Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
1 Then zEliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 a“Can a man be profitable to God?
Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,
or is it gain to him if you bmake your ways blameless?
4 Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you
and centers into judgment with you?
5 Is not your evil abundant?
There is no end to your iniquities.
6 For you have dexacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
eand stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have fwithheld bread from the hungry.
8 gThe man with power possessed the land,
and hthe favored man lived in it.
9 You have isent widows away empty,
and jthe arms of kthe fatherless were crushed.
10 Therefore lsnares are all around you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11 or mdarkness, so that you cannot see,
12 “Is not God high in the heavens?
See pthe highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 But you say, q‘What does God know?
Can he judge through rthe deep darkness?
14 sThick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,
and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way
that wicked men have trod?
16 They were snatched away tbefore their time;
their foundation was washed away.1
17 They said to God, u‘Depart from us,’
and v‘What can the Almighty do to us?’2
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
but wthe counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 xThe righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent one ymocks at them,
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
and what they left zthe fire has consumed.’
21 a“Agree with God, and bbe at peace;
thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from chis mouth,
and dlay up his words in your heart.
23 If you ereturn to the Almighty you will be fbuilt up;
if you gremove injustice far from your tents,
24 if you lay gold in hthe dust,
and gold of iOphir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold
and your precious silver.
26 For then you jwill delight yourself in the Almighty
and klift up your face to God.
27 You will lmake your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
and you will mpay your vows.
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and nlight will shine on your ways.
29 For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;3
but he saves othe lowly.
30 He pdelivers even the one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through qthe cleanness of your hands.”
Job Replies: Where Is God?
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Today also my rcomplaint is bitter;4
my shand is heavy on account of my groaning.
3 Oh, tthat I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his useat!
4 I would vlay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he wcontend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; he would pay attention to me.
7 There an upright man could argue with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 “Behold, xI go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
10 But he yknows zthe way that I atake;
when he has btried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 My foot chas held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have dnot turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have etreasured the words of his mouth more than my fportion of food.
13 But he is unchangeable,5 and gwho can turn him back?
What he hdesires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he iappoints for me,
and many such things are jin his mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my kheart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
nor because thick darkness covers my face.
There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to pMahalath. A Maskil1 of David.
1 qThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,2
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
rwhere there is no terror!
For God sscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Temptations to Sin
1 And he said to his disciples, u“Temptations to sin1 are vsure to come, but wwoe to the one through whom they come! 2 xIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.2 3 Pay attention to yourselves! yIf your brother sins, zrebuke him, and if he repents, aforgive him, 4 and if he sins against you bseven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Increase Our Faith
5 cThe apostles said to the Lord, d“Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, e“If you had faith like fa grain of mustard seed, you could say to this gmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Unworthy Servants
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant3 plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and hdress properly,4 and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are iunworthy servants;5 we have only done what was our duty.’”
Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers
11 jOn the way to Jerusalem khe was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,6 lwho stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and mshow yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, npraising God with a loud voice; 16 and ohe fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was pa Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not qten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and rgive praise to God except this sforeigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; tyour faith has tmade you well.”7
The Coming of the Kingdom
20 Being asked by the Pharisees uwhen the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God vis not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”8
22 And he said to the disciples, x“The days are coming when you will desire yto see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 zAnd they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 aFor as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be bin his day.9 25 But first che must suffer many things and cbe rejected by this generation. 26 dJust as it was in the days of eNoah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 fThey were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of gLot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 hbut on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be ion the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, jlet the one who is on kthe housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 lRemember Lot’s wife. 33 mWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will nkeep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 oThere will be two women pgrinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”10 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, q“Where the corpse11 is, there the vultures12 will gather.”
