Elihu Condemns Job
1 And Elihu answered and said:
2 f“Do you think this to be just?
Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’
3 that you ask, g‘What advantage have I?
How am I better off than if I had sinned?’
4 I will answer you
and your friends with you.
5 Look at the heavens, and see;
and behold the clouds, which are hhigher than you.
6 iIf you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
7 jIf you are righteous, what do you give to him?
Or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,
and your righteousness a kson of man.
9 “Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out;
they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.1
10 But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the lnight,
11 who teaches us mmore than the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
12 There they cry out, but he does not answer,
because of the pride of evil men.
13 Surely God does not hear an empty cry,
nor does the Almighty regard it.
14 nHow much less when you say that oyou do not see him,
that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him!
15 And now, because his anger does not punish,
and he does not take much note of transgression,2
16 Job opens his mouth in empty talk;
What Is the Measure of My Days?
To the choirmaster: to nJeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will oguard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was pmute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, qmake me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 rBehold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing sbefore you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere tbreath! Selah
6 Surely a man goes about as a ushadow!
Surely for nothing1 they are in turmoil;
vman heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
whold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a xsojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
The Decree of Darius
1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and vsearch was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. 2 And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. 3 wIn the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits1 and its breadth sixty cubits, 4 with xthree layers of great stones and one layer of timber. yLet the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5 And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, zbe restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”
6 “Now therefore, aTattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your2 associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. 7 Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8 Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. 9 And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the bking and his sons. 11 Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his chouse shall be made a dunghill. 12 May the God who has dcaused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”
The Temple Finished and Dedicated
13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of eHaggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the fdedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel g12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests hin their divisions and the Levites iin their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, jas it is written in the Book of Moses.
Passover Celebrated
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kkept the Passover. 20 For the priests and the Levites had lpurified themselves together; all of them were clean. So mthey slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and nseparated himself from the ouncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 And they kept the pFeast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
1 An aoracle concerning bNineveh. The book of the cvision of Nahum of Elkosh.
God’s Wrath Against Nineveh
2 The Lord is a djealous and eavenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
3 The Lord is fslow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
gBashan and Carmel wither;
the bloom of Lebanon withers.
5 The mountains quake before him;
hthe hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who dwell in it.
6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
iHis wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
7 The Lord is good,
a jstronghold in the day of trouble;
khe knows those who take refuge in him.
8 But with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,1
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9 What do you plot against the Lord?
He will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10 For they are like entangled thorns,
like drunkards as they drink;
they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
11 From you came one
who plotted evil against the Lord,
a worthless counselor.
12 Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
they will be cut down and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13 And now lI will break his yoke from off you
and will mburst your bonds apart.”
14 The Lord has given commandment about you:
“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
I will make your ngrave, for you are vile.”
15 2 Behold, oupon the mountains, pthe feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace!
Keep your feasts, O Judah;
fulfill your vows,
for qnever again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.
Warning to the Rich
1 Come now, you prich, qweep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are rmoth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up streasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the twages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a uday of slaughter. 6 You have vcondemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,1 until the wcoming of the Lord. xSee how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the yearly and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, zfor the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, aso that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the bprophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those cblessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of dthe steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ethe purpose of the Lord, fhow the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brothers, gdo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, hbut let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
The Prayer of Faith
13 iIs anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? jLet him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, kanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. lAnd if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. mThe prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.2 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and nhe prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 oThen he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, pif anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will qcover a multitude of sins.
