Luke 12:35-40
Christian Standard Bible
Ready for the Master’s Return
35 “Be ready for service[a] and have your lamps lit.(A) 36 You are to be like people waiting for their master(B) to return from the wedding banquet(C) so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.(D) 37 Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert(E) when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready,[b] have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.(F) 38 If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn,[c] and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming,(G) he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also be ready,(H) because the Son of Man(I) is coming at an hour you do not expect.”(J)
Read full chapter
Job 22
Christian Standard Bible
Third Series of Speeches
Eliphaz Speaks
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Can a man be of any use to God?
Can even a wise man be of use to him?
3 Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?
Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?(A)
4 Does he correct you and take you to court
because of your piety?(B)
5 Isn’t your wickedness abundant
and aren’t your iniquities endless?
6 For you took collateral(C) from your brothers without cause,
stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the thirsty
and withheld food from the famished,(D)
8 while the land belonged to a powerful man
and an influential man lived on it.
9 You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless(E) was[a] crushed.
10 Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden dread terrifies(F) you,
11 or darkness, so you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.(G)
12 Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!
13 Yet you say, “What does God know?
Can he judge through total darkness?(H)
14 Clouds(I) veil him so that he cannot see,
as he walks on the circle of the sky.”
15 Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?
16 They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations(J) were washed away by a river.
17 They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?” [b](K)
18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
19 The righteous see this and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,(L)
20 “Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.”(M)
21 Come to terms with God and be at peace;(N)
in this way[c] good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,(O)
and place his sayings(P) in your heart.
23 If you return(Q) to the Almighty, you will be renewed.
If you banish injustice from your tent
24 and consign your gold to the dust,
the gold of Ophir(R) to the stones in the wadis,
25 the Almighty will be your gold
and your finest silver.
26 Then you will delight(S) in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.(T)
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,(U)
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 When you make a decision, it will be carried out,[d]
and light will shine on your ways.(V)
29 When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the humble.[e](W)
30 He will even rescue the guilty one,
who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.(X)
Romans 9:6-13
Christian Standard Bible
God’s Gracious Election of Israel
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed,(A) because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(B) 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants.[a](C) On the contrary, your offspring will be traced[b] through Isaac.[c](D) 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent[d] who are God’s children,(E) but the children of the promise(F) are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.[e](G) 10 And not only that,(H) but Rebekah conceived children(I) through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand(J)— 12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.[f](K) 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.[g](L)
Read full chapterThe Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
