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Bildad’s First Response to Job
8 Then[a] Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,[b]
2 “How long[c] will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice,
or[d] Shaddai pervert righteousness?
4 If your children sinned against him,
then[e] he sent them into the power[f] of their transgression.
5 If you yourself[g] would seek God,
then[h] you would plead to Shaddai for grace.
6 If you are pure and upright,
indeed,[i] now he will rouse himself for you,
and he will restore your righteous abode.
7 Though[j] your beginning was small,
your end[k] will be very great.
8 “Indeed,[l] please inquire of former generations,
and consider what their ancestors have found,[m]
9 for we are of yesterday, and we do not know,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they themselves[n] not teach you and tell you[o]
and utter[p] words from their heart?
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is not a marsh?
Will reeds flourish without water?[q]
12 While it is in its flower and is not plucked,
yet[r] it withers before[s] all grass.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God;
and the hope of the godless will perish,
14 whose confidence is cut off
and whose trust[t] is a spider’s house.
15 He will lean himself against his house, but[u] it will not stand;
he will take hold of it, but[v] it will not endure.
16 He is thriving[w] before[x] the sun,
and his plant shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots twine over a stone heap;
he sees a house of stone.
18 If he destroys him from his place,
then[y] it deceives him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
19 Look, this is the joy of his way,
and from dust others will spring up.
20 “Look, God will not reject the blameless,
and he will not uphold the hand of evildoers.
21 Yet he will fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”[z]
Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad
9 Then[aa] Job answered and said,
2 “Truly I know that it is so,
but[ab] how can a human being be just before God?
3 If he wants to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
4 He is wise in[ac] heart and mighty in[ad] strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?[ae]
5 “He is the one who moves mountains, and they do not know how,
who overturns them in his anger.
6 He is the one who shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
7 He is the one who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.[af]
8 He is the one who alone stretches out the heavens
and who tramples on the waves of the sea.
9 He is the one who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He is the one who does great things beyond understanding[ag]
and marvelous things beyond number.[ah]
11 “If[ai] he passes by me, I would not see him;[aj]
and if he should move on, I would not recognize him.[ak]
12 If[al] he would snatch away, who could turn him?
Who could say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.
14 How much less[am] can I myself[an] answer him?
How can I choose my words with him,
15 whom I cannot answer, even though I am righteous?
From[ao] my judge I must implore grace.
16 If I summon him, and he should answer me,
I do not believe that he will listen to my voice—
17 who crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies[ap] my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to catch[aq] my breath;
rather, he will fill me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of[ar] strength, look, he is mighty.
But[as] if it is a matter of[at] justice, who can summon me?[au]
20 Even though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;
even though I am blameless, yet[av] it would pronounce me guilty.
21 “I am blameless; I do not care about myself;[aw]
I loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When the whip[ax] kills suddenly,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the face of its judge—
if it is not he, then who is it?
25 “And my days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they do not see good.
26 They go by like papyrus skiffs,
like an eagle swoops down on its prey.
27 Though[ay] I say,[az] ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will change my expression, and I will rejoice,’
28 I become afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that you do not consider me innocent.
29 If I shall be declared guilty,
why then should I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with soap,[ba]
and I cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you plunge me into the slime pit,
and my clothes abhor me.
32 “For[bb] he is not a mortal like me that I can answer him,
that we can come to trial together.[bc]
33 There is no arbiter between us
that he might lay his hand on both of us.
34 May he remove his rod from me,
and let his dread not terrify me;
35 then I would speak and not fear him,[bd]
for in myself I am not fearful.[be]
Job Continues His Response to Bildad
10 “My inner self[bf] loathes my life;
I want to give vent to my complaint;[bg]
I want to speak out of the bitterness of my inner self.[bh]
2 I will say to God, ‘You should not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
3 Is it good for you that you oppress,
that you despise the labor of your hands,
and you smile over the schemes of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?[bi]
Or do you see as human beings see?[bj]
5 Are your days as the days of human beings,
or your years as the days of man,
6 that you seek out my iniquity,
and you search for my sin
7 because of your knowledge that I am not guilty,
and there is no escaping from your hand?
8 Your hands fashioned me and made me[bk] altogether,[bl]
then[bm] you destroyed me.
9 Please[bn] remember that you made me like clay,
but[bo] you turn me into dust again?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me[bp] like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and you knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and loyal love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.
13 “‘Yet[bq] you hid these things in your heart;
I know that this was your purpose.[br]
14 If I had sinned, then[bs] you would be watching me,
and you would not acquit me of my guilt.
