Elihu Rebukes Job
1 “But now, hear my speech, O Job,
and listen to all my words.
2 Behold, I open my mouth;
the tongue in my mouth speaks.
3 My words declare the uprightness of my heart,
and what my lips know they speak sincerely.
4 rThe Spirit of God has made me,
and the sbreath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Answer me, if you can;
set your words in order before me; take your stand.
6 Behold, I am toward God as you are;
I too was pinched off from a piece of tclay.
7 Behold, uno fear of me need terrify you;
my pressure will not be heavy upon you.
8 “Surely you have spoken in my ears,
and I have heard the sound of your words.
9 You say, v‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
10 Behold, he finds occasions against me,
he wcounts me as his enemy,
11 xhe puts my feet in the stocks
and watches all my paths.’
12 “Behold, yin this you are not right. I will answer you,
for God is greater than man.
13 Why do you zcontend against him,
saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s1 words’?2
14 For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
15 aIn a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds,
16 then he opens the ears of men
and terrifies3 them with warnings,
17 that he may turn man aside from his deed
and conceal pride from a man;
18 he keeps back his soul bfrom the pit,
his life from perishing by the sword.
19 “Man is also rebuked with cpain on his bed
and with continual strife in his bones,
20 so that dhis life loathes bread,
and his appetite the choicest food.
21 eHis flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
and fhis bones that were not seen stick out.
22 His soul draws near the pit,
and his life to those who bring death.
23 If there be for him an angel,
a mediator, one of the thousand,
to declare to man what is right for him,
24 and he is merciful to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down into the pit;
I have found a ransom;
25 let his flesh become fresh with youth;
let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
26 then man4 prays to God, and he accepts him;
he sees his face with a shout of joy,
and he restores to man his righteousness.
27 He sings before men and says:
‘I sinned and perverted what was right,
and it was not repaid to me.
28 He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,
and my life shall look upon the light.’
29 “Behold, God does all these things,
twice, three times, with a man,
30 to bring back his soul from the pit,
that he may be lighted with the glight of life.
31 Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
32 If you have any words, answer me;
speak, for I desire to justify you.
33 If not, listen to me;
hbe silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
He Will Not Forsake His Saints
1 Of David.
1 xFret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not yenvious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade zlike the grass
and wither like the green herb.
3 aTrust in the Lord, and bdo good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.2
4 cDelight yourself in the Lord,
and he will dgive you the desires of your heart.
5 eCommit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness fas the light,
and your justice as the gnoonday.
7 hBe still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
8 iRefrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
jthough you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11 But kthe meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
13 but the Lord llaughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
15 their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.
16 mBetter is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be nbroken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will remain forever;
19 they are not put to shame in evil times;
oin the days of famine they have abundance.
20 But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like psmoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
22 for those blessed by the Lord3 shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 qThe steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he rdelights in his way;
24 sthough he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet tI have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26 He is ever ulending generously,
and his children become a blessing.
27 vTurn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.
30 wThe mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not xslip.
32 The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
yyou will look on when the wicked are cut off.
35 zI have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.4
36 aBut he passed away,5 and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding
1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of oEsarhaddon king of Assyria who pbrought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, q“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, ras King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”
4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them safraid to build 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of tDarius king of Persia.
6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
The Letter to King Artaxerxes
7 In the days of uArtaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in vAramaic and translated.1 8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of wSusa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and xsettled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province yBeyond the River. 11 z(This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that arebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay btribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace2 and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that csearch may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 16 We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”
The King Orders the Work to Cease
17 The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18 the letter that you sent to us has been dplainly read before me. 19 And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20 And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the ewhole province Beyond the River, fto whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21 Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22 And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”
23 Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 24 Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased guntil the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
The Indictment of the Lord
1 Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 sHear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for tthe Lord has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
uHow have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For vI brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and wMiriam.
5 O my people, remember xwhat Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from yShittim to zGilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
What Does the Lord Require?
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
aShall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with1 thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my bfirstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and cwhat does the Lord require of you
but to do djustice, and to love kindness,2
and to walk humbly with your God?
Destruction of the Wicked
9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city—
and it is sound wisdom to fear your name:
“Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!3
10 Can I forget any longer the treasures4 of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit the man with ewicked scales
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Your5 rich men are full of violence;
your inhabitants speak lies,
and their ftongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,
making you desolate because of your sins.
14 gYou shall eat, but not be satisfied,
and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not preserve,
and what you preserve I will give to the sword.
15 hYou shall sow, but not reap;
you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
16 For you have kept the statutes of iOmri,6
and all the works of the house of jAhab;
and you have walked in their counsels,
that I may make you a desolation, and your7 inhabitants a khissing;
so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”
Taming the Tongue
1 aNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 bFor we all cstumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to dbridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it eboasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a ffire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, gstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,1 and set on fire by hell.2 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, hfull of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are imade in the likeness of God. 10 jFrom the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 kCan a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Wisdom from Above
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter ljealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, mdo not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the nwisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, odemonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be pdisorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of qmercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a rharvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who smake peace.
