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Job’s Reply to Eliphaz[a]
23 Then Job answered:
2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter;[b]
his[c] hand is heavy despite[d] my groaning.
3 O that I knew[e] where I might find him,[f]
that I could come[g] to his place of residence![h]
4 I would lay out my case[i] before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know with what words[j] he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend[k] with me with great power?
No, he would only pay attention to me.[l]
7 There[m] an upright person
could present his case[n] before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
The Inaccessibility and Power of God
8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,
and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.
9 In the north[o] when he is at work,[p]
I do not see him;[q]
when he turns[r] to the south,
I see no trace of him.
10 But he knows the pathway that I take;[s]
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.[t]
11 My feet[u] have followed[v] his steps closely;
I have kept to his way and have not turned aside.[w]
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion.[x]
13 But he is unchangeable,[y] and who can change[z] him?
Whatever he[aa] has desired, he does.
14 For he fulfills his decree against me,[ab]
and many such things are his plans.[ac]
15 That is why I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider, I am afraid because of him.
16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint;[ad]
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,
because of the thick darkness
that covered my face.[ae]
The Apparent Indifference of God
24 “Why are times not appointed by[af] the Almighty?[ag]
Why do those who know him not see his days?
2 Men[ah] move boundary stones;
they seize the flock and pasture them.[ai]
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;
they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
4 They turn the needy from the pathway,
and the poor of the land hide themselves together.[aj]
5 Like[ak] wild donkeys in the wilderness,
they[al] go out to their labor[am] seeking diligently for food;
the arid rift valley[an] provides[ao] food for them and for their children.
6 They reap fodder[ap] in the field,
and glean[aq] in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;
they have no covering against the cold.
8 They are soaked by mountain rains
and huddle[ar] in the rocks because they lack shelter.
9 The fatherless child is snatched[as] from the breast,[at]
the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.[au]
10 They go about naked, without clothing,
and go hungry while they carry the sheaves.[av]
11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees;[aw]
they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty.[ax]
12 From the city the dying[ay] groan,
and the wounded[az] cry out for help,
but God charges no one with wrongdoing.[ba]
13 There are those[bb] who rebel against the light;
they do not know its ways
and they do not stay on its paths.
14 Before daybreak[bc] the murderer rises up;
he kills the poor and the needy;
in the night he is[bd] like a thief.[be]
15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,
thinking,[bf] ‘No eye can see me,’
and covers his face with a mask.
16 In the dark the robber[bg] breaks into houses,[bh]
but by day they shut themselves in;[bi]
they do not know the light.[bj]
17 For all of them,[bk] the morning is to them like deep darkness;
they are friends with the terrors of darkness.
18 [bl] “You say,[bm] ‘He is foam[bn] on the face of the waters;[bo]
their portion of the land is cursed
so that no one goes to their vineyard.[bp]
19 The drought[bq] as well as the heat
snatch up the melted snow;[br]
so the grave[bs] snatches up the sinner.[bt]
20 The womb[bu] forgets him,
the worm feasts on him,
no longer will he be remembered.
Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.
21 He preys on[bv] the barren and childless woman,[bw]
and does not treat the widow well.
22 But God[bx] drags off the mighty by his power;
when God[by] rises up against him, he has no faith in his life.[bz]
23 God[ca] may let them rest in a feeling of security,[cb]
but he is constantly watching[cc] all their ways.[cd]
24 They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone,[ce]
they are brought low[cf] like all others, and gathered in,[cg]
and like a head of grain they are cut off.’[ch]
25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar
and reduce my words to nothing?”[ci]
Bildad’s Third Speech[cj]
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “Dominion[ck] and awesome might[cl] belong to[cm] God;
he establishes peace in his heights.[cn]
3 Can his armies be numbered?[co]
On whom does his light[cp] not rise?
4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure?[cq]
5 If even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned,[cr]
6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot[cs]—
a son of man, who is only a worm!”
Job’s Reply to Bildad[ct]
26 Then Job replied:
2 “How you have helped[cu] the powerless![cv]
How you have saved the person who has no strength![cw]
3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,
and abundantly[cx] revealed your insight!
4 To whom[cy] did you utter these words?
And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth?[cz]
A Better Description of God’s Greatness[da]
5 “The dead[db] tremble[dc]—
those beneath the waters
and all that live in them.[dd]
6 The underworld[de] is naked before God;[df]
the place of destruction lies uncovered.[dg]
7 He spreads out the northern skies[dh] over empty space;[di]
he suspends the earth on nothing.[dj]
8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
9 He conceals[dk] the face of the full moon,[dl]
shrouding it with his clouds.
