Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope
1 “Has not man a zhard service on earth,
and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?
2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
3 so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and anights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’
But the night is long,
and I toss and turn till the dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with bworms and dirt;
cmy skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
6 dMy days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.
7 e“Remember that my life is a breath;
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, I shall be gone.
9 As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;
10 ghe returns no more to his house,
nor does hhis place know him anymore.
11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will icomplain in the jbitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
13 When 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 kchoose strangling
and death rather than my bones.
16 lI loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a mbreath.
17 nWhat is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
18 ovisit him every morning
and test him every moment?
19 How long will you not plook away from me,
nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
20 qIf I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me your rmark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not spardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be.”
Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great twind?
3 uDoes God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
4 If your vchildren have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
5 wIf you will seek God
and xplead with the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore your rightful habitation.
7 And ythough your beginning was small,
zyour latter days will be very great.
8 “For inquire, please, of bygone ages,
and consider what the fathers have searched out.
9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
for our days on earth are a ashadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
11 b“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the chope of the godless shall perish.
14 His confidence is severed,
and his trust is a spider’s web.1
15 He leans against his dhouse, but it does not stand;
he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
16 He is a lush plant before the sun,
and his shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots entwine the stone heap;
he looks upon a house of stones.
18 If he is destroyed from ehis place,
then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way,
and out of the soil others will spring.
20 “Behold, fGod will not reject a blameless man,
nor take the hand of evildoers.
21 He will yet gfill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouting.
22 Those who hate you will be hclothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
God Is Our Fortress
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. gAccording to Alamoth.1 A Song.
1 hGod is our refuge and strength,
a very present2 help in trouble.
2 Therefore iwe will not fear though the earth give way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a jriver whose streams make glad the kcity of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is lwith us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 mCome, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 nHe makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and oknow that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two1 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, l“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of mwolves. 4 Carry nno moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and ogreet no one on the road. 5 Whatever phouse you enter, first say, q‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for rthe laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, seat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, t‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we uwipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be vmore bearable on that day for wSodom than for that town.
Woe to Unrepentant Cities
13 x“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be yexalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to zHades.
16 a“The one who hears you hears me, and bthe one who rejects you rejects me, and cthe one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The Return of the Seventy-Two
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the ddemons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan efall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to ftread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your gnames are written in hheaven.”
Jesus Rejoices in the Father’s Will
21 iIn that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the jwise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.2 22 kAll things have been handed over to me by my Father, and lno one knows who the Son is except the Father, or mwho the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to nreveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, o“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings pdesired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 qAnd behold, a lawyer stood up to rput him to the test, saying, “Teacher, swhat shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, t“You shall ulove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, vand your wneighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; xdo this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to yjustify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a zpriest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two adenarii3 and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Martha and Mary
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus4 entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But bMartha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, c“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but done thing is necessary.5 Mary has chosen the egood portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
