Job 5, 6
1 “But call out, if there is anyone who will obey you,
Or if you shall see any of the holy angels.
2 For wrath destroys a foolish man,
And envy slays one who is deceived.
3 I have seen foolish people taking root,
But suddenly their mode of life consumed them.
4 May their children be far from salvation,
May they be derided at the gates of worse people,
And may there be no one to deliver them.
5 For the righteous will eat what they have gathered,
But they themselves will not be delivered from calamities.
Their strength will be exhausted.
6 For trouble does not come from the earth,
Nor does suffering spring from the mountains;
7 Yet man is born for trouble
As the young bird is born to fly to high places.
8 But surely as for me, I will beseech the Lord,
And call upon the Lord and Master of all,
9 Who does great, incomprehensible,
And marvelous things without number.
10 He causes rain on the earth
And sends water on all the places under the heaven.
11 He sets the lowly on high
And raises up the lost.
12 He frustrates the counsels of the crafty
So their hands cannot carry out their plans.
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness
And subverts the counsel of the cunning.
14 Let them encounter darkness in the daytime,
And may they grope at noontime as though it were night.
15 May they perish in war,
But may the weak escape from the hand of the mighty.
16 May the weak have hope,
And may the mouth of the unrighteous be stopped.
17 “But blessed is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore, do not reject the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For He causes a man to be in pain,
But He restores him again.
He smites, but His hands heal.
19 Six times He shall deliver you out of troubles,
And in seven no harm shall touch you.
20 In famine He shall deliver you from death,
And in war He shall free you from the power of the sword.
21 He shall hide you from the scourge of the tongue,
And you shall not be afraid of evils when they come.
22 You shall laugh at the unrighteous and the lawless,
And you shall not be afraid of the wild animals of the earth.
23 For the wild animals of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 Then you shall know your house will be at peace with you;
And in your dwelling place there shall be nothing amiss.
25 You shall also know your seed shall be many,
And your children shall be like the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to the grave as grain reaped in its season,
Or as a heap of threshed wheat harvested at the proper time.
27 Behold, we have searched this out;
This is what we have heard.
Know for yourself if you have done anything wrong.”
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?
Psalm 32:13–22
13 The Lord looked attentively from heaven;
He saw all the sons of men.
14 From His prepared dwelling-place,
He looked upon all who dwell on the earth,
15 He who alone fashioned their hearts,
He who understands all their works.
16 A king is not saved by his large army,
And a giant shall not be saved by his immense strength;
17 A horse is a false hope for salvation,
And it shall not be saved by its enormous power.
18 Behold, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their souls from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul shall wait for the Lord;
He is our helper and protector;
21 For our heart shall be glad in Him,
And we hope in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
As we hope in You.
Proverbs 6:26–31
26 When you walk about, bring along this commandment
And let it be with you;
27 And as you sleep, let it guard you,
That when you arise, it may speak to you.
28 For a commandment of law is a lamp and a light,
And the way of life is reproof and instruction,
29 That you may keep yourself from a married woman
And from the slanderous tongue of a strange woman.
30 Do not let the desire of beauty conquer you;
Neither be caught by her eyes,
Nor captivated by her eyelids;
31 For the value of a prostitute is only one loaf,
And such a woman hunts for the precious souls of men.
Romans 5
5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces [b]perseverance; 4 and perseverance, [c]character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For when we were still without strength, [d]in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the [e]offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many [f]offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s [g]offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through [h]one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one[i] Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.