1 Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:
2 “How long will you speak these things,
seeing that the words of your mouth
are like a great wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4 If your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
5 But if you will look to God,
and make your supplication to the Almighty,
6 if you become pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself for you,
and will restore your righteous home.
7 Your beginning will seem so small,
since your future will flourish.
8 “For inquire now of the former generation,
and pay attention to the findings
of their ancestors;
9 For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge,
since our days on earth are but a shadow.
10 Will they not instruct you and speak to you,
and bring forth words
from their understanding?
11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish without water?
12 While they are still beginning to flower
and not ripe for cutting,
they can wither away
faster than any grass.
13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless perishes,
14 whose trust is in something futile,
whose security is a spider’s web.
15 He leans against his house but it does not hold up,
he takes hold of it but it does not stand.
16 He is a well-watered plant in the sun,
its shoots spread over its garden.
17 It wraps its roots around a heap of stones
and it looks for a place among stones.
18 If he is uprooted from his place,
then that place will disown him, saying,
‘I have never seen you!’
19 Indeed, this is the joy of his way,
and out of the earth others spring up.
20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man,
nor does he grasp the hand
of the evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with gladness.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
1 Then Job answered:
2 “Truly, I know that this is so.
But how can a human be just before God?
3 If someone wishes to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength—
who has resisted him and remained safe?
5 He who removes mountains suddenly,
who overturns them in his anger,
6 he who shakes the earth out of its place
so that its pillars tremble,
7 he who commands the sun, and it does not shine
and seals up the stars,
8 he alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
and the constellations of the southern sky;
10 he does great and unsearchable things,
and wonderful things without number.
11 If he passes by me, I cannot see him,
if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
12 If he snatches away, who can turn him back?
Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God does not restrain his anger;
under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed.
14 “How much less, then, can I answer him
and choose my words to argue with him.
15 Although I am innocent,
I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my judge for mercy.
16 If I summoned him, and he answered me,
I would not believe
that he would be listening to my voice—
17 he who crushes me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
18 He does not allow me to recover my breath,
for he fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of strength,
most certainly he is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice,
he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’
20 Although I am innocent,
my mouth would condemn me,
although I am blameless,
it would declare me perverse.
21 I am blameless. I do not know myself.
I despise my life.
22 “It is all one! That is why I say,
‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
23 If a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 If a land has been given
into the hand of a wicked man,
he covers the faces of its judges;
if it is not he, then who is it?
25 “My days are swifter than a runner,
they speed by without seeing happiness.
26 They glide by like reed boats,
like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression and be cheerful,’
28 I dread all my sufferings,
for I know that you do not hold me blameless.
29 If I am guilty,
why then weary myself in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow-melt water,
and make my hands clean with lye,
31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit
and my own clothes abhor me.
32 For he is not a human being like I am,
that I might answer him,
that we might come together in judgment.
33 Nor is there an arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both,
34 who would take his rod away from me
so that his terror would not make me afraid.
35 Then would I speak and not fear him,
but it is not so with me.
1 “I am weary of my life;
I will complain freely without restraint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
tell me why you are contending with me.’
3 Is it good for you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands,
while you smile
on the schemes of the wicked?
4 “Do you have eyes of flesh,
or do you see as a human being sees?
5 Are your days like the days of a mortal,
or your years like the years of a mortal,
6 that you must search out my iniquity,
and inquire about my sin,
7 although you know that I am not guilty,
and that there is no one who can deliver
out of your hand?
8 “Your hands have shaped me and made me,
but now you destroy me completely.
9 Remember that you have made me as with the clay;
will you return me to dust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk,
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You gave me life and favor,
and your intervention watched over my spirit.
13 “But these things you have concealed in your heart;
I know that this is with you:
14 If I sinned, then you would watch me
and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am guilty, woe to me,
and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head;
I am full of shame,
and satiated with my affliction.
16 If I lift myself up,
you hunt me as a fierce lion,
and again you display your power against me.
17 You bring new witnesses against me,
and increase your anger against me;
relief troops come against me.
18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?
I should have died
and no eye would have seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had never existed;
I should have been carried
right from the womb to the grave!
20 Are not my days few?
Cease, then, and leave me alone
that I may find a little comfort,
21 before I depart, never to return,
to the land of darkness
and the deepest shadow,
22 to the land of utter darkness,
like the deepest darkness,
and the deepest shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:
2 “Should not this abundance of words be answered,
or should this talkative man
be vindicated?
3 Should people remain silent at your idle talk,
and should no one rebuke you when you mock?
4 For you have said, ‘My teaching is flawless,
and I am pure in your sight.’
5 But if only God would speak,
if only he would open his lips against you,
6 and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom—
for true wisdom has two sides—
so that you would know
that God has forgiven some of your sins.
7 “Can you discover the essence of God?
Can you find out the perfection of the Almighty?
8 It is higher than the heavens—what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
9 Its measure is longer than the earth,
and broader than the sea.
10 If he comes by and confines you
and convenes a court,
then who can prevent him?
11 For he knows deceitful men;
when he sees evil, will he not consider it?
12 But an empty man will become wise,
when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being.
13 “As for you, if you prove faithful,
and if you stretch out your hands toward him,
14 if iniquity is in your hand—put it far away,
and do not let evil reside in your tents.
15 For then you will lift up your face
without blemish;
you will be securely established
and will not fear.
16 For you will forget your trouble;
you will remember it
like water that has flowed away.
17 And life will be brighter than the noonday;
though there be darkness,
it will be like the morning.
18 And you will be secure, because there is hope;
you will be protected
and will take your rest in safety.
19 You will lie down with no one to make you afraid,
and many will seek your favor.
20 But the eyes of the wicked fail,
and escape eludes them;
their one hope is to breathe their last.”
1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.
12 Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. 15 Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. 18 Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be eliminated is death. 27 For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. 28 And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
1 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger.
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury.
2 For your arrows pierce me,
and your hand presses me down.
3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment;
I am deprived of health because of my sin.
4 For my sins overwhelm me;
like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
5 My wounds are infected and starting to smell,
because of my foolish sins.
6 I am dazed and completely humiliated;
all day long I walk around mourning.
7 For I am overcome with shame,
and my whole body is sick.
8 I am numb with pain and severely battered;
I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel.
9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire;
my groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart beats quickly;
my strength leaves me.
I can hardly see.
11 Because of my condition, even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance;
my neighbors stand far away.
12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me;
those who want to harm me speak destructive words.
All day long they say deceitful things.
13 But I am like a deaf man—I hear nothing;
I am like a mute who cannot speak.
14 I am like a man who cannot hear
and is incapable of arguing his defense.
15 Yet I wait for you, O Lord!
You will respond, O Lord, my God!
16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me;
when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me.
17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain.
18 Yes, I confess my wrongdoing,
and I am concerned about my sins.
19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous;
those who hate me without cause outnumber me.
20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;
though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me.
21 Do not abandon me, O Lord.
My God, do not remain far away from me.
22 Hurry and help me, O Lord, my deliverer.
28 A lying witness will perish,
but the one who reports accurately speaks forever.
29 A wicked person has put on a bold face,
but as for the upright, he establishes his ways.
