God’s Power Shown in Creatures

41 [a]Can you drag out [b](A)Leviathan with a fishhook,
And press down his tongue with a rope?
Can you (B)put a [c]rope in his nose,
And pierce his jaw with a [d]hook?
Will he make many pleas to you,
Or will he speak to you gentle words?
Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?
Will you play with him as with a bird,
And tie him down for your young girls?
Will the [e]traders bargain for him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
Lay your hand on him.
Remember the battle; [f]you will not do it again!
[g]Behold, [h]your expectation is false;
Will [i]you be hurled down even at the sight of him?
10 No one is so reckless that he dares to (C)stir him;
Who then is he who opposes Me?
11 Who has (D)been first to give to Me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is (E)under the entire heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not be silent about his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.
13 Who can [j]strip off his outer covering?
Who can [k]pierce his double [l]armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
15 His [m]strong scales are his pride,
Locked as with a tight seal.
16 One is so close to another
That no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the (F)eye of dawn.
19 From his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 From his nostrils smoke goes out
As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals aglow,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck dwells strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm and immovable on him.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone,
And as firm as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the [n]mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 The sword that reaches him cannot [o]prevail,
Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28 The [p]arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery;
He [q]spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.
31 He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 Behind him he illuminates a pathway;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 (G)Nothing on [r]earth is like him,
One made without fear.
34 [s]He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the (H)sons of pride.”

Job’s Confession

42 Then Job answered the Lord and said,

“I know that (I)You can do all things,
And that no plan is impossible for You.
‘Who is this who (J)conceals advice without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things (K)too wonderful for me, which I do not know.
‘Please listen, and I will speak;
I will (L)ask You, and You instruct me.’
I have (M)heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my (N)eye sees You;
Therefore I retract,
And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.”

God Is Displeased with Job’s Friends

It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, (O)as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves (P)seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a (Q)burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will (R)pray for you. (S)For I will [t]accept him so as not to do with you as your foolishness deserves, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord [u]accepted Job.

God Restores Job’s Fortunes

10 The Lord also (T)restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased double all that Job had. 11 Then all his (U)brothers, all his sisters, and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they (V)sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a [v]piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12 (W)The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; (X)and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. 13 (Y)He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances among their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 (Z)And Job died, an old man and full of days.

Footnotes

  1. Job 41:1 Ch 40:25 in Heb
  2. Job 41:1 I.e., a sea monster or crocodile
  3. Job 41:2 Lit rope of rushes
  4. Job 41:2 Or thorn; or ring
  5. Job 41:6 Lit partners
  6. Job 41:8 Lit do not add
  7. Job 41:9 Ch 41:1 in Heb
  8. Job 41:9 Lit his
  9. Job 41:9 Lit he
  10. Job 41:13 Lit uncover the face of his garment
  11. Job 41:13 Lit come into
  12. Job 41:13 As in LXX; Heb bridle
  13. Job 41:15 Lit rows of shields
  14. Job 41:25 Or gods
  15. Job 41:26 Lit rise
  16. Job 41:28 Lit son of the bow
  17. Job 41:30 Or moves across
  18. Job 41:33 Lit dust
  19. Job 41:34 Ch 41:26 in Heb
  20. Job 42:8 Lit lift up his face
  21. Job 42:9 Lit lifted up the face of
  22. Job 42:11 Heb qesitah

Parental Counsel

My son, if you have become a (A)guarantor for your neighbor,
Or have given a handshake for a stranger,
If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Or caught by the words of your mouth,
Then do this, my son, and save yourself:
Since you have come into the [a]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.
Give no (B)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
And like a (C)bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the (D)ant, you [b](E)lazy one,
Observe its ways and be wise,
Which, having (F)no chief,
Officer, or ruler,
Prepares its food (G)in the summer
And gathers its provision in the harvest.
How long will you lie down, you [c]lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 (H)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [d]rest,”
11 (I)Then your poverty will come in like a [e]drifter,
And your need like [f]an armed man.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Lit palm
  2. Proverbs 6:6 Lit idle one
  3. Proverbs 6:9 Lit idle one
  4. Proverbs 6:10 Lit lie down
  5. Proverbs 6:11 Lit one who moves about
  6. Proverbs 6:11 Lit a man with a shield

Weeds among Wheat

24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, (A)The kingdom of heaven [a]is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed [b]weeds among the wheat, and left. 26 And when the [c]wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident. 27 And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? [d]How then does it have weeds?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘[e]An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he *said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but (B)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed

31 He presented another parable to them, saying, (C)The kingdom of heaven is like (D)a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that (E)the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

33 He spoke another parable to them: (F)The kingdom of heaven is like [f]leaven, which a woman took and hid in (G)three [g]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them (H)without a parable. 35 This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be [h]fulfilled:

(I)I will open My mouth in parables;
I will proclaim things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

The Weeds Explained

36 Then He left the crowds and went into (J)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “(K)Explain to us the parable of the [i]weeds of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is (L)the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are (M)the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are (N)the sons of (O)the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is (P)the [j]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at (Q)the [k]end of the age. 41 (R)The Son of Man (S)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom [l]all (T)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and they (U)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place (V)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 (W)Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (X)The one who has ears, [m]let him hear.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 13:24 Lit has been compared to
  2. Matthew 13:25 Prob. darnel, a weed resembling wheat
  3. Matthew 13:26 Lit grass
  4. Matthew 13:27 Lit From where
  5. Matthew 13:28 Lit A hostile person
  6. Matthew 13:33 I.e., fermented dough
  7. Matthew 13:33 A Gr term for a Heb measure, totaling about 48 lb. or 22 kg of flour
  8. Matthew 13:35 Lit fulfilled, saying
  9. Matthew 13:36 Prob. darnel, a weed resembling wheat
  10. Matthew 13:39 Or consummation
  11. Matthew 13:40 Or consummation
  12. Matthew 13:41 Or everything that is offensive
  13. Matthew 13:43 Or hear! Or listen!

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