Job 23
Job Will Pursue the Lord
1 Then Job answered and said:†
2 “Indeed, I know pleading is out of my reach, For His hand is heavy upon my groaning.
3 Who then would know, that I might find Him, And might bring this matter to an end?
4 I would state my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments.
5 Would that I knew the words He would answer me And could understand what He would tell me.
6 Though He would come on me in His great strength, He would not use the occasion to threaten me.
7 For truth and rebuke are from Him, And He would bring my judgment to an end.
8 “Though I should proceed to this important end Until I no longer exist, Still what would I know about the last things?
9 When He worked on the left hand, I could not understand it. His right hand will encompass me, But I will not see it.
10 For He knows my way already, And He has weighed me as gold.
11 I will go forth in His commandments; For I have kept His ways and will not turn aside.
12 I will not disregard His commandments; But I have hidden His words in my bosom.†
13 “If He too has thus judged, Who is he that has opposed Him? Whatever He has willed, that He has done.
14 Therefore I pursue Him zealously, And when I was instructed, I thought of Him.
15 Therefore let me be serious before His face. I will consider and be afraid of Him.
16 For the Lord softened my heart, And the Almighty has alarmed me.
17 For I did not know darkness would come upon me, But thick darkness covered my face.
Psalms 107
1 The ode of a psalm; by David. †
2 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing and give praise in my glory.
3 Awaken, lute and harp; I shall awaken early in the morning.
4 I will give thanks to You among the peoples, O Lord, And I will sing to You among the Gentiles;
5 For great is Your mercy above the heavens, And Your truth even to the clouds.
6 Be exalted above the heavens, O God, And Your glory above all the earth.
7 That Your beloved ones may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me.
8 God spoke in His place, “I shall be exalted, and I will divide Shechem, And measure out the valley of tents;
9 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; And Ephraim is the strength of My head; Judah is My king.
10 Moab is the cauldron of My hope; I will stretch out My shoe over Edom; Foreign tribes were subjected to Me.”
11 Who will bring me into a fortified city? Who will lead me as far as Edom?
12 Will not You, O God, who drove us away? And will You not go out with our armies, O God?
13 Give us help from affliction, For the salvation of man is worthless.
14 In God we shall do a mighty thing, And He shall despise our enemies.
Proverbs of Solomon 23
33 When your eyes behold a strange woman, Then your mouth will speak twisted things;
34 And you will lie down as in the heart of the sea And as a pilot in a great storm;
35 And you will say, “They beat me, but I did not suffer, And they mocked me, but I knew it not;
36 When will it be morning, That I may go seek those with whom I may company?”
John 3
The Preaching of John the Baptist
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.†
23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.
24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.
26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”†
27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.†
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.†
31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”