Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer for Wisdom and Forgiveness
To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
39 I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my (A)tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
2 (B)I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.
3 My heart was hot within me;
While I was [a]musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, (C)make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.
5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but (D)vapor. Selah
6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they [b]busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.
7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My (E)hope is in You.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me (F)the reproach of the foolish.
9 (G)I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was (H)You who did it.
10 (I)Remove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty (J)melt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor. Selah
Job: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty
26 But Job answered and said:
2 “How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
3 How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?
And how have you declared sound advice to many?
4 To whom have you uttered words?
And whose spirit came from you?
5 “The dead tremble,
Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
6 (A)Sheol is naked before Him,
And Destruction has no covering.
7 (B)He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
8 (C)He binds up the water in His thick clouds,
Yet the clouds [a]are not broken under it.
9 He covers the face of His throne,
And spreads His cloud over it.
10 (D)He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble,
And are [b]astonished at His rebuke.
12 (E)He stirs up the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He breaks up [c]the storm.
13 (F)By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced (G)the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
A Multitude from the Great Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, (A)a great multitude which no one could number, (B)of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, (C)clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, (D)“Salvation belongs to our God (E)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 (F)All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and (G)worshiped God, 12 (H)saying:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in (I)white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, [a]“Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, (J)“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and (K)washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will (L)dwell among them. 16 (M)They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; (N)the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne (O)will shepherd them and lead them to [b]living fountains of waters. (P)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.