JOB 31:1-33:33
1 “I made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?
2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,
one’s heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,
and disaster for those who work iniquity?
4 Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked in falsehood,
and if my foot has hastened to deceit—
6 let him weigh me with honest scales;
then God will discover my integrity.
7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes,
or if anything has defiled my hands,
8 then let me sow and let another eat,
and let my crops be uprooted.
9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
10 then let my wife turn the millstone for another man,
and may other men commit adultery with her.
11 For I would have committed a shameful act,
an iniquity to be judged.
12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction,
and it would uproot all my harvest.
13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed with me,
14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment;
when he intervenes,
how will I respond to him?
15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired,
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans—
18 but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
20 whose heart did not bless me
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court,
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let my arm be broken off at the socket.
23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me,
and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.
24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
26 if I looked at the sun when it was shining,
and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,
28 then this also would be iniquity to be judged,
for I would have been false to God above.
29 If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy
or exulted because calamity found him—
30 I have not even permitted my mouth to sin
by asking for his life through a curse—
31 if the members of my household have never said,
‘If only there were someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat!’—
32 But no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler—
33 if I have covered my transgressions as men do,
by hiding iniquity in my heart,
34 because I was terrified of the great multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors—
35 “If only I had someone to hear me!
Here is my signature—
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment
that my accuser had written.
36 Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder,
I would bind it on me like a crown;
37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would draw near to him.
38 “If my land cried out against me
and all its furrows wept together,
39 if I have eaten its produce without paying,
or caused the death of its owners,
40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, noxious weeds.”
The words of Job are ended.
1 So these three men refused to answer Job further, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. He was angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 3 With Job’s three friends he was also angry, because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty. 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the others were older than he was. 5 But when Elihu saw that the three men had no further reply, he became very angry.
6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up:
“I am young, but you are elderly;
that is why I was fearful,
and afraid to explain to you what I know.
7 I said to myself, ‘Age should speak,
and length of years should make wisdom known.’
8 But it is a spirit in people,
the breath of the Almighty,
that makes them understand.
9 It is not the aged who are wise,
nor old men who understand what is right.
10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me.
I, even I, will explain what I know.’
11 Look, I waited for you to speak;
I listened closely to your wise thoughts, while you were searching for words.
12 Now I was paying you close attention,
yet there was no one proving Job wrong,
not one of you was answering his statements.
13 So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom.
God will refute him, not man.’
14 Job has not directed his words to me,
and so I will not reply to him with your arguments.
15 “They are dismayed and cannot answer anymore;
they have nothing left to say.
16 And I have waited. But because they do not speak,
because they stand there and answer no more,
17 I too will answer my part,
I too will explain what I know.
18 For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me constrains me.
19 Inside I am like wine that has no outlet,
like new wineskins ready to burst!
20 I will speak, so that I may find relief;
I will open my lips, so that I may answer.
21 I will not show partiality to any person,
nor will I confer a title on anyone.
22 For I do not know how to give honorary titles,
if I did, my Creator would quickly do away with me.
1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,
and hear everything I have to say.
2 See now, I have opened my mouth;
my tongue in my mouth has spoken.
3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart,
and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely.
4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Reply to me, if you can;
set your arguments in order before me
and take your stand.
6 Look, I am just like you in relation to God;
I too have been molded from clay.
7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,
nor should my pressure be heavy on you.
8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing
(I heard the sound of the words!):
9 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean and have no iniquity.
10 Yet God finds occasions with me;
he regards me as his enemy.
11 He puts my feet in shackles;
he watches closely all my paths.’
12 Now in this, you are not right—I answer you,
for God is greater than a human being.
13 Why do you contend against him,
that he does not answer all a person’s words?
14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,
the second time in another,
though a person does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, a night vision,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they sleep in their beds.
16 Then he gives a revelation to people,
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 to turn a person from his sin,
and to cover a person’s pride.
18 He spares a person’s life from corruption,
his very life from crossing over the river.
19 Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed,
and with the continual strife of his bones,
20 so that his life loathes food,
and his soul rejects appetizing fare.
21 His flesh wastes away from sight,
and his bones, which were not seen,
are easily visible.
22 He draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death.
23 If there is an angel beside him,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness;
24 and if God is gracious to him and says,
‘Spare him from going down
to the place of corruption,
I have found a ransom for him,’
25 then his flesh is restored like a youth’s;
he returns to the days of his youthful vigor.
26 He entreats God, and God delights in him,
he sees God’s face with rejoicing,
and God restores to him his righteousness.
27 That person sings to others, saying:
‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,
but I was not punished according to what I deserved.
28 He redeemed my life
from going down to the place of corruption,
and my life sees the light!’
29 “Indeed, God does all these things,
twice, three times, in his dealings with a person,
30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,
that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 Pay attention, Job—listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
32 If you have any words, reply to me;
speak, for I want to justify you.
33 If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
2 Corinthians 3:1-18
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don’t need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, 3 revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 But if the ministry that produced death—carved in letters on stone tablets—came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective), 8 how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! 10 For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. 11 For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, 13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. 14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, 16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Psalm 43:1-5
1 Vindicate me, O God!
Fight for me against an ungodly nation.
Deliver me from deceitful and evil men.
2 For you are the God who shelters me.
Why do you reject me?
Why must I walk around mourning
because my enemies oppress me?
3 Reveal your light and your faithfulness.
They will lead me;
they will escort me back to your holy hill,
and to the place where you live.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,
so that I may express my thanks to you, O God, my God, with a harp.
5 Why are you depressed, O my soul?
Why are you upset?
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.
Proverbs 22:8-9
8 The one who sows iniquity will reap trouble,
and the rod of his fury will end.
9 A generous person will be blessed,
for he has given some of his food to the poor.
