Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God is great![a]
104 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Lord, my God, you are very great!
You rule with authority as a great king.
2 Light is all round you,
like the clothes that you wear.
You have put the skies as a roof over the earth.
3 You have built the beams of your home
on the clouds of rain.
The clouds carry you as you travel,
and you ride on the wind.
4 You use the winds to carry your messages.
Flames of fire are your servants.
5 You, Lord, built the earth
on its strong foundations.
Nothing will ever shake it from its place.
6 You covered the earth with deep water,
like a coat.
The water covered the tops of the mountains.
7 But when you shouted,
the water went back.
It ran away,
when you shouted like thunder.
8 The water poured down from the mountains,
and it went down into the valleys.
It went to stay in the place that you had chosen for it.
9 You made a border for the water
so that it could not cross.
Never again will the water cover the earth.[b]
24 Lord, you have made very many different things!
You were very wise in the way that you have made them all.
The earth is full of the living things
that you have made.[a]
35 I pray that wicked people will disappear from the earth.
May they disappear for ever!
I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!’
Elihu continues to speak[a]
36 Elihu continued to speak to Job. This is what he said:
2 ‘Be patient a little bit longer,
so that I can teach you some more.
I still have more to say
to show you that God is right.
3 I will tell you the many different things that I know.
I will show you that God, my Maker, is completely fair.
4 Everything that I say to you is true.
I am speaking to you as someone who knows everything.
5 God is very powerful
but he does not turn anyone away.
When he decides to do something,
he surely does it.
6 He does not allow wicked people to continue to live.
But he is always fair to those who are poor and weak.
7 He takes care of righteous people.
He gives them authority to rule like kings.
He gives them honour for ever.
8 People who do wrong things may suffer in prison.
Chains may hold their legs so that they cannot move.
9 When that happens,
God shows them what they have done.
He shows them their sins.
They have done wrong things because they are proud.
10 He tells them this to warn them.
They must turn away from wicked things.
11 They must obey him and agree to serve him.
If they do that, they will have everything that they need.
They will enjoy all the days that they live.
12 But if they refuse to listen to God,
they will go to their graves.
They will die
and they still will not understand what is right.
13 People who turn away from God are always angry.
Even when God punishes them,
they do not pray for help.
14 They die while they are still young.
Their lives finish in shame.
They live among the male prostitutes who serve false gods.
15 But God rescues people who suffer.
He uses their troubles to teach them about himself.
16 God has called you out of your troubles, Job.
He wants you to live in a safe place
where you have no problems.
He wants you to have a comfortable life
with plenty of good food to eat.
Christ saves both Jews and Gentiles
7 Christ has accepted you, so you must accept each other. In that way you will be praising God. 8 Remember this: Christ became a servant of the Jews so that they could understand God's true message. He showed them that God has now done what he promised to their ancestors.[a] 9 The Gentiles also praise God because he has been kind to them. This is written in the Bible:
‘I will tell the Gentiles about you, God.
I will praise you with songs, to show how great you are.’[b]
10 It says also in the Bible:
‘Be very happy, you Gentiles!
Praise God together with his people.’[c]
11 It also says this:
‘Say how great the Lord is, all you Gentiles.
All people, from every country, should say how great he is.’[d]
12 God's prophet Isaiah says this:
‘The root of Jesse will arrive.
He will come to rule the Gentiles.
The Gentiles will trust him to save them.’[e]
13 God is the one who causes us to hope for good things. I pray that God will bless you very much. I pray that he will cause you to be happy and to have peace in your minds. He will do this because you believe in him. As a result, God's Holy Spirit will make you strong with his power, so that you hope even more certainly.
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