1/12/2012 Job 21 - 23
Yesterday Tomorrow
Job Replies: The Wicked Often Go Unpunished
Job 21:1 Then Job answered:
2 “Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak;
then after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me, and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 When I think of it I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their children are established in their presence,
and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and never miscarries.
11 They send out their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre,
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 They say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We do not desire to know your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement?
The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does calamity come upon them?
How often does God distribute pains in his anger?
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care for their household after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
22 Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he judges those that are on high?
23 One dies in full prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.
27 “Oh, I know your thoughts,
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
30 that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity,
and are rescued in the day of wrath?
31 Who declares their way to their face,
and who repays them for what they have done?
32 When they are carried to the grave,
a watch is kept over their tomb.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to them;
everyone will follow after,
and those who went before are innumerable.
34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”
§ 4. PROBABLE DATE AND AUTHOR
THE INDICATIONS OF DATE DERIVED FROM THE MATTER OF THE BOOK, FROM ITS TONE, AND FROM ITS GENERAL STYLE, STRONGLY FAVOUR THE THEORY OF ITS HIGH ANTIQUITY. THE LANGUAGE IS ARCHAIC, MORE AKIN TO THE ARABIC THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER PORTION OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, AND FULL OF ARAMAISMS WHICH ARE NOT OF THE LATER TYPE, BUT SUCH AS CHARACTERIZE THE ANTIQUE AND HIGHLY POETIC STYLE, AND OCCUR IN PARTS OF THE PENTATEUCH, IN THE SONG OF DEBORAH, AND IN THE EARLIEST PSALMS. THE STYLE HAS A “GRAND ARCHAIC CHARACTER,” WHICH HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY ALMOST ALL CRITICS. “FIRM, COMPACT, SONOROUS AS THE RING OF A PURE METAL, SEVERE AND AT TIMES RUGGED, YET ALWAYS DIGNIFIED AND MAJESTIC, THE LANGUAGE BELONGS ALTOGETHER TO A PERIOD WHEN THOUGHT WAS SLOW BUT PROFOUND AND INTENSELY CONCENTRATED, WHEN THE WEIGHTY AND ORACULAR SAYINGS OF THE WISE WERE WONT TO BE ENGRAVED ON ROCKS WITH A PEN OF IRON, AND IN CHARACTERS OF MOLTEN LEAD. IT IS A TRULY LAPIDARY STYLE, SUCH AS WAS NATURAL ONLY IN AN AGE WHEN WRITING, THOUGH KNOWN, WAS RARELY USED, BEFORE LANGUAGE HAD ACQUIRED CLEARNESS, FLUENCY, AND FLEXIBILITY, BUT LOST MUCH OF ITS FRESHNESS AND NATIVE FORCE.”The manners, customs, institutions, and general mode of life described in the book are such as belong especially to the times which are commonly called “patriarchal.” The pastoral descriptions have the genuine air of the wild, free, vigorous life of the desert. The city life (ch. 29.) is exactly that of the earliest settled communities, with councils of grey-bearded elders, judges in the gate (ch. 29:7), the chieftain at once judge and warrior (ch. 29:25), yet with written indictments (ch. 31:35) and settled forms of legal procedure (ch. 9:33; 17:3; 31:28). The civilization, if such it may be called, is of the primitive type, with rock-inscriptions (ch. 9:24), mining such as was practised by the Egyptians in the Sinaitic peninsula from B.C. 2000, great buildings, ruined sepulchres, tombs watched over by sculptured figures of the dead (ch. 21:32). The historical allusions touch nothing of a recent date, but only such ancient things as the Pyramids (ch. 3:14), the apostasy of Nimrod (ch. 9:9), the Flood (ch. 22:16), the destruction of the “cities of the plain” (ch. 18:15), and the like; they include no mention—not the faintest hint—of any of the great events of Israelite history, not even of the Exodus, the passage of the Red Sea, or the giving of the Law on Sinai, much less of the conquest of Canaan, or of the stirring times of the judges and the first great kings of Israel. It is inconceivable, as has been often said, that a writer of a late date, say of the time of Captivity, or of Josiah, or even of Solomon, should, in a long work like the Book of Job, intentionally and successfully avoid all reference to historical occurrences, and to changes in religious forms or doctrines of a date posterior to that of the events which form the subject of his narrative.
