Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God
1 “Behold, my eye has seen all this,
my ear has heard and understood it.
2 cWhat you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 dBut I would speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to eargue my case with God.
4 As for you, fyou whitewash with lies;
gworthless physicians are you all.
5 Oh that you would hkeep silent,
and it would be your wisdom!
6 Hear now my argument
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will you ispeak falsely for God
and speak ideceitfully for him?
8 Will you show partiality toward him?
Will you jplead the case for God?
9 Will it be well with you when he ksearches you out?
Or lcan you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
10 He will surely rebuke you
if in secret you show partiality.
11 Will not his mmajesty terrify you,
and the dread of him fall upon you?
12 Your maxims are proverbs of nashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
13 “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
and let come on me what may.
14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
and oput my life in my hand?
15 pThough he slay me, I will qhope in him;1
yet I will rargue my ways to his face.
16 This will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.
17 sKeep listening to my words,
and let my declaration be in your ears.
18 Behold, I have tprepared my case;
I know that I shall be in the right.
19 uWho is there who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
20 Only grant me two things,
then I will not vhide myself from your face:
21 wwithdraw your hand far from me,
and let not xdread of you terrify me.
22 yThen call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.
23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?
zMake me know my transgression and my sin.
24 Why ado you hide your face
and bcount me as your enemy?
25 Will you frighten ca driven leaf
and pursue dry dchaff?
26 For you ewrite bitter things against me
and make me inherit fthe iniquities of my youth.
27 You put my feet in gthe stocks
and hwatch all my paths;
you set a limit for2 the soles of my feet.
28 Man3 wastes away like ia rotten thing,
like a garment that is jmoth-eaten.
Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All
1 “Man who is kborn of a woman
is lfew of days and mfull of trouble.
2 He comes out like na flower and owithers;
he flees like pa shadow and continues not.
3 And do you qopen your eyes on such a one
and rbring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring sa clean thing out of an unclean?
There is not one.
5 Since his tdays are determined,
and uthe number of his months is with you,
and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
6 vlook away from him and leave him alone,4
that he may enjoy, like wa hired hand, his day.
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root grow old in the earth,
and xits stump die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put out ybranches like a young plant.
10 But a man dies and is laid low;
man breathes his last, and zwhere is he?
11 aAs waters fail from a lake
and a river wastes away and dries up,
12 so a man lies down and rises not again;
till bthe heavens are no more he will not awake
or be croused out of his sleep.
13 Oh that you would dhide me in eSheol,
that you would dconceal me funtil your wrath be past,
that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my gservice I would hwait,
till my renewal5 should come.
15 You would icall, and I would answer you;
you would long for the jwork of your hands.
16 For then you would knumber my steps;
you would not keep lwatch over my sin;
17 my transgression would be msealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity.
18 “But the mountain falls and ncrumbles away,
and othe rock is removed from its place;
19 the waters wear away the stones;
the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of man.
20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes;
you change his countenance, and send him away.
21 His sons come to honor, and he pdoes not know it;
they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
22 He feels only the pain of his own body,
and he mourns only for himself.”
Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of fthe Sons of Korah.
1 gHear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 hboth low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak iwisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to ja proverb;
I will solve my kriddle to the music of the lyre.
5 lWhy should I fear in mtimes of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who ntrust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man ocan ransom another,
or pgive to God qthe price of his life,
8 for rthe ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and snever see the pit.
10 For he sees tthat even the wise die;
uthe fool and the stupid alike must perish
and vleave their wealth to others.
11 Their wgraves are their homes forever,1
their dwelling places xto all generations,
though they ycalled lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp zwill not remain;
ahe is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have bfoolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.2 Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright cshall rule over them in the morning.
dTheir form shall be consumed ein Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will fransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will greceive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 hFor when he dies he will icarry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself jblessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will kgo to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again lsee light.
20 mMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Repent or Perish
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood pPilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, q“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you rrepent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in sSiloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you rrepent, you will all likewise perish.”
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
6 And he told this parable: “A man had ta fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. uCut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
A Woman with a Disabling Spirit
10 Now vhe was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had wa disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he xlaid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she yglorified God. 14 But zthe ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus ahad healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, b“There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! cDoes not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, da daughter of Abraham whom eSatan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, fall his adversaries were put to shame, and gall the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
18 hHe said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like ia grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 jIt is like leaven that a woman took and hid in kthree measures of flour, until it was lall leavened.”
The Narrow Door
22 mHe went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and njourneying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, owill those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 p“Strive qto enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 rWhen once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, s‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, t‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, u‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, tI do not know where you come from. vDepart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 wIn that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see wAbraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but wyou yourselves cast out. 29 And wpeople will come from east and west, and from north and south, and xrecline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, ysome are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Lament over Jerusalem
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from zhere, for aHerod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day bI finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, cI dmust go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that ea prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 fO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that gkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! hHow often would I have igathered jyour children together kas a hen gathers her brood lunder her wings, and myou were not willing! 35 Behold, nyour house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, o‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
