Old Testament: Job 1:1; 2:1-10

¹There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

¹One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. ²The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ³The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” ⁴Then Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. ⁵But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” ⁶The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.⁸Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. ⁹Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.” ¹⁰But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Psalm: Psalm 26

¹ Give judgment for me, O Lord,
   for I have lived with integrity; *
       I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.
² Test me, O Lord, and try me; *
       examine my heart and my mind.
³ For your love is before my eyes; *
       I have walked faithfully with you.
⁴ I have not sat with the worthless, *
       nor do I consort with the deceitful.
⁵ I have hated the company of evildoers; *
       I will not sit down with the wicked.
⁶ I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord, *
       that I may go in procession round your altar,
⁷ Singing aloud a song of thanksgiving *
       and recounting all your wonderful deeds.
⁸ Lord, I love the house in which you dwell *
       and the place where your glory abides.
⁹ Do not sweep me away with sinners, *
       nor my life with those who thirst for blood,
¹⁰ Whose hands are full of evil plots, *
       and their right hand full of bribes.
¹¹ As for me, I will live with integrity; *
       redeem me, O Lord, and have pity on me.
¹² My foot stands on level ground; *
       in the full assembly I will bless the Lord.

Old Testament: Genesis 2:18-24

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” ¹⁹So out of the ground the LordGod formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.

²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” ²⁴Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Psalm: Psalm 8

¹ O Lord our Governor, *
       how exalted is your Name in all the world!
² Out of the mouths of infants and children *
       your majesty is praised above the heavens.
³ You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, *
       to quell the enemy and the avenger.
⁴ When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *
       the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
⁵ What is man that you should be mindful of him? *
       the son of man that you should seek him out?
⁶ You have made him but little lower than the angels; *
       you adorn him with glory and honor;
⁷ You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *
       you put all things under his feet:
⁸ All sheep and oxen, *
       even the wild beasts of the field,
⁹ The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *
       and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.
¹⁰ O Lord our Governor, *
       how exalted is your Name in all the world!