It is a legitimate conclusion from these facts, that the Book of Job is probably more ancient than any other composition in the Bible, excepting, perhaps, the Pentateuch, or portions of it. It must almost certainly have been written before the promulgation of the Law. How long before is doubtful. Job’s term of life (two hundred to two hundred and fifty years) would seem to place him in the period between Eber and Abraham, or at any rate in that between Eber and Jacob, who lived only a hundred and forty-seven years, and after whom the term of human life seems to have rapidly shortened (Deut. 31:2; Ps. 90:10). The book, however, was not written until after Job’s death (ch. 42:17), and may have been written some considerable time after. On the whole, therefore, it seems most reasonable to place the composition towards the close of the patriarchal period, not very long before the Exodus.
The only tradition which has come down to us with respect to the authorship of the Book of Job ascribes it to Moses. Aben Ezra (about A.D. 1150) declares this to be the general opinion of “the sages of blessed memory.” In the Talmud it is laid down as undoubted, “Moses wrote his own book” (i.e. the Pentateuch), “the section about Balaam, and Job.” The testimony may not possess much critical value, but it is the only tradition that we have. Apart from this, we float upon a sea of conjecture. The most ingenious of the conjectures put forward is that of Dr. Mill and Professor Lee, who think that Job himself put the discourses into a written form, and that Moses, having become acquainted with this work while he was in Midian, determined to communicate it to his countrymen, as analogous to the trial of their faith in Egypt; and, in order to render it intelligible to them, added the opening and concluding sections, which, it is remarked, are altogether in the style of the Pentateuch. A far less probable theory assigns the authorship of the bulk of the book to Elihu. Those who reject these views, yet allow the antiquity of the composition, can only suggest some unknown Palestinian author, some ἀνὴρ πολύτροπος, who, like the old hero of Ithaca,
Πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω,
Πολλὰ δ᾽ ὄγ᾽ ἐν πόντῳ πάθεν ἄλγεα ὃν κατα θυμὸν,
Ἀρνύμενος ψυχήν …
The Pulpit Commentary (23 Volume Set) Job
Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
Job 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:2 “Can a mortal be of use to God?
Can even the wisest be of service to him?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous,
or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you,
and enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
There is no end to your iniquities.
6 For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 The powerful possess the land,
and the favored live in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.
10 Therefore snares are around you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11 or darkness so that you cannot see;
a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God high in the heavens?
See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,
and he walks on the dome of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were snatched away before their time;
their foundation was washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
19 The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent laugh them to scorn,
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
and what they left, the fire has consumed.’
21 “Agree with God, and be at peace;
in this way good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored,
if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,
24 if you treat gold like dust,
and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,
25 and if the Almighty is your gold
and your precious silver,
26 then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When others are humiliated, you say it is pride;
for he saves the humble.
30 He will deliver even those who are guilty;
they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Bitter
Job 23:1 Then Job answered:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his dwelling!
4 I would lay my case before him,
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn what he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; but he would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.
Job Speaks Regarding Himself
(Job 23:1–17)
A. Job’s Desire
(23:1–7).
Job ardently desires that he could come to God’s judgment seat to plead his cause before him.There he eloquently would argue his case with irrefutable arguments. In that context he could demand plain answers. Faced with the facts of Job’s case, God would be forced to admit the injustice which had been done to his servant. He was convinced that God would not take advantage of his great power. On this point Job has changed his opinion since his speech of 9:14–16. At that divine tribunal, Job was confident that he would be delivered forever from injustice at the hands of the heavenly judge (23:3–7).
B. Job’s Defense
(23:8–12).
How could Job declare that if tried by God he would come forth as shining gold? Eliphaz had insinuated that Job was following the ancient path of wicked men (cf. 22:15). Not so. He had followed in the steps of the Lord and had never deviated therefrom. According to Eliphaz, Job needed to hear instruction from the mouth of God (cf. 22:22). In fact Job had never departed from the commandments of God. They were more precious to him than his daily bread (23:11–12).
