1 And the Lord said to Job:
2 “Shall a faultfinder rcontend with the Almighty?
He who sargues with God, let him answer it.”
Job Promises Silence
3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
4 “Behold, tI am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I ulay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and vI will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further.”
The Lord Challenges Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the wwhirlwind and said:
7 x“Dress for action1 like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
8 yWill you even put me in the wrong?
zWill you condemn me that ayou may be in the right?
9 Have you an barm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 “Adorn yourself with cmajesty and dignity;
dclothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and elook on everyone who is proud and abase him.
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them all fin the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.2
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Behold, Behemoth,3
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 “He is the first of the works4 of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,5
or pierce his nose with a snare?
Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of the Sons of Korah.
1 O God, we have heard with our ears,
hour fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the idays of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3 for jnot by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the klight of your face,
for you delighted in them.
4 You are my King, O God;
ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For lnot in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have mboasted continually,
and nwe will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have orejected us and disgraced us
and phave not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us qlike sheep for slaughter
and have rscattered us among the nations.
12 You have ssold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the tderision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock2 among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not uforgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
vnor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 wIf we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a xforeign god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he yknows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet zfor your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 aAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For bour soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us cfor the sake of your steadfast love!
Report from Jerusalem
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the atwentieth year, as I was in bSusa the citadel, 2 that cHanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and dshame. eThe wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah’s Prayer
4 fAs soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the gGod of heaven. 5 And I said, h“O Lord God of heaven, the igreat and awesome God who jkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 klet your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, lconfessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 mWe have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, nI will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, othough your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have pchosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 qThey are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and rgrant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Habakkuk’s Prayer
1 A prayer of hHabakkuk the prophet, according to iShigionoth.
2 O Lord, jI have heard the report of you,
and your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
3 kGod came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and lthe earth was full of his praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed at his heels.1
6 He stood and measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations;
then the eternal mountains were scattered;
the meverlasting hills sank low.
His were the everlasting ways.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your indignation against the sea,
when you rode on your horses,
on your nchariot of salvation?
9 You stripped the sheath from your bow,
calling for many arrows.2 Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains osaw you and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
the deep gave forth its pvoice;
it lifted its hands on high.
11 qThe sun and moon stood still in their place
at the light of your arrows as they sped,
at the flash of your rglittering spear.
12 You marched through the earth in fury;
you threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck.3 Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 You strampled the sea with your horses,
the surging of mighty waters.
16 I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord
17 tThough the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will urejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
vhe makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
To the choirmaster: with stringed4 instruments.
Shepherd the Flock of God
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a ywitness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the zflock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,1 anot under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;2 not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 bnot domineering over those in your charge, but being cexamples to the flock. 4 And dwhen the chief eShepherd appears, you will receive the unfading fcrown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. gClothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for h“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 icasting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 jBe sober-minded; kbe watchful. Your adversary the devil lprowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 mResist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your nbrotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have osuffered a little while, the God of all grace, pwho has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 qTo him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 rShe who is at sBabylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
