Psalm 91:1–6, 14–16

¹He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
²I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

³For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

¹⁴“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
¹⁵When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

Old Testament Reading Job 12:1–6, 12–25

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
³But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends;
I, who called to God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
⁵In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
it is ready for those whose feet slip.
⁶The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hand. . . .

¹²“Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding in length of days.
¹³“With God are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
¹⁴If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he shuts a man in, none can open.
¹⁵If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
¹⁶With him are strength and sound wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
¹⁷He leads counselors away stripped,
and judges he makes fools.
¹⁸He looses the bonds of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
¹⁹He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
²⁰He deprives of speech those who are trusted
and takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹He pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
²²He uncovers the deeps out of darkness
and brings deep darkness to light.
²³He makes nations great, and he destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
²⁴He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
²⁵They grope in the dark without light,
and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.”

New Testament Reading John 5:30–47

³⁰“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³¹If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. ³²There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ³³You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. ³⁷And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, ³⁸and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ³⁹You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ⁴¹I do not receive glory from people. ⁴²But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”