Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked
1 Then aBildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you bhunt for words?
Consider, and then we will speak.
3 Why are we counted as ccattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?
4 You who dtear yourself in your anger,
shall the earth be forsaken for you,
or ethe rock be removed out of its place?
5 “Indeed, fthe light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of his fire does not shine.
6 The light is gdark in his tent,
and his lamp above him is put out.
7 His strong steps are shortened,
and his hown schemes throw him down.
8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
and he walks on its mesh.
9 iA trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare lays hold of him.
10 A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
a trap for him in the path.
11 jTerrors frighten him on every side,
and chase him at his heels.
12 His strength is famished,
and calamity is kready for his stumbling.
13 It consumes the parts of his skin;
lthe firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14 He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
and is brought to mthe king of terrors.
15 In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
nsulfur is scattered over his habitation.
16 His oroots dry up beneath,
and his branches pwither above.
17 His qmemory perishes from the earth,
and he has no name in the street.
18 rHe is thrust from light into darkness,
and driven out of the world.
19 He has no sposterity or progeny among his people,
and no survivor where he used to live.
20 They of the west are appalled at his tday,
and uhorror seizes them of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
such is the place of him who vknows not God.”
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so vfar from saving me, from the words of my wgroaning?
2 O my God, I cry by xday, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are yholy,
zenthroned on athe praises1 of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they bcried and were rescued;
in you they ctrusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am da worm and not a man,
escorned by mankind and fdespised by the people.
7 All who see me gmock me;
they make mouths at me; they hwag their heads;
8 i“He trusts in the Lord; let him jdeliver him;
let him rescue him, for he kdelights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who ltook me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from mmy mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not nfar from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is onone to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
pstrong bulls of qBashan surround me;
13 they ropen wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am spoured out like water,
and all my bones are tout of joint;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is wdried up like a potsherd,
and my xtongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For ydogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers zencircles me;
they have apierced my hands and feet2—
17 I can count all my bones—
they bstare and gloat over me;
18 cthey divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, ndo not be far off!
O you my help, dcome quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of ethe dog!
21 Save me from fthe mouth of the lion!
22 hI will tell of your name to my ibrothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who jfear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, kglorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of lthe afflicted,
and he has not mhidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he ncried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great ocongregation;
my pvows I will qperform before those who fear him.
26 rThe afflicted4 shall seat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts tlive forever!
27 All uthe ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all vthe families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For wkingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall ybow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not zkeep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ageneration;
31 they shall bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet cunborn,
that he has done it.
Amaziah Reigns in Judah
1 iAmaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, jyet not with a whole heart. 3 And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4 But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, k“Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”
Amaziah’s Victories
5 Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those ltwenty years old and upward, and found that they were m300,000 choice men, fit for war, nable to handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents1 of silver. 7 But oa man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. 8 But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? pFor God has power to help or to cast down.” 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” 10 Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. 11 But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the qValley of Salt and struck down r10,000 men of Seir. 12 The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. 13 But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, sfrom Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.
Amaziah’s Idolatry
14 After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, the brought the gods rof the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. 15 Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people uwho did not deliver their own people from your hand?” 16 But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that vGod has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
Israel Defeats Amaziah
17 wThen Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 18 And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, x“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 19 You say, ‘See, I2 have struck down Edom,’ and yyour heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, zbecause they had sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23 And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of aAhaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,3 from bthe Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24 And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of cObed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
25 dAmaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? 27 From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 28 And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.4
Seek the Lord and Live
1 Hear this word that I ktake up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is lthe virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
m“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek nBethel,
and do not enter into nGilgal
or cross over to oBeersheba;
for nGilgal shall surely go into exile,
and nBethel shall come to nothing.”
6 mSeek the Lord and live,
plest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for nBethel,
7 O qyou who turn justice to wormwood1
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the rPleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and sdarkens the day into night,
who tcalls for the waters of the sea
tand pours them out on the surface of the earth,
uthe Lord is his name;
9 vwho makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 wThey hate him who reproves xin the gate,
and they yabhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you ztrample on2 the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
ayou have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
ayou have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who btake a bribe,
and cturn aside the needy xin the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will dkeep silent in such a time,
efor it is an evil time.
14 fSeek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, gthe God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 hHate evil, and love good,
and establish justice xin the gate;
iit may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, gthe God of hosts, the Lord:
“In all the squares jthere shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and jto wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for kI will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.
Let Justice Roll Down
18 Woe to you who desire lthe day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
mIt is darkness, and not light,
19 nas if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20 mIs not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 o“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 pEven though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to qthe melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 r“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 sYou tshall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27 uand I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is gthe God of hosts.
The Supremacy of God’s Son
1 Long ago, at many times and ain many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but bin these last days che has spoken to us by dhis Son, whom he appointed ethe heir of all things, fthrough whom also he created gthe world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and hthe exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. iAfter making purification for sins, jhe sat down kat the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name lhe has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
m“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
n“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings othe firstborn into the world, he says,
p“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says,
q“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
r“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, shas anointed you
with tthe oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And,
u“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.1
But you are vthe same,
and your years will have no end.”
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,
w“Sit at my right hand
xuntil I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits ysent out to serve for the sake of those who are to zinherit salvation?
