Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The leader must use the music called ‘The Deer of the Dawn.’
This is a song that David wrote.
Please help me, God!
22 My God!
My God, why have you left me alone?
Why is my help far away?
I am crying out in great pain!
2 My God!
I call aloud to you for help every day,
all day and all night!
But you do not answer my prayers,
so I cannot sleep.
3 I know that you are the Holy God.
You sit on your throne as king,
and Israel's people praise you.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you.
When they trusted you, you saved them.
5 They called aloud to you and you saved them.
They trusted in you,
and you did not disappoint them.[a]
6 People insult me.
They think that I am worth nothing.
It seems that I am only a worm,
and I am not really a man.
7 Everyone that sees me laughs at me.
They laugh and they shake their heads.
8 They say, ‘He should trust in the Lord!
The Lord should save him.
If the Lord is really happy with him,
the Lord should rescue him.’
9 Lord, you brought me safely to birth.
You took care of me at my mother's breasts.
10 From the day that I was born,
I have always been in your care.
You have been my God since my mother gave birth to me.
11 So do not stay far from me now.
Trouble is near to me,
and there is nobody to help me.
12 There is danger all round me,
like the strong bulls of Bashan.[b]
I cannot move
because my enemies are very near, all around me.
13 They open their mouths like lions!
They are ready to eat me!
They are like lions that tear their food into pieces.
14 My strength has gone,
like water that is poured away.
My bones do not join together properly.
I feel weak inside
and hope has disappeared.
15 My mouth has become dry like a piece of a broken pot.
My tongue sticks to my mouth.
You have left me down in the dirt,
as good as dead!
Zophar speaks to Job again[a]
20 Then Zophar replied to Job. This is what he said:
2 ‘I am very upset by the things that you have said.
So I must say more to answer you.
3 You have said things that insult me.
But now I know how to reply to you.
4 I am sure that you know this fact.
It has been true from long ago,
since people first lived on the earth.
5 You know that a wicked person is only happy for a short time.
His joy continues only for a moment.
6 He may think that he is more important than other people.
He may be proud of the honour that he receives.
7 But he will disappear for ever,
like dung that people throw away.
His friends will ask, “Where is he?”
8 He will disappear like a dream that quickly goes away.
Nobody can find him any more.
9 People who knew him will never see him again.
His family will no longer recognize him.
10 His children will have to give things back to poor people.
Those are the valuable things that he took from them.
11 He still had the strength of a young man.
But his strength will die with him when he lies in his grave.
12 He enjoys the wicked things that he does.
They are like something sweet in his mouth.
13 He continues to enjoy wicked things,
like the taste of sweet food that he keeps in his mouth.
14 But those things will become poison that hurts him.
Like bitter food that goes into his stomach.
15 Like a person who is sick and loses the food from his stomach,
God will cause the wicked person to lose all his riches.
16 He will drink the poison of snakes.
A dangerous snake will bite him and it will kill him.
17 He will never enjoy the good things that the earth provides.
He will not enjoy the honey and milk which pours out like rivers of water.
18 He will have to give back everything that he owned.
He will not enjoy the things that he has worked for.
19 This will happen because he has been cruel to poor people.
He has refused to help them.
He has taken houses for himself that do not belong to him.
20 He will always want to have more things for himself.
He takes anything that he wants to have.
21 Now nothing remains for him to take.
So his riches will come to an end.
22 When he has everything that he wants,
trouble suddenly comes to him.
23 When he is filling himself with good food,
God will punish him.
God will be very angry with him.
God will attack the wicked person so that he suffers.
24 He may escape from a soldier who has an iron sword.
But then a soldier will shoot a bronze arrow into him.
25 He pulls the arrow out of his back.
His blood makes its sharp point shine brightly.
He is very afraid.
26 All his riches disappear in the dark.
God will send a fire to destroy him.
It will destroy all his things that remain.
27 The heavens will show that he is guilty.
People on earth will speak against him.
28 A flood will destroy his house
and everything that he has.
That will happen on the day when God punishes people
because he is angry with them.
29 That is how God punishes wicked people.
God has decided to punish them as they deserve.’
Jesus tells the Pharisees and teachers of God's Law to obey God
15 After that, a group of Pharisees and teachers of God's Law came from Jerusalem to talk to Jesus. 2 They said, ‘Our leaders in past times taught us the right way to do everything. But your disciples do not obey the things that our leaders taught us. They do not wash their hands in the right way before they eat a meal. Why is that?’
3 Jesus replied, ‘God tells us the right way to obey him. But you refuse. Instead, you like to keep your own ideas. 4 God's Law says: “You must love your father and mother and obey them.” God also said, “A person should die if he says bad things against his father or against his mother.” 5 But you teach that a person may say to his father or to his mother, “I would have given gifts to help you. But I cannot do that because I have given them to God instead.” 6 Then, you let that person give nothing to his parents. He does not have to help them. This shows that you have not obeyed what God says is right. Instead, you have obeyed your own ideas. 7 You are hypocrites! What God's prophet Isaiah wrote about you long ago is true:
8 God says, “These people say good things about me,
but they do not really want to obey me.
9 They say that I am great.
But what they say has no purpose.
They teach their own rules, which I did not give to them.” ’
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