Zophar Rebukes Job

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

“Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,
And a (A)talkative man be acquitted?
Shall your boasts silence people?
And will you (B)scoff, and no one rebuke?
For (C)you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And (D)I am innocent in your eyes.’
But if only God would speak,
And open His lips against you,
And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom [a](E)has two sides.
Know then that God [b]forgets part of (F)your guilt.

(G)Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
They are as (H)high as [c]the heavens; what can you do?
Deeper than [d](I)Sheol; what can you know?
Its measurement is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.
10 If He passes by or apprehends people,
Or calls an assembly, (J)who can restrain Him?
11 For (K)He knows false people,
And He (L)sees injustice [e]without investigating.
12 [f](M)An idiot will become intelligent
When a (N)wild donkey is born a human.

13 (O)If you would (P)direct your heart rightly
And (Q)spread out your hands to Him,
14 If wrongdoing is in your hand, (R)put it far away,
And do not let malice dwell in your tents;
15 Then, indeed, you could (S)lift up your face without moral blemish,
And you would be firmly established and (T)not fear.
16 For you would (U)forget your trouble;
Like (V)waters that have passed by, you would remember it.
17 Your [g]life would [h]be (W)brighter than noonday;
Darkness would be like the morning.
18 Then you would trust, because there is hope;
And you would look around and rest securely.
19 You would (X)lie down and none would disturb you,
And many would [i](Y)flatter you.
20 But the (Z)eyes of the wicked will fail,
And [j]there will (AA)be no escape for them;
And their (AB)hope is [k](AC)to breathe their last.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 11:6 Lit is double
  2. Job 11:6 Lit causes to be forgotten for you
  3. Job 11:8 Lit the heights of heaven
  4. Job 11:8 I.e., the netherworld
  5. Job 11:11 Or and does not investigate
  6. Job 11:12 Lit A hollow man
  7. Job 11:17 Lit lifespan
  8. Job 11:17 Lit rise above noonday
  9. Job 11:19 Lit soften your face
  10. Job 11:20 Lit escape has perished from them
  11. Job 11:20 Lit the expiring of the soul

Misuse of Riches

(A)Come now, (B)you rich people, (C)weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. (D)Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will [a]serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is (E)in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, (F)the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and (G)the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of (H)the Lord [b]of armies. You have [c](I)lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have [d]fattened your hearts in (J)a day of slaughter. You have condemned and [e](K)put to death (L)the righteous person; he offers you no resistance.

Exhortation

Therefore be patient, (M)brothers and sisters, (N)until the coming of the Lord. (O)The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until [f]it gets (P)the early and late rains. (Q)You too be patient; (R)strengthen your hearts, for (S)the coming of the Lord is (T)near. (U)Do not [g]complain, (V)brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, (W)the Judge is standing [h](X)right at the [i]door. 10 As an example, (Y)brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take (Z)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those (AA)blessed who endured. You have heard of (AB)the [j]endurance of Job and have seen (AC)the [k]outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that (AD)the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

12 But above all, (AE)my brothers and sisters, (AF)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but [l]your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.

13 Is anyone among you (AG)suffering? (AH)Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to (AI)sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for (AJ)the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, [m](AK)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the (AL)prayer of faith will [n](AM)restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will (AN)raise him up, and if he has committed sins, [o]they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, (AO)confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be (AP)healed. (AQ)A [p]prayer of a righteous person, when it is [q]brought about, can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was (AR)a man with a nature like ours, and (AS)he prayed [r]earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for (AT)three years and six months. 18 Then he (AU)prayed again, and (AV)the sky [s]poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

19 My brothers and sisters, (AW)if anyone among you strays from (AX)the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will (AY)save his soul from death and (AZ)cover a multitude of sins.

