Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; according to ayyeleth hashachar; [a] a psalm by David.
22 My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away from helping me,
so far away from the words of my groaning?
2 My God,
I cry out by day, but you do not answer—
also at night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet, you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted you.
They trusted, and you rescued them.
5 They cried to you and were saved.
They trusted you and were never disappointed.
6 Yet, I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned by humanity and despised by people.
7 All who see me make fun of me.
Insults pour from their mouths.
They shake their heads and say,
8 “Put yourself in the Lord’s hands.
Let the Lord save him!
Let God rescue him since he is pleased with him!”
9 Indeed, you are the one who brought me out of the womb,
the one who made me feel safe at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was placed in your care from birth.
From my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be so far away from me.
Trouble is near, and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls from Bashan have encircled me.
13 They have opened their mouths to attack me
like ferocious, roaring lions.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
It has melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like pieces of broken pottery.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You lay me down in the dust of death.
Bildad Speaks: Why Do You Think You Are So Great, Job?
18 Then Bildad from Shuah replied ⌞to Job⌟,
2 “How long before your words will end?
Think it through, and then we’ll talk.
3 Why do you think of us as cattle?
Why are we considered stupid in your eyes?
4 Why do you rip yourself apart in anger?
Should the earth be abandoned for your sake
or a boulder be dislodged?
What a Wicked Person Can Expect from Life
5 “Indeed, the light of the wicked is snuffed out.
The flame of his fire stops glowing.
6 The light in his tent becomes dark,
and the lamp above him is snuffed out.
7 “His healthy stride is shortened,
and his own planning trips him up.
8 His own feet get him tangled in a net
as he walks around on its webbing.
9 A trap catches his heel.
A snare holds him.
10 A rope is hidden on the ground for him.
A trap is on his path ⌞to catch⌟ him.
11 “Terrors suddenly pounce on him from every side
and chase him every step he takes.
12 Hunger undermines his strength.
Disaster is waiting beside him.
13 His skin is eaten away by disease.
Death’s firstborn son eats away at the limbs of his body.
14 He is dragged from the safety of his tent
and marched off to the king of terrors.
15 Fire lives in his tent.
Sulfur is scattered over his home.
16 His roots dry up under him.
His branches wither over him.
17 All memory about him will vanish from the earth,
and his reputation will not be known on the street corner.
18 He will be driven from the light into the dark
and chased out of the world.
19 He will not have any children or descendants among his people
or any survivor where he used to live.
20 People in the west are shocked by what happens to him.
People in the east are seized with horror.
21 This is what happens to the homes of wicked people
and to those who do not know God.”
We Will Enter God’s Place of Rest
4 God’s promise that we may enter his place of rest still stands. We are afraid that some of you think you won’t enter his place of rest. 2 We have heard the same Good News that your ancestors heard. But the message didn’t help those who heard it in the past because they didn’t believe.
3 We who believe are entering that place of rest. As God said, “So I angrily took a solemn oath that they would never enter my place of rest.” God said this even though he had finished his work when he created the world. 4 Somewhere in Scripture God has said this about the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.”
5 God also said in the same passage, “They will never enter my place of rest.” 6 However, some people enter that place of rest. Those who heard the Good News in the past did not enter God’s place of rest because they did not obey God. 7 So God set another day. That day is today. Many years after ⌞your ancestors failed to enter that place of rest⌟ God spoke about it through David in the passage already quoted: “If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn.” 8 If Joshua had given the people rest, God would not have spoken about another day. 9 Therefore, a time of eternal rest exists for God’s people. 10 Those who entered his place of rest also rest from their work as God did from his.
11 So we must make every effort to enter that place of rest. Then no one will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey.
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