Zophar

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite^(A) replied:

Warning to Rich Oppressors

5 Now listen,^(A) you rich people,^(B) weep and wail^(C) because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.^{(D) 3} Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.^{(E) 4} Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers^(F) who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries^(G) of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.^{(H) 5} You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves^(I) in the day of slaughter.^{[a](J) 6} You have condemned and murdered^(K) the innocent one,^(L) who was not opposing you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.^(M) See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting^(N) for the autumn and spring rains.^{(O) 8} You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming^(P) is near.^{(Q) 9} Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters,^(R) or you will be judged. The Judge^(S) is standing at the door!^(T)

¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets^(U) who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ As you know, we count as blessed^(V) those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance^(W) and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.^(X) The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.^(Y)

¹² Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.^(Z)

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.^(AA) Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.^{(AB) 14} Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders^(AC) of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil^(AD) in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith^(AE) will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins^(AF) to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.^(AG) The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.^(AH)

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are.^(AI) He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.^{(AJ) 18} Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.^(AK)

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth^(AL) and someone should bring that person back,^{(AM) 20} remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save^(AN) them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.^(AO)

Job

12 Then Job replied:

The Parable of the Sower^(A)(B)

4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.^(C) The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables,^(D) and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.^{(E) 4} As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”^(F)

⁹ Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(G)

¹⁰ When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God^(H) has been given to you. But to those on the outside^(I) everything is said in parables ¹² so that,

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word.^{(K) 15} Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan^(L) comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth^(M) and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

A Lamp on a Stand

²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?^{(N) 22} For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.^{(O) 23} If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(P)

²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.^{(Q) 25} Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”^(R)

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.^(S) A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”^(T)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(U)

³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,^(V) or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.^{(W) 34} He did not say anything to them without using a parable.^(X) But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.