Job 4-6

English Standard Version

Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

²“If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    Yet who can keep from speaking?
³Behold, you have instructed many,
    and you have ^(A)strengthened the weak hands.
⁴Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
    and you have ^(B)made firm the feeble knees.
⁵But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
    it touches you, and you are dismayed.
⁶^(C)Is not your fear of God^[a] your ^(D)confidence,
    and the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷“Remember: ^(E)who that was innocent ever perished?
    Or where were the upright cut off?
⁸As I have seen, those who ^(F)plow iniquity
    and sow trouble reap the same.
⁹By ^(G)the breath of God they perish,
    and by ^(H)the blast of his anger they are consumed.
¹⁰The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
    ^(I)the teeth of the young lions are broken.
¹¹The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
    my ear received ^(J)the whisper of it.
¹³Amid ^(K)thoughts from ^(L)visions of the night,
    when ^(M)deep sleep falls on men,
¹⁴dread came upon me, and trembling,
    which made all my bones shake.
¹⁵A spirit glided past my face;
    the hair of my flesh stood up.
¹⁶It stood still,
    but I could not discern its appearance.
^(N)A form was before my eyes;
    there was silence, then I heard ^(O)a voice:
¹⁷^(P)‘Can mortal man be in the right before^[b] God?
    Can a man be pure before his Maker?
¹⁸Even in his servants ^(Q)he puts no trust,
    and his angels he charges with error;
¹⁹how much more those who dwell in houses of ^(R)clay,
    whose foundation is in ^(S)the dust,
    who are crushed like^[c] ^(T)the moth.
²⁰Between ^(U)morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;
    they perish forever ^(V)without anyone regarding it.
²¹Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,
    ^(W)do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

5 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
    To which of ^(X)the holy ones will you turn?
²Surely vexation kills the fool,
    and jealousy slays the simple.
³^(Y)I have seen the fool taking root,
    but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
⁴His children are ^(Z)far from safety;
    they are crushed in ^(AA)the gate,
    and there is no one to deliver them.
⁵The hungry eat his harvest,
    and he takes it even out of thorns,^[d]
    and the thirsty pant^[e] after his^[f] wealth.
⁶For affliction does not come from the dust,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
⁷but man is ^(AB)born to trouble
    as the sparks fly upward.

⁸“As for me, I would seek God,
    and to God would I commit my cause,
⁹who ^(AC)does great things and ^(AD)unsearchable,
    ^(AE)marvelous things without number:
¹⁰he gives ^(AF)rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹he ^(AG)sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹²He ^(AH)frustrates the devices of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³He ^(AI)catches the wise in their own craftiness,
    and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime
    and ^(AJ)grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵But he ^(AK)saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
    and from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶So the poor have hope,
    and ^(AL)injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷“Behold, ^(AM)blessed is the one whom God reproves;
    therefore ^(AN)despise not the discipline of the ^(AO)Almighty.
¹⁸For he wounds, but he ^(AP)binds up;
    he ^(AQ)shatters, but his hands heal.
¹⁹He will ^(AR)deliver you from six troubles;
    in seven no ^(AS)evil^[g] shall touch you.
²⁰^(AT)In famine he will redeem you from death,
    and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹You shall be ^(AU)hidden from the lash of the tongue,
    and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²²At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
    and shall not fear ^(AV)the beasts of the earth.
²³For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
    and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴You shall know that your ^(AW)tent is at peace,
    and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵You shall know also that your ^(AX)offspring shall be many,
    and your descendants as ^(AY)the grass of the earth.
²⁶You shall come to your grave in ^(AZ)ripe old age,
    like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
²⁷Behold, this we have ^(BA)searched out; it is true.
    Hear, and know it for your good.”^[h]

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

6 Then Job answered and said:

²“Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³For then it would be heavier than ^(BB)the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
⁴For ^(BC)the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
    or the ox low over his fodder?
⁶Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?^[i]
⁷My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are as food that is loathsome to me.^[j]

⁸“Oh that I might have my request,
    and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹that it would ^(BD)please God to crush me,
    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰This would be my comfort;
    I would even exult^[k] in pain ^(BE)unsparing,
    for I have not denied the words of ^(BF)the Holy One.
¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?
    And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹²Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
¹³Have I any help in me,
    when resource is driven from me?

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

²⁴“Teach me, and I will be silent;
    make me understand how I have gone astray.
²⁵How forceful are upright words!
    But what does reproof from you reprove?
²⁶Do you think that you can reprove words,
    when the speech of a despairing man is ^(BR)wind?
²⁷You would even ^(BS)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^(BT)Please turn; let no injustice be done.
    Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
³⁰Is there any injustice on my tongue?
    Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

Footnotes

Job 4:6 Hebrew lacks of God
Job 4:17 Or more than; twice in this verse
Job 4:19 Or before
Job 5:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Job 5:5 Aquila, Symmachus, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew could be read as and the snare pants
Job 5:5 Hebrew their
Job 5:19 Or disaster
Job 5:27 Hebrew for yourself
Job 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Job 6:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Job 6:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Job 6:14 Syriac, Vulgate (compare Targum); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

Revelation 14

English Standard Version

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on ^(A)Mount Zion ^(B)stood the Lamb, and with him ^(C)144,000 who ^(D)had his name and his Father's name written ^(E)on their foreheads. ²And I heard a voice from heaven ^(F)like the roar of many waters and ^(G)like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^(H)harpists playing on their harps, ³and they were singing ^(I)a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^(J)No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^(K)they are virgins. It is these ^(L)who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^(M)firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵and ^(N)in their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^(O)blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶Then I saw another angel ^(P)flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^(Q)those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷And he said with a loud voice, ^(R)“Fear God and ^(S)give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and ^(T)worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^(U)springs of water.”

⁸Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^(V)“Fallen, fallen is ^(W)Babylon the great, ^(X)she who made all nations drink ^(Y)the wine of the passion^[a] of her sexual immorality.”

⁹And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(Z)worships the beast and its image and receives ^(AA)a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰he also will drink ^(AB)the wine of God's wrath, ^(AC)poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^(AD)he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹And ^(AE)the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and ^(AF)they have no rest, day or night, these ^(AG)worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

¹²^(AH)Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^(AI)keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.^[b]

¹³And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^(AJ)Blessed are the dead ^(AK)who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^(AL)“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

¹⁴Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^(AM)like a son of man, ^(AN)with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵And another angel ^(AO)came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^(AP)“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^(AQ)the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸And another angel came out from the altar, ^(AR)the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^(AS)for its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^(AT)winepress of the wrath of God. ²⁰And ^(AU)the winepress was trodden ^(AV)outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as ^(AW)a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.^[c]