Sacred Calendar

First Lesson - Job 7:16-21

Lord! let me alone; for my days are vanity. What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him? or that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him? Thou visitest him every early, and triest him suddenly. How long wilt Thou not depart from me, nor let me alone, till I swallow down my spittle? I have sinned; what shall I do unto Thee, O Thou Preserver of men? Why hast Thou set me as a mark against Thee, so that I am a burden to myself? Why dost Thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? Behold! now shall I sleep in the dust, and if Thou shalt seek me in the morning, I shall not be.

Second Lesson - Job 10:1-7

My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say unto God: Do not condemn me; show me wherefore Thou judgest me thus. Doth it seem good unto Thee that Thou shouldest maltreat me, that Thou shouldest oppress the work of Thine hands, and help the counsel of the wicked? Hast Thou eyes of flesh? or seest Thou as man seeth? Are Thy days as the days of man? Are Thy years as the times of men, that Thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? Yet Thou knowest that I have done no wrong, but that there is none that can deliver out of Thine hand.

Third Lesson - Job 10:8-12

Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; and dost Thou so suddenly destroy me? Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou hast made me as the clay, and that Thou wilt bring me into the dust again. Hast Thou not poured me out as milk and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh; and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

Fourth Lesson - Job 13:22-28

Answer Thou me: how many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgressions and offences. Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and holdest me for Thine enemy? Dost Thou show forth Thy power against a leaf driven to and fro by the wind? And wilt Thou pursue the dry stubble? For Thou writest bitter things against me, and art fain to consume me with the iniquities of my youth. Thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths, and observest my footsteps, and as a rotten thing I am to be consumed, and as a garment that is moth-eaten.

Fifth Lesson - Job 14:1-6

Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And dost Thou think it worthy to open Thine eyes upon such an one, and to bring him into judgment with Thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of unclean seed? Is it not Thou Who alone art? The days of man are short, the number of his months is with Thee; Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. Turn from him for a little while, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

Sixth Lesson - Job 14:13-16

O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past; that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me. If a man die, shall he live again? All the days wherein I now toil, I am waiting till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee. Thou wilt stretch forth Thy right hand unto the work of Thine hands. Thou dost indeed number my steps, but be Thou merciful unto my sins.

Seventh Lesson - Job 17:1-3, 11-15

My breath will wax feebler, and my days fewer, and there is nothing before me but the grave. I have not sinned; yet doth my mind remaineth in affliction. Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside Thee; and let any man's hand fight against me. My days are past, my purposes are broken off, and are become to my spirit. They change the night into day, and again, after the darkness I hope for light. If I wait, the grave is mine house; I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption: Thou art my father—to the worm: Thou art my mother, and my sister. Where therefore is now my hope? As for my patience, who shall consider it?

Eighth Lesson - Job 19:20-27

My flesh is consumed, my bone cleaveth unto my skin, and there remaineth not round my teeth save the skin of my lips. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, at least ye that are my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me. Why do ye persecute me as God, and glut yourselves upon my flesh? O that my words were now written! O that they were inscribed in a book with an iron pen, or cut in lead, or graven with a chisel upon the flinty rock! For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I shall stand up from the earth at the latter day, and in my flesh shall I see God; Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. This is mine hope that is laid up in my bosom.

Ninth Lesson - Job 10:18-22

Wherefore hast Thou brought me forth out of the womb? O that I had perished, and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been—I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Let me alone then, that I may comfort myself a little, and sorrow, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, a land of cheerlessness and darkness, where the night of death dwelleth, without any order, but shapelessness and dreadfulness of darkness for ever.