1 Corinthians 12-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Spiritual Gifts
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts,[a] brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant.(A) 2 You know that when you were gentiles you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.(B) 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.(C)
4 Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit,(D) 5 and there are varieties of services but the same Lord,(E) 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.(F) 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,(G) 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,(H) 10 to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.(I) 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.(J)
One Body with Many Members
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.(K) 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.(L)
14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.(M) 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.(N) 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work powerful deeds? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?(O) 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.(P)
The Gift of Love
13 If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.(Q) 3 If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.(R)
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant(S) 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs;(T) 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.(U) 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.(V)
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.(W) 13 And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.
Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues
14 Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts and especially that you may prophesy.(X) 2 For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God, for no one understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit.(Y) 3 But those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.(Z) 4 Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church. 5 Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.(AA)
6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?(AB) 7 It is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute or the harp. If they do not give distinct notes, how will what is being played on the flute or harp be recognized? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?(AC) 9 So with yourselves: If in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.(AD) 10 There are doubtless many different kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is without sound. 11 If then I do not know the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.(AE) 12 So with yourselves: since you are striving after spiritual gifts, seek to excel in them for building up the church.
13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. 15 What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.(AF) 16 Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying?(AG) 17 For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up.(AH) 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; 19 nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20 Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.(AI) 21 In the law it is written,
“By people of strange tongues
and by the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
yet even then they will not listen to me,”
says the Lord.(AJ) 22 Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the entire church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?(AK) 24 But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all. 25 After the secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship, declaring, “God is really among you.”
Orderly Worship
26 What should be done then, my brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.(AL) 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three and each in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If someone sitting receives a revelation, let the first person be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged 32 (and the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets, 33 for God is a God not of disorder but of peace), as in all the churches of the saints.
34 Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak but should be subordinate, as the law also says.(AM) 35 If there is something they want to learn, let them ask their husbands at home.[c] For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.[d] 36 Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
37 Anyone who claims to be a prophet or spiritual must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command[e] of the Lord.(AN) 38 Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized. 39 So, my brothers and sisters, strive to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues,(AO) 40 but all things should be done decently and in order.
The Resurrection of Christ
15 Now I want you to understand, brothers and sisters, the good news[f] that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,(AP) 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.(AQ)
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures(AR) 4 and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures(AS) 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.(AT) 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.[g] 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.(AU) 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.(AV) 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.(AW) 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me.(AX) 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.(AY) 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died[h] in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.[i](AZ) 21 For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human,(BA) 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power.(BB) 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.(BC) 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.(BD) 27 For “God[j] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him.(BE) 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.(BF)
29 Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
30 And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour?(BG) 31 I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord.(BH) 32 If I fought with wild animals at Ephesus with a merely human perspective, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”(BI)
33 Do not be deceived:
“Bad company ruins good morals.”
34 Sober up, as you rightly ought to, and sin no more, for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.(BJ)
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.(BK) 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.(BL) 44 It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.(BM) 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is[k] from heaven.(BN) 48 As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will[l] also bear the image of the one of heaven.(BO)
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.(BP) 51 Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,[m] but we will all be changed,(BQ) 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.(BR) 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”(BS)
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.(BT) 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.(BU)
The Collection for the Saints
16 Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia.(BV) 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.(BW) 3 And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
Plans for Travel
5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia—for I intend to pass through Macedonia(BX)— 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go. 7 I do not want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
10 If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord just as I am;(BY) 11 therefore let no one despise him. Send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers and sisters.(BZ)
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers and sisters, but he was not at all willing to come now. He will come when he has the opportunity.(CA)
Final Messages and Greetings
13 Keep alert; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.(CB) 14 Let all that you do be done in love.(CC)
15 Now, brothers and sisters, you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first fruits in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints;(CD) 16 I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people and of everyone who works and toils with them.(CE) 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence,(CF) 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such persons.(CG)
19 The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.(CH) 20 All the brothers and sisters send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.[o]
Footnotes
- 12.1 Or spiritual persons
- 13.3 Other ancient authorities read body to be burned
- 14.35 Gk in a household
- 14.35 Other ancient authorities put 14.34–35 after 14.40
- 14.37 Other ancient authorities lack a command
- 15.1 Or gospel
- 15.6 Gk fallen asleep
- 15.18 Gk fallen asleep
- 15.20 Gk fallen asleep
- 15.27 Gk he
- 15.47 Other ancient authorities add the Lord
- 15.49 Other ancient authorities read let us
- 15.51 Gk fall asleep
- 16.22 Or Our Lord has come
- 16.24 Other ancient authorities add Amen
Job 15-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Undermines Religion
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Should the wise answer with windy knowledge
and fill themselves with the east wind?(A)
3 Should they argue in unprofitable talk
or in words that can do no good?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God
and hindering meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.(B)
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.(C)
7 “Are you the firstborn of the human race?
