Day 239 of 365

¹Then Job answered,

²"How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?

³You have reproached me ten times. You aren't ashamed that you attack me.

⁴If it is true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.

⁵If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach;

⁶know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net.

⁷"Behold, I cry out 'Injustice!' but there is no justice.

⁸He has walled up my way so that I can't pass, and has set darkness in my paths.

⁹He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

¹⁰He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree.

¹¹He has also kindled his wrath against me. He counts me among his adversaries.

¹²His troops come on together, build a siege ramp against me, and encamp around my tent.

¹³"He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

¹⁴My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.

¹⁶I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer. I beg him with my mouth.

¹⁷My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.

¹⁸Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me.

¹⁹All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.

²⁰My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹"Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.

²²Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

²³"Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

²⁴That with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!

²⁵But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

²⁶After my skin is destroyed, then in my flesh shall I see God,

²⁷Whom I, even I, shall see on my side. My eyes shall see, and not as a stranger. "My heart is consumed within me.

²⁸If you say, 'How we will persecute him!' because the root of the matter is found in me,

²⁹be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

²"Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, even by reason of my haste that is in me.

³I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame. The spirit of my understanding answers me.

⁴Do you not know this from old time, since man was placed on earth,

⁵that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?

⁶Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds,

⁷yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?'

⁸He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found. Yes, he shall be chased away like a vision of the night.

⁹The eye which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more see him.

¹⁰His children shall seek the favor of the poor. His hands shall give back his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of his youth, but youth shall lie down with him in the dust.

¹²"Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,

¹³though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth;

¹⁴yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.

¹⁵He has swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.

¹⁶He shall suck cobra venom. The viper's tongue shall kill him.

¹⁷He shall not look at the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.

¹⁸That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down. According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice.

¹⁹For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up.

²⁰"Because he knew no quietness within him, he shall not save anything of that in which he delights.

²¹There was nothing left that he did not devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

²²In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him.

²³When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.

²⁴He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through.

²⁵He draws it forth, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him.

²⁶All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.

²⁷The heavens shall reveal his iniquity. The earth shall rise up against him.

²⁸The increase of his house shall depart. They shall rush away in the day of his wrath.

²⁹This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the heritage appointed to him by God."

¹Then Job answered,

²"Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.

³Allow me, and I also will speak; After I have spoken, mock on.

⁴As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn't I be impatient?

⁵Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth.

⁶When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.

⁷"Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?

⁸Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

¹⁰Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and do not miscarry.

¹¹They send forth their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.

¹²They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.

¹⁴They tell God, 'Depart from us, for we do not want to know about your ways.

¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?'

¹⁶Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷"How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger?

¹⁸How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?

¹⁹You say, 'God lays up his iniquity for his children.' Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it.

²⁰Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

²²"Shall any teach God knowledge, seeing he judges those who are high?

²³One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

²⁴His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.

²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.

²⁶They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.

²⁷"Behold, I know your thoughts, the devices with which you would wrong me.

²⁸For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'

²⁹Haven't you asked wayfaring men? Do you not know their evidences,

³⁰that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led forth to the day of wrath?

³¹Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done?

³²Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men shall keep watch over the tomb.

³³The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. All men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.

³⁴So how can you comfort me with nonsense, seeing that in your answers there remains only falsehood?"

¹I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

²I indeed declare, "Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them."

³"I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant,

⁴'I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations.'" Selah.

⁵The heavens will praise your wonders, Lord; your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like the Lord,

⁷a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him?

⁸Lord, God of Hosts, who is a mighty one, like you? Yah, your faithfulness is around you.

⁹You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up, you calm them.

¹⁰You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain. You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

¹¹The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours; the world and its fullness. You have founded them.

¹²The north and the south, you have created them. Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.

¹³You have a mighty arm. Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted.

¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face.

¹⁵Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, Lord.

¹⁶In your name they rejoice all day. In your righteousness, they are exalted.

¹⁷For you are the glory of their strength. In your favor, our horn will be exalted.

¹⁸For our shield belongs to the Lord; our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹Then you spoke in vision to your holy ones, and said, "I have bestowed strength on the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people.

²⁰I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil,

²¹with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen him.

²²No enemy will tax him. No wicked man will oppress him.

²³I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.

²⁴But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted.

²⁵I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers.

²⁶He will call to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!'

²⁷I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸I will keep my loving kindness for him forevermore. My covenant will stand firm with him.

²⁹I will also make his seed endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰If his children forsake my Law, and do not walk in my ordinances;

³¹if they break my statutes, and do not keep my commandments;

³²then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

³³But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.

³⁴I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.

³⁵Once have I sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David.

³⁶His seed will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me.

³⁷It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." Selah.

³⁸But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed.

³⁹You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You have defiled his crown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have broken down all his hedges. You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

⁴¹All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors.

⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries. You have made all of his enemies rejoice.

⁴³Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, and haven't supported him in battle.

⁴⁴You have ended his splendor, and thrown his throne down to the ground.

⁴⁵You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah.

⁴⁶How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my time is! For what vanity have you created all the children of men!

⁴⁸What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.

⁴⁹Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, which you swore to David in your faithfulness?

⁵⁰Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples,

⁵¹With which your enemies have mocked, Lord, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.

⁵²Blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen, and Amen.

¹A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have this in common: The Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

⁴The result of humility and the fear of the Lord is wealth, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked: whoever guards his soul stays from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁹He who has a generous eye will be blessed; for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.

¹¹He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king's friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord watch over knowledge; but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!"

¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit: he who is under the Lord's wrath will fall into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

¹⁶Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.

¹⁷Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

¹⁹That your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.

²⁰Haven't I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,

²¹To teach you truth, reliable words, to give sound answers to the ones who sent you?

²²Do not exploit the poor, because he is poor; and do not crush the needy in court;

²³for the Lord will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.

²⁴Do not befriend a hot-tempered man, and do not associate with one who harbors anger:

²⁵lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.

²⁶Do not be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.

²⁷If you do not have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary stone, which your fathers have set up.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won't serve obscure men.