Job 29:1-1, 30:1-31
Job again took up his discourse and said: "But now they make sport of me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. What could I gain from the strength of their hands? All their vigor is gone. Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground, they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of broom. They are driven out from society; people shout after them as after a thief. In the gullies of wadis they must live, in holes in the ground, and in the rocks. Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together. A senseless, disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land. "And now they mock me in song; I am a byword to them. They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. On my right hand the rabble rise up; they send me sprawling, and build roads for my ruin. They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them. As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on. Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. "And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. With violence he seizes my garment; he grasps me by the collar of my tunic. He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me. You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. "Surely one does not turn against the needy, when in disaster they cry for help. Did I not weep for those whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came. My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still; days of affliction come to meet me. I go about in sunless gloom; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches. My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat. My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
Acts 14:19-28
But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God." And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. And they stayed there with the disciples for some time.
John 11:1-16
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
Morning Psalms
Psalm 119:49-56 Zayin Memor esto verbi tui
49 Remember your word to your servant, because you have given me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my trouble, that your promise gives me life.
51 The proud have derided me cruelly, but I have not turned from your law.
52 When I remember your judgments of old, O LORD, I take great comfort.
53 I am filled with a burning rage, because of the wicked who forsake your law.
54 Your statutes have been like songs to me wherever I have lived as a stranger.
55 I remember your Name in the night, O LORD, and dwell upon your law.
56 This is how it has been with me, because I have kept your commandments.
Psalm 119:57-64 Heth Portio mea, Domine
57 You only are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to keep your words.
58 I entreat you with all my heart, be merciful to me according to your promise.
59 I have considered my ways and turned my feet toward your decrees.
60 I hasten and do not tarry to keep your commandments.
61 Though the cords of the wicked entangle me, I do not forget your law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give you thanks, because of your righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all who fear you and of those who keep your commandments.
64 The earth, O LORD, is full of your love; instruct me in your statutes.
Psalm 119:65-72 Teth Bonitatem fecisti
65 O LORD, you have dealt graciously with your servant, according to your word.
66 Teach me discernment and knowledge, for I have believed in your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
68 You are good and you bring forth good; instruct me in your statutes.
69 The proud have smeared me with lies, but I will keep your commandments with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is gross and fat, but my delight is in your law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is dearer to me than thousands in gold and silver.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 49 Audite haec, omnes
1 Hear this, all you peoples; hearken, all you who dwell in the world, you of high degree and low, rich and poor together.
2 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and my heart shall meditate on understanding.
3 I will incline my ear to a proverb and set forth my riddle upon the harp.
4 Why should I be afraid in evil days, when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,
5 The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, and boast of their great riches?
6 We can never ransom ourselves, or deliver to God the price of our life;
7 For the ransom of our life is so great, that we should never have enough to pay it,
8 In order to live for ever and ever, and never see the grave.
9 For we see that the wise die also; like the dull and stupid they perish and leave their wealth to those who come after them.
10 Their graves shall be their homes for ever, their dwelling places from generation to generation, though they call the lands after their own names.
11 Even though honored, they cannot live for ever; they are like the beasts that perish.
12 Such is the way of those who foolishly trust in themselves, and the end of those who delight in their own words.
13 Like a flock of sheep they are destined to die; Death is their shepherd; they go down straightway to the grave.
14 Their form shall waste away, and the land of the dead shall be their home.
15 But God will ransom my life; he will snatch me from the grasp of death.
16 Do not be envious when some become rich, or when the grandeur of their house increases;
17 For they will carry nothing away at their death, nor will their grandeur follow them.
18 Though they thought highly of themselves while they lived, and were praised for their success,
19 They shall join the company of their forebears, who will never see the light again.
20 Those who are honored, but have no understanding, are like the beasts that perish.
Psalm 53 Dixit insipiens
1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good.
2 God looks down from heaven upon us all, to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God.
3 Every one has proved faithless; all alike have turned bad; there is none who does good; no, not one.
4 Have they no knowledge, those evildoers who eat up my people like bread and do not call upon God?
5 See how greatly they tremble, such trembling as never was; for God has scattered the bones of the enemy; they are put to shame, because God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that Israel's deliverance would come out of Zion! when God restores the fortunes of his people Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.
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