Job 19
How Long Will You Weary Me?
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you weary my soul And take me down with words?
3 Only know how the Lord has dealt with me thus. You speak against me, and while shaming me, You press hard on me.
4 Yes indeed, I have truly erred; my error lodges with me. When I speak words which I should not have spoken, My words go astray and are unseasonable.
5 Alas! You exalt yourselves against me And attack me with disgrace.†
6 Know therefore that the Lord has troubled me And raised His stronghold against me.
7 Behold, I laugh at disgrace and I will not speak. Nor I will cry out, for judgment is nowhere to be found.†
8 I am walled in round about and cannot cross over, For He has set darkness before my face.
9 He stripped me of my glory And took the crown from my head.
10 He has torn me apart on every side, and I am gone. He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 He handled me vehemently in wrath And has counted me like an enemy.
12 His raiders came against me with one accord. They encircled my paths and lay in wait.
13 “My brothers stood far from me And recognized strangers rather than me. So my friends became unmerciful.
14 My relatives acted as though they did not know me, And my close friends have forgotten me.
15 As for my neighbors and the maidservants of my house, I was a stranger before them.
16 I called my servant, but he gave no answer, Though I begged him with my mouth.
17 I also entreated my wife, And summoned the children of my concubines and flattered them.
18 But they rejected me forever. When I arise, they speak against me.
19 Those who know me detest me, And those whom I truly love turned against me.
20 The muscles of my body have decayed under my skin, And my bones are held in my teeth.
The Lord Is Everlasting
21 “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O friends, For the hand of the Lord has touched me.
22 Why do you persecute me as the Lord does, And are not satisfied because of my flesh?
23 “For who may commit my words to writing, To put them in a book forever,†
24 With an iron pen and lead, Or to engrave them in rocks?
25 For I know He is everlasting, He who is about to set me free on the earth
26 And to raise up my skin that endures these things; For these have been accomplished for me by the Lord;
27 Which I myself am conscious of, And my eyes have beheld, and not those of another. All has been accomplished for me in my bosom.
28 If you shall say, ‘What shall we say before him? Then we will find in him the root of the matter.’
29 Indeed, be afraid to cover up your evil, For wrath will come upon lawless men; Then they will know where their substance is.”
Psalms 105
32 They also provoked Him to anger at the water of Rebellion, And Moses was afflicted because of them;
33 For they embittered his spirit, And he spoke offensively with his lips;
34 They did not destroy the nations the Lord said to destroy,
35 But mingled with the nations And learned their works;
36 And they served their graven images, And this became a snare for them;
37 They also sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons,
38 And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the graven images of Canaan; So the land was polluted with their blood;
39 It was also defiled by their works; Thus they acted unfaithfully in their ways of living.
40 And the Lord was very angry with His people, And He abhorred His inheritance;
41 Then He delivered them into the hands of the nations, And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also afflicted them, And they were humbled under their hands.
43 He delivered them many times, But they rebelled against Him with their counsel, And were humbled by their transgressions.
44 And He saw them in their afflictions; He listened to their supplications,
45 And He remembered His covenant, And felt regret according to the multitude of His mercy;
46 So He aroused compassion for them Among all who made them captives.
47 Save us, O Lord our God, And gather us from the nations, So we may give thanks to Your holy name, And boast in Your praise.
48 Bless the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people shall say, “Amen! Amen!”
Proverbs of Solomon 23
13 Do not withhold instruction from a child, For if you should strike him with a rod, he would not die;
14 For you shall strike him with a rod And deliver his soul from death.
15 My son, if your heart becomes wise, You will also gladden my heart;
16 And your lips shall spend time with the words on my lips, If they be upright.†
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be in fear of the Lord the whole day long.
18 For if you keep these words, you shall have offspring, And your hope will not depart from you.
John 1
The Word Is God
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.†
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.†
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.†
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.†
The Baptist’s Witness to the Word
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.†
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.†
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:†
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.†
The Word Becomes Flesh to Reveal the Father
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.†
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.†
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. †
Who Is John the Baptist?
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”†
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”†
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
Why Does John Baptize?
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.†
27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.