“Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
    To which of (A)the holy ones will you turn?
Surely vexation kills the fool,
    and jealousy slays the simple.
(B)I have seen the fool taking root,
    but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
His children are (C)far from safety;
    they are crushed in (D)the gate,
    and there is no one to deliver them.
The hungry eat his harvest,
    and he takes it even out of thorns,[a]
    and the thirsty pant[b] after his[c] wealth.
For affliction does not come from the dust,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
but man is (E)born to trouble
    as the sparks fly upward.

“As for me, I would seek God,
    and to God would I commit my cause,
who (F)does great things and (G)unsearchable,
    (H)marvelous things without number:
10 he gives (I)rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
11 he (J)sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He (K)frustrates the devices of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He (L)catches the wise in their own craftiness,
    and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime
    and (M)grope at noonday as in the night.
15 But he (N)saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
    and from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor have hope,
    and (O)injustice shuts her mouth.

17 “Behold, (P)blessed is the one whom God reproves;
    therefore (Q)despise not the discipline of the (R)Almighty.
18 For he wounds, but he (S)binds up;
    he (T)shatters, but his hands heal.
19 He will (U)deliver you from six troubles;
    in seven no (V)evil[d] shall touch you.
20 (W)In famine he will redeem you from death,
    and in war from the power of the sword.
21 You shall be (X)hidden from the lash of the tongue,
    and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
    and shall not fear (Y)the beasts of the earth.
23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
    and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 You shall know that your (Z)tent is at peace,
    and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
25 You shall know also that your (AA)offspring shall be many,
    and your descendants as (AB)the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to your grave in (AC)ripe old age,
    like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
27 Behold, this we have (AD)searched out; it is true.
    Hear, and know it for your good.”[e]

Footnotes

  1. Job 5:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  2. Job 5:5 Aquila, Symmachus, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew could be read as and the snare pants
  3. Job 5:5 Hebrew their
  4. Job 5:19 Or disaster
  5. Job 5:27 Hebrew for yourself

Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith (A)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 (B)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 (C)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith (D)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith (E)by my works. 19 (F)You believe that God is one; you do well. Even (G)the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 (H)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (I)faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed (J)by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, (K)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a (L)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also (M)Rahab the prostitute justified by works (N)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

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Footnotes

  1. James 2:16 Or benefit

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

Then Job answered and said:

“Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
For then it would be heavier than (A)the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
For (B)the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
    or the ox low over his fodder?
Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?[a]
My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are as food that is loathsome to me.[b]

“Oh that I might have my request,
    and that God would fulfill my hope,
that it would (C)please God to crush me,
    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my comfort;
    I would even exult[c] in pain (D)unsparing,
    for I have not denied the words of (E)the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
    And what is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
13 Have I any help in me,
    when resource is driven from me?

14 “He who (F)withholds[d] kindness from a (G)friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My (H)brothers are (I)treacherous as a torrent-bed,
    as torrential (J)streams that pass away,
16 which are dark with ice,
    and where the snow hides itself.
17 When they melt, they disappear;
    when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
    they go up into (K)the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of (L)Tema look,
    the travelers of (M)Sheba hope.
20 They are (N)ashamed because they were confident;
    they come there and are (O)disappointed.
21 For you have now become nothing;
    you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
    Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’?
    Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of (P)the ruthless’?

24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
    make me understand how I have gone astray.
25 How forceful are upright words!
    But what does reproof from you reprove?
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
    when the speech of a despairing man is (Q)wind?
27 You would even (R)cast lots over the fatherless,
    and bargain over your friend.

28 “But now, be pleased to look at me,
    for I will not lie to your face.
29 (S)Please turn; let no injustice be done.
    Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any injustice on my tongue?
    Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

Footnotes

  1. Job 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  2. Job 6:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  3. Job 6:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  4. Job 6:14 Syriac, Vulgate (compare Targum); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

And when he returned to (A)Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. (B)And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, (C)they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus (D)saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, (E)your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? (F)He is blaspheming! (G)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, (H)perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that (I)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and (J)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi

13 He went out again beside the sea, and (K)all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 (L)And as he passed by, he saw (M)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many (N)tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And (O)the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, (P)“Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (Q)I came not to call the righteous, (R)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

18 Now (S)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, (T)“Why do John's disciples and (U)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, (V)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 (W)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and (X)then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old (Y)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 2:16 Some manuscripts and
  2. Mark 2:16 Some manuscripts add and drink
  3. Mark 2:22 Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins

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