Job 4
Eliphaz Accuses Job
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “Have you been often spoken to in distress? But now who shall endure the force of your words?
3 For though you instructed many, And strengthened the hands of the weak one,†
4 And raised up the sick with your words, And imparted courage to feeble knees,
5 Yet now pain has come upon you and touched you; And you are anxious.
6 Is not your fear, your hope, And the integrity of your way of life changed into folly?
7 Can you remember anyone pure who has perished, Or true people who were altogether uprooted?†
8 According to what I have seen, those who plow harmful things and those who sow them Will reap pain for themselves.
9 They will perish by the command of the Lord, And they will be destroyed by the breath of His wrath.
10 The strength of the lion, the voice of the lioness, And the exulting cry of dragons are extinguished.
11 The old lion has perished for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness have left one another.
12 “But if there had been any truth in your words, None of these evils would have befallen you. Shall not my ear receive extraordinary things from him?
13 But just as when terror falls upon men With dread at a noise in the night,†
14 Shivering and trembling befell me And caused my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit came before my face, And my hair and flesh shook with fear.
16 I arose, but could not recognize it. I looked, and there was no form before my eyes, But rather a gentle breeze, and a voice, saying,
17 ‘What? Shall a mortal man be pure in the Lord’s sight, Or blameless before Him in his works?
18 If He puts no trust in His servants, And if He observes a perverse way in His angels,
19 How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Of whom we also are formed of the same clay? Does not He smite them like a moth?
20 They no longer exist from morning till evening; They have perished, for they cannot help themselves.
21 For He blows upon them, and they are withered. They have perished for lack of wisdom.’
Psalms 95
1 When the house was built after the captivity; an ode by David. †Oh, sing a new song to the Lord, Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
2 Sing to the Lord; bless His name; Proclaim His salvation from day to day;
3 Declare His glory among the Gentiles, His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great, and is greatly to be praised; And He is to be feared above all the gods;
5 For all the gods of the nations are demons, But the Lord made the heavens;
6 Thanksgiving and beauty are before Him; Holiness and majesty are in His holy place.
7 Bring to the Lord, O families of the Gentiles, Bring to the Lord glory and honor;
8 Bring to the Lord the glory of His name; Take up sacrifices and enter into His courts;
9 Worship the Lord in His holy court; Let all the earth be shaken before Him.
10 Say among the Gentiles, “The Lord is King, For He established the world, which shall not be shaken. He shall judge the peoples with uprightness.”
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth greatly rejoice; Let the sea be shaken and all its fullness.
12 Then the fields and everything in them shall rejoice; Then all the trees of the forest shall greatly rejoice
13 Before the face of the Lord; for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth; He shall judge the world in righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.
Proverbs of Solomon 20
21 A wise king is a winnower of the ungodly, And he casts them upon the wheel of torture.
22 The breath of man is the light of the Lord, Who searches the inner man.†
23 Mercy and truth are a guard for the king, And they will encircle his throne with righteousness.
24 Wisdom is an ornament to young men, And the glory of old men is their gray hair.
25 Bruises and fractures happen to evil men, And plagues shall come into their inner man.†
Luke 18
The Tenacious Widow
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,†
2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?Ӡ
The Pharisee and the Publican
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.†
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.†
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’†
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.Ӡ
Receive the Kingdom as a Child
15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.†
16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.
17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”