Job 9
English Standard Version
Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter
9 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be (A)in the right before God?
3 If one wished to (B)contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
4 He is (C)wise in heart and mighty in strength
—who has (D)hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
6 who (E)shakes the earth out of its place,
and (F)its pillars tremble;
7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
8 who alone (G)stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
9 who (H)made (I)the Bear and (J)Orion,
the Pleiades (K)and the chambers of the south;
10 who does (L)great things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
11 Behold, he passes by me, and I (M)see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
12 Behold, he snatches away; (N)who can turn him back?
(O)Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of (P)Rahab.
14 (Q)How then can I (R)answer him,
choosing my words with him?
15 (S)Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must (T)appeal for mercy to my accuser.[a]
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds (U)without cause;
18 he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of (V)strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can (W)summon him?[b]
20 Though I am in the right, (X)my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am (Y)blameless; I regard not myself;
I (Z)loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He (AA)destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When (AB)disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity[c] of the innocent.
24 (AC)The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he (AD)covers the faces of its judges—
(AE)if it is not he, who then is it?
25 “My (AF)days are swifter than (AG)a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like (AH)skiffs of reed,
like (AI)an eagle swooping on the prey.
27 If I say, (AJ)‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and (AK)be of good cheer,’
28 I become (AL)afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not (AM)hold me innocent.
29 I shall be (AN)condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow
and (AO)cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will (AP)abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should (AQ)come to trial together.
33 (AR)There is no[d] arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
34 (AS)Let him take his (AT)rod away from me,
and let (AU)not dread of him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.
James 4
English Standard Version
Warning Against Worldliness
4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[a] are (A)at war within you?[b] 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask (B)wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 (C)You adulterous people![c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? (D)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit (E)that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But (F)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, (G)“God opposes the proud but (H)gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. (I)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 (J)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (K)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and (L)purify your hearts, (M)you double-minded. 9 (N)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (O)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 (P)Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[d] The one who speaks against a brother or (Q)judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only (R)one lawgiver and (S)judge, he who is able to save and (T)to destroy. But (U)who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, (V)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For (W)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, (X)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. (Y)All such boasting is evil. 17 (Z)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Footnotes
- James 4:1 Greek pleasures; also verse 3
- James 4:1 Greek in your members
- James 4:4 Or You adulteresses!
- James 4:11 Or brothers and sisters
Job 10
English Standard Version
Job Continues: A Plea to God
10 “I (A)loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my (B)complaint;
I will speak in (C)the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not (D)condemn me;
let me know why you (E)contend against me.
3 (F)Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise (G)the work of your hands
(H)and favor the designs of the wicked?
4 Have you (I)eyes of flesh?
(J)Do you see as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of man,
or your (K)years as a man's years,
6 that you (L)seek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
7 although you (M)know that I am not guilty,
and there is (N)none to deliver out of your hand?
8 (O)Your hands fashioned and made me,
and now you have destroyed me altogether.
9 Remember that you have made me like (P)clay;
and will you return me to the (Q)dust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things you hid in your heart;
I know that (R)this was your purpose.
14 If I sin, you (S)watch me
and do not (T)acquit me of my iniquity.
15 (U)If I am guilty, woe to me!
If I am (V)in the right, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and (W)look on my affliction.
16 And were my head lifted up,[a] you would hunt me like (X)a lion
and again work (Y)wonders against me.
17 You renew your (Z)witnesses against me
and increase your vexation toward me;
you (AA)bring fresh troops against me.
18 (AB)“Why did you bring me out from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
19 (AC)and were as though I had not been,
carried from the womb to the grave.
20 (AD)Are not my days few?
(AE)Then cease, and leave me alone, (AF)that I may find a little cheer
21 before I go—and (AG)I shall not return—
to the land of (AH)darkness and (AI)deep shadow,
22 the land of gloom like thick darkness,
like deep shadow without any order,
where light is as thick darkness.”
Footnotes
- Job 10:16 Hebrew lacks my head
Mark 3:13-35
English Standard Version
The Twelve Apostles
13 (A)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those (B)whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 (C)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 (D)and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: (E)Simon (to whom (F)he gave the name Peter); 17 (G)James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and (H)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,[a] 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
20 Then he went (I)home, and the crowd gathered again, (J)so that they could not even eat. 21 (K)And when (L)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He (M)is out of his mind.”
Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
22 And (N)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, (O)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 (P)And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But (Q)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. (R)Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 (S)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever (T)blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
31 (U)And his mother and his (V)brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers[b] are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And (W)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 (X)For whoever (Y)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
Read full chapterThe Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Bible Gateway Recommends