Footnotes

  1. James 5:3 Lit be for
  2. James 5:4 Gr sabaoth, for Heb tsebaoth
  3. James 5:5 Or led a life of self-indulgence
  4. James 5:5 Lit nourished
  5. James 5:6 Or murdered
  6. James 5:7 Or he
  7. James 5:9 Lit groan
  8. James 5:9 Lit before
  9. James 5:9 Lit doors
  10. James 5:11 Or steadfastness
  11. James 5:11 Lit end of the Lord
  12. James 5:12 Lit yours is to be yes, yes, and no, no
  13. James 5:14 Lit having anointed
  14. James 5:15 Lit save
  15. James 5:15 Lit it
  16. James 5:16 Or supplication
  17. James 5:16 I.e., granted by God
  18. James 5:17 Lit with prayer
  19. James 5:18 Lit gave

Job Chides His Accusers

12 Then Job responded,

“Truly then (A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
But (B)I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And [a]who does not know such things as these?
I am a (C)joke to [b]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and (D)blameless man is a joke.
[c]He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
The (E)tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God (F)are secure,
[d]Whom God brings (G)into their power.

“But just ask the animals, and have them teach you;
And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.
Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you;
And have the fish of the sea tell you.
Who among all these does not know
That (H)the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 (I)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And (J)the breath of all mankind?
11 Does (K)the ear not put words to the test,
As the palate [e]tastes its food?
12 Wisdom is with the (L)aged,
And with [f]long life comes understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God

13 (M)Wisdom and (N)might are with Him;
Advice and (O)understanding belong to Him.
14 Behold, He (P)tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He [g](Q)imprisons a person, and [h]there is no release.
15 Behold, He (R)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He (S)sends them out, and they [i]inundate the earth.
16 Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.
One who (T)goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.
17 He makes (U)advisers walk [j]barefoot
And makes fools of (V)judges.
18 He (W)undoes the binding of kings,
And ties a loincloth around their waist.
19 He makes priests walk [k]barefoot,
And overthrows (X)the secure ones.
20 He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And (Y)takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 He (Z)pours contempt on nobles,
And (AA)loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He (AB)reveals mysteries from the darkness,
And brings the deep darkness into light.
23 He (AC)makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He [l]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 He (AD)deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of [m]intelligence
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
25 They (AE)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them (AF)stagger like a drunken person.

Footnotes

  1. Job 12:3 Lit with whom is there not like these?
  2. Job 12:4 Lit his
  3. Job 12:5 Lit Contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease
  4. Job 12:6 Or He who brings God into his hand.
  5. Job 12:11 Lit tastes food for itself
  6. Job 12:12 Lit length of days
  7. Job 12:14 Lit shuts against
  8. Job 12:14 Lit it is not opened
  9. Job 12:15 Lit overturn
  10. Job 12:17 Or stripped
  11. Job 12:19 Or stripped
  12. Job 12:23 Or spreads out
  13. Job 12:24 Lit heart

Parable of the Sower and Soils

Again (A)He began to teach (B)by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that (C)He got into a boat on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. And He was teaching them many things in (D)parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.” And He was saying, (E)He who has ears to hear, [a]let him hear.”

10 As soon as He was alone, [b]His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for (F)those who are outside, everything comes (G)in parables, 12 so that (H)while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them.”

Explanation of the Parable

13 (I)And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately (J)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they [c]fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of (K)the [d]world, and the (L)deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it [e]becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and (M)bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”

21 And He was saying to them, (N)A lamp is not brought to be put under a [f]basket, or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 (O)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 (P)If anyone has ears to hear, [g]let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. [h](Q)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 (R)For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Parable of the Seed

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up daily, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the stalk, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 Now when the crop permits, he immediately [i](S)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 (T)And He was saying, “How shall we [j](U)picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is the smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and forms large branches, with the result that (V)the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.”

33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to [k]understand it; 34 and He did not speak to them (W)without a parable; but He was (X)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:9 Or hear! or listen!
  2. Mark 4:10 Lit those about Him
  3. Mark 4:17 I.e., from the faith
  4. Mark 4:19 Or age
  5. Mark 4:19 Or proves to be unfruitful
  6. Mark 4:21 Lit peck-measure
  7. Mark 4:23 Or hear! or listen!
  8. Mark 4:24 Lit By what measure you measure
  9. Mark 4:29 Lit sends forth
  10. Mark 4:30 Lit compare
  11. Mark 4:33 Lit hear

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