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Job’s Seventh Response
Chapter 23
If Only I Knew Where To Find God![a] 1 Job then answered with these words:
2 “My complaint remains bitter;
despite my groans, God’s hand lies heavy on me.
3 Oh, if only I knew where to find him
so that I might discover his dwelling.
4 I would present my case before him
and state arguments in my defense.
5 “Then I would learn what he would answer me,
and contemplate his words to me.
6 He would not use his power to contend with me;
he would only need to consider my arguments.
7 There an upright man could reason with him,
and I would receive a verdict of acquittal.
8 [b]“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I cannot behold him.
9 When I seek him in the north, I cannot find him;
when I turn to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
God Has Caused My Courage To Fail[c]
10 “And yet he is aware of everywhere I go;
if he were to test me, I would emerge like pure gold.
11 My footsteps have not strayed from the path he established;
I have followed his way and never turned aside.
12 I have not strayed from the commandments of his lips;
I have treasured in my heart the words of his mouth.
13 But once he has made a decision, who can oppose him?
Whatever he desires, that he does.
14 He will not turn aside from what he has planned for me,
as is true of all his other decrees.
15 “That is why I am in such fear of him;
whenever I think of him, I am terrified.
16 God has caused my courage to fail;
the Almighty has filled me with dread.
17 For darkness hides me from him,
and obscurity veils his presence from me.
Chapter 24
The Injustice Crying Out in the World[d]
1 “The actual day of judgment is known by the Almighty;
why does he not reveal it to his faithful?[e]
2 Those who are wicked move boundary stones;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive off the donkey belonging to the orphan;
they take away the widow’s ox as security.
4 They push aside the needy off the road;
those who are destitute are forced into hiding.
5 “Like wild donkeys of the wilderness
the poor go forth at dawn
searching the wasteland for food
with which to feed their children.
6 In the fields they reap what is not theirs
and steal from the vineyards of the wicked.
7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
lacking anything to shelter them from the cold.
8 They are soaked by the mountain rain
and cling to the rocks as a source of shelter.
9 “The fatherless child is snatched from the breast
and carried off as a pledge of security.
10 They go about their work naked, without clothing;
despite their hunger they carry the sheaves.
11 Along the pathways they press out the oil;
they tread the winepresses but themselves suffer thirst.
12 From the town the groans of the dying are heard,
and those who are wounded cry out for help,
yet God remains deaf to their prayer.
13 “There also are those who rebel against the light;
they are ignorant of its ways
and refuse to frequent its paths.
14 When nightfall descends, the murderer arises
to slay the poor and the needy;
during the night he steals forth like a thief.
15 “The eye of the adulterer also waits eagerly for twilight,
thinking, ‘No eye will see me.’
16 In the darkness men break into houses,
but during the day they shut themselves in,
for they are strangers to daylight.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them;
they only feel comfortable amid the terrors of the night.
God Carefully Monitors the Conduct of the Mighty[f]
18 “Such men are debris on the surface of the water;
their portion in the land is accursed,
and no laborer will toil in their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat melt the snow,
so does the netherworld cause sinners to disappear.
20 The womb that shaped them remembers them no more,
and the worm sucks them dry.
21 “They maltreat the barren and childless woman
and show no kindness to the widow.
22 God may sustain the mighty through his strength,
but he carefully monitors their conduct.
23 He grants them a sense of security,
but his eyes are fixed on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a while,
and then they are gone;
they wither and fade like a flower,
shriveling up like ears of grain.
25 “If all this is not true, who will prove me wrong
and show that my words are sheer nonsense?”
Bildad’s Third Speech[g]
Chapter 25
God’s Dominance Inspires Terror. 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded:
2 “Sovereignty and awe belong to God
who has established peace in his realm on high.
3 How can anyone number his forces?[h]
Upon whom does his light not arise?
4 “How then can any man be righteous in God’s eyes?
How can one born of woman be regarded as virtuous?
5 If in his eyes the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure,
6 how much less is man, who is a maggot,
a son of man, who is a worm?”
Job’s Eighth Response
Chapter 26
How Profuse Is the Advice You Suggest![i] 1 Job then answered with these words:
2 “What a help you are to the helpless,
and what strength you are to the weak!
3 What good counsel you give to the ignorant!
How abundantly you have manifested wisdom!
4 Who has helped you utter those words?
And whose spirit issued forth from your mouth?
God’s Mighty Works
5 “The dead below tremble with fright,
as do the waters and all their inhabitants.
6 The netherworld[j] is laid bare before him,
and Abaddon lies uncovered.
7 “He stretches out the North[k] above the void
and suspends the earth on nothingness.
8 He encloses the waters in dense clouds,
yet the clouds are not torn asunder under their weight.
9 He veils the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds beneath it.
10 “He has established the horizon on the surface of the waters
as the boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of the heavens shake,
stunned by the thunder of his voice.
12 By his power he churns up the sea,
and by his skill he smites Rahab.[l]
13 By his breath the skies are cleared,
and by his hand he has pierced the fleeing serpent.[m]
14 “These deeds are only a sample of what he has done,
and how faint is the whisper that we hear of him,
but who can possibly comprehend the thunder of his power?”
Chapter 27
I Maintain the Rightness of My Cause.[n] 1 Job then continued his discourse:
2 “I swear by the living God who has denied me justice,
and by the Almighty who has filled my soul with bitterness,
3 that as long as I have a shred of life remaining in me
and the breath of God is in my nostrils,
4 never will my lips utter falsehood,
nor will my tongue be guilty of deceit.