Were you brought forth before the hills?(D)
8 Have you listened in the council of God?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?(E)
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?(F)
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
those older than your father.(G)
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you
or the word that deals gently with you?(H)
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,[a]
13 so that you turn your spirit against God,
and let such words go out of your mouth?(I)
14 What are mortals, that they can be clean?
Or those born of woman, that they can be righteous?(J)
15 God puts no trust even in his holy ones,
and the heavens are not clean in his sight;(K)
16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
one who drinks iniquity like water!(L)
17 “I will show you; listen to me;
what I have seen I will declare—
18 what sages have told
and their ancestors have not hidden,(M)
19 to whom alone the land was given,
and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked writhe in pain all their days,
through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.(N)
21 Terrifying sounds are in their ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.(O)
22 They despair of returning from darkness,
and they are destined for the sword.(P)
23 They wander abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;(Q)
24 distress and anguish terrify them;
they prevail against them like a king prepared for battle.
25 Because they stretched out their hands against God
and bid defiance to the Almighty,[b](R)
26 running stubbornly against him
with a thickly bossed shield;
27 because they have covered their faces with their fat
and gathered fat upon their loins,(S)
28 they will live in desolate cities,
in houses that no one should inhabit,
houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
29 they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure,
nor will they strike root in the earth;[c](T)
30 they will not escape from darkness;
the flame will dry up their shoots,
and their blossom[d] will be swept away by the wind.(U)
31 Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves,
for emptiness will be their recompense.(V)
32 It will be paid in full before their time,
and their branch will not be green.(W)
33 They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine,
and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.(X)
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribery.(Y)
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil,
and their belly prepares deceit.”(Z)
Job Reaffirms His Innocence
16 Then Job answered:
2 “I have heard many such things;
miserable comforters are you all.
3 Have windy words no limit?
Or what provokes you that you keep on talking?(AA)
4 I also could talk as you do,
if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
and shake my head at you.(AB)
5 I could encourage you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
6 “If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,
and if I refrain, how much of it leaves me?
7 Surely now God has worn me out;
he has[e] made desolate all my company.(AC)
8 And he has[f] shriveled me up,
which is a witness against me;
my leanness has risen up against me,
and it testifies to my face.(AD)
9 He has torn me in his wrath and hated me;
he has gnashed his teeth at me;
my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.(AE)
10 They have gaped at me with their mouths;
they have struck me insolently on the cheek;
they mass themselves together against me.(AF)
11 God gives me up to the evil
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.(AG)
12 I was at ease, and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;(AH)
13 his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys and shows no mercy;
he pours out my gall on the ground.(AI)
14 He bursts upon me again and again;
he rushes at me like a warrior.(AJ)
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin
and have laid my strength in the dust.(AK)
16 My face is red with weeping,
and deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 though there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.(AL)
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood;
let my outcry find no resting place.(AM)
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is on high.(AN)
20 My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God,
as[g] one does for a neighbor.(AO)
22 For when a few years have come,
I shall go the way from which I shall not return.(AP)
Job Prays for Relief
17 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct;
the grave is ready for me.(AQ)
2 Surely there are mockers around me,
and my eye dwells on their provocation.(AR)
3 “Lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is there who will give surety for me?(AS)
4 Since you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not let them triumph.(AT)
5 Those who denounce friends for reward—
the eyes of their children will fail.(AU)
6 “He has made me a byword of the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.(AV)
7 My eye has grown dim from grief,
and all my members are like a shadow.(AW)
8 The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent stir themselves up against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous hold to their way,
and they who have clean hands grow stronger and stronger.(AX)
10 But you, come back now, all of you,
and I shall not find a sensible person among you.
