Job 31, 32
1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes,
And I will not think upon a virgin.
2 What has God apportioned from above,
And what is the inheritance of the Mighty One from on high?
3 Is not destruction for the wrongdoer,
And alienation for those who do lawlessness?
4 Will He not see my way and count all my steps?
5 “If I have walked with scorners,
Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,
6 May He weigh me therefore with a just scale,
For He knows my integrity.
7 If my foot has turned from the way,
Or if my heart has followed after my eyes,
Or if gifts have touched my hands,
8 Then may I sow and others eat.
Yes, may I be uprooted on the earth.
9 “If my heart has followed after another man’s wife,
Or if I have laid wait at her door,
10 Then also may my wife please another,
And may my children be humiliated.
11 For the rage of anger is uncontrollable
In defiling another man’s wife.
12 For it is a fire burning on every side,
And whomever it comes upon, it destroys at the roots.
13 If I have despised the judgment of my servant or handmaid
When they judged me,
14 What then will I do when the Lord brings me to trial and visits me?
How shall I answer Him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them?
So we were fashioned in the same womb.
16 “But the weak did not miss whatever they happened to need,
And I did not cause the eyes of the widow to fail.
17 If I ate my morsel by myself
And did not share it with the orphan
18 (But from my youth I nourished them as a father,
And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow);
19 If I have neglected the naked as he was perishing
And did not clothe him;
20 If the weak did not bless me,
And if their shoulders were not warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
21 If I raised my hand against the orphan,
Trusting that my strength was far superior to his,
22 Then let my shoulder fall from my collarbone;
Let my arm be torn from its socket.
23 For the fear of the Lord seized me,
And I cannot endure His burden.
24 If I have made gold my strength
Or trusted the precious stone,
25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And if I, too, laid my hand on countless treasures
26 (Or do I not see the shining sun eclipsed and the moon waning?
For this does not depend upon them);
27 If my heart has been secretly deceived,
And if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it,
28 Then may this also be reckoned to me
As the greatest lawlessness;
For I have lied against the Lord most high.
29 “If I, too, was glad at the fall of my enemies,
And my heart said, ‘Good! Well done!’
30 Then may my ear hear my curse,
And may I be a byword among my people in my affliction.
31 If my handmaids have often said,
‘Who may give us his meat to be satisfied?’
(But I was very kind.
32 For the stranger did not spend the night outside;
And my door was opened to everyone who came);
33 If I sinned involuntarily, then covered my sin,
34 (For I did not stand in awe of great multitude,
So as not to confess before them);
And if I permitted a poor man to go out of my door
With an empty bosom
35 (Who may listen to me?);
And if I had not feared the hand of the Lord,
And as to the document I had against someone,
36 I would place it as a crown on my shoulders and read it,
37 And if I did not tear it up and return it,
Having taken nothing from the debtor;
38 “If at any time the land groaned against me
And its furrows wept together,
39 If I have eaten its strength alone without paying,
Or if I also grieved the soul of the owner of the land
By casting him out,
40 Then may the nettle come to me instead of wheat,
And bramble instead of barley.”
Thus Job ceased speaking.
Elihu Is Angered at Job and His Friends
1 Job’s three friends also ceased answering him, for he was righteous before them. 2 Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, of the country of Ausitis, became furious; and he was very angry with Job, because he declared himself to be righteous before the Lord. 3 He was also very angry with Job’s three friends, because they found no answer to Job, and yet affirmed he was an ungodly man. 4 Now because they were years older than he, Elihu waited to speak to Job. 5 So when Elihu saw there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused. 6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said:
“I am young in years, and you are the elder;
Therefore I was silent
And dared not declare my knowledge to you.
7 I said, ‘It is not time that speaks,
Though in many years, men know wisdom.’
8 But there is a spirit in mortals,
And the breath of the Almighty is that which teaches them.
9 The long-lived are not always wise,
Nor do the old men always know judgment.
10 “Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me,
I also will declare what I know.’
11 Pay close attention to my words,
For I will speak in your hearing, while you examine my words,
12 And until I shall understand you.
So behold, not one of you answered Job in argument;
13 Lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom added to the Lord.’
14 But you permitted a man to speak such words.
15 “They were dismayed and answered no more;
They made their words obsolete.
16 I waited, for they did not speak.
Because they stood still, they did not answer.”
17 Then Elihu continued and said:
18 ‘Again I will speak, for I am full of words;
The spirit within my stomach is killing me.
19 Indeed, my stomach is like a wineskin of sweet new wine,
Bound up and ready to burst,
Or like the blowpipe of a coppersmith, ready to bellow.
20 I will speak, that I may find relief in opening my lips.
21 I will not feel shame before any man,
Neither indeed will I feel shame before any mortal.
22 For I do not know how to flatter persons,
Or else the moths would eat me.
Psalm 39
1 For the End; a psalm by David.
2 I waited patiently for the Lord, and He heeded me;
And He heard my supplication,
3 And brought me up out of a miserable pit
And from miry clay;
And He established my feet on a rock
And kept straight my steps.
4 He put a new song in my mouth,
A hymn to our God;
Many will see and be afraid,
And shall hope in the Lord.
5 Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord,
And who did not look into vanities and false frenzies.
6 Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You performed,
And in Your thoughts there is no one who shall be likened to You;
I declared and said, “They are multiplied beyond number.
7 Sacrifice and offering You did not will;
But a body You prepared for me;
A whole burnt offering and a sin offering You did not require.”
8 Then I said, “Behold, I come
(it is written of me in the volume of the book);
9 I willed to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law in the midst of my heart.”
10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great church;
Behold, I shall not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You know.
11 I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart;
I declared Your truth and Your salvation;
I did not hide Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.
12 O Lord, do not remove Your compassion from me;
May Your mercy and Your truth take hold of me continually.
13 For evils without number surrounded me;
My transgressions overpowered me, and I could not see;
They multiplied more than the hairs of my head,
And my heart failed me.
14 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, give heed to help me.
15 May those who seek my soul to make away with it
Be disgraced and confounded together;
May those who wish evil for me be turned back and disgraced;
16 May those who say to me, “Well done! Well done!”
Receive their shame immediately.
17 May all who seek You, O Lord,
Rejoice exceedingly, and be glad in You;
And may those who love Your salvation
Say continually, “The Lord be magnified.”
18 But I am poor and needy; the Lord will take care of me.
You are my helper and my protector; O my God, do not delay.
Proverbs 8:17–21
17 I love those who love me,
And those who seek me shall find me.
18 Riches and glory belong to me,
And abundant possessions, and righteousness;
19 It is better to enjoy my fruits than gold and precious stones,
And my fruits are better than choice silver.
20 I walk in the ways of righteousness,
And I am conversant with the paths of judgment;
21 That I may distribute substance to those who love me,
And may fill their treasuries with good things.
Romans 13
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Put on Christ
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.