Job 17 - 18 - Legacy Standard Bible

Job 17 - 18

Job Seeks Hope

“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished;

The grave is ready for me.

Surely mockers are with me,

And my eye gazes on their provocation.

“Establish, now, a pledge for me with Yourself;

Who is there that will clap my hand in pledge?

For You have hidden their heart from insight,

Therefore You will not exalt them.

He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil,

The eyes of his children also will come to an end.

“But He has made me a byword of the people,

And I am one at whom men spit.

My eye has also grown dim because of grief,

And all my members are as a shadow.

The upright will be appalled at this,

And the innocent will stir up himself against the godless.

Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way,

And he who has clean hands will grow mightier and mightier.

But come again all of you now,

For I do not find a wise man among you.

My days are past; my plans are torn apart,

Even the wishes of my heart.

They make night into day, saying,

‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.

If I hope for Sheol as my home,

I make my bed in the darkness;

If I call to the pit, ‘You are my father’;

To the worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;

Where now is my hope?

And who beholds my hope?

Will it go down with me to Sheol?

Shall we together go down into the dust?”

Bildad Speaks of the Downfall of the Wicked

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2

“How long until you put an end to your words?

Show understanding and then we can talk.

Why are we regarded as beasts,

As dense in your eyes?

O you who tear yourself in your anger—

For your sake is the earth to be forsaken,

Or the rock to be moved from its place?

“Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out,

And the flame of his fire gives no light.

The light in his tent is darkened,

And his lamp goes out above him.

His vigorous stride is shortened,

And his own counsel brings him down.

For he is thrown into the net by his own feet,

And he steps on the netting.

A snare seizes him by the heel,

And a device snaps shut on him.

A rope for him is hidden in the ground,

And a trap for him on the path.

All around terrors frighten him,

And harass him at every step.

His vigor is famished,

And disaster is ready at his side.

The firstborn of death eats parts of his skin;

It eats parts of him.

He is torn from the security of his tent,

And they march him in step before the king of terrors.

There dwells in his tent nothing of his;

Brimstone is scattered on his abode.

His roots are dried below,

And his branch is cut off above.

Memory of him perishes from the earth,

And he has no name abroad.

He is driven from light into darkness,

And chased from the inhabited world.

He has neither offspring nor posterity among his people,

Nor any survivor where he sojourned.

Those in the west are appalled at his fate,

And those in the east are seized with horror.

Surely such are the dwellings of the unjust,

And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

Luke 5

The First Disciples

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken, 10 and James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Jesus Heals a Leper

12 And it happened that while He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He directed him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But He Himself would often slip away to the desolate regions and pray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

17 And it happened that one day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 And behold, some men were carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down before Him. 19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” 22 But Jesus, knowing their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and, picking up your stretcher, go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. 26 And astonishment seized them all and they began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Levi and Sinners Called

27 And after that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he left everything behind, and rose up and began to follow Him. 29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 33 And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do likewise, but Yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” 36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

Psalm 35

Yahweh Be Magnified

Of David.

Contend, O Yahweh, with those who contend with me;

Fight against those who fight against me.

Take hold of shield and large shield

And rise up for my help.

Draw also the spear and the battle‑axe to meet those who pursue me;

Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”

Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life;

Let those who devise evil against me be turned back and humiliated.

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

With the angel of Yahweh driving them on.

Let their way be dark and slippery,

With the angel of Yahweh pursuing them.

For without cause they hid their net for me;

Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.

Let destruction, which he does not know, come upon him,

And let the net, which he hid, catch him;

Let him fall into it in destruction.

And my soul shall rejoice in Yahweh;

It shall be joyful in His salvation.

All my bones will say, “Yahweh, who is like You,

Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him,

And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”

Malicious witnesses rise up,

Who ask me of things that I do not know.

They repay me evil for good,

It is bereavement to my soul.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;

I humbled my soul with fasting,

And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.

I walked about as though it were my friend or brother;

I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.

But at my stumbling they were glad and gathered themselves together;

The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me,

They tore at me and never were silent.

Amongst the godless jesters at a feast,

They gnashed at me with their teeth.

Lord, how long will You look on?

Bring back my soul from their ravages,

My only life from the lions.

I will give You thanks in the great assembly;

I will praise You among a mighty people.

Let those who are wrongfully my enemies not be glad over me;

Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.

For they do not speak peace,

But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

They opened their mouth wide against me;

They said, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”

You have seen it, O Yahweh, do not keep silent;

O Lord, do not be far from me.

Stir up Yourself, and awake to my justice

And to my cause, my God and my Lord.

Judge me, O Yahweh my God, according to Your righteousness,

And do not let them be glad over me.

Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, our desire!”

Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”

Let those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who are glad at the evil done to me;

Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.

Let them shout for joy and be glad, who delight in my righteousness;

And let them say continually, “Yahweh be magnified,

Who delights in the peace of His slave.”

And my tongue shall utter Your righteousness

And Your praise all day long.