15 If I am guilty, woe to me!
But[bt] if I am righteous, I dare not lift my head;
I am filled with shame, and just look at my misery!
16 And if my head grows bold, you would hunt me as the lion in its prime;
and you repeat your exploits against me.[bu]
17 You renew your witnesses against me,
and you increase your vexation against me;
relief forces[bv] are against me.
18 So[bw] why did you bring me forth from the womb?
I should have passed away, and no eye should have seen me.[bx]
19 I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been brought from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? Let him leave me alone;
let him turn from me, and let me rejoice a little.
21 Before I go—and I will not return—
to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
22 to the land of darkness,
like the darkness of a deep shadow and chaos,[by]
so that[bz] it shines forth like darkness.’”
Zophar’s First Response to Job
11 Then[ca] Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 “Should an abundance of words go unanswered,
or a man full of talk[cb] be vindicated?[cc]
3 Should your loose talk put people to silence?
And when you mock, shall no one put you to shame?[cd]
4 For you say, ‘My teaching is pure,
and I am clean in your sight.’
5 But,[ce] O that[cf] God might speak,
and that he would open his lips to you,
6 and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
for insight has many sides.[cg]
And know that God on your behalf[ch] has forgotten some of[ci] your guilt.
7 “Can you find out the essence of God,
or can you find out the ultimate limits[cj] of Shaddai?
8 It is higher than the heaven;[ck] what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol; what can you know?
9 Its measure is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 “If he passes through and imprisons someone[cl]
and summons the assembly,[cm] then[cn] who can hinder him?
11 For he knows those who are worthless;[co]
when he sees[cp] iniquity, he will not consider it.[cq]
12 But[cr] an empty-headed person[cs] will get understanding
when[ct] a wild donkey’s colt is born as a human being.
13 “If you yourself[cu] direct your heart
and stretch out your hands to him—
14 if iniquity[cv] is in your hand, put it far away,
and you must not let wickedness reside in your tents—
15 surely then you will lift up your face without[cw] blemish,
and you will be firmly established and will not fear.[cx]
16 For you yourself[cy] will forget your misery;
you will remember it as water that has flowed past.
17 “And your life will be brighter than noon;[cz]
its darkness will be like the morning.
18 And you will have confidence because there is hope;
and you will be well protected—you will sleep in safety.[da]
19 And you will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;[db]
and many will entreat your favor.[dc]
20 But[dd] the eyes of the wicked will fail;
and refuge will be lost to them,
and their hope is to breathe their last breath.”[de]
Paul’s Gospel and the Resurrection of Christ
15 Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed to you, which you have also received, in which you also stand, 2 by which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the message I proclaimed to you, unless you believed to no purpose. 3 For I passed on to you as of first importance[a] what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised up on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, 6 then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, the majority of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all, as it were to one born at the wrong time, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, and not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Therefore whether I or those, in this way we preached, and in this way you believed.
Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead
12 Now if Christ is preached as raised up from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ has not been raised either. 14 But if Christ has not been raised, then[b] our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. 15 And also we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if after all, then, the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either. 17 But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is empty; you are still in your sins. 18 And as a further result, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have put our hope[c] in Christ in this life only, we are of all people most pitiable.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming, 24 then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For it is necessary for him to reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death. 27 For “he subjected all things under his feet.”[d] But when it says “all things” are subjected, it is clear that the one who subjected all things to him is not included. 28 But whenever all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected[e] to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.
A Prayer of Repentance
A psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.[a]
38 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger
or chastise me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation.
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have passed over my head;
like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds start to stink; they rot
because of my foolishness.
6 I am bowed down; I am bent over greatly.
All the day I go about mourning.
7 For my loins are full of burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am faint and crushed greatly;
I groan because of the roaring of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you,
and my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs violently, my strength leaves me;
and the light of my eyes, that also is not with me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and my relatives stand afar off.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares as well,
and those intent on my harm speak threats.
They also plot deceit all day.
13 But as for me, like the deaf I cannot hear,
and I am like the mute who cannot open his mouth.
14 And so I am like a man who hears not,
and in whose mouth there are no retorts.
15 Rather for you I wait, O Yahweh.
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Help, lest they rejoice over me,
lest they boast against me when my foot slips.”
17 For I am ready to stumble,
and my pain is before me continually.
18 For my iniquity I confess;
I am anxious because of my sin.
19 And my enemies without cause[b] are numerous,
and those who hate me wrongfully[c] are many.
20 And those who repay evil in return for good
accuse me in return for my pursuing good.
21 Do not forsake me, O Yahweh.
O my God, do not be far from me.
22 Hurry to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
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