JOB 20:1-22:30
2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-11
PSALM 40:11-17
PROVERBS 22:2-4
JOB 20:1-22:30
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: 2 " I must reply because I am greatly disturbed. 3 I have had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply. 4 " Don't you realize that ever since people were first placed on the earth, 5 the triumph of the wicked has been short-lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary? 6 Though the godless man's pride reaches to the heavens and though his head touches the clouds, 7 yet he will perish forever, thrown away like his own dung. Those who knew him will ask, ` Where is he?' 8 He will fade like a dream and not be found. He will vanish like a vision in the night. 9 Neither his friends nor his family will ever see him again. 10 His children will beg from the poor, for he must give back his ill-gotten wealth. 11 He was just a young man, but his bones will lie in the dust. 12 " He enjoyed the taste of his wickedness, letting it melt under his tongue. 13 He savored it, holding it long in his mouth. 14 But suddenly, the food he has eaten turns sour within him, a poisonous venom in his stomach. 15 He will vomit the wealth he swallowed. God won't let him keep it down. 16 He will suck the poison of snakes. The viper will kill him. 17 He will never again enjoy abundant streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey. 18 His labors will not be rewarded. His wealth will bring him no joy. 19 For he oppressed the poor and left them destitute. He foreclosed on their homes. 20 He was always greedy but never satisfied. Of all the things he dreamed about, nothing remains. 21 Nothing is left after he finishes gorging himself; therefore, his prosperity will not endure. 22 " In the midst of plenty, he will run into trouble, and disasters will destroy him. 23 May God give him a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon him. 24 He will try to escape, but God's arrow will pierce him. 25 The arrow is pulled from his body, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon him. 26 " His treasures will be lost in deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour his goods, consuming all he has left. 27 The heavens will reveal his guilt, and the earth will give testimony against him. 28 A flood will sweep away his house. God's anger will descend on him in torrents. 29 This is the fate that awaits the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God."21:1 THEN Job spoke again: 2 " Listen closely to what I am saying. You can console me by listening to me. 3 Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may mock me. 4 " My complaint is with God, not with people. No wonder I'm so impatient. 5 Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock. 6 When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles. 7 " The truth is that the wicked live to a good old age. They grow old and wealthy. 8 They live to see their children grow to maturity, and they enjoy their grandchildren. 9 Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. 10 Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves without miscarriage. 11 Their children skip about like lambs in a flock of sheep. 12 They sing with tambourine and harp. They make merry to the sound of the flute. 13 They spend their days in prosperity; then they go down to the grave in peace. 14 All this, even though they say to God, ` Go away. We want no part of you and your ways.15 Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us if we pray?' 16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking. 17 " Yet the wicked get away with it time and time again. They rarely have trouble, and God skips them when he distributes sorrows in his anger. 18 Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm? Not at all! 19 " ` Well,' you say, ` at least God will punish their children!' But I say that God should punish the ones who sin, not their children! Let them feel their own penalty. 20 Let their own eyes see their destruction. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty. 21 For when they are dead, they will not care what happens to their family. 22 " But who can teach a lesson to God, the supreme Judge? 23 One person dies in prosperity and security, 24 the very picture of good health. 25 Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life. 26 Both alike are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same worms. 27 " Look, I know your thoughts. I know the schemes you plot against me. 28 You will tell me of rich and wicked people who came to disaster because of their sins. 29 But I tell you to ask those who have been around, and they can tell you the truth. 30 Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape. 31 No one rebukes them openly. No one repays them for what they have done. 32 When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb. 33 A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest and the earth gives sweet repose. 34 " How can you comfort me? All your explanations are wrong!"22:1 THEN Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 2 " Can a person's actions be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person be helpful to him? 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect? 4 Is it because of your reverence for him that he accuses and judges you? 5 Not at all! It is because of your wickedness! Your guilt has no limit! 6 " For example, you must have lent money to your friend and then kept the clothing he gave you as a pledge. Yes, you stripped him to the bone. 7 You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry. 8 After all, you think the land belongs to the powerful and that those who are privileged have a right to it! 9 You must have sent widows away without helping them and crushed the strength of orphans. 10 That is why you are surrounded by traps and sudden fears. 11 That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you. 12 " God is so great--higher than the heavens, higher than the farthest stars. 13 But you reply, ` That's why God can't see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness? 14 For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.' 15 " Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked? 16 They were snatched away in the prime of life, and the foundations of their lives were washed away forever. 17 For they said to God, ` Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do for us?' 18 But they forgot that he had filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking. 19 " Now the righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh them to scorn. 20 They will say, ` Surely our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.' 21 " Stop quarreling with God! If you agree with him, you will have peace at last, and things will go well for you. 22 Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. 23 If you return to the Almighty and clean up your life, you will be restored. 24 Give up your lust for money, and throw your precious gold into the river. 25 Then the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver! 26 " Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and look up to God. 27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. 28 Whatever you decide to do will be accomplished, and light will shine on the road ahead of you. 29 If someone is brought low and you say, ` Help him up,' God will save the downcast. 30 Then even sinners will be rescued by your pure hands."
2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-11
This letter is from Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our dear brother Timothy. We are writing to God's church in Corinth and to all the Christians throughout Greece. 2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his grace and peace. 3 All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort.8 I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters,* about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. 10 And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us. 11 He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us. As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people's prayers for our safety have been answered.
PSALM 40:11-17
LORD, don't hold back your tender mercies from me.
My only hope is in your unfailing love and faithfulness.
12 For troubles surround me--
too many to count!
They pile up so high
I can't see my way out.
They are more numerous than the hairs on my head.
I have lost all my courage.
13 Please, LORD, rescue me!
Come quickly, LORD, and help me.
14 May those who try to destroy me
be humiliated and put to shame.
May those who take delight in my trouble
be turned back in disgrace.
15 Let them be horrified by their shame,
for they said, " Aha! We've got him now!"
16 But may all who search for you
be filled with joy and gladness.
May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, " The LORD is great!"
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord is thinking about me right now.
You are my helper and my savior.
Do not delay, O my God.
PROVERBS 22:2-4
The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD made them both. A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. True humility and fear of the LORD lead to riches, honor, and long life.
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