Bible Browser




Job 10, 11,12

Job: I Loathe My Life

10‘I loathe my life;
   I will give free utterance to my complaint;
   I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
   let me know why you contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
   to despise the work of your hands
   and favour the schemes of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
   Do you see as humans see?
5 Are your days like the days of mortals,
   or your years like human years,
6 that you seek out my iniquity
   and search for my sin,
7 although you know that I am not guilty,
   and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?
8 Your hands fashioned and made me;
   and now you turn and destroy me.*
9 Remember that you fashioned me like clay;
   and will you turn me to dust again?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
   and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
   and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,
   and your care has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things you hid in your heart;
   I know that this was your purpose.
14 If I sin, you watch me,
   and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
   If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
   and look upon my affliction.
16 Bold as a lion you hunt me;
   you repeat your exploits against me.
17 You renew your witnesses against me,
   and increase your vexation towards me;
   you bring fresh troops against me.*


18 ‘Why did you bring me forth from the womb?
   Would that I had died before any eye had seen me,
19 and were as though I had not been,
   carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not the days of my life few?*
   Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort*
21 before I go, never to return,
   to the land of gloom and deep darkness,
22 the land of gloom* and chaos,
   where light is like darkness.’

Zophar Speaks: Job’s Guilt Deserves Punishment

11Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 ‘Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
   and should one full of talk be vindicated?
3 Should your babble put others to silence,
   and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
4 For you say, “My conduct* is pure,
   and I am clean in God’s* sight.”
5 But O that God would speak,
   and open his lips to you,
6 and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
   For wisdom is many-sided.*
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.


7 ‘Can you find out the deep things of God?
   Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?*
8 It is higher than heaven*—what can you do?
   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,
   and assembles for judgement, who can hinder him?
11 For he knows those who are worthless;
   when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
12 But a stupid person will get understanding,
   when a wild ass is born human.*


13 ‘If you direct your heart rightly,
   you will stretch out your hands towards him.
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
   and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.
15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
   you will be secure, and will not fear.
16 You will forget your misery;
   you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
17 And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
   its darkness will be like the morning.
18 And you will have confidence, because there is hope;
   you will be protected* and take your rest in safety.
19 You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;
   many will entreat your favour.
20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
   all way of escape will be lost to them,
   and their hope is to breathe their last.’

Job Replies: I Am a Laughing-stock

12Then Job answered:
2 ‘No doubt you are the people,
   and wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you;
   I am not inferior to you.
   Who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a laughing-stock to my friends;
   I, who called upon God and he answered me,
   a just and blameless man, I am a laughing-stock.
5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,*
   but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.
6 The tents of robbers are at peace,
   and those who provoke God are secure,
   who bring their god in their hands.*


7 ‘But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
   the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8 ask the plants of the earth,* and they will teach you;
   and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
   that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
   and the breath of every human being.
11 Does not the ear test words
   as the palate tastes food?
12 Is wisdom with the aged,
   and understanding in length of days?


13 ‘With God* are wisdom and strength;
   he has counsel and understanding.
14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
   if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.
15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
   if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16 With him are strength and wisdom;
   the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counsellors away stripped,
   and makes fools of judges.
18 He looses the sash of kings,
   and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
19 He leads priests away stripped,
   and overthrows the mighty.
20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted,
   and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 He pours contempt on princes,
   and looses the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovers the deeps out of darkness,
   and brings deep darkness to light.
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
   he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
24 He strips understanding from the leaders* of the earth,
   and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
25 They grope in the dark without light;
   he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

<<
>>

Psalm 149

Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel


1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
   his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
   let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
   making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
   he adorns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory;
   let them sing for joy on their couches.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
   and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
   and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters
   and their nobles with chains of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgement decreed.
   This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!

<<
>>

II Corinthians 8

Encouragement to Be Generous

8We want you to know, brothers and sisters,* about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; 2for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, 4begging us earnestly for the privilege* of sharing in this ministry to the saints— 5and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, 6so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking* among you. 7Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you*—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.*

I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9For you know the generous act* of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. 10And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— 11now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. 13I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 15As it is written,
‘The one who had much did not have too much,
   and the one who had little did not have too little.’

Commendation of Titus

16 But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have. 17For he not only accepted our appeal, but since he is more eager than ever, he is going to you of his own accord. 18With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his proclaiming of the good news;* 19and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this generous undertaking* for the glory of the Lord himself* and to show our goodwill. 20We intend that no one should blame us about this generous gift that we are administering, 21for we intend to do what is right not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of others. 22And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found eager in many matters, but who is now more eager than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers* of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24Therefore, openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

<<
>>

Enter another bible reference:


obb
bible browser

biblemail@oremus.org
v 2.9.2
30 June 2021

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.