The tent of the wicked will be no more!”
Counsel About Marriage
7 Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 But because of much immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have the rights to her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband does not have the rights to his own body, but the wife. 5 Do not deprive one another—except by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.[a] Then come together again, so that satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 But this I say as a concession, not as a command. 7 Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this way and another that.
8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them to remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with desire.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.