Old Testament: Job 23:1-9, 16-17

¹Then Job answered: ²“Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. ³Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! ⁴I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. ⁶Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. ⁷There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸“If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him;⁹on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. ¹⁶God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; ¹⁷If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!

Psalm: Psalm 22:1-15

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? *
       and are so far from my cry
       and from the words of my distress?
² O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; *
       by night as well, but I find no rest.
³ Yet you are the Holy One, *
       enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our forefathers put their trust in you; *
       they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ They cried out to you and were delivered; *
       they trusted in you and were not put to shame.
⁶ But as for me, I am a worm and no man, *
       scorned by all and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me laugh me to scorn; *
       they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,
⁸ “He trusted in the Lord; let him deliver him; *
       let him rescue him, if he delights in him.”
⁹ Yet you are he who took me out of the womb, *
       and kept me safe upon my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born; *
       you were my God when I was still in my mother’s womb.
¹¹ Be not far from me, for trouble is near, *
       and there is none to help.
¹² Many young bulls encircle me; *
       strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
¹³ They open wide their jaws at me, *
       like a ravening and a roaring lion.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water;
   all my bones are out of joint; *
       my heart within my breast is melting wax.
¹⁵ My mouth is dried out like a pot-sherd;
   my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; *
       and you have laid me in the dust of the grave.

Old Testament: Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

⁶Seek the Lord and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. ⁷Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! ¹⁰They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. ¹¹Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. ¹²For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. ¹³Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. ¹⁴Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. ¹⁵Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Psalm: Psalm 90:12-17

¹² So teach us to number our days *
       that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
¹³ Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry? *
       be gracious to your servants.
¹⁴ Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *
       so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
¹⁵ Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us *
       and the years in which we suffered adversity.
¹⁶ Show your servants your works *
       and your splendor to their children.
¹⁷ May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; *
       prosper the work of our hands;
       prosper our handiwork.