Job 25-27

New International Version

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite^(A) replied:

²“Dominion and awe belong to God;^(B)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.^(C)
³Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?^(D)
⁴How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(E)
⁵If even the moon^(F) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,^(G)
⁶how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,^(H) who is only a worm!”^(I)

Job

26 Then Job replied:

²“How you have helped the powerless!^(J)
    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!^(K)
³What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
    And what great insight^(L) you have displayed!
⁴Who has helped you utter these words?
    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?^(M)

⁵“The dead are in deep anguish,^(N)
    those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
⁶The realm of the dead^(O) is naked before God;
    Destruction^[a]^(P) lies uncovered.^(Q)
⁷He spreads out the northern skies^(R) over empty space;
    he suspends the earth over nothing.^(S)
⁸He wraps up the waters^(T) in his clouds,^(U)
    yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
⁹He covers the face of the full moon,
    spreading his clouds^(V) over it.
¹⁰He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters^(W)
    for a boundary between light and darkness.^(X)
¹¹The pillars of the heavens quake,^(Y)
    aghast at his rebuke.
¹²By his power he churned up the sea;^(Z)
    by his wisdom^(AA) he cut Rahab^(AB) to pieces.
¹³By his breath the skies^(AC) became fair;
    his hand pierced the gliding serpent.^(AD)
¹⁴And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
    how faint the whisper^(AE) we hear of him!^(AF)
    Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”^(AG)

Job’s Final Word to His Friends

27 And Job continued his discourse:^(AH)

²“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,^(AI)
    the Almighty,^(AJ) who has made my life bitter,^(AK)
³as long as I have life within me,
    the breath of God^(AL) in my nostrils,
⁴my lips will not say anything wicked,
    and my tongue will not utter lies.^(AM)
⁵I will never admit you are in the right;
    till I die, I will not deny my integrity.^(AN)
⁶I will maintain my innocence^(AO) and never let go of it;
    my conscience^(AP) will not reproach me as long as I live.^(AQ)

⁷“May my enemy be like the wicked,^(AR)
    my adversary^(AS) like the unjust!
⁸For what hope have the godless^(AT) when they are cut off,
    when God takes away their life?^(AU)
⁹Does God listen to their cry
    when distress comes upon them?^(AV)
¹⁰Will they find delight in the Almighty?^(AW)
    Will they call on God at all times?

¹¹“I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways^(AX) of the Almighty I will not conceal.^(AY)
¹²You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:^(AZ)
¹⁴However many his children,^(BA) their fate is the sword;^(BB)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.^(BC)
¹⁵The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.^(BD)
¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust^(BE)
    and clothes like piles of clay,^(BF)
¹⁷what he lays up^(BG) the righteous will wear,^(BH)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.^(BI)
¹⁸The house^(BJ) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,^(BK)
    like a hut^(BL) made by a watchman.
¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;^(BM)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.^(BN)
²⁰Terrors^(BO) overtake him like a flood;^(BP)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.^(BQ)
²¹The east wind^(BR) carries him off, and he is gone;^(BS)
    it sweeps him out of his place.^(BT)
²²It hurls itself against him without mercy^(BU)
    as he flees headlong^(BV) from its power.^(BW)
²³It claps its hands^(BX) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”^(BY)

Footnotes

Job 26:6 Hebrew Abaddon

1 Corinthians 9

New International Version

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

9 Am I not free?^(A) Am I not an apostle?^(B) Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?^(C) Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?^(D) ²Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal^(E) of my apostleship in the Lord.

³This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴Don’t we have the right to food and drink?^(F) ⁵Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife^(G) along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers^(H) and Cephas^[a]?^(I) ⁶Or is it only I and Barnabas^(J) who lack the right to not work for a living?

⁷Who serves as a soldier^(K) at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard^(L) and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? ⁸Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? ⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”^[b]^(M) Is it about oxen that God is concerned?^(N) ¹⁰Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us,^(O) because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.^(P) ¹¹If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?^(Q) ¹²If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right.^(R) On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder^(S) the gospel of Christ.

¹³Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?^(T) ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.^(U)

¹⁵But I have not used any of these rights.^(V) And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.^(W) ¹⁶For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach.^(X) Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward;^(Y) if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.^(Z) ¹⁸What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge,^(AA) and so not make full use of my rights^(AB) as a preacher of the gospel.

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

¹⁹Though I am free^(AC) and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone,^(AD) to win as many as possible.^(AE) ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.^(AF) To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law),^(AG) so as to win those under the law. ²¹To those not having the law I became like one not having the law^(AH) (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law),^(AI) so as to win those not having the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.^(AJ) I have become all things to all people^(AK) so that by all possible means I might save some.^(AL) ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

The Need for Self-Discipline

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?^(AM) Run^(AN) in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown^(AO) that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.^(AP) ²⁶Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;^(AQ) I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.^(AR) ²⁷No, I strike a blow to my body^(AS) and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.^(AT)