Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 22
For the Music Director. To the melody of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from delivering me,
and from my roaring words of distress?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not answer;
and at night, but I have no rest.
3 But You are holy,
O You who inhabits the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
they trusted, and You did deliver them.
5 They cried to You and were delivered;
they trusted in You and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not a man;
a reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me laugh me to scorn;
they sneer with the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “Trust in the Lord,
let Him deliver him;
let Him rescue him,
seeing He delights in him.”
9 But You are He who took me out of the womb;
You caused me to trust
while I was on my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast on You from birth;
You are my God from my mother’s womb.
11 Be not far from me
for trouble is near,
for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
13 They open their mouths against me,
as a preying and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted inside my body.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
and You have set me toward the dust of death.
Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer,
and for this I make haste.
3 I have heard the rebuke that disgraces me,
and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.
4 “Do you not know this of old,
since man was placed upon earth,
5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
6 Though his loftiness extends to the heavens,
and his head reaches to the clouds,
7 yet he will perish forever like his own excrement;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 He will fly away like a dream and will not be found;
yes, he will be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more;
nor will his place behold him anymore.
10 His children will seek favor from the poor,
and his hands will give back his wealth.
11 His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in the dust.
12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
and he hides it under his tongue,
13 though he spares it and does not forsake it,
but keeps it in his mouth,
14 yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
it becomes the venom of cobras within him.
15 He has swallowed down riches,
and he will vomit them up again;
God will cast them out of his belly.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
the viper’s tongue will slay him.
17 He will not see the streams, the rivers,
the brooks of honey and butter.
18 He will give back the produce of labor and will not swallow it down.
According to his wealth the restitution will be, and he will not rejoice in it;
19 because he has oppressed and has forsaken the poor.
He has violently taken away a house that he did not build.
20 “Because he knows no quietness in his belly,
he will not save anything he desired.
21 Nothing is left for him to eat;
therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22 In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
every hand of misery will come upon him.
23 When he is about to fill his belly,
God will cast the fury of His wrath on him
and will rain it on him while he is eating.
24 He will flee from the iron weapon;
a bronze bow will pierce him through.
25 It is drawn and comes out of the body;
yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall.
Terrors are upon him.
26 Total darkness is stored up for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will consume him;
what is left in his tent will be consumed.
27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The increase of his house will depart,
and his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.
29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God,
and the inheritance appointed to him by God.”
The Tradition of the Elders(A)
15 Then scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples violate the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 But He answered them, “Why do you also violate the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[a] and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, “What you would have profited from me is a gift to God,” 6 will be free from honoring his father or his mother.’ So you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, Isaiah well prophesied of you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
9 In vain they do worship Me,
teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’[c]”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.