Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 22
For the music leader. According to the “Doe of Dawn.” A psalm of David.
22 My God! My God,
why have you left me all alone?
Why are you so far from saving me—
so far from my anguished groans?
2 My God, I cry out during the day,
but you don’t answer;
even at nighttime I don’t stop.
3 You are the holy one, enthroned.
You are Israel’s praise.
4 Our ancestors trusted you—
they trusted you and you rescued them;
5 they cried out to you and they were saved;
they trusted you and they weren’t ashamed.
6 But I’m just a worm, less than human;
insulted by one person, despised by another.
7 All who see me make fun of me—
they gape, shaking their heads:
8 “He committed himself to the Lord,
so let God rescue him;
let God deliver him
because God likes him so much.”
9 But you are the one who pulled me from the womb,
placing me safely at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was thrown on you from birth;
you’ve been my God
since I was in my mother’s womb.
11 Please don’t be far from me,
because trouble is near
and there’s no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
mighty bulls from Bashan encircle me.
13 They open their mouths at me
like a lion ripping and roaring!
14 I’m poured out like water.
All my bones have fallen apart.
My heart is like wax;
it melts inside me.
15 My strength is dried up
like a piece of broken pottery.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you’ve set me down in the dirt of death.
Attack from a friend
18 Bildad from Shuah answered:
2 How long? Would you all stop talking.
Try to understand and then we can speak.
3 Why are we considered beasts,
ignorant in your sight?
4 To you who tear yourself in rage—
will earth be forsaken for your sake,
a rock be dislodged from its place?
Evil people’s fate
5 To be sure, the light of the wicked goes out;
the blaze of their fire doesn’t shine.
6 The light in their tent becomes dark,
and their lamp above doesn’t shine.
7 Their strong strides slow down;
their plans trip themselves.
8 They are caught by their feet in a net;
they walk on mesh.
9 A trap grabs them by the heel;
a snare tightens on them.
10 A rope is hidden on the ground for them;
a trap for them along the path.
11 Terrors round about scare them;
they follow their steps.
12 Their offspring hunger;
calamity is ready for their spouses.
13 It eats some of their skin.
Death’s firstborn consumes their limbs.
14 They are snatched from the safety of their tent;
it parades them before the king of terrors.
15 Nothing they own remains in their tent;
sulfur is scattered over their home.
16 Their roots dry out below;
their branches wither above.
17 The memory of them will perish from the earth;
they will achieve no recognition abroad.
18 They are thrust from light into darkness,
banished from the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendants among their people,
no survivor in their dwelling place.
20 Their successors are appalled at what happens to them;
their predecessors pull their hair.
21 These are surely the dwelling places of the evil;
this is the place of the one who doesn’t know God.
Enter the rest
4 Therefore, since the promise that we can enter into rest is still open, let’s be careful so that none of you will appear to miss it. 2 We also had the good news preached to us, just as the Israelites did. However, the message they heard didn’t help them because they weren’t united in faith with the ones who listened to it. 3 We who have faith are entering the rest. As God said,
And because of my anger I swore:
“They will never enter into my rest!”[a]
And yet God’s works were completed at the foundation of the world. 4 Then somewhere he said this about the seventh day of creation: God rested on the seventh day from all his works.[b] 5 But again, in the passage above, God said, They will never enter my rest![c] 6 Therefore, it’s left open for some to enter it, and the ones who had the good news preached to them before didn’t enter because of disobedience. 7 Just as it says in the passage above, God designates a certain day as “today,” when he says through David much later,
Today, if you hear his voice,
don’t have stubborn hearts.[d]
8 If Joshua gave the Israelites rest, God wouldn’t have spoken about another day later on. 9 So you see that a sabbath rest is left open for God’s people. 10 The one who entered God’s rest also rested from his works, just as God rested from his own.
First summary of the message
11 Therefore, let’s make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience,
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible