Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
David wrote this song for Jeduthun, the leader of the music.
Life is short[a]
39 I said, ‘I will be careful what I do,
so that I do not sin.
I will also be careful what I say.
When wicked people are listening,
I will not even open my mouth.’
2 So I did not speak a word,
even about good things.
That made me very upset.
3 It was like a fire inside me!
As I thought more about it,
I just had to say something!
So I said this:
4 ‘Lord, tell me about my life.
Tell me how long it will be,
and when it will finish.
I need to remember that life is only short.
5 Yes, you have made the days of my life only a few!
The time that I live seems very short to you.
Human life is only a breath,
even for those who seem to be strong.
Selah.
6 As we live, we are just like shadows.
We work to get things for ourselves.
We may get a lot of money,
but we do not know who will have it after we die.’
7 So, my Lord, what help can I hope to get?
You are the only one that I can really trust!
8 Save me from all my sins!
Do not let fools insult me.
9 I will not say anything more.
I will not open my mouth,
because it is you who have punished me!
10 Please do not hurt me any more!
You have already punished me enough,
so that I am almost dead!
11 When people do wrong things,
you warn them and you punish them.
You destroy their valuable things,
like a moth eats cloth![b]
Yes, our lives are only a breath!
Selah.
12 Lord, please hear my prayer.
Listen to me when I call to you for help.
Do not turn away from me when I weep.
I need your help,
like a foreign person who lives away from his home.
I live on earth as a stranger,
like all my ancestors did.
13 Stop being angry with me,
so that I can be happy again before I die.
12 But as for wisdom,
people do not know where to find it.
They cannot learn how to understand things properly.
13 Humans do not understand the value of wisdom.
They cannot find it in this world where people live.
14 Wisdom is not in the sea.
Even in the deepest sea, no one will find it.
15 Nobody can buy wisdom.
You may have lots of gold and silver,
but you can never buy wisdom.
16 All the pure gold from Ophir will not be enough to buy it.
It is worth more than valuable onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor beautiful glass is as valuable as wisdom.
A whole pot full of gold could not buy it.
18 As for coral and jasper,
they are not nearly as valuable as wisdom.[a]
Its price is more than the price of rubies.
19 Topaz from Ethiopia is not as valuable as wisdom.
No one can buy it,
not even with pure gold.[b]
20 So where can we find wisdom?
Where can we learn to understand things properly?
21 We cannot see where it is.
No person or animal can see it.
No bird that flies in the sky can see it.
22 In the place of death, they say,
“We have heard only a little about wisdom,
and where to find it.”
23 Only God knows the way to find wisdom.
Only he knows where it is.
24 He can see to the ends of the earth.
He knows what happens everywhere in the world.
25 He decided how strong the wind must be.
He decided the size of the seas.
26 He made a command for the rain
to decide where it should fall.
He chose where storms should go and make thunder.
27 Then he thought about wisdom and its value.
He prepared it and he tested it.
28 God said this to us humans:
“If you want to be wise,
learn to respect the Lord with fear.
If you want to understand things properly,
turn away from evil acts.” ’
Job speaks about his life[c]
29 Job continued to speak. This is what he said:
2 ‘I would like my life to be as it was before,
many months ago.
At that time, God took care of me.
3 He was my guide,
as if he had a lamp to show me the way.
His light kept me safe
as I walked in dark places.
4 I was strong and well.
God was my friend
and he protected my home.
5 At that time, Almighty God was still with me.
My children were near me.
6 I got plenty of milk from my cows,
so that my life was easy.
My olive trees gave me lots of oil.
7 I would go to the gate of the city,
and sit there as one of the leaders.
8 When young men saw me,
they would move to the side.
Even the old men would stand up to respect me.
9 The city's rulers would stop speaking.
They would cover their mouths with their hands.
10 The important leaders would be quiet.
They would not want to say anything.
The Lamb opens the last seal
8 The Lamb opened the seventh seal. Then it became completely quiet in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in front of God. Someone gave them seven trumpets.
3 Then another angel came. He stood at the altar where people offered gifts to God. He had a gold bowl to put incense in. He received a lot of incense and he burned it as a gift to God. It made a nice smell and it mixed with the prayers of God's people. The angel offered the incense and the prayers on the gold altar that was in front of God's throne.[a] 4 When he did that, the smoke from the incense went up in front of God. The prayers of God's people also went up to God. 5 Then the angel took the gold bowl and he filled it with fire from the altar. Then he threw it all down onto the earth. There were loud noises and the sound of thunder. There was bright lightning, like a very bad storm. The earth shook with an earthquake.
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