Job 33:1-34:9
1 “Nevertheless, hear my words, Job,
And pay close attention to what I say.
2 For behold, I have opened my mouth
And my tongue has spoken.
3 By my words, my heart shall be found pure;
And the understanding of my lips will think pure thoughts.
4 The divine Spirit has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty is that which teaches me.
5 Give me an answer to these things if you can.
Endure and stand firm against me, and I against you.
6 You and I were formed out of the clay;
Thus, we have been formed out of the same substance.
7 My fear will not distract you,
Neither shall my hand be heavy on you.
8 “However you said in my hearing
(I heard the voice of your words),
9 For you say, ‘I am pure, for I have not sinned.
I am blameless, for I have not acted lawlessly.
10 Yet He has found a charge against me;
He has counted me as His enemy.
11 He has put my feet in the stocks,
And He watches all my paths.’
12 “For how can you say,
‘I am righteous, yet He has not listened to me’?
For He that is above mortals is eternal.
13 But you say, ‘Why has He not heard every word of my cause?’
14 For when the Lord speaks once,
Or in another time in a dream,
15 Or in a meditation of the night
(As when dreadful fear falls upon men
While slumbering on their bed),
16 Then He unveils the hearts of men
And frightens them with such fearful visions
17 So as to turn man from his wrongdoing;
Thus He delivers his body from a fall.
18 He keeps back his soul from death
And does not allow him to fall in war.
19 “Again He also chastens him with sickness on his bed,
And the multitude of his bones grow numb.
20 He is not able to receive any food,
Though his soul may long for it,
21 Until his flesh wastes away
And he shows his bones bare.
22 His soul also draws near to death
And his life to Hades.
23 “If there are a thousand death-bringing messengers,
None of them shall wound him.
If he purposes in his heart to turn to the Lord,
And declares to man his fault, and shows his folly,
24 He will support him, that he might not fall into death;
And He will renew his body like fresh plaster upon a wall,
And fill his bones with marrow.
25 He will make his flesh young like a child’s
And restore him among men in full manhood.
26 He shall pray to the Lord, and his prayer shall be accepted.
He shall come to prayer with an innocent face
And with an utterance of thanksgiving,
For He will restore righteousness to men.
27 Even then, a man shall blame himself, saying,
‘I am to blame because of what I did,
Yet He has not examined my guilt
To the extent of my unworthiness.’
28 Save my soul from going down to corruption,
So my life shall see the light.
29 “Behold all these things:
The Mighty One works three ways with a man.
30 But He has delivered my soul from death
That my life may praise Him in the light.
31 “Give ear, Job; listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire you to be declared as righteous.
33 If not, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”
Elihu Proclaims God’s Justice
1 Elihu continued and said:
2 “Hear me, O wise men who are present,
And pay close attention to what is good.
3 For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.
4 Let us choose judgment for ourselves;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,
And the Lord has taken away my judgment.’
6 But he spoke untruth in my judgment when he said,
‘My wound is severe, though I am without wrongdoing.’
7 What man is like Job,
Who drinks scorn like water?
8 For he says, ‘I have not sinned, nor committed ungodliness,
Nor had anything in common with the workers of lawlessness,
So as to walk with ungodly men.’
9 For you should not say, ‘There shall be no visitation of a man,’
Whereas there is a visitation on him from the Lord.
Psalm 40
1 For the End; a psalm by David.
2 Blessed is he who understands the poor and needy;
The Lord will deliver him in an evil day.
3 May the Lord keep him, and give him life,
And make him blessed on the earth,
And not deliver him into the hands of his enemies.
4 May the Lord help him on his bed of pain;
You turned his bed from sickness to wholeness.
5 O Lord, I said, “Have mercy on me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
6 My enemies speak evil things against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
7 And if he comes to see us, he speaks in vain;
His heart gathered lawlessness to itself;
He went forth and spoke the same.
8 All my enemies whisper together against me;
Against me they devise evils for me;
9 They testify a lawless word against me,
“Since he is asleep, will he rise up again?”
10 For even the man of my peace, in whom I hoped,
He who ate my bread, dealt deceptively with me;
11 But You, O Lord, have mercy on me,
And raise me up; and I will repay them.
12 By this I know You are pleased with me,
Because my enemy did not rejoice over me.
13 And because of my innocence, You supported me,
And established me before You forever.
14 Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen! Amen!
Proverbs 8:22–26
22 “If I declare to you the things that happen daily,
I will also remember to recount the things of old.
23 The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways for His works;
He established me in the beginning before time,
24 Before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses,
Before the going forth of the fountains of waters,
25 Before the mountains were created;
And He begot me before all hills.
26 The Lord made the fields and the uninhabited places
And the inhabited heights under heaven.
Romans 14
1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.
2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.
3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.
4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
The Law of Love
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.
21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.