Job 6
Mercy Has Rejected Me
1 But Job answered and said:
2 “I wish there were someone who would weigh the wrath upon me, And at the same time lift up my griefs on a scale.†
3 For indeed they would be heavier than the sand of the seashore; But as it seems, my words are worthless.
4 For the arrows of the Lord are in my body, Whose anger drinks my blood; For when I begin to speak, they pierce me.
5 What then? Will the wild donkey bray for no reason If he is not seeking food? Or will the ox moo at the manger when it has fodder?†
6 Will bread be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in empty words?
7 My soul cannot stop groaning, For I see my food to be like the smell of a lion.
8 “Would that my request would come about, And the Lord would grant my hope.
9 Let the Lord begin and wound me, But let Him not utterly destroy me.
10 May the grave be my city upon the walls which I have leaped. I will not turn away from it, For I have not lied about the holy words of my God.†
11 What strength do I have, that I should continue? For how long would my soul endure?†
12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh made of bronze?
13 Or have I not trusted in Him? But help is far from me.
14 “Mercy has rejected me; And the visitation of the Lord has disregarded me.
15 My relatives pay no attention to me. They pass me by like a wave, Or as though I were a failing brook.
16 Those who once reverenced me Now look upon me like snow or frozen ice.
17 For when it melts at the approach of the heat, It is no longer recognized for what it was.
18 Thus I have been forsaken by all, But I am also lost and homeless.†
19 Look at the ways of Temanites, You who mark the paths of Sabeans.
20 Those who put their trust in cities and wealth Will be debtors to shame.
21 But you have also come to me without mercy, That seeing my wound you were afraid.
22 What? Have I ever made any demand of you? Or do I need your strength
23 To deliver me from enemies, Or to rescue me from the hand of the mighty?
24 “Teach me, and I will keep quiet. Tell me wherein I have erred.
25 But as it seems, the words of a true man are worthless, For I do not ask strength of you.
26 Neither will your rebuke cause me to cease my words, Nor will I endure the sound of your word.
27 Nevertheless you attack the orphan, And you jump on your friend.
28 Now therefore, after I looked on your faces, I will not lie.
29 Sit down now, and may there be no wrongdoing; And come together again with a righteous man.
30 There is no wrongdoing on my tongue, Or does not my throat cultivate understanding?
Psalms 97
1 A psalm by David. †Sing a new song to the Lord, For He did wondrous things; His right hand and His holy arm Saved peoples for Him.
2 The Lord made known His salvation; He revealed His righteousness in the sight of the Gentiles.
3 He remembered His mercy to Jacob And His truth to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth saw the salvation of our God.
4 Shout aloud to God, all the earth; Sing and greatly rejoice, and sing psalms;
5 Sing to the Lord on a lyre, On a lyre and with the voice of a psalm;
6 With trumpets of metal and the sound of a trumpet of horn, Shout aloud before the Lord our King.
7 Let the sea be shaken and its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it.
8 The rivers shall clap their hands together; The mountains shall greatly rejoice;
9 For He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world in righteousness And the peoples with uprightness.
Psalms 98
1 A psalm by David. †The Lord reigns; let the peoples be angry; The Lord sits upon the cherubim; let the earth be shaken.
2 The Lord is great in Zion, And He is exalted above all the peoples;
3 Let them give thanks to Your great name, For it is fearful and holy.
4 The King’s honor loves judgment; You prepare uprightness; You work judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at the footstool of His feet; For He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron are among His priests, And Samuel is among those who call upon His name; They called upon the Lord, and He heard them;
7 He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud; They kept His testimonies And the ordinances He gave them.
8 O Lord our God, You listened to them; O God, You were very merciful to them, While avenging all their ways of living.
9 Exalt the Lord our God And worship at His holy mountain; For the Lord our God is holy.
Proverbs of Solomon 21
6 Destruction shall entertain the ungodly, For they are not willing to do righteous things.†
7 To the crooked, God sends crooked ways, For His works are pure and upright.
8 It is better to dwell in a corner in the open air Than with wrongdoing in plastered rooms and in a shared house.
9 The soul of the ungodly will not be shown mercy by anyone among men.
10 When the intemperate man is punished, the simple man becomes more astute, And a wise man of understanding shall receive knowledge.†
Luke 19
Zacchaeus is Restored
1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.†
2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.†
3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.†
4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”†
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;†
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The Parable of the Minas
11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.†
12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’
15 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
16 Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’
17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’
18 And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’
19 Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’
20 “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.
21 For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’
22 And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.
23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’
24 “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’
25 (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’)
26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”