C. Job’s Discouragement (23:13–17).
Though he knows that Job is innocent, God is resolute in his determination to destroy the patriarch. Since God is omnipotent, he can do as he pleases. Eliphaz had argued that if Job repented he could have all his plans confirmed (cf. 22:28). Not so! God was carrying out in Job’s life what he had decreed. All of this was a profound enigma to Job; but it was far from being a solitary one: “many such things are with him,” i.e., this is but one out of many similar mysteries that happen under God’s government of the world (23:13–14).God’s mysterious and irresistible ways trigger in Job a sense of dismay, terror and faintheartedness. By acting in what Job perceived to be an unjust way, the Lord had made the heart of the patriarch faint. The emphasis here is on what God had done. What dismays Job and renders him speechless is not the dark calamity which had overtaken him, and not the fact that his face had been marred and distorted by disease. What bothered him most was this: It was God who had inflicted the calamity upon him, and that for no just cause! (23:15–17).
Smith, J. E. (1996). The wisdom literature and Psalms (Job 23:1–17). Joplin, Mo.: College Press Pub. Co.
8 “If I go forward, he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;
9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.
13 But he stands alone and who can dissuade him?
What he desires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me;
and many such things are in his mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 If only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face!
Devotionals, notes, poetry and more
by Bill Federer
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” This famous quote was from British statesman Edmund Burke, who was born this day, January 12, 1729. Considered the most influential orator in the House of Commons, Burke stands out in history, for as a member of the British Parliament, he defended the right of the American colonies to be free and strongly opposed the slave trade. Edmund Burke stated: “What is liberty without… virtue? It is… madness, without restraint. Men are qualified for liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.”
William J. Federer. American Minute
by whoever
Why read your Bible? A popular philosopher said,
Those who do not remember the past
are condemned to relive it.
--- George Santayana
‘I can’t be expected to live the sanctified life in the circumstances I am in; I have no time for praying just now, no time for Bible reading, my opportunity hasn’t come yet; when it does, of course I shall be all right.’
No, you will not. If you have not been worshipping as occasion serves, when you get into work you will not only be useless yourself, but a tremendous hindrance to those who are associated with you.
--- Oswald Chambers
... from here, there and everywhere
by D.H. Stern
11 My son, don’t despise ADONAI’s discipline
or resent his reproof;
12 for ADONAI corrects those he loves
like a father who delights in his son.
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
A Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers
Have you ever been alone with God?
When they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples.
--- Mark 4:34.
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus does not take us alone and expound things to us all the time; He expounds things to us as we can understand them. Other lives are parables. God is making us spell out our own souls. It is slow work, so slow that it takes God all time and eternity to make a man and woman after His own purpose. The only way we can be of use to God is to let Him take us through the crooks and crannies of our own characters. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We do not know envy when we see it, or laziness, or pride. Jesus reveals to us all that this body has been harbouring before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look in with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves, it is the last conceit to go. The only One Who understands us is God. The greatest curse in spiritual life is conceit. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we shall never say — ‘Oh I am so unworthy,’ because we shall know we are, beyond the possibility of stating it. As long as we are not quite sure that we are unworthy, God will keep narrowing us in until He gets us alone. Wherever there is any element of pride or of conceit, Jesus cannot expound a thing. He will take us through the disappointment of a wounded pride of intellect, through disappointments of heart. He will reveal inordinate affections — things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. We listen to many things in classes, but they are not an exposition to us yet. They will be when God gets us alone over them.
Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas
In every corner
of the dark triangle
sex spins its web; the characters
are ensnared; virtue
is its own undoing, lust posing
as love. Life's innocent
need of itself is the prime sin.
And no-one able to explain why
at the margins of her habit
the fifteenth phase of the flesh
so mercilessly dazzles.
