Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; for Jeduthun; a psalm by David.
39 I said,
“I will watch my ways so that I do not sin with my tongue.
I will bridle my mouth while wicked people are in my presence.”
2 I remained totally speechless.
I kept silent, although it did me no good.
While I was deep in thought, my pain grew worse.
3 My heart burned like a fire flaring up within me.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Teach me, O Lord, about the end of my life.
Teach me about the number of days I have left
so that I may know how temporary my life is.
5 Indeed, you have made the length of my days ⌞only⌟ a few inches.
My life span is nothing compared to yours.
Certainly, everyone alive is like a whisper in the wind. Selah
6 Each person who walks around is like a shadow.
They are busy for no reason.
They accumulate riches without knowing who will get them.”
7 And now, Lord, what am I waiting for?
My hope is in you!
8 Rescue me from all my rebellious acts.
Do not disgrace me in front of godless fools.
9 I remained speechless.
I did not open my mouth
because you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove the sickness you laid upon me.
My life is over because you struck me with your hand.
11 With stern warnings you discipline people for their crimes.
Like a moth you eat away at what is dear to them.
Certainly, everyone is like a whisper in the wind. Selah
12 Listen to my prayer, O Lord.
Open your ear to my cry for help.
Do not be deaf to my tears,
for I am a foreign resident with you,
a stranger like all my ancestors.
13 Look away from me so that I may smile again
before I go away and am no more.
Wisdom Is Inaccessible to Decay and Death
12 “Where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding live?
13 No mortal knows where it is.[a]
It cannot be found in this world of the living.
14 The deep ocean says, ‘It isn’t in me.’
The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
15 You cannot obtain it with solid gold
or buy it for any amount of silver.
16 It can’t be bought with the gold from Ophir
or with precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Neither gold nor glass can equal its value.
Nor can gold ornaments, jewels, or crystal
18 be exchanged for it.
Wisdom is more valuable than gems.
19 Topaz from Ethiopia cannot equal its value.
It cannot be bought for ⌞any amount of⌟ pure gold.
20 “Where does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding live?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living being,
hidden even from the birds in the air.
22 Decay and Death say,
‘We’ve heard a rumor about it.’
Wisdom Is Accessible Only to the Creator
23 “God understands the way to it.
He knows where it lives
24 because he can see to the ends of the earth
and observe everything under heaven.
25 When he gave the wind its force
and measured the water ⌞in the sea⌟,
26 when he made rules for the rain
and set paths for the thunderstorms,
27 then he saw it and announced it.
He confirmed it and examined it.
28 So he told humans,
‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom!
To stay away from evil is understanding.’ ”
Job Continues: My Glorious Past
29 Job continued his poems and said,
2 “If only my life could be like it used to be,
in the days when God watched over me,
3 when he made his lamp shine on my head,
when I walked through the dark in his light.
4 If only I were in the prime of my life ⌞again⌟,
when God was an adviser in my tent.
5 When the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
6 my steps were bathed in buttermilk,
and the rocks poured streams of olive oil on me.
7 When I went through the city gate
and took my seat in the town square,
8 young men saw me and kept out of sight.
Old men stood up straight out of respect ⌞for me⌟.
9 Princes held back ⌞their⌟ words
and put their hands over their mouths.
10 The voices of nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
The Lamb Opens the Seventh Seal
8 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Seven Angels with Seven Trumpets
2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in God’s presence, and they were given seven trumpets. 3 Another angel came with a gold incense burner and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to offer on the gold altar in front of the throne. He offered it with the prayers of all of God’s people. 4 The smoke from the incense went up from the angel’s hand to God along with the prayers of God’s people. 5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there was thunder, noise, lightning, and an earthquake.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.