Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Job Continues: Consider My Frail Human Nature, God
14 “A person who is born of a woman is short-lived and is full of trouble.
2 He comes up like a flower; then he withers.
He is like a fleeting shadow; he doesn’t stay long.
3 You observe this
and call me to account to you.
4 “If only an unclean person could become clean![a]
It’s not possible.
5 If the number of his days
and the number of his months are determined by you,
and you set his limit,
then he cannot go past it.
6 Look away from him, and he will cease to be.
Meanwhile, he loves life as a laborer loves work.
7 There is hope for a tree when it is cut down.
It will sprout again.
Its shoots will not stop sprouting.
8 If its roots grow old in the ground
and its stump dies in the soil,
9 merely a scent of water will make it sprout
and grow branches like a plant.
10 But a human dies and is powerless.
A person breathes his last breath, and where is he?
11 ⌞As⌟ water drains out of a lake,
or ⌞as⌟ a river dries up completely,
12 so each person lies down
and does not rise until the heavens cease to exist.
He does not wake up.
He is not awakened from his sleep.
13 I wish you would hide me in Sheol
and keep me hidden there until your anger cools.
Set a specific time for me when you will remember me.
14 “If a person dies, will he go on living?
I will wait for my relief to come
as long as my hard labor continues.
The Prophet—a Man of Despair
3 [a]“I am the man who has experienced suffering under the rod of God’s fury.
2 God has driven me away
and made me walk in darkness instead of light.
3 He beat me again and again all day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away.
He has broken my bones.
5 He has attacked me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me live in darkness,
like those who died a long time ago.
7 He has blocked me so that I can’t get out.
He has put heavy chains on me.
8 Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my way with cut stones and made my paths crooked.
19 Remember my suffering and my ⌞aimless⌟ wandering,
the wormwood and poison.
20 My soul continues to remember ⌞these things⌟ and is so discouraged.
The Prophet—a Man of Hope
21 “The reason I can ⌞still⌟ find hope is that I keep this one thing in mind:
22 the Lord’s mercy.
We were not completely wiped out.
His compassion is never limited.
23 It is new every morning.
His faithfulness is great.
24 My soul can say, ‘The Lord is my lot ⌞in life⌟.
That is why I find hope in him.’
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
31 I have taken refuge in you, O Lord.
Never let me be put to shame.
Save me because of your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear toward me.
Rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Indeed, you are my rock and my fortress.
For the sake of your name, lead me and guide me.
4 You are my refuge,
so pull me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me.
15 My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from my enemies, from those who persecute me.
16 Smile on me.
Save me with your mercy.
4 Since Christ has suffered physically, take the same attitude that he had. (A person who has suffered physically no longer sins.) 2 That way you won’t be guided by sinful human desires as you live the rest of your lives on earth. Instead, you will be guided by what God wants you to do. 3 You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods. 4 Unbelievers insult you now because they are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of wild living. 5 They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 After all, the Good News was told to people like that, although they are now dead. It was told to them so that they could be judged like humans in their earthly lives and live like God in their spiritual lives.
7 The end of everything is near. Therefore, practice self-control, and keep your minds clear so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other warmly, because love covers many sins.
Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb(A)
57 In the evening a rich man named Joseph arrived. He was from the city of Arimathea and had become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. 60 Then he laid it in his own new tomb, which had been cut in a rock. After rolling a large stone against the door of the tomb, he went away. 61 Mary from Magdala and the other Mary were sitting there, facing the tomb.
The Chief Priests and Pharisees Secure Jesus’ Tomb
62 The next day, which was the day of rest—a holy day, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together and went to Pilate. 63 They said, “Sir, we remember how that deceiver said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be brought back to life.’ 64 Therefore, give the order to make the tomb secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been brought back to life.’ Then the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate told them, “You have the soldiers you want for guard duty. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
66 So they went to secure the tomb. They placed a seal on the stone and posted the soldiers on guard duty.
Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb(A)
38 Later Joseph from the city of Arimathea asked Pilate to let him remove Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a disciple of Jesus but secretly because he was afraid of the Jews). Pilate gave him permission to remove Jesus’ body. So Joseph removed it. 39 Nicodemus, the one who had first come to Jesus at night, went with Joseph and brought 75 pounds of a myrrh and aloe mixture.
40 These two men took the body of Jesus and bound it with strips of linen. They laced the strips with spices. This was the Jewish custom for burial.
41 A garden was located in the place where Jesus was crucified. In that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. 42 Joseph and Nicodemus put Jesus in that tomb, since that day was the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.
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