The Poems of R.S. Thomas
Is our focus wrong?
comment
Do we not all feel this way? For me, this is the most powerful chapter in Job. It is a summary of questions that every thoughtful person considers. Yes, I know the end of the Book, Revelation I mean, but just as important I know the end of this book. We are to recognize the gulf that separates us from God.
I think we all have quiet moments, some planned, but most beyond our control, quiet moments when we get a glimpse of who we really are. The self-help books are aimed at how those moments make us feel. Their goal is to deliver us from that inner sadness. This iPod, Twitter, texting world is all about not allowing us to have quiet moments. Keep moving, keep active, whatever you do don’t stop and reflect. Our senses are so bombarded during the day that we have to be medicated to sleep at night, but whatever we do, don’t stop to be alone with your thoughts. That is why I love the Eagles song, Learn To Be Still. Listen to the lyrics.
RSAofYAP
Job 23:14
comment
I have been wrestling with this very thing. “For he will complete what he appoints for me.” Do we not all yearn for this? Why are we here? What are we to do? Will God accomplish in me, (notice it is God who does the accomplishing, the completing, not me) God’s will or will I die a useless vessel, a cracked pot that never watered the seeds along the way? (That anxious thought is not scriptural, but it can be real in our spirit none the less.)
Have you noticed the wonderful feeling from doing physical work, the sense of accomplishment, the joy of doing a job well? Then there is the feeling of being spent, but nothing is accomplished. When I die I so much want the former and not the latter. Do you?
A couple of years ago we were house sitting for one of Lily's clients. This retired couple went to the Congo to see gorillas! As Lily finished cleaning their kitchen I walked around and around and around their paved, almost figure eight drive-way. The first part of the figure eight was one hundred eighty steps. Inside that section were several old, tall, and stately trees that littered their pavement with golden leaves. The other part of the figure eight was one hundred ten walking steps. On its perimeter was a barn. Within its boundary was a building for storage. It was surrounded by trees, but since they were on the outside of the driveway there were not as many leaves to rustle around my feet.
I walked around and around, scuffing through the leaves, trying to focus all of my attention on being present to the colors, the smell of rain, and the touch of the cool breeze. I have discovered it is impossible for me to be present to the present and still worry about tomorrow. The work is becoming truly present to the present. Why were they off to see gorillas when their home and its surroundings were so beautiful? Does familiarity really breed contempt?
As I walked I did what I do so often, wondered why I am here. If, as Job says, God wants to do something through me ... what is it? I remember thinking how available Lily and I are to go anywhere and do anything, yet we remain, seemingly motionless, treading water.
Job cried for justice. I long to justify my existence. Who can justify their existence? Justification is in the Lord. God says to Job, to me, to you, trust in the Lord with all your heart ... love the Lord with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.
Do I need to go to Africa to see gorillas to love the Lord with all my heart? Do I need to go to the coast to love the Lord with all my heart? Do I need to come to Ken and Hana's beautiful home to love the Lord with all my heart? Maybe I just need to be still, wherever I am, and love the Lord with all my heart.
RSAofYAP
Day 12 Winter
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
--- Acts 16:25.
All of us exercise unconscious ministries. (“Unconscious Ministries,” in Wind on the Heath (original title: The Afterglow of God,
We never know what we are doing when we do it. Like Faithful in the Valley of the Shadow, we lift our voices because our hearts are strong. And some poor Christian, stumbling on behind us also on the way to the Celestial City, thanks God and takes courage at the music. Be quite sure that the very humblest life is full of unconscious ministries. There is not a note of song we ever raise but the ear of some other prisoner will catch it. Words that we utter and then forget—a smile in passing, the clasp of hands in comradeship—have their work to do and will meet us in the dawn.
This unconscious helpfulness is one of the chief ministries of happiness. Happiness is sometimes selfishness, but happiness is sometimes service. The one who resolves at all costs to be happy is generally a very miserable person. In this world the things we set our hearts on are often the things we never get. When anyone is genuinely happy, then happiness is unconscious benediction.
The ones who can sing at midnight because God is with them are doing something for others all the time. To be happy when the shadows deepen and the cross is heavy is one of the finest of life’s unconscious ministries.
