Job’s Final Appeal
1 “I have made a covenant with my beyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
2 What would be cmy portion from God above
and cmy heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 dDoes not he see my ways
and enumber all my steps?
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be fweighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way
and gmy heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any hspot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me isow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me1 be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have jlain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
10 then let my wife kgrind for another,
and let others lbow down on her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity mto be punished by the judges;
12 for that would be a fire nthat consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
13 “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he omakes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
15 Did pnot he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 “If I have qwithheld anything that the poor desired,
or have rcaused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
18 (for from my youth the fatherless2 grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow3),
19 if I have seen anyone sperish for tlack of clothing,
or the needy without tcovering,
20 if his body has not ublessed me,4
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against vthe fatherless,
because I saw my help in wthe gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was xin terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his xmajesty.
24 y“If I have made gold my ztrust
or called afine gold my confidence,
25 if I have brejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because cmy hand had found much,
26 dif I have looked at the sun5 when it shone,
or ethe moon moving in splendor,
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28 this also would be fan iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
29 “If I have grejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
30 (hI have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
31 if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been filled with his imeat?’
32 (jthe sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
33 if I khave concealed my transgressions las others do6
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34 because I stood in great fear of mthe multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
35 Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty nanswer me!)
Oh, that I had othe indictment written by my adversary!
36 Surely I would carry it on my pshoulder;
I would qbind it on me as ra crown;
37 I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
38 “If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
39 sif I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners tbreathe their last,
40 let uthorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Elihu Rebukes Job’s Three Friends
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was vrighteous in his own eyes.
The Lord’s Supper
17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, rI hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,1 19 for sthere must be factions among you in order tthat those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, uanother gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise vthe church of God and whumiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
23 For xI received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that ythe Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for2 you. Do this in remembrance of me.”3 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death zuntil he comes.
27 aWhoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord bin an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning cthe body and blood of the Lord. 28 dLet a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some ehave died.4 31 fBut if we judged5 ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, gwe are disciplined6 so that we may not be hcondemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers,7 when you come together to eat, wait for8 one another— 34 iif anyone is hungry, jlet him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things kI will give directions lwhen I come.
Spiritual Gifts
1 Now mconcerning9 spiritual gifts,10 brothers,11 I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that nwhen you were pagans oyou were led astray to pmute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that qno one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is raccursed!” and sno one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now tthere are varieties of gifts, but uthe same Spirit; 5 and vthere are varieties of service, but uthe same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is uthe same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 wTo each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of xwisdom, and to another the utterance of yknowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another zfaith by the same Spirit, to another agifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another bthe working of miracles, to another cprophecy, to another dthe ability to distinguish between spirits, to another evarious kinds of tongues, to another fthe interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, gwho apportions to each one individually has he wills.
10 which he confirmed to iJacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, j“To you I will give the land of Canaan
as kyour portion for an inheritance.”
12 When they were lfew in number,
of little account, and msojourners in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 he nallowed no one to oppress them;
he orebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, p“Touch not my anointed ones,
do my prophets no harm!”
16 When he qsummoned a famine on the land
14 The mouth of kforbidden1 women is la deep pit;
mhe with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but nthe rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, owill only come to poverty.
