Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 39
For the Music Director. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will take heed of my ways
so that I do not sin with my tongue;
I will keep my mouth muzzled
while the wicked are before me.”
2 I was speechless in silence;
I was silent to no avail,
but my anguish was stirred up.
3 My heart was hot within me;
while I was musing, the fire burned,
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, make me to know my end,
and what is the measure of my days,
that I may know how transient I am.
5 Indeed, You have made my days as a handbreadth,
and my age is as nothing before You;
indeed every man at his best is as a breath.” Selah
6 Surely every man walks in a mere shadow;
surely he goes as a breath;
he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them.
7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
9 I was speechless, I did not open my mouth,
because You did it.
10 Remove Your blow from me;
I am consumed by the hostility of Your hand.
11 When with rebukes You correct a man for iniquity,
You consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely every man is vapor. Selah
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
do not be silent at my tears,
for I am a stranger with You,
and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13 Turn Your gaze of displeasure from me, that I may smile,
before I go away and am no more.
Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable
26 But Job answered:
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 him who has no wisdom?
And how have you plentifully declared sound knowledge?
4 To whom have you uttered words?
And whose breath came from you?
5 “The departed spirits tremble under the waters,
and their inhabitants.
6 The underworld is naked before Him,
and destruction has no covering.
7 He stretches out the north over empty space,
He hangs the earth upon nothing.
8 He binds up the waters in His thick clouds,
and the cloud is not broken under them.
9 He covers the face of the full moon
and spreads His cloud over it.
10 He has circled the waters with boundaries,
until the day and night come to an end.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astonished at His reproof.
12 He divides the sea with His power,
and by His understanding He strikes through the proud.
13 By His breath He has made fair the heavens;
His hand has formed the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed, these are but a part of His ways,
and how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
The Multitude From Every Nation
9 Then I looked. And there was a great multitude which no one could count, from all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out with a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever!
Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these clothed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
He said to me, “These are those who came out of great tribulation and 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 dwell among them.
16 ‘They shall neither hunger any more,
nor shall they thirst any more;
the sun shall not strike them,’[a]
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne
will shepherd them
and ‘He will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.