Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer

20 Then (A)Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

“Therefore my (B)thoughts answer me,
    because of my haste within me.
I hear censure that insults me,
    and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
Do you not know this from of old,
    (C)since man was placed on earth,
(D)that the exulting of the wicked is short,
    and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
(E)Though his height mount up to the heavens,
    and his head reach to the clouds,
he will perish forever like his own (F)dung;
    those who have seen him will say, (G)‘Where is he?’
He will fly away like (H)a dream and not be found;
    he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
(I)The eye that saw him will see him no more,
    nor will his place any more behold him.
10 His children will seek the favor of the poor,
    and his hands will (J)give back his wealth.
11 His bones are full of his (K)youthful vigor,
    but it will lie (L)down with him in the dust.

12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
    though he hides it (M)under his tongue,
13 though he is loath to let it go
    and holds it in his mouth,
14 yet his food is turned in his stomach;
    it is the venom of (N)cobras within him.
15 He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;
    God casts them out of his belly.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
    (O)the tongue of a viper will kill him.
17 He will not look upon (P)the rivers,
    the streams flowing with (Q)honey and (R)curds.
18 He will (S)give back the fruit of his toil
    and will not (T)swallow it down;
from the profit of his trading
    he will get no enjoyment.
19 For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;
    he has seized a house that he did not build.

20 “Because he (U)knew no (V)contentment in his belly,
    (W)he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.
21 There was nothing left after he had eaten;
    therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;
    the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.
23 To fill his belly to the full,
    God[a] will send his burning anger against him
    and rain it upon him (X)into his body.
24 (Y)He will flee from an iron weapon;
    (Z)a bronze arrow will strike (AA)him through.
25 It (AB)is drawn forth and comes out of his body;
    (AC)the glittering point comes out of his (AD)gallbladder;
    (AE)terrors come upon him.
26 Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;
    (AF)a fire not fanned will devour him;
    what is left in his tent will be consumed.
27 (AG)The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
    and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The possessions of his house will be carried away,
    dragged off in the day of God's[b] wrath.
29 (AH)This is the wicked man's portion from God,
    (AI)the heritage decreed for him by God.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 20:23 Hebrew he
  2. Job 20:28 Hebrew his

A Man with a Withered Hand

(A)Again (B)he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And (C)they watched Jesus,[a] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, (D)“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he (E)looked around at them with anger, grieved at (F)their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” (G)He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (H)The Pharisees went out and immediately (I)held counsel with (J)the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

(K)Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and (L)a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and (M)Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around (N)Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to (O)have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they (P)crush him, 10 for (Q)he had healed many, so that all who had (R)diseases pressed around him (S)to touch him. 11 (T)And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they (U)fell down before him and cried out, “You are (V)the Son of God.” 12 And (W)he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

13 (X)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those (Y)whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 (Z)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 (AA)and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: (AB)Simon (to whom (AC)he gave the name Peter); 17 (AD)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 (AE)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,[b] 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

20 Then he went (AF)home, and the crowd gathered again, (AG)so that they could not even eat. 21 (AH)And when (AI)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He (AJ)is out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And (AK)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, (AL)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 (AM)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 (AN)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. (AO)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

28 (AP)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever (AQ)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 (AR)And his mother and his (AS)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[c] are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And (AT)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 (AU)For whoever (AV)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

The Parable of the Sower

Again (AW)he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, (AX)so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And (AY)he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, (AZ)a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And (BA)when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, (BB)it withered away. Other seed fell among (BC)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and (BD)a hundredfold.” And he said, (BE)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

10 And (BF)when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, (BG)“To you has been given (BH)the secret of the kingdom of God, but for (BI)those outside everything is in parables, 12 (BJ)so that

“‘they (BK)may indeed see but not perceive,
    and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they (BL)should turn and be forgiven.’”

13 (BM)And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 (BN)The sower sows (BO)the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it (BP)with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but (BQ)endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately (BR)they fall away.[d] 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but (BS)the cares of (BT)the world and (BU)the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and (BV)bear fruit, (BW)thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

21 (BX)And he said to them, (BY)“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 (BZ)For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 (CA)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: (CB)with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 (CC)For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

26 And he said, (CD)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; (CE)he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once (CF)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 (CG)And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like (CH)a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33 (CI)With many such parables he spoke (CJ)the word to them, (CK)as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them (CL)without a parable, but (CM)privately to his own disciples he (CN)explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

35 (CO)On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves (CP)were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and (CQ)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and (CR)there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you (CS)so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, (CT)“Who then is this, that even (CU)the wind and the sea obey him?”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:2 Greek him
  2. Mark 3:18 Greek kananaios, meaning zealot
  3. Mark 3:32 Other manuscripts add and your sisters
  4. Mark 4:17 Or stumble

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