Job 35-37
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 35
1 [a]Then Elihu answered and said:
2 Do you think it right to say,
“I am in the right, not God”?(A)
3 When you ask what it profits you,
“What advantage do I have from not sinning?”(B)
4 I have words for a reply to you[b]
and your friends as well.
5 Look up to the skies and see;
behold the heavens high above you.
6 If you sin, what do you do to God?
Even if your offenses are many, how do you affect him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give him,
or what does he receive from your hand?(C)
8 Your wickedness affects only someone like yourself,
and your justice, only a fellow human being.
9 In great oppression people cry out;
they call for help because of the power of the great,
10 No one says, “Where is God, my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 Teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?”
12 Though thus they cry out, he does not answer
because of the pride of the wicked.
13 But it is idle to say God does not hear
or that the Almighty does not take notice.
14 Even though you say, “You take no notice of it,”[c]
the case is before him; with trembling wait upon him.
15 But now that you have done otherwise, God’s anger punishes,
nor does he show much concern over a life.
16 Yet Job to no purpose opens his mouth,
multiplying words without knowledge.(D)
Chapter 36
1 Elihu continued and said:
2 Wait a little and I will instruct you,
for there are still words to be said for God.
3 I will assemble arguments from afar,
and for my maker I will establish what is right.
4 For indeed, my words are not a lie;
one perfect in knowledge is before you.
5 Look, God is great, not disdainful;
his strength of purpose is great.
He does not preserve the life of the wicked.
6 He establishes the right of the poor;(E)
he does not divert his eyes from the just
7 But he seats them upon thrones
with kings, exalted forever.(F)
8 If they are bound with fetters,
held fast by bonds of affliction,
9 He lets them know what they have done,
and how arrogant are their sins.
10 He opens their ears to correction
and tells them to turn back from evil.
11 If they listen and serve him,
they spend their days in prosperity,
their years in happiness.
12 But if they do not listen, they pass to the grave,
they perish for lack of knowledge.
13 The impious in heart lay up anger;
they do not cry for help when he binds them;
14 They will die young—
their life[d] among the reprobate.
15 But he saves the afflicted through their affliction,
and opens their ears through oppression.
16 [e]He entices you from distress,
to a broad place without constraint;
what rests on your table is rich food.
17 Though you are full of the judgment of the wicked,
judgment and justice will be maintained.
18 Let not anger at abundance entice you,
nor great bribery lead you astray.
19 Will your wealth equip you against distress,
or all your exertions of strength?
20 Do not long for the night,
when peoples vanish in their place.
21 Be careful; do not turn to evil;
for this you have preferred to affliction.
22 [f]Look, God is exalted in his power.
What teacher is there like him?
23 Who prescribes for him his way?
Who says, “You have done wrong”?(G)
24 Remember, you should extol his work,
which people have praised in song.
25 All humankind beholds it;
everyone views it from afar.
26 See, God is great beyond our knowledge,
the number of his years past searching out.
27 He holds in check the waterdrops
that filter in rain from his flood,
28 Till the clouds flow with them
and they rain down on all humankind.
29 [g]Can anyone understand the spreading clouds,
the thunderings from his tent?
30 Look, he spreads his light over it,
it covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by these he judges the nations,
and gives food in abundance.
32 In his hands he holds the lightning,
and he commands it to strike the mark.
33 His thunder announces him
and incites the fury of the storm.
Chapter 37
1 At this my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Listen to his angry voice[h]
and the rumble that comes forth from his mouth!
3 Everywhere under the heavens he sends it,
with his light, to the ends of the earth.
4 Again his voice roars,
his majestic voice thunders;
he does not restrain them when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders forth marvels with his voice;
he does great things beyond our knowing.
6 He says to the snow, “Fall to the earth”;
likewise to his heavy, drenching rain.
7 He shuts up all humankind indoors,
so that all people may know his work.
8 The wild beasts take to cover
and remain quiet in their dens.
9 Out of its chamber the tempest comes forth;
from the north winds, the cold.
10 With his breath God brings the frost,
and the broad waters congeal.(H)
11 The clouds too are laden with moisture,
the storm-cloud scatters its light.
12 [i]He it is who changes their rounds, according to his plans,
to do all that he commands them
across the inhabited world.
13 Whether for punishment or mercy,
he makes it happen.
14 Listen to this, Job!
Stand and consider the marvels of God!
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them,
and makes the light shine forth from his clouds?
16 Do you know how the clouds are banked,
the marvels of him who is perfect in knowledge?
17 You, who swelter in your clothes
when calm lies over the land from the south,
18 Can you with him spread out the firmament of the skies,
hard as a molten mirror?[j]
19 Teach us then what we shall say to him;
we cannot, for the darkness, make our plea.
20 Will he be told about it when I speak?
Can anyone talk when he is being destroyed?
21 Rather, it is as the light that cannot be seen
while it is obscured by the clouds,
till the wind comes by and sweeps them away.[k]
22 From Zaphon[l] the golden splendor comes,
surrounding God’s awesome majesty!
23 The Almighty! We cannot find him,
preeminent in power and judgment,
abundant in justice, who never oppresses.
24 Therefore people fear him;
none can see him, however wise their hearts.[m]
Footnotes
- 35:1 See note on 34:1.