11 My days are past; my plans are broken off,
the desires of my heart.(AY)
12 They make night into day;
‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’[h]
13 If I look for Sheol as my house,
if I spread my couch in darkness,(AZ)
14 if I say to the Pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’(BA)
15 where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?(BB)
16 Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
Shall we descend together into the dust?”(BC)
Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Consider, and then we shall speak.
3 Why are we counted as cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?(BD)
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
shall the earth be forsaken because of you
or the rock be removed out of its place?(BE)
5 “Surely the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of their fire does not shine.(BF)
6 The light is dark in their tent,
and the lamp above them is put out.
7 Their strong steps are shortened,
and their own schemes throw them down.(BG)
8 For they are thrust into a net by their own feet,
and they walk into a pitfall.(BH)
9 A trap seizes them by the heel;
a snare lays hold of them.(BI)
10 A rope is hid for them in the ground,
a trap for them in the path.(BJ)
11 Terrors frighten them on every side
and chase them at their heels.(BK)
12 Their strength is consumed by hunger,[i]
and calamity is ready for their stumbling.(BL)
13 By disease their skin is consumed;[j]
the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.
14 They are torn from the tent in which they trusted
and are brought to the king of terrors.(BM)
15 In their tents nothing remains;
sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.(BN)
16 Their roots dry up beneath,
and their branches wither above.(BO)
17 Their memory perishes from the earth,
and they have no name in the street.(BP)
18 They are thrust from light into darkness
and driven out of the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendant among their people
and no survivor where they used to live.(BQ)
20 They of the west are appalled at their fate,
and horror seizes those of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly;
such is the place of those who do not know God.”(BR)
Job Replies: I Know That My Vindicator Lives
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
4 And even if it is true that I have erred,
my error remains with me.(BS)
5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
and make my humiliation an argument against me,(BT)
6 know then that God has put me in the wrong
and closed his net around me.(BU)
7 Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I am not answered;
I call aloud, but there is no justice.(BV)
8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.(BW)
9 He has stripped my glory from me
and taken the crown from my head.(BX)
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.(BY)
11 He has kindled his wrath against me
and counts me as his adversary.(BZ)
12 His troops come on together;
they have thrown up siegeworks[k] against me
and encamp around my tent.(CA)
13 “He has put my family far from me,
and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives and my close friends have failed me;
15 the guests in my house have forgotten me;
my female servants count me as a stranger;
I have become an alien in their eyes.(CB)
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
I must myself plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me;
when I rise, they talk against me.(CC)
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I love have turned against me.(CD)
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.(CE)
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!(CF)
22 Why do you, like God, pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?(CG)
23 “O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!(CH)
24 O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!(CI)
25 For I know that my vindicator[l] lives
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth;(CJ)
26 and after my skin has been destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,(CK)
27 whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!(CL)
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’(CM)
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment.”(CN)
Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Just Retribution
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Listen! My thoughts urge me to answer
because of the agitation within me.
3 I hear censure that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.(CO)
4 Do you not know this from of old,
ever since mortals were placed on earth,(CP)
5 that the exulting of the wicked is short
and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?(CQ)
6 Even though they mount up high as the heavens
and their head reaches to the clouds,(CR)
7 they will perish forever like their own dung;
those who have seen them will say, ‘Where are they?’
8 They will fly away like a dream and not be found;
they will be chased away like a vision of the night.(CS)
9 The eye that saw them will see them no more,
nor will their place behold them any longer.(CT)
10 Their children will seek the favor of the poor,
and their hands will give back their wealth.(CU)
11 Their bodies, once full of youth,
will lie down in the dust with them.(CV)
12 “Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
though they hide it under their tongues,(CW)
13 though they are loath to let it go
and hold it in their mouths,
14 yet their food is turned in their stomachs;
it is the venom of asps within them.
15 They swallow down riches and vomit them up again;
God casts them out of their bellies.
16 They will suck the poison of asps;
the tongue of a viper will kill them.(CX)
17 They will not look on the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and curds.(CY)
18 They will give back the fruit of their toil
and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading
they will get no enjoyment.(CZ)
19 For they have crushed and abandoned the poor;
they have seized a house that they did not build.(DA)
20 “For they knew no quiet in their bellies;
in their greed they let nothing escape.(DB)
21 There was nothing left after they had eaten;
therefore their prosperity will not endure.(DC)
22 In full sufficiency they will be in distress;
all the force of misery will come upon them.