5 “Never will I concede that you[o] are right;
until death I will not renounce my innocence.
6 I maintain the rightness of my cause;
my conscience does not reproach me for the life I have led.
7 “Let my enemy meet the fate of the wicked
and my adversary face the doom of the unjust.
8 For what hope does a godless man have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Will God pay heed to his cry
when disaster comes upon him?
10 Will he then take delight in the Almighty
and call upon him at all times?
11 “I will teach you about the power of God;
I will not conceal the designs of the Almighty.
12 Yet all of you have seen it yourselves;
how then can you waste your time with idle words?”
Zophar’s Third Speech[p]
The Law of the Violent
13 “This is the fate that God allots for the wicked man,
the inheritance that the violent receive from the Almighty.
14 Though numerous, his children are destined for the sword,
and his descendants will never have enough to eat.
15 His survivors will perish as a result of pestilence,
and their widows will not mourn for them.
16 “Even though he amasses silver like dust
and piles up clothes like clay,
17 it is the righteous who will wear those clothes
and the innocent who will divide the silver.
18 The house he builds is as flimsy as a cobweb
or like a shack that shelters the watchman.
19 He goes to bed a man of wealth for the final time;
he opens his eyes to find that it is all gone.
20 “By day terror overtakes him,
and at night a whirlwind carries him away.
21 An east wind seizes him and he is gone;
it sweeps him far away from his home.[q]
22 It assails him without pity,
and he flees from its force that menaces him.
23 His downfall is acclaimed with joy,
and he is derided wherever he may be.
Apostle by the Power of Jesus and for Jesus[a]
A Visit Not Made[b]
12 You Are Our Boast. Indeed, this is our boast: the testimony of our conscience that in our dealings with the world, and especially with you, we have conducted ourselves with simplicity and godly sincerity, depending not on worldly wisdom but on the grace of God. 13 For we write nothing to you that you cannot read and comprehend. It is my hope that you will come to understand fully, 14 as you have already understood in part, that on the day of the Lord Jesus we will have as much reason to boast of you as you will have reason to boast of us.
15 Our Language Is Not “Yes” and “No.”[c] So certain am I of this that I had originally intended to come to you first of all and thereby reward you with a double benefit. 16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then to come to you again on my return from Macedonia and have you send me forth to Judea.
17 Since that was my original intention, was I being impulsive, or do you believe that my plans are based on human considerations, ready to say “Yes, Yes” and “No, No” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been “Yes” and “No.” 19 The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, that is, by Silvanus[d] and Timothy and me, was not a mixture of “Yes” and “No.” He was never anything but “Yes.”
20 In him is the “Yes” to every one of the promises of God. Indeed, it is through him that we say “Amen” to give glory to God. 21 However, it is God who enables both us and you to stand firm in Christ. He has anointed us 22 and marked us with his seal and given us the Spirit in our hearts, as a down payment of what is to come.
23 The Delay Was Intended Merely To Spare Them.[e] I call upon God as a witness that it was only to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth. 24 We do not wish to lord it over your faith, but to work together with you for your joy, because you are standing firm in your faith.
Chapter 2
1 Therefore, I made up my mind not to have you endure another painful visit. 2 For if I cause you pain, then who would be there to cheer me up aside from you whom I offended? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I would not suffer distress from those who should have made me rejoice. I know all of you well enough to be certain that we both share the same joy. 4 It was with great distress and anguish of heart and many tears that I wrote to you, not to grieve you but to let you know how abundant is the love I have for you.
Forgiveness for the Offender. 5 If anyone has caused distress, he has done so not only to me but to some extent—not to exaggerate—to all of you. 6 The punishment that was imposed by the majority was appropriate. 7 But now you should forgive and encourage him so that he may not be overwhelmed by the burden of his distress. 8 Therefore, I urge you to reassure him of your love.
9 I wrote to you to test your obedience in all matters. 10 Anyone whom you forgive I forgive as well. Whatever I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I have done for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may avoid being outwitted by Satan, for we are not unaware of his schemes.
Psalm 41[a]
Trust in God in Sickness and Misfortune
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]Blessed is he who has concern for the weak;
in time of trouble the Lord will deliver him.
3 The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;
he will make him happy on earth
and not abandon him to the will of his enemies.
4 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed
and bring him back to health.
5 Once I prayed, “O Lord, have mercy on me;
heal me, for I have sinned[d] against you.
6 In their malice my enemies say of me,
‘When will he die and his name be forgotten?’
7 When someone comes to visit me,
he utters words without sincerity;
his heart[e] harbors slander,
and on departing he gives voice to it.
8 “All my enemies whisper against me
and conjure up the worst in my regard.
9 ‘He has a fatal disease,’ they say;
‘he will never rise up from his sickbed.’
10 “Even my friend whom I trusted,
the one who dined at my table,
has risen up[f] against me.
11 But you, O Lord, be merciful to me;
make me well[g] so that I may pay them back.”
12 By this I know that you are pleased with me—
that my enemy fails to triumph over me.
13 Because of my innocence you uphold me
and let me stand in your presence forever.
14 Blessed[h] be the Lord, the God of Israel,
forever and forever.
Amen and Amen.
5 Thorns and snares cover the path of the perverse;
whoever values his life will steer clear of them.
6 Train a child in the way he should go,
and he will not deviate from it, even in old age.
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