Job 19, 20
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 will I 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.”
Zophar: The Ungodly Will Perish
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
2 “I did not suppose you would answer in that way;
Nor do you understand more than I.
3 I will heed the discipline of my humiliation,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.
4 “Have you not heard these things of old—
From the time man was put on the earth?
5 For the gladness of the ungodly is a disastrous fall,
And the joy of transgressors is destruction.
6 Though his gifts ascend to heaven
And his sacrifice touches the clouds,
7 Just when he already seems to be established,
Then he shall utterly perish;
And those who knew him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 Like a dream he flew away and cannot be found;
And he fled like a vision of the night.
9 The eye observed him, but will see him no more;
Nor will his place any longer behold him.
10 May his children perish,
And may his vile hands kindle the fire of sorrows.
11 His bones were full of his youthful vigor,
Which will lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he will hide it under his tongue,
13 Though he will not spare it and will not forsake it,
But will hold it fast in the midst of his throat,
14 Yet he shall be unable to help himself,
For the gall of an asp is in his belly.
15 His wealth gathered unjustly shall be vomited up,
And a messenger will drag him out of his house.
16 May he nurse on the anger of serpents;
And may a snake’s tongue kill him.
17 May he not see the milk of the pastures,
Nor his supplies of honey and butter.
18 In vain he has labored unprofitably for wealth,
Of which he will not taste;
For it is like tough meat that he cannot chew.
19 For he crushed the houses of many weak people.
He plundered their dwelling and caused it to cease.
20 “There is no salvation in his possessions,
For he will not be saved by what he desired.
21 Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore, his good things will not flourish.
22 But when he at last seems to be satisfied, he will be distressed,
For every trouble will come upon him.
23 If he were to satisfy his stomach in some way,
Let God send the fury of wrath upon him,
And may He bathe him in sorrows.
24 He will not be saved from the power of the sword;
May a bronze bow wound him.
25 May an arrow pass through his body,
And may lightning strike his dwelling.
May terrors come upon him.
26 May total darkness await him.
A fire that will not go out will consume him.
May a stranger ruin his house.
27 May heaven uncover his lawlessness,
And may the earth rise up against him.
28 May destruction bring his house to an end,
And may a day of wrath come upon him.
29 This is the portion of an ungodly man from the Lord,
And the heritage appointed to him from the One who watches him.”
Psalm 36:1–20
1 Of David.
Do not be envious of those who do evil,
Nor be jealous of those who work lawlessness;
2 For like grass they shall be dried up quickly,
And like green vegetables they shall swiftly wither.
3 Hope in the Lord, and work goodness;
Dwell in the land, and you shall be nurtured by its riches.
4 Delight in the Lord,
And He will give you the requests of your heart.
5 Reveal your way to the Lord,
And hope in Him; and He will do it.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as light,
And your judgment as the noonday sun.
7 Submit to the Lord, and supplicate Him;
Do not be envious of him who prospers in his way,
Nor of him who transgresses the law.
8 Cease from wrath and forsake anger;
Do not be envious so as to do evil;
9 Because evildoers will be destroyed,
But those who wait on the Lord, these shall inherit the earth.
10 For in a little while the sinner shall no longer be present,
And you will look for his place, but not find it.
11 But the gentle shall inherit the earth,
And they will delight in the fullness of peace.
12 The sinner will closely observe the just man
And gnash at him with his teeth.
13 But the Lord shall laugh at him,
Because He foresees his day will come.
14 The sinners draw the sword
And stretch their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay the upright in heart.
15 May their sword enter their heart,
And may their bows be shattered.
16 Better the little with the just man
Than the great riches of sinners;
17 For the arms of sinners shall be shattered,
But the Lord supports the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the ways of the blameless,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in an evil time,
And in days of famine they shall be filled.
20 But the sinners shall perish,
And the enemies of the Lord altogether,
When they glorify and exalt themselves;
Like smoke they shall vanish away.
Proverbs 7:21–24
21 So she leads him astray with much conversation,
And with snares from her lips she compels him.
22 And being cajoled, he follows her
As an ox is led for slaughter
23 And as a dog to bonds,
Or as a deer struck with an arrow in the liver;
24 And he hastens even as a bird into a snare,
Not knowing he runs for his life.
Romans 9:14–33
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”
18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”
20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”
21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea:
“I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
‘You are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
29 And as Isaiah said before:
“Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed,
We would have become like Sodom,
And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Present Condition of Israel
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;
31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
33 As it is written:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
I found the narrative of the monk and the hermit during the summary and reflection portion of the presentation very instructive. Where might I read this account in book form? What is the source of the narrative? I sincerely enjoy Daily Orthodox Scriptures as my daily routine. Thank you very much for this service.
It comes from “The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks” by Benedicta Ward, pp 36-37 Glad you are with us, Fred – FA
Thank you for your response. I’m certain that you have no interest in this, but I feel the desire to share the fact that I was raised and remain Methodist. However, the first time I read The Bible from cover to cover was along with you during these podcasts. Thank you again for the blessing of your service.