Job 33 - 34 - Legacy Standard Bible

Job 33 - 34

Elihu Asks Job to Hear and Respond

“However now, Job, please hear my speech,

And give ear to all my words.

Behold now, I open my mouth;

My tongue in my mouth speaks.

My words are from the uprightness of my heart,

And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.

The Spirit of God has made me,

And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Respond to me if you can;

Arrange yourselves before me, take your stand.

Behold, I belong to God like you;

I too have been formed out of the clay.

Behold, no dread of me should terrify you,

Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

“Surely you have spoken in my hearing,

And I have heard the sound of your speech:

‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am innocent, and there is no guilt in me.

Behold, He finds reasons for opposition against me;

He counts me as His enemy.

He puts my feet in the stocks;

He keeps watch over all my paths.’

Behold, let me answer you; you are not right in this,

For God is greater than mortal man.

“Why do you contend against Him?

For He does not give an answer for all His doings.

Indeed God speaks once,

Or twice, yet no one perceives it.

In a dream, a vision of the night,

When deep sleep falls on men,

While they slumber in their beds,

Then He opens the ears of men,

And seals in their discipline,

That He may turn man aside from his conduct,

And keep man from pride;

He holds back his soul from the pit,

And his life from passing over to death by a weapon.

“Man is also reproved with pain on his bed,

And with unceasing contention in his bones,

So that his life loathes bread,

And his soul favorite food.

His flesh wastes away from sight,

And his bones which were not seen stick out.

Then his soul draws near to the pit,

And his life to those who bring death.

“If there is an angel as mediator for him,

One out of a thousand,

To declare to a man what is right for him,

Then let him be gracious to him, and say,

‘Deliver him from going down to the pit;

I have found atonement’;

Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,

Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;

Then he will entreat God, and He will accept him,

And he will see His face with joyful shouts,

And He may restore His righteousness to man.

He will sing to men and say,

‘I have sinned and perverted what is right,

But He has not done what is due to me.

He has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit,

And my life shall see the light.’

“Behold, God does all these things twice, three times with men,

To bring back his soul from the pit,

That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;

Keep silent, and I will speak.

Then if you have any speech, respond to me;

Speak, for I desire to prove you righteous.

If not, listen to me;

Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Elihu Answers That God Will Be Just

Then Elihu answered and said, 2

“Hear my speech, you wise men,

And give ear to me, you who know.

For the ear tests words

As the palate tastes food.

Let us choose for ourselves what is just;

Let us know among ourselves what is good.

For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,

But God has removed my justice;

Should I lie concerning my justice?

My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

What man is like Job,

Who drinks up mocking like water,

But he travels in company with the workers of iniquity,

And walks with wicked men?

For he has said, ‘It is of no use to a man

When he is pleased with God.’

“Therefore, listen to me, you men with a heart of wisdom.

Far be it from God to do injustice,

And from the Almighty to do wrong.

For He pays a man according to his work,

And makes him find it according to his way.

Truly, God will not act wickedly,

And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

Who appointed Him with authority over the earth?

And who has laid on Him the whole world?

If He should set His heart on it,

If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

All flesh would breathe its last together,

And man would return to dust.

“But if you have understanding, hear this;

Give ear to the sound of my speech.

Shall one who hates justice rule?

And will you condemn the righteous mighty One,

Who says to a king, ‘Vile one,’

To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;

Who shows no partiality to princes

Nor recognizes the rich above the poor,

For they all are the work of His hands?

In a moment they die, and at midnight

People are shaken and pass away,

And the mighty are taken away without a hand.

“For His eyes are upon the ways of a man,

And He sees all his steps.

There is no darkness or shadow of death

Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

For He does not need to consider a man further,

That he should go before God in judgment.

He breaks in pieces mighty men without searching anything out,

And sets others in their place.

Therefore He recognizes their labors,

And He overthrows them in the night,

And they are crushed.

He strikes them like the wicked

In a public place,

Because they turned aside from following Him,

And had no insight from any of His ways;

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,

And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted.

So if He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?

So if He hides His face, who then can perceive Him?

He is above both nation and man altogether,

So that godless men would not rule

Nor be snares of the people.

“For has anyone said to God,

‘I have borne chastisement;

I will not work destructively anymore;

Instruct me what I do not behold;

If I have done injustice,

I will not do it again’?

Shall He repay on your terms, because you have rejected it?

For you must choose, and not I;

Therefore say what you know.

Men with a heart of wisdom will say to me,

And a wise man who hears me,

‘Job speaks without knowledge,

And his words are without insight.

Job ought to be tested to the limit

Because he answers like wicked men.

For he adds transgression to his sin;

He strikes his hands together among us,

And multiplies his words against God.’”

Luke 13

Repent or Perish

Now at that same time there were some present who were reporting to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered these things? 3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse offenders than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 And He was telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and did not find any. 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in manure, 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine, but if not, cut it down.’”

A Woman Healed on the Sabbath

10 And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who for eighteen years had a sickness caused by a spirit, and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. 14 But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, answered and was saying to the crowd, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath release his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? 16 And this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for—behold—eighteen years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 And as He said this, all His opponents were being put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven

18 Therefore, He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” 20 And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

The Narrow Door

22 And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 And He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you workers of unrighteousness.’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out. 29 And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

Lament over Jerusalem

31 Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Leave and go from here, for Herod wants to kill You.” 32 And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish.’ 33 Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not possible that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you did not want it! 35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate, and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Psalm 44

Rise Up, Be Our Help

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Maskil.

O God, we have heard with our ears,

Our fathers have recounted to us

The work that You did in their days,

In the days of old.

You with Your own hand dispossessed the nations;

Then You planted them;

You afflicted the peoples,

Then You cast them out.

For by their own sword they did not possess the land,

And their own arm did not save them,

But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence,

For You favored them.

You are my King, O God;

Command salvation for Jacob.

Through You we will push back our adversaries;

Through Your name we will tread down those who rise up against us.

For I will not trust in my bow,

And my sword will not save me.

But You have saved us from our adversaries,

And You have put to shame those who hate us.

In God we have boasted all day long,

And we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.

Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,

And do not go out with our armies.

You cause us to turn back from the adversary;

And those who hate us have plundered us for themselves.

You give us as sheep to be eaten

And have scattered us among the nations.

You sell Your people for no amount,

And You have not profited from their price.

You make us a reproach to our neighbors,

A mockery and a derision to those around us.

You make us a byword among the nations,

A laughingstock among the peoples.

All day long my dishonor is before me

And the shame of my face has covered me,

Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,

Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.

All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You,

And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.

Our heart has not turned back,

Nor have our steps deviated from Your path,

Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals

And covered us with the shadow of death.

If we had forgotten the name of our God

Or spread our hands to a strange god,

Would not God find this out?

For He knows the secrets of the heart.

But for Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord?

Awake, do not reject us forever.

Why do You hide Your face

And forget our affliction and our oppression?

For our soul has sunk down into the dust;

Our body cleaves to the earth.

Rise up, be our help,

And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.