¹⁵ See, I set before you today life^(A) and prosperity,^(B) death^(C) and destruction.^{(D) 16} For I command you today to love^(E) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live^(F) and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

⁸ Keep this Book of the Law^(A) always on your lips;^(B) meditate^(C) on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.^(D)

³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging,^(A) and even chains and imprisonment.^{(B) 37} They were put to death by stoning;^[a](C) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^(D) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^(E) destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(F) and in holes in the ground.

³⁹ These were all commended^(G) for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,^{(H) 40} since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^(I) would they be made perfect.^(J)

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?^(A) There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God^(B) and shuns evil.”^(C)

⁹ “Does Job fear God for nothing?”^(D) Satan replied. ¹⁰ “Have you not put a hedge^(E) around him and his household and everything he has?^(F) You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.^{(G) 11} But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has,^(H) and he will surely curse you to your face.”^(I)

¹² The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has^(J) is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”^(K)

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

¹³ One day when Job’s sons and daughters^(L) were feasting^(M) and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing^(N) nearby, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans^(O) attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens^(P) and burned up the sheep and the servants,^(Q) and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans^(R) formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters^(S) were feasting^(T) and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ when suddenly a mighty wind^(U) swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead,^(V) and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!^(W)”

²⁰ At this, Job got up and tore his robe^(X) and shaved his head.^(Y) Then he fell to the ground in worship^{(Z) 21} and said:

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(A) he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern.^(B) The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites^(C) coming from Gilead.^(D) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm^(E) and myrrh,^(F) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.^(G)

²⁶ Judah^(H) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?^{(I) 27} Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,^(J) our own flesh and blood.^(K)” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite^(L) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^(M) and sold^(N) him for twenty shekels^[a] of silver^(O) to the Ishmaelites,^(P) who took him to Egypt.^(Q)

⁷ and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”^(A)

⁸ But he refused.^(B) “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.^{(C) 9} No one is greater in this house than I am.^(D) My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”^{(E) 10} And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused^(F) to go to bed with her or even be with her.

¹¹ One day he went into the house to attend to his duties,^(G) and none of the household servants^(H) was inside. ¹² She caught him by his cloak^(I) and said, “Come to bed with me!”^(J) But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.^(K)

¹³ When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴ she called her household servants.^(L) “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew^(M) has been brought to us to make sport of us!^(N) He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.^{(O) 15} When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”^(P)

¹⁶ She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him this story:^(Q) “That Hebrew^(R) slave^(S) you brought us came to me to make sport of me. ¹⁸ But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger.^{(T) 20} Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison,^(U) the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison,

²³ Are they servants of Christ?^(A) (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder,^(B) been in prison more frequently,^(C) been flogged more severely,^(D) and been exposed to death again and again.^{(E) 24} Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes^(F) minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods,^(G) once I was pelted with stones,^(H) three times I was shipwrecked,^(I) I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews,^(J) in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city,^(K) in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.^{(L) 27} I have labored and toiled^(M) and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;^(N) I have been cold and naked.

BOOK III

Psalms 73–89

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph.