Job Replies: Where Is God?
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Today also my scomplaint is bitter;1
tmy hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
3 uOh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his seat!
4 vI would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he wcontend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; he would pay attention to me.
7 There an upright man could argue with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 x“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
10 But yhe knows the way that I take;
when he has ztried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 aMy foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have btreasured the words of his mouth cmore than my portion of food.
13 But he is unchangeable,2 and dwho can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.
14 For he will ecomplete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
nor because thick darkness covers my face.
The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.
1 wThe Lord is my light and my salvation;
xwhom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold1 of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
ymy heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet2 I will be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
zthat I may adwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to bgaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire3 in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his cshelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high dupon a rock.
6 And now my ehead shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with fshouts of joy;
gI will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7 hHear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and ianswer me!
8 You have said, j“Seek4 my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”5
9 kHide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; lforsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
11 mTeach me your way, O Lord,
and nlead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 oGive me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for pfalse witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look6 upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
Passover Celebrated
1 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to ukeep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover vin the second month— 3 for they could not keep it at that time because wthe priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— 4 and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. 5 So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. 6 So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, xreturn to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped yfrom the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. 8 Do not now be zstiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may aturn away from you. 9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find bcompassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”
10 So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and cmocked them. 11 However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord.
13 And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the dFeast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly. 14 They set to work and removed the ealtars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the brook fKidron. 15 And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, so that they gconsecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. 16 They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the Lord. 18 For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone 19 who hsets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.”1 20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21 And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread iseven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might2 to the Lord. 22 And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
23 Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests consecrated themselves in great numbers. 25 The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for jsince the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests and the Levites arose and kblessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to lhis holy habitation in heaven.
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Edom Will Be Humbled
Thus says the Lord God aconcerning Edom:
bWe have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
1 Therefore let us leave the pelementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from qdead works rand of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings,1 the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For sit is impossible, in the case of those who have once been tenlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and uhave shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have vtasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, wsince they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But xif it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and yits end is to be burned.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your zwork and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the afull assurance of bhope until the end, 12 so that you may not be csluggish, but dimitators of those who through faith and patience einherit the promises.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, fhe swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham,2 having patiently waited, gobtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to hlie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to ihold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that jenters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 kwhere Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, lhaving become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
