Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
9 O fear the Lord, you (A)His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is (B)no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord shall (C)not be in want of any good thing.
11 (D)Come, you children, listen to me;
(E)I will teach you (F)the fear of the Lord.
12 (G)Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may (H)see good?
13 Keep (I)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking (J)deceit.
14 (K)Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and (L)pursue it.
Job Chides His Accusers
12 Then Job [a]responded,
2 “Truly then (A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
3 “But (B)I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And [b]who does not know such things as these?
4 “I am a (C)joke to [c]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and (D)blameless man is a joke.
5 “[d]He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 “The (E)tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God (F)are secure,
[e]Whom God brings (G)into their power.
7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;
And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
8 “Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9 “Who among all these does not know
That (H)the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 (I)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And (J)the breath of all mankind?
11 “Does not (K)the ear test words,
As the palate [f]tastes its food?
12 “Wisdom is with (L)aged men,
With [g]long life is understanding.
Job Speaks of the Power of God
13 “With Him are (M)wisdom and (N)might;
To Him belong counsel and (O)understanding.
14 “Behold, He (P)tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He [h](Q)imprisons a man, and [i]there can be no release.
15 “Behold, He (R)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He (S)sends them out, and they [j]inundate the earth.
16 “With Him are strength and sound wisdom,
The (T)misled and the misleader belong to Him.
17 “He makes (U)counselors walk [k]barefoot
And makes fools of (V)judges.
18 “He (W)loosens the [l]bond of kings
And binds their loins with a girdle.
19 “He makes priests walk [m]barefoot
And overthrows (X)the secure ones.
20 “He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And (Y)takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 “He (Z)pours contempt on nobles
And (AA)loosens the belt of the strong.
22 “He (AB)reveals mysteries from the darkness
And brings the deep darkness into light.
23 “He (AC)makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He [n]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 “He (AD)deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.
25 “They (AE)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them (AF)stagger like a drunken man.
17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and [a]hindrances (A)contrary to the teaching which you learned, and (B)turn away from them. 18 For such men are (C)slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of (D)their own [b]appetites; and by their (E)smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. 19 For the report of your obedience (F)has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but (G)I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 20 (H)The God of peace will soon crush (I)Satan under your feet.
(J)The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.