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.
Elihu now speaks to Job[a]
32 Job would not agree that he had done anything that was wrong. So his three friends refused to argue with him any more. 2 Another man was also there. His name was Elihu, Barakel's son. Barakel was a descendant of Buz. He belonged to Ram's clan.
Elihu became very angry with Job. He was angry because Job continued to say that he was not guilty. Job said that God was wrong to punish him. 3 Elihu was also angry with Job's three friends. They had not been able to find an answer to Job's problem. But they still said that Job was guilty. 4 Elihu had waited for Job's three friends to speak before he spoke to Job himself. He waited because he was younger than them. 5 But he became angry when Job's three friends had nothing more to say. So he finally decided to speak.
6 Barakel's son, Elihu, said this:
‘I am young and you are old.
So I was afraid to tell you what I was thinking.
7 I thought, “Older men should speak.
They have lived for many years and they should share their wisdom.”
8 But it is a person's spirit that helps them to understand things.
Almighty God has to put his breath into them.
9 Not all old people are wise.
Old people do not always understand what is right.
10 So I say, “Listen to me.
I too will explain what I know.”
11 Yes, I waited for you all to speak.
I listened to your wise thoughts,
as you tried to find the right words to say.
12 I listened carefully to you,
as you argued with Job.
But none of you could show Job that he was wrong.
None of you was able to answer his problems.
13 So do not say, “We are wise.”
Do not say, “God must show Job that he is wrong.
People cannot do that.”
14 Job was not speaking to me about his problems.
So I will not answer him in the way that you did.
15 Now they are upset!
They have no more answers to give.
There is nothing more that they can say.
16 I have waited for them,
and now they say nothing.
They stand there and they have no more answers.
17 So now I will say what I think.
I, too, will tell you what I know.
18 There are many things that I want to say.
The spirit inside me causes me to speak.
19 I cannot keep quiet any longer!
I am like a bag that is full of new wine.
I am ready to break so that everything pours out!
20 So I have to speak or I will become ill.
I must open my mouth and reply to you.
21 I will be fair in what I say.
I will not give honour to anyone to get their help.
22 I am too honest to do that.
If I am not fair,
God, my Maker, would quickly remove me.’
Jesus tells a story about a rich man and a poor man
19 Jesus then said, ‘At one time, there was a rich man who wore very expensive clothes. This rich man ate big meals every day. 20 There was also a poor man called Lazarus. He had sores all over his body. He lay outside the gate of the rich man. 21 He was very hungry. He wanted to eat the bits of food that the rich man threw away. Even the dogs came and they tasted the sores on his body. 22 Then Lazarus died and God's angels carried him away. They put him at the side of Abraham in heaven. The rich man then also died and his family buried him in the ground. 23 He went to Hades, the place for dead people. He was in a lot of pain there. He saw Abraham far away in heaven. He also saw Lazarus at Abraham's side. 24 So he shouted out, “Father Abraham, please be kind to me. Please send Lazarus here to help me. I am in great pain because I am in a fire that burns me. Let him put his finger into some water. Then he can use the water to make my mouth cool.”
25 Abraham replied, “My child, remember the time when you were alive on earth. Remember what happened then. You had many good things, and Lazarus had many bad things. Now I am taking care of Lazarus, and you are in pain. 26 But that is not everything. Between you and us, there is a big hole. It is wide and long and deep. There is a reason why that hole is there. Nobody can cross from here to where you are. And nobody can cross from where you are to come here.”
27 The rich man said, “If that is true, father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my family. 28 I have five brothers that are still alive. He can tell them not to do the same things as I did. Then they will not also come here when they die. They will not be in great pain, as I am.”
29 Abraham replied, “They have the books that Moses and God's prophets wrote. Your family should read them and do what they say.”[a]
30 The rich man said, “That is not enough, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from among the dead people, they will listen. Then they will turn away from the wrong things that they do.”
31 But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’[b]
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.