- 35:4 A reply to you: Elihu refers to Job’s statement that the innocent suffer as much as the wicked, and especially to Eliphaz’s words in 22:2–3.
- 35:14–15 The text here is uncertain. It seems to indicate that Job should have realized God’s indifference is only apparent, and that, because he has not done so, God will punish him.
- 36:14 Life: a miserable life before death or a shadowy existence in Sheol. Reprobate: cf. Dt 23:18–19.
- 36:16–20 The Hebrew text here is obscure. Although each verse makes some sense, they do not constitute a logical sequence.
- 36:22–25 These verses serve as an introduction to the hymn about the divine marvels, 36:26–37:24, which in some respects anticipates the tone and content of the Lord’s speeches in chaps. 38–41.
- 36:29–31 The translation of these verses is uncertain.
- 37:2 Voice: the thunder.
- 37:12–13 The translation of these verses is uncertain.
- 37:18 The firmament…mirror: the ancients thought of the sky as a ceiling above which were the “upper waters” (cf. Gn 1:6–7; 7:11); when this ceiling became as hard as metal, the usual rain failed to fall on the earth (cf. Lv 26:19; Dt 28:23).
- 37:21 Elihu argues that even though God seems not to know our circumstances, he does know them, just as surely as the sun shines behind the clouds.
- 37:22 Zaphon: the mythical mountain of the gods; cf. note on 26:7.
- 37:24 The concluding remark of Elihu is ironic in view of the appearance of the Lord in the next chapter and Job’s claim in 42:5.
Wisdom 11:15-26
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Second Example: Animals Punish the Egyptians and Benefit the Israelites
15 In return for their senseless, wicked thoughts,
which misled them into worshiping dumb[a] serpents and worthless insects,
You sent upon them swarms of dumb creatures for vengeance;(A)
16 that they might recognize that one is punished by the very things through which one sins.(B)
Digression on God’s Mercy
17 For not without means was your almighty hand,(C)
that had fashioned the universe from formless matter,[b]
to send upon them many bears or fierce lions,
18 Or newly created, wrathful, unknown beasts
breathing forth fiery breath,
Or pouring out roaring smoke,
or flashing terrible sparks from their eyes.
19 Not only could these attack and completely destroy them;
even their frightful appearance itself could slay.
20 Even without these, they could have been killed at a single blast,
pursued by justice
and winnowed by your mighty spirit.
But you have disposed all things by measure and number and weight.(D)
21 For great strength is always present with you;
who can resist the might of your arm?(E)
22 Indeed, before you the whole universe is like a grain from a balance,[c]
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.(F)
23 [d]But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook sins for the sake of repentance.(G)
24 For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for you would not fashion what you hate.(H)
25 How could a thing remain, unless you willed it;
or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?(I)
26 But you spare all things, because they are yours,
O Ruler and Lover of souls,(J)
1 for your imperishable spirit is in all things!(K)
Footnotes
- 11:15 Dumb: that is, irrational.
- 11:17 Formless matter: a Greek philosophical concept is used to interpret the chaos of Gn 1:2.
- 11:22 Grain from a balance: a tiny particle used for weighing on sensitive scales.
- 11:23 The combination of divine mercy and power is an unusual paradox, but cf. 12:15–18; Ps 62:12–13; Sir 2:18. The main emphasis is on a creating that is motivated by love; the divine “imperishable spirit” (either Wisdom as in 1:4, 7, or perhaps the breath of life as in Gn 2:7) is in everything (12:1).
Luke 23:26-56
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
26 (A)As they led him away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. 28 (B)Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, 29 for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’(C) 31 for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?” 32 Now two others, both criminals, were led away with him to be executed.
The Crucifixion.(D) 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left.(E) 34 [Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”][a] They divided his garments by casting lots.(F) 35 The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said,(G) “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.”(H) 36 Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine(I) 37 they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 [b]Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” 40 The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? 41 And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.”(J) 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”(K) 43 He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”(L)
The Death of Jesus.(M) 44 [c]It was now about noon(N) and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon 45 because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.(O) 46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.(P) 47 The centurion who witnessed what had happened glorified God and said, “This man was innocent[d] beyond doubt.” 48 When all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts;(Q) 49 but all his acquaintances stood at a distance, including the women who had followed him from Galilee and saw these events.(R)
The Burial of Jesus.(S) 50 Now there was a virtuous and righteous man named Joseph who, though he was a member of the council, 51 had not consented to their plan of action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was awaiting the kingdom of God.(T) 52 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried.(U) 54 It was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. 55 The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it,(V) 56 they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment.(W)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 23:34 [Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”]: this portion of Lk 23:34 does not occur in the oldest papyrus manuscript of Luke and in other early Greek manuscripts and ancient versions of wide geographical distribution.
- 23:39–43 This episode is recounted only in this gospel. The penitent sinner receives salvation through the crucified Jesus. Jesus’ words to the penitent thief reveal Luke’s understanding that the destiny of the Christian is “to be with Jesus.”
- 23:44 Noon…three in the afternoon: literally, the sixth and ninth hours. See note on Mk 15:25.
- 23:47 This man was innocent: or, “This man was righteous.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.