I believe that much of our Christian service must always be of that unconscious character. I trust that when this life is over, you and I will each have the well done. That is the only thing worth living for, the only welcome that I want. But I have sometimes thought that the great surprise of the dawn will be the kind of thing for which it is the reward. Certain ministries of which I knew nothing as I went out and in among you will waken the trumpets on the other side.
People who do their best always do more, though they are haunted by the sense of failure. Be good and true, be patient, be resolute. Leave your usefulness for God to estimate. He will see to that you do not live in vain.
--- George H. Morrison.
Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers
The Hampton Court Conference
How odd that the most famous Bible in history should bear the name of a hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, ego-driven homosexual who rejected all demands for reform within the church.
James VI of Scotland, son of imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, was raised in drafty Scottish castles by self-serving lords. He grew up religious and well-trained in theology. He went to church every day. But he was rude, rough, loud, conceited, and bisexually immoral. He was also shrewd. At age 37 he managed to succeed his cousin, Elizabeth I, as England’s monarch.
As he traveled from Scotland to London, he met a group of Puritans bearing a “Millenary Petition” signed by nearly 1,000 pastors. It demanded renewal within the church. The Puritans, stirred by the Geneva translation of the Bible and by Foxe’s popular Book of Martyrs, wanted to purify the church.
The established clergy opposed Puritan demands, and the new king realized his kingdom was torn. He convened a conference for church leaders at his Hampton Court estate on January 12, 1604, and the Puritans vigorously presented their concerns. James rejected their requests, sometimes thundering against them, white with rage. At the conclusion of the conference he flung his arm toward the Puritans, shouting, “I shall make them conform or I will harry them out of this land, or do worse.”
Many of the dispirited Puritans, abandoning hope for the Anglican Church, began worshiping in small groups as they felt the Bible taught them. They were tagged Separatists, but from these persecuted cells came the Baptists in 1611, the Pilgrims who fled to America in 1620, and other dissenting groups.
But on one issue at Hampton Court the king and Puritans had agreed. When Puritan John Rainolds requested a new translation of the Bible, James promptly approved it, saying, “I have never yet seen a Bible well-translated. But I think the Geneva is the worst.” Seven years later the Authorized Version was unveiled, ironically making vice-prone King James one of the best recognized names in English church history.
The LORD controls rulers, just as he determines the course of rivers. We may think we are doing the right thing, but the LORD always knows what is in our hearts.
--- Proverbs 21:1-2.
Morgan, R. J. On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012 | EPIPHANY
THURSDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK AFTER EPIPHANY
YEAR 2
Psalms (Morning) Psalm 18:1–19
Psalms (Evening) Psalm 18:20–50
Old Testament Genesis 4:17–26
New Testament Hebrews 3:1–11
Gospel John 1:43–51
Index of Readings
PSALMS (MORNING)
Psalm 18:1–19
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
so I shall be saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub, and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
there broke through his clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
PSALMS (EVENING)
Psalm 18:20–50
20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his ordinances were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless you show yourself blameless;
26 with the pure you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
27 For you deliver a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 It is you who light my lamp;
the LORD, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 By you I can crush a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God except the LORD?
And who is a rock besides our God?—
32 the God who girded me with strength,
and made my way safe.
33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer,
and set me secure on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand has supported me;
your help has made me great.
36 You gave me a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
38 I struck them down, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
39 For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;
you made me head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart,
and came trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me;
48 who delivered me from my enemies;
indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries;
you delivered me from the violent.
49 For this I will extol you, O LORD, among the nations,
and sing praises to your name.
50 Great triumphs he gives to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.
OLD TESTAMENT
Genesis 4:17–26
17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methushael, and Methushael the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who live in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
25 Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the LORD.
NEW TESTAMENT
Hebrews 3:1–11
3 Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in all God’s house.” 3 Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. 6 Christ, however, was faithful over God’s house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
as on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors put me to the test,
though they had seen my works 10 for forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation,
and I said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 As in my anger I swore,
‘They will not enter my rest.’ ”
GOSPEL
John 1:43–51
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer Lectionary
On Bible Gateway