1 Then Job responded,
2 “I have heard many things like these;
Miserable comforters are you all!
3 Is there no end to windy words?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
4 I too could speak like you,
If only I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And shake my head at you.
5 Or I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the condolence of my lips could lessen your pain.
6 “If I speak, my pain is not lessened,
And if I refrain, what pain leaves me?
7 But now He has exhausted me;
You have laid waste all my group of loved ones.
8 And You have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness;
And my infirmity rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
9 His anger has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with His teeth;
My enemy glares at me.
10 They have gaped at me with their mouths,
They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have massed themselves against me.
11 God hands me over to criminals,
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, but He shattered me,
And He has grasped me by my neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.
13 His arrows surround me.
He splits my kidneys open without mercy;
He pours out my bile on the ground.
14 He breaks through me with breach after breach;
He runs at me like a warrior.
15 I have sewed sackcloth over my skin,
And thrust my horn in the dust.
16 My face is flushed from weeping,
And deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 Although there is no violence in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
18 “Earth, do not cover my blood,
And may there be no resting place for my cry.
19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And my advocate is on high.
20 My friends are my scoffers;
My eye weeps to God,
21 That one might plead for a man with God
As a son of man with his neighbor!
22 For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way of no return.
1 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.
2 Mockers are certainly with me,
And my eye gazes on their provocation.
3 “Make a pledge for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will be my guarantor?
4 For You have kept their hearts away from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who informs against friends for a share of the spoils,
The eyes of his children also will perish.
6 “But He has made me a proverb among the people,
And I am one at whom people spit.
7 My eye has also become inexpressive because of grief,
And all my body parts are like a shadow.
8 The upright will be appalled at this,
And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
9 Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way,
And the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But come again all of you now,
For I do not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my plans are torn apart,
The wishes of my heart.
12 They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 If I hope for Sheol as my home,
I make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the grave, ‘You are my father’;
To the maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where then is my hope?
And who looks at my hope?
16 Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together go down into the dust?”
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we regarded as animals,
As stupid in your eyes?
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
Should the earth be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock moved from its place?
5 “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out,
And the spark from his fire does not shine.
6 The light in his tent is darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
7 His vigorous stride is shortened,
And his own plan brings him down.
8 For he is thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.
9 A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
10 A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the pathway.
11 All around sudden terrors frighten him,
And harass him at every step.
12 His strength is famished,
And disaster is ready at his side.
13 It devours parts of his skin,
The firstborn of death devours his limbs.
14 He is torn from the security of his tent,
And they march him before the king of terrors.
15 Nothing of his dwells in his tent;
Brimstone is scattered on his home.
16 His roots are dried below,
And his branch withers above.
17 The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
Nor any survivor where he resided.
20 Those in the west are appalled at his fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.
21 Certainly these are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”
1 Then Job responded,
2 “How long will you torment me
And crush me with words?
3 These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
4 Even if I have truly done wrong,
My error stays with me.
5 If indeed you exalt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that God has wronged me
And has surrounded me with His net.
7 “Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put darkness on my paths.
9 He has stripped my honor from me
And removed the crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 He has also kindled His anger against me
And considered me as His enemy.
12 His troops come together
And build up their way against me
And camp around my tent.
13 “He has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances have completely turned away from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore his favor with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children despise me;
I stand up and they speak against me.
19 All my associates loathe me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine,
For the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were recorded in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth.
26 Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I will see God,
27 Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself,
And whom my eyes will see, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
28 If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you are to do as well. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save as he may prosper, so that no collections need to be made when I come. 3 When I arrive, whomever you approve, I will send them with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem; 4 and if it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.
5 But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia; for I am going through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; 9 for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he has no reason to be afraid while among you, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am. 11 So do not look down on him, anyone. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brothers.
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly encouraged him to come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has the opportunity.
13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 All that you do must be done in love.
15 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters: you know the household of Stephanas, that they are the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to ministry to the saints; 16 I urge that you also be subject to such as these and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. 17 I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking on your part. 18 For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men.
19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. 20 All the brothers and sisters greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 The greeting is in my own hand—that of Paul. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He reached down to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud;
And He set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who become involved in falsehood.
5 Many, Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.
6 You have not desired sacrifice and meal offering;
You have opened my ears;
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is written of me in the scroll of the book.
8 I delight to do Your will, my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
9 I have proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
Lord, You know.
10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.
1 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth;
Favor is better than silver and gold.
