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.
Eliphaz Rebukes Job
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said:
2 “Does a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
or fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Does he argue with useless talk
and words that have no value in them?
4 You even do away with reverence
and hinder devotion before God.
5 For your iniquity prompts your mouth
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you—not I;
your own lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man to be born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on God’s counsel?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that we do not understand?
10 Both gray-haired and aged are with us,
men even older than your father.
11 Are the comforts of God too small for you,
or a gentle word toward you?
12 Why has your heart carried you away
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you turn your spirit against God
and bring such words out of your mouth?
14 “What is man, that he could be pure,
or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?
15 If He puts no trust in His holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks evil like water!
17 I will tell you; listen to me,
and what I have seen I will declare,
18 what wise men have declared
and did not hide from their ancestors,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
when no foreigner passed among them:
20 All his days the wicked suffers torment,
and numbered are the years stored up for the tyrant.
21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears;
in a time of peace, marauders attack him.
22 He does not expect to escape from darkness;
he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders about for bread—‘Where is it?’
He knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him;
they overpower him like a king poised to attack,
25 for he raises his hand against God
and flaunts himself against Shaddai,
26 defiantly rushing at Him
with a thick, strong shield.
27 Because He covered his face with his fat
and made his hips bulge with blubber,
28 he lived in ruined cities,
in houses which no one inhabits,
which are ready to crumble into heaps.
29 He will not become rich, and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the land.
30 He will not escape from the darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots,
and he will depart by the breath of His mouth.
31 “Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
for emptiness will be his reward.
32 Before his day it will be paid in full
and his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grapes like a vine,
and cast off his blossoms like an olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil
and their belly prepares deception.”
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ [a] 28 But I tell you that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 And if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. [b] 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body go into Gehenna.
31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ [c] 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall carry out your oaths to Adonai.’ [d] 34 But I tell you, do not swear at all—not by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet;[e] or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. [f] 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.