Book Four
From Everlasting to Everlasting
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been pour dwelling place1
in all generations.
2 qBefore the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
rfrom everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You sreturn man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”2
4 For ta thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our usecret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
vyet their span3 is but toil and trouble;
wthey are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 So xteach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
yHave pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor4 of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
Job’s Character and Wealth
1 There was a man in the land of aUz whose name was Job, and that man was bblameless and cupright, one who dfeared God and eturned away from evil. 2 There were born to him fseven sons and three daughters. 3 gHe possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer hburnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and icursed1 God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.
Satan Allowed to Test Job
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and jSatan2 also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, k“From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to Satan, l“Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? mYou have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But nstretch out your hand and otouch all that he has, and he will pcurse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” qSo Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Satan Takes Job’s Property and Children
13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the rSabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants3 with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God sfell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, t“Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
20 Then Job arose and utore his robe and vshaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, w“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; xblessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 yIn all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
A Living Stone and a Holy People
1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure uspiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have vtasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a living stone wrejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being xbuilt up as a spiritual yhouse, to be a holy zpriesthood, to offer aspiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
b“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a ccornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
d“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”1
8 and
e“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were fdestined to do.
9 But you are ga chosen race, ha royal priesthood, a holy nation, ia people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you jout of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 kOnce you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as lsojourners and mexiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, nwhich wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and oglorify God on the day of visitation.
Submission to Authority
13 pBe subject for the Lord’s sake qto every human institution,2 whether it be to the emperor3 as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, rthat by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but sliving as servants4 of God. 17 tHonor everyone. Love the ubrotherhood. vFear God. Honor the emperor.
