Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

^9 (8) Taste, and see that Adonai is good.
How blessed are those who take refuge in him!
^10 (9) Fear Adonai, you holy ones of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
^11 (10) Young lions can be needy, they can go hungry,
but those who seek Adonai lack nothing good.

^12 (11) Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of Adonai.
^13 (12) Which of you takes pleasure in living?
Who wants a long life to see good things?
^14 (13) [If you do,] keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceiving talk;

12 Iyov responded:

² “No doubt you are [the only] people [that matter];
and when you die, so will wisdom.
³ But I too have a brain, as much as you,
In no way am I inferior to you.
Besides, who doesn’t know things like these?

⁴ “Anyone who calls on God,
and he answers him,
becomes a laughingstock to his friends —
they make fun of an innocent, blameless man.
⁵ Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,
for the blow that strikes somebody already staggering.
⁶ The tents of robbers prosper,
[the homes of] those who anger God are secure,
those who carry their gods in their hands.

⁷ “But ask the animals — they will teach you —
and the birds in the air — they will tell you;
⁸ or speak to the earth — it will teach you —
and the fish in the sea will inform you:
⁹ every one of them knows
that the hand of Adonai has done this!
¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the spirit of every human being.
¹¹ Shouldn’t the ear test words,
just as the palate tastes food?
¹² Is wisdom [only] with aged men?
discernment [only] with long life?

¹³ “With God are wisdom and power;
he has [good] counsel and understanding.
¹⁴ When he breaks something down, it can’t be rebuilt;
when he imprisons someone, he can’t be released.
¹⁵ When he holds back water, there is drought;
when he sends it out, it overruns the land.
¹⁶ With him are strength and common sense;
both the misled and those who mislead are his.
¹⁷ He leads counselors away captive,
he makes fools of judges.
¹⁸ He removes authority from kings,
then binds them up [as prisoners].
¹⁹ He leads cohanim away captive
and overthrows those long in power.
²⁰ Those who are trusted he deprives of speech,
and he removes the discernment of the aged.
²¹ He pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
²² He discloses the deepest recesses of darkness
and brings light into shadows dark as death.
²³ He makes nations great and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
²⁴ He removes understanding from a country’s leaders
and makes them wander in trackless deserts.
²⁵ They grope in unlit darkness;
he makes them stagger like drunks.