Luke 13:18-21
Christian Standard Bible
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Leaven
18 He said, therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like,(A) and what can I compare it to? 19 It’s like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”
20 Again he said, “What can I compare the kingdom of God(B) to? 21 It’s like leaven[a](C) that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds[b] of flour until all of it was leavened.”
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Job 29-30
Christian Standard Bible
Job’s Final Claim of Innocence
29 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 If only I could be as in months gone by,
in the days when God watched over me,
3 when his lamp shone above my head,
and I walked through darkness by his light!(A)
4 I would be as I was in the days of my youth
when God’s friendship(B) rested on my tent,
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
6 when my feet were bathed in curds
and the rock(C) poured out streams of oil for me!
7 When I went out to the city gate(D)
and took my seat in the town square,
8 the young men saw me and withdrew,
while older men stood to their feet.
9 City officials stopped talking
and covered their mouths with their hands.(E)
10 The noblemen’s voices were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.(F)
11 When they heard me, they blessed me,
and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.[a]
12 For I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.(G)
13 The dying blessed me,
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.
14 I clothed myself in righteousness,(H)
and it enveloped me;
my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.(I)
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I examined the case of the stranger.
17 I shattered the fangs of the unjust(J)
and snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 So I thought, “I will die in my own nest
and multiply my days as the sand.[b]
19 My roots will have access to water,(K)
and the dew will rest on my branches all night.
20 My whole being will be refreshed within me,
and my bow will be renewed in my hand.”(L)
21 Men listened to me with expectation,
waiting silently for my advice.
22 After a word from me they did not speak again;
my speech settled on them like dew.(M)
23 They waited for me as for the rain
and opened their mouths as for spring showers.
24 If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it;
they were thrilled at[c] the light of my countenance.
25 I directed their course and presided as chief.
I lived as a king among his troops,
like one who comforts those who mourn.
30 But now they mock(N) me,
men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused to put
with my sheep dogs.
2 What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.
3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They plucked mallow[d](O) among the shrubs,
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They were banished from human society;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
6 They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They bray among the shrubs;
they huddle beneath the thistles.
8 Foolish(P) men, without even a name.
They were forced to leave the land.
9 Now I am mocked by their songs;(Q)
I have become an object of scorn to them.
10 They despise me and keep their distance from me;(R)
they do not hesitate to spit(S) in my face.
11 Because God has loosened my[e] bowstring and oppressed me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.(T)
12 The rabble[f] rise up at my right;
they trap[g] my feet
and construct their siege ramp[h] against me.(U)
13 They tear up my path;
they contribute to my destruction,(V)
without anyone to help them.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
they keep rolling in through the ruins.(W)
15 Terrors(X) are turned loose against me;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
16 Now my life is poured out before me,
and days of suffering(Y) have seized me.
17 Night pierces my bones,
but my gnawing pains never rest.(Z)
18 My clothing is distorted with great force;
he chokes me by the neck of my garment.[i]
19 He throws me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.(AA)
20 I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me;(AB)
when I stand up, you merely look at me.
21 You have turned against me with cruelty;
you harass(AC) me with your strong hand.
22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;
you scatter me in the storm.(AD)
23 Yes, I know that you will lead me to death—
the place(AE) appointed for all who live.
24 Yet no one would stretch out his hand
against a ruined person[j]
when he cries out to him for help
because of his distress.(AF)
25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?(AG)
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, darkness(AH) came.
27 I am churning within[k] and cannot rest;
days of suffering confront me.
28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun.[l]
I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin blackens and flakes off,[m]
and my bones burn with fever.(AI)
31 My lyre is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.(AJ)
Footnotes
- 29:11 Lit When an ear heard, it called me blessed, and when an eye saw, it testified for me
- 29:18 Or as the phoenix
- 29:24 Lit they did not cast down
- 30:4 Or saltwort
- 30:11 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Vg read his
- 30:12 Hb obscure
- 30:12 Lit stretch out
- 30:12 Lit and raise up their destructive paths
- 30:18 Hb obscure
- 30:24 Lit a heap of ruins
- 30:27 Lit My bowels boil
- 30:28 Or walk in sunless gloom
- 30:30 Lit blackens away from me
Romans 11:11-32
Christian Standard Bible
Israel’s Rejection Not Final
11 I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles(A) to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!(B)
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles,(C) I magnify my ministry, 14 if I might somehow make my own people[a](D) jealous and save some of them.(E) 15 For if their rejection brings reconciliation(F) to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?(G) 16 Now if the firstfruits are holy,(H) so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 Now if some of the branches were broken off,(I) and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them(J) and have come to share in the rich root[b] of the cultivated olive tree, 18 do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.(K) 19 Then you will say,(L) “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith.(M) Do not be arrogant, but beware,[c](N) 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22 Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness(O) toward you—if you remain in his kindness.(P) Otherwise you too will be cut off.(Q) 23 And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief,(R) will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 I don’t want you to be ignorant(S) of this mystery,(T) brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited:(U) A partial hardening has come upon Israel(V) until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.(W) 26 And in this way all[d] Israel will be saved, as it is written,
The Deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this will be my covenant with them[e](X)
when I take away their sins.[f](Y)
28 Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage,(Z) but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,(AA) 29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling(AB) are irrevocable.[g](AC) 30 As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience, 31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now[h] receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience(AD) so that he may have mercy on all.
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