1 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of vthe holy ones will you turn?
2 Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
3 wI have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4 His children are xfar from safety;
they are crushed in ythe gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
5 The hungry eat his harvest,
and he takes it even out of thorns,1
and the thirsty pant2 after his3 wealth.
6 For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
7 but man is zborn to trouble
as the sparks fly upward.
8 “As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
9 who adoes great things and bunsearchable,
cmarvelous things without number:
10 he gives drain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
11 he esets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He ffrustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He gcatches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime
and hgrope at noonday as in the night.
15 But he isaves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor have hope,
and jinjustice shuts her mouth.
17 “Behold, kblessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore ldespise not the discipline of the mAlmighty.
18 For he wounds, but he nbinds up;
he oshatters, but his hands heal.
19 He will pdeliver you from six troubles;
in seven no qevil4 shall touch you.
20 rIn famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
21 You shall be shidden from the lash of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear tthe beasts of the earth.
23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 You shall know that your utent is at peace,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
25 You shall know also that your voffspring shall be many,
and your descendants as wthe grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to your grave in xripe old age,
like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
27 Behold, this we have ysearched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.”5
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Oh that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 For then it would be heavier than zthe sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
4 For athe arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
or the ox low over his fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?6
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.7
8 “Oh that I might have my request,
and that God would fulfill my hope,
9 that it would bplease God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my comfort;
I would even exult8 in pain cunsparing,
for I have not denied the words of dthe Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
13 Have I any help in me,
when resource is driven from me?
14 “He who ewithholds9 kindness from a ffriend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My gbrothers are htreacherous as a torrent-bed,
as torrential istreams that pass away,
16 which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
17 When they melt, they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into jthe waste and perish.
19 The caravans of kTema look,
the travelers of lSheba hope.
20 They are mashamed because they were confident;
they come there and are mdisappointed.
21 For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of nthe ruthless’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray.
25 How forceful are upright words!
But what does reproof from you reprove?
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
when the speech of a despairing man is owind?
27 You would even pcast lots over the fatherless,
and bargain over your friend.
28 “But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.
29 qPlease turn; let no injustice be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?
Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope
1 “Has not man ra hard service on earth,
and are not his sdays like the days of a hired hand?
2 Like a slave who longs for tthe shadow,
and like ua hired hand who looks for his vwages,
3 so I am allotted months of wemptiness,
xand nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 yWhen I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with zworms and adirt;
my skin hardens, then bbreaks out afresh.
6 My days are cswifter than da weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.
7 “Remember that my life is a ebreath;
my eye will never again see good.
8 fThe eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
while your eyes are on me, gI shall be gone.
9 As hthe cloud fades and vanishes,
so he who igoes down to Sheol does not come up;
10 he jreturns no more to his house,
nor does his kplace know him anymore.
11 “Therefore I will not lrestrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will mcomplain in nthe bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or oa sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
13 pWhen I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than my qbones.
16 I rloathe my life; I would not live forever.
sLeave me alone, for my days are ta breath.
17 uWhat is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
18 vvisit him every morning
and wtest him every moment?
19 How long will you not xlook away from me,
nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me yyour mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in zthe earth;
Divisions in the Church
1 But I, brothers,1 could not address you as aspiritual people, but as bpeople of the flesh, as cinfants in Christ. 2 dI fed you with milk, not solid food, for eyou were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is fjealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For gwhen one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” hare you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? iServants through whom you believed, jas the Lord assigned to each. 6 kI planted, lApollos watered, mbut God gave the growth. 7 So nneither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each owill receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are pGod’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, qGod’s building.
10 rAccording to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled2 master builder I laid a sfoundation, and tsomeone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a ufoundation other vthan that which is laid, wwhich is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 xeach one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed yby fire, and zthe fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, ahe will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, bbut only as through fire.
16 cDo you not know that you3 are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For dGod’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 eLet no one deceive himself. fIf anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For gthe wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, h“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, i“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So jlet no one boast in men. For kall things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and lyou are Christ’s, and mChrist is God’s.
