February 26, 2021
Friday, February 26, 2021
Twelfth Day of Great Lent
Deuteronomy 7:11-8:1
Job 9:1-10:2
Isaiah 40:9-17
Deuteronomy 7:11-8:1
[11] You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day.
[12] “And because you hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love which he swore to your fathers to keep;
[13] he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.
[14] You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
[15] And the LORD will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict upon you, but he will lay them upon all who hate you.
[16] And you shall destroy all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you, your eye shall not pity them; neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
[17] “If you say in your heart, `These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’
[18] you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,
[19] the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out; so will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
[20] Moreover the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed.
[21] You shall not be in dread of them; for the LORD your God is in the midst of you, a great and terrible God.
[22] The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you.
[23] But the LORD your God will give them over to you, and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.
[24] And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven; not a man shall be able to stand against you, until you have destroyed them.
[25] The graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.
[26] And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house, and become accursed like it; you shall utterly detest and abhor it; for it is an accursed thing.
Chapter 8
[1] “All the commandment which I command you this day you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers.
Job 9:1-10:2
[1] Then Job answered:
[2] “Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be just before God?
[3] If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
[4] He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength
— who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded? —
[5] he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger;
[6] who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
[7] who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
[8] who alone stretched out the heavens,
and trampled the waves of the sea;
[9] who made the Bear and Orion,
the Plei’ades and the chambers of the south;
[10] who does great things beyond understanding,
and marvelous things without number.
[11] Lo, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
[12] Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him?
Who will say to him, `What doest thou’?
[13] “God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
[14] How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
[15] Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
[16] If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
[17] For he crushes me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
[18] he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
[19] If it is a contest of strength, behold him!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
[20] Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
[21] I am blameless; I regard not myself;
I loathe my life.
[22] It is all one; therefore I say,
he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
[23] When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
[24] The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges —
if it is not he, who then is it?
[25] “My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away, they see no good.
[26] They go by like skiffs of reed,
like an eagle swooping on the prey.
[27] If I say, `I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer,’
[28] I become afraid of all my suffering,
for I know thou wilt not hold me innocent.
[29] I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
[30] If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
[31] yet thou wilt plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will abhor me.
[32] For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.
[33] There is no umpire between us,
who might lay his hand upon us both.
[34] Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not dread of him terrify me.
[35] Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.
Chapter 10
[1] “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
[2] I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why thou dost contend against me.
Isaiah 40:9-17
[9] Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
[10] Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
[11] He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
[12] Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
[13] Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
or as his counselor has instructed him?
[14] Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
[15] Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the isles like fine dust.
[16] Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
[17] All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible is copyright © National Council of Churches of Christ in America
Tag:lectionary