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First Reading: Job Chapter 6 and 7
Job 6
6:1 Then Job replied:
2 "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the
scales! 3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas- no wonder my words
have been impetuous. 4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks
in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me. 5 Does a wild donkey
bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? 6 Is tasteless food
eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? 7 I refuse to
touch it; such food makes me ill.
8 "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,
9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 Then I would still have this consolation- my joy in unrelenting pain- that
I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects,
that I should be patient? 12 Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?
13 Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from
me?
14 "A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though
he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15 But my brothers are as undependable
as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow 16 when darkened by thawing
ice and swollen with melting snow, 17 but that cease to flow in the dry season,
and in the heat vanish from their channels. 18 Caravans turn aside from their
routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish. 19 The caravans of Tema look
for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. 20 They are distressed,
because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
21 Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and
are afraid. 22 Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom
for me from your wealth, 23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me
from the clutches of the ruthless'?
24 "Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. 25
How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? 26 Do you mean
to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind? 27 You
would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.
28 "But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? 29 Relent,
do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. 30 Is there any
wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?
Job 7
7:1
"Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of
a hired man? 2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man
waiting eagerly for his wages, 3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me. 4 When I lie down I think, 'How
long before I get up?' The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. 5 My body is
clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.
6 "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end
without hope. 7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will
never see happiness again. 8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more. 9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so he who goes down to the grave does not return. 10 He will never come to his
house again; his place will know him no more.
11 "Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of
my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I the sea, or
the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard? 13 When I think my bed
will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, 14 even then you frighten
me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 15 so that I prefer strangling and
death, rather than this body of mine. 16 I despise my life; I would not live
forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
17 "What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much
attention, 18 that you examine him every morning and test him every moment?
19 Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? 20
If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made
me your target? Have I become a burden to you? 21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for
me, but I will be no more."
Second Reading: Luke Chapter 5
Luke 5
5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people
crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water's
edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put
out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water,
and let down the nets for a catch."
5 Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught
anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their
nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to
come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began
to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away
from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all his companions were
astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch
men." 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed
him.
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with
leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him,
"Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing,"
he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.
14 Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to
the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing,
as a testimony to them."
15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came
to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew
to lonely places and prayed.
17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come
from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there.
And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men
came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay
him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the
crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles
into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who
is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking
these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." He said to the paralyzed man,
"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 25 Immediately he
stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising
God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe
and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting
at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got
up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd
of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and
the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples,
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
31 Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the
sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
33 They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the
disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking."
34 Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while
he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken
from them; in those days they will fast."
36 He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment
and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and
the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine
into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine
will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured
into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for
he says, 'The old is better.'"
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
JOB
Part 2 of 4
The book of Job lends inself to a theatrical presentation. The characters of the play in order of appearance are:
Select: First Reading Second Reading Bible Background