Psalm 66:8–12, 16–20

⁸Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
⁹who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
¹⁰For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
¹¹You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
¹²you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

¹⁶Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
¹⁷I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
¹⁸If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
¹⁹But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
²⁰Blessèd be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!

Old Testament Reading Job 31:1–12, 33–40

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
²What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
³Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
⁴Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?
⁵“If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
⁶(Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
⁷if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
⁸then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
⁹“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
¹¹For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
¹²for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase. . . .

³³[“If] I have concealed my transgressions as others do
by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;
³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
³⁸“If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners breathe their last,
⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

New Testament Reading John 9:24–41

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. ³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”