10 He marks out the horizon[dm] on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars[dn] of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke.[do]
12 By his power he stills[dp] the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster[dq] to pieces.[dr]
13 By his breath[ds] the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.[dt]
14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways![du]
How faint is the whisper[dv] we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?”
A Protest of Innocence
27 And Job took up his discourse again:[dw]
2 “As surely as God lives,[dx] who has denied me justice,[dy]
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter[dz]—
3 for while[ea] my spirit[eb] is still in me,
and the breath from God is in my nostrils,
4 my[ec] lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will whisper[ed] no deceit.
5 I will never[ee] declare that you three[ef] are in the right;
until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
6 I will maintain my righteousness
and never let it go;
my conscience[eg] will not reproach me
for as long as I live.[eh]
The Condition of the Wicked
7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,[ei]
my adversary[ej] like the unrighteous.[ek]
8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off,[el]
when God takes away his life?[em]
9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress overtakes him?
10 Will he find delight[en] in the Almighty?
Will he call out to God at all times?
11 I will teach you[eo] about the power[ep] of God;
what is on the Almighty’s mind[eq] I will not conceal.
12 If you yourselves have all seen this,
Why in the world[er] do you continue this meaningless talk?[es]
13 This is the portion of the wicked man
allotted by God,[et]
the inheritance that evildoers receive
from the Almighty.
14 If his children increase—it is for the sword![eu]
His offspring never have enough to eat.[ev]
15 Those who survive him are buried by the plague,[ew]
and their[ex] widows do not mourn for them.
16 If he piles up silver like dust
and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,
17 what he stores up[ey] a righteous man will wear,
and an innocent man will inherit his silver.
18 The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon,[ez]
like a hut[fa] that a watchman has made.
19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.[fb]
When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.[fc]
20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;[fd]
at night a whirlwind carries him off.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls itself against him without pity[fe]
as he flees headlong from its power.
23 It claps[ff] its hands at him in derision
and hisses him away from his place.[fg]
Paul Defends His Changed Plans
12 For our reason for confidence[a] is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives[b] and sincerity which are from God[c]—not by human wisdom[d] but by the grace of God—we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more[e] toward you. 13 For we do not write you anything other than what[f] you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely[g] 14 just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours[h] in the day of the Lord Jesus.[i] 15 And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us,[j] 16 and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back[k] to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you. 17 Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I?[l] Or do I make my plans[m] according to mere human standards[n] so that I would be saying[o] both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 But as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us—by me and Silvanus[p] and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him. 20 For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God. 21 But it is God who establishes[q] us together with you in Christ and who anointed us,[r] 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.[s]
Why Paul Postponed His Visit
23 Now I appeal to God as my witness,[t] that to spare[u] you I did not come again to Corinth.[v] 24 I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm.[w] 2 1 So[x] I made up my own mind[y] not to pay you another painful visit.[z] 2 For if I make you sad, who would be left to make me glad[aa] but the one I caused to be sad? 3 And I wrote this very thing to you,[ab] so that when I came[ac] I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours. 4 For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you.[ad] 5 But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate)[ae] he has saddened all of you as well. 6 This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, 7 so that now instead[af] you should rather forgive and comfort him.[ag] This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.[ah] 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.[ai] 9 For this reason also I wrote you:[aj] to test you to see[ak] if you are obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him—for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may not be exploited[al] by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).
Psalm 41[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
41 How blessed[b] is the one who treats the poor properly.[c]
When trouble comes,[d] may[e] the Lord deliver him.[f]
2 May the Lord protect him and save his life.[g]
May he be blessed[h] in the land.
Do not turn him over[i] to his enemies.[j]
3 The Lord supports[k] him on his sickbed;
you have healed him from his illness.[l]
4 As for me, I said:[m]
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.
5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me,[n]
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’[o]
6 When someone comes to visit,[p] he pretends to be friendly;[q]
he thinks of ways to defame me,[r]
and when he leaves he slanders me.[s]
7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another;[t]
they plan ways to harm me.
8 They say,[u]
‘An awful disease[v] overwhelms him,[w]
and now that he is bedridden he will never recover.’[x]
9 Even my close friend[y] whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.[z]
10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!”[aa]
11 By this[ab] I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does[ac] not triumph[ad] over me.
12 As for me, you uphold[ae] me because of my integrity;[af]
you allow[ag] me permanent access to your presence.[ah]
13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise[ai]
in the future and forevermore.[aj]
We agree! We agree![ak]
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