Job: What Can I Say?
1Then the Lord said to Job,
2“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who reproves God answer it.”
3Then Job answered the Lord and said,
4“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;
Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”
God Questions Job
6Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said,
7“Now gird up your loins like a man;
I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
8Will you really annul My judgment?
Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?
9Or do you have an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?
10“Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity,
And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.
11Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low.
12Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And tread down the wicked where they stand.
13Hide them in the dust together;
Bind them in the hidden place.
14Then I will also confess to you,
That your own right hand can save you.
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
15“Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.
16Behold now, his strength in his loins
And his power in the muscles of his belly.
17He bends his tail like a cedar;
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18His bones are tubes of bronze;
His limbs are like bars of iron.
19“He is the first of the ways of God;
Let his maker bring near his sword.
20Surely the mountains bring him food,
And all the beasts of the field play there.
21Under the lotus plants he lies down,
In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
22The lotus plants cover him with shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
23If a river rages, he is not alarmed;
He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.
24Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,
With barbs can anyone pierce his nose?
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?
2Can you put a rope in his nose
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3Will he make many supplications to you,
Or will he speak to you soft words?
4Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him for a servant forever?
5Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you bind him for your maidens?
6Will the traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
7Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle; you will not do it again!
9Behold, your expectation is false;
Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?
10No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him;
Who then is he that can stand before Me?
11Who has given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.
13Who can strip off his outer armor?
Who can come within his double mail?
14Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
15His strong scales are his pride,
Shut up as with a tight seal.
16One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
17They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19Out of his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
20Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22In his neck lodges strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
23The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immovable.
24His heart is as hard as a stone,
Even as hard as a lower millstone.
25When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
27He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.
34He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.”
Job’s Confession
1Then Job answered the Lord and said,
2“I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
3‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4‘Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct me.’
5I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
6Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.”
God Displeased with Job’s Friends
7It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. 8Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job.
God Restores Job’s Fortunes
10The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold. 11Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13He had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. 16After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17And Job died, an old man and full of days.
11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. 12We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
16Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
PSALM 45
A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
For the choir director; according to the Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
1My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
3Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One,
In Your splendor and Your majesty!
4And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
Let Your right hand teach You awesome things.
5Your arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.
6Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your fellows.
8All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.
9Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
10Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:
Forget your people and your father’s house;
11Then the King will desire your beauty.
Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.
12The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
13The King’s daughter is all glorious within;
Her clothing is interwoven with gold.
14She will be led to the King in embroidered work;
The virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
16In place of your fathers will be your sons;
You shall make them princes in all the earth.
17I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever.
14The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;
He who is cursed of the Lord will fall into it.