Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
David wrote this special song for the music leader. Use stringed instruments when you sing it.
A prayer when a friend turns against you[a]
55 God, listen to my prayer.
Do not turn away
when I ask you to help me.
2 Listen carefully and answer me.
I am very upset because of all my troubles.
They are too many for me.
3 I am afraid because of what my enemies say.
Those wicked people give me much pain.
They are so angry that they hate me
and they give me nothing but trouble.
4 My heart beats fast inside me.
Death seems very near,
and I am very afraid.
5 I am shaking with fear!
My troubles are too much for me.
6 So I say, ‘If I had wings to fly like a dove,
I would fly away to a safe place.
7 Yes! I would go far away,
and I would live in the wilderness.
Selah.
8 I would go quickly to a safe place.
The strong winds and storms of my enemies
would not reach me there!’
9 My Lord, make my enemies confused!
Stop them from doing what they want to do.
Everywhere that I look in the city,
I see that they do cruel things to attack people.[b]
10 They walk on the city's walls
in the day and at night.
Inside the city they do evil things
that bring trouble everywhere.
11 They destroy everything!
In all the city's streets, they move freely.
They hurt people and they cheat them.
12 But it is not my enemies that have insulted me.
That would not have hurt me.
If my enemy laughs at me,
I can always hide from him!
13 But it is you, my best friend!
We did things as men together,
and I trusted you!
14 We enjoyed our time together.
We often went to God's temple,
and we joined with the crowd of people there.
15 Please let death suddenly destroy my enemies!
May they go down into their graves alive!
They are at home with evil,
and that is all that they think about.
Eliphaz speaks to Job again[a]
15 Then Eliphaz, the man from Teman, replied to Job. This is what he said:
2 ‘If you were wise,
you would not answer us with such silly ideas.
The words that come out from inside you are only a hot wind!
3 No wise man would argue in such a useless way.
The things that you say do not mean anything.
4 You show that you do not respect God.
You turn other people away from him.
5 It is your sin that causes you to speak like that.
You try to say clever things that will deceive people.
6 I do not need to show that you are guilty.
Your own words show that you are wrong.
7 You were not the first human to be born.
You were not alive when God made the hills.
8 You do not know God's secret plans.
You are not the only wise person in the world.
9 You do not know any more than we know.
We understand as much as you do.
10 The old men agree with us.
They are older and wiser even than your father.
11 You think that God's kind words are not important.
But they should be enough for you.
12 You have allowed your thoughts to confuse you.
We can see in your eyes that you are very angry.
13 Why are you so angry against God?
You should not say such wicked things.
14 No one who is human can be truly pure and righteous.
15 God does not even trust his own angels.
He knows that they make mistakes.
16 So he certainly will not trust people.
People are wicked and cannot think true thoughts.
They like to do evil things,
as if they are drinking water!
17 So listen to me. I will explain something to you.
I will tell you what I have seen.
18 These are things that wise men have taught me.
They did not hide the truth.
They learned these things from their ancestors.
19 They were the people who received the land.
No foreigners were there to deceive them.
20 They knew this:
A wicked person will have trouble all his life.
Anyone who is cruel will suffer every year that he lives.
21 He will hear things that frighten him.
He may think that he is safe,
but robbers will attack him.
22 He is afraid to go out in the dark.
He thinks that someone may kill him.
23 The wicked person walks about to look for food.
He says, “Where is it?”
He knows that he cannot escape from trouble.
24 He is afraid and confused.
Trouble is ready to attack him,
like a king with his army.
25 That happens to the person who turns against God.
He thinks that he is greater than Almighty God.
26 He is proud enough to attack God.
He holds a big shield as he runs to attack God!
27 He eats too much
and his whole body is very fat.[b]
28 He lives in a town that is empty.
No one else lives in the houses there.
The buildings will soon fall down
and they will become heaps of stones.
29 He will not be rich.
He will lose his valuable things.
Everything that he has will disappear.
30 When it becomes dark,
he will not be able to escape.
He will be like a tree that fire has burned.
God's breath will blow him away!
31 He may trust in useless things to save him.
But he is deceiving himself.
Any help that he receives will also be useless.
32 Before he is old,
his life will end.
Like a tree that makes no leaves,
he will have no success in life.
33 He will be like a vine that loses its grapes.
They fall off before they are ready to eat.
He will be like an olive tree that loses its flowers,
so that no olives grow on it.
34 People who turn away from God are like that.
They have no family to live after them.
If they use the money from bribes to build their homes,
fire will destroy those homes.
35 They make plans to cause trouble,
so that evil things happen.
Lies are what come out from inside them.’
Jesus teaches people about bad thoughts
27 Jesus then said, ‘You know what God's rule says: “You must not have sex with anyone who is not your husband or your wife.” 28 But what I tell you is this: A man may look at a woman who is not his wife. And he may want to have sex with her. In his thoughts, he has had sex with her, so he has done a wrong thing. 29 If your right eye leads you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. Yes, you will lose one eye. But it will be much worse if you keep your whole body and God throws you into hell. 30 Also, if your right hand leads you to do wrong things, then you should cut it off. You should throw it away. You will lose one hand. But it will be much worse if you keep your body in one piece and go to hell.’[a]
Jesus talks about when a man sends his wife away
31 ‘God's Law also says: “Any man who wants to send his wife away must give her a letter. This letter must say that they are no longer married.” 32 But what I tell you is this: A man must not send his wife away except for one reason. He may only send her away if she has had sex with another man. If he sends her away for any other reason, he has done a wrong thing. It is like he has caused her to have sex with another man. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’
Jesus teaches people about promises to God
33 ‘You also know the rule that God gave to your ancestors: “If you make a promise to God, you must do what you have said.” 34 But what I tell you is this. Do not use any name to make a promise stronger. Do not use the words “by heaven” to make a promise stronger. Heaven is the place where God rules. Do not use the words “by the earth” to make a promise stronger. The earth is the place where God rests his feet. 35 Do not use the words “by Jerusalem” to make a promise stronger. Jerusalem is God's city. He is the great King who rules from there. 36 Do not use the words “by my head” to make a promise. You cannot make the colour of even one of your hairs black or white.
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