Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
38 O Lord, don’t punish me while you are angry! 2 Your arrows have struck deep; your blows are crushing me. 3-4 Because of your anger, my body is sick, my health is broken beneath my sins. They are like a flood, higher than my head; they are a burden too heavy to bear. 5-6 My wounds are festering and full of pus. Because of my sins, I am bent and racked with pain. My days are filled with anguish. 7 My loins burn with inflammation,[a] and my whole body is diseased. 8 I am exhausted and crushed; I groan in despair.[b]
9 Lord, you know how I long for my health once more. You hear my every sigh. 10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind. 11 My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease. Even my own family stands at a distance.
12 Meanwhile my enemies are trying to kill me. They plot my ruin and spend all their waking hours planning treachery. 13-14 But I am deaf to all their threats; I am silent before them as a man who cannot speak. I have nothing to say. 15 For I am waiting for you, O Lord my God. Come and protect me. 16 Put an end to their arrogance, these who gloat when I am cast down!
17 How constantly I find myself upon the verge of sin;[c] this source of sorrow always stares me in the face. 18 I confess my sins; I am sorry for what I have done. 19 But my enemies persecute with vigor and continue to hate me—though I have done nothing against them to deserve it. 20 They repay me evil for good and hate me for standing for the right.
21 Don’t leave me, Lord; don’t go away! 22 Come quickly! Help me, O my Savior.
33 Then, far in the distance, Jacob saw Esau coming with his 400 men. 2 Jacob now arranged his family into a column, with his two concubines and their children at the head, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 Then Jacob went on ahead. As he approached his brother he bowed low seven times before him. 4 And then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him affectionately and kissed him; and both of them were in tears!
5 Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, “Who are these people with you?”
“My children,” Jacob replied. 6 Then the concubines came forward with their children, and bowed low before him. 7 Next came Leah with her children, and bowed, and finally Rachel and Joseph came and made their bows.
8 “And what were all the flocks and herds I met as I came?” Esau asked.
And Jacob replied, “They are my gifts, to curry your favor!”
9 “Brother, I have plenty,” Esau laughed. “Keep what you have.”
10 “No, but please accept them,” Jacob said, “for what a relief it is to see your friendly smile! I was as frightened of you as though approaching God![a] 11 Please take my gifts. For God has been very generous to me and I have enough.” So Jacob insisted, and finally Esau accepted them.
12 “Well, let’s be going,” Esau said. “My men and I will stay with you and lead the way.”
13 But Jacob replied, “As you can see,[b] some of the children are small, and the flocks and herds have their young, and if they are driven too hard, they will die. 14 So you go on ahead of us and we’ll follow at our own pace and meet you at Seir.”
15 “Well,” Esau said, “at least let me leave you some of my men to assist you and be your guides.”
“No,” Jacob insisted, “we’ll get along just fine. Please do as I suggest.”
16 So Esau started back to Seir that same day. 17 Meanwhile Jacob and his household went as far as Succoth. There he built himself a camp, with pens for his flocks and herds. (That is why the place is called Succoth, meaning “huts.”)
2 I am so glad, dear brothers, that you have been remembering and doing everything I taught you. 3 But there is one matter I want to remind you about: that a wife is responsible to her husband, her husband is responsible to Christ, and Christ is responsible to God. 4 That is why, if a man refuses to remove his hat while praying or preaching, he dishonors Christ. 5 And that is why a woman who publicly prays or prophesies without a covering on her head dishonors her husband, for her covering is a sign of her subjection to him.[a] 6 Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, then she should cut off all her hair. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her head shaved, then she should wear a covering. 7 But a man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for his hat is a sign of subjection to men.[b]
God’s glory is man made in his image, and man’s glory is the woman. 8 The first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came out of man.[c] 9 And Adam, the first man, was not made for Eve’s benefit, but Eve was made for Adam. 10 So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign that she is under man’s authority,[d] a fact for all the angels to notice and rejoice in.
11 But remember that in God’s plan men and women need each other. 12 For although the first woman came out of man, all men have been born from women ever since, and both men and women come from God their Creator.
13 What do you yourselves really think about this? Is it right for a woman to pray in public without covering her head? 14-15 Doesn’t even instinct itself teach us that women’s heads should be covered? For women are proud of their long hair, while a man with long hair tends to be ashamed. 16 But if anyone wants to argue about this, all I can say is that we never teach anything else than this—that a woman should wear a covering when prophesying or praying publicly in the church, and all the churches feel the same way about it.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.