23 To fill their belly to the full,
God[m] will send his fierce anger into them
and rain it upon them as their food.(DD)
24 They will flee from an iron weapon;
a bronze arrow will strike them through.(DE)
25 It is drawn forth and comes out of their body,
and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
terrors come upon them.(DF)
26 Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures;
a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
what is left in their tent will be consumed.(DG)
27 The heavens will reveal their iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against them.(DH)
28 The possessions of their house will be carried away,
dragged off in the day of God’s[n] wrath.(DI)
29 This is the portion of the wicked from God,
the heritage decreed for them by God.”(DJ)
Job Replies: The Wicked Often Go Unpunished
21 Then Job answered:
2 “Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak;
then after I have spoken, mock on.(DK)
4 As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals?
Why should I not be impatient?(DL)
5 Look at me and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.(DM)
6 When I think of it I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?(DN)
8 Their children are established in their presence
and their offspring before their eyes.(DO)
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.(DP)
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and never miscarries.(DQ)
11 They send out their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.(DR)
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.(DS)
14 They say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We do not desire to know your ways.(DT)
15 What is the Almighty,[o] that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’(DU)
16 Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement?[p]
The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.(DV)
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does calamity come upon them?
How often does God[q] distribute pains in his anger?(DW)
18 How often are they like straw before the wind
and like chaff that the storm carries away?(DX)
19 You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.(DY)
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.[r](DZ)
21 For what do they care for their household after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
22 Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he judges those who are on high?(EA)
23 One dies in full prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.(EB)
27 “Oh, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’(EC)
29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
30 that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity
and are rescued in the day of wrath?(ED)
31 Who declares their way to their face,
and who repays them for what they have done?
32 When they are carried to the grave,
a watch is kept over their tomb.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to them;
everyone will follow after,
and those who went before are innumerable.(EE)
34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”
Footnotes
- 15.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 15.25 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 15.29 Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 15.30 Gk: Heb mouth
- 16.7 Heb you have
- 16.8 Heb you have
- 16.21 Syr Vg Tg: Heb and
- 17.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 18.12 Or Disaster is hungry for them
- 18.13 Cn: Heb It consumes the limbs of his skin
- 19.12 Cn: Heb their way
- 19.25 Or redeemer
- 20.23 Heb he
- 20.28 Heb his
- 21.15 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 21.16 Heb in their hand
- 21.17 Heb he
- 21.20 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
Proverbs 19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 Better the poor walking in integrity
than one perverse of speech who is a fool.(A)
2 Desire without knowledge is not good,
and one who moves too hurriedly misses the way.
3 One’s own folly leads to ruin,
yet the heart rages against the Lord.(B)
4 Wealth brings many friends,
but the poor are left friendless.(C)
5 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and a liar will not escape.(D)
6 Many seek the favor of the generous,
and everyone is a friend to a giver of gifts.(E)
7 If the poor are hated even by their kin,
how much more are they shunned by their friends!
When they call after them, they are not there.[a](F)
8 To get wisdom is to love oneself;
to keep understanding is to prosper.(G)
9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and the liar will perish.
10 It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury,
much less for a slave to rule over princes.(H)
11 Those with good sense are slow to anger,
and it is their glory to overlook an offense.(I)
12 A king’s anger is like the growling of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.(J)
13 A stupid child is ruin to a father,
and a wife’s quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.(K)
14 House and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.(L)
15 Laziness brings on deep sleep;
an idle person will suffer hunger.(M)
16 Those who keep the commandment will live;
those who are heedless of their ways will die.(N)
17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord
and will be repaid in full.(O)
18 Discipline your children while there is hope;
do not set your heart on their destruction.(P)
19 A violent-tempered person will pay the penalty;
if you effect a rescue, you will only have to do it again.[b]
20 Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom for the future.(Q)
21 The human mind may devise many plans,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.(R)
22 What is desirable in a person is loyalty,
and it is better to be poor than a liar.
23 The fear of the Lord is life indeed;
filled with it one rests secure
and suffers no harm.(S)
24 The lazy person buries a hand in the dish
and will not even bring it back to the mouth.(T)
25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence;
reprove the intelligent, and they will gain knowledge.(U)
26 Those who do violence to their father and chase away their mother
are children who cause shame and bring reproach.
27 My child, stop ignoring instruction,
straying[c] from words of knowledge.
28 A worthless witness mocks at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.(V)
29 Punishments are prepared for scoffers
and flogging for the backs of fools.(W)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.