JOB 1:1-3:26
1 CORINTHIANS 14:1-17
PSALM 37:12-29
PROVERBS 21:25-26
JOB 1:1-3:26
There was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless, a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters. 3 He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys, and he employed many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area. 4 Every year when Job's sons had birthdays, they invited their brothers and sisters to join them for a celebration. On these occasions they would get together to eat and drink. 5 When these celebrations ended--and sometimes they lasted several days--Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, " Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular practice. 6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan the Accuser came with them. 7 " Where have you come from?" the LORD asked Satan. And Satan answered the LORD, " I have been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that's going on." 8 Then the LORD asked Satan, " Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth--a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil." 9 Satan replied to the LORD, " Yes, Job fears God, but not without good reason! 10 You have always protected him and his home and his property from harm. You have made him prosperous in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 11 But take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!" 12 " All right, you may test him," the LORD said to Satan. " Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the LORD's presence. 13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were dining at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger arrived at Job's home with this news: " Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: " The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: " Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: " Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother's home. 19 Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the desert and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground before God. 21 He said, " I came naked from my mother's womb,
and I will be stripped of everything when I die.
The LORD gave me everything I had,
and the LORD has taken it away.
Praise the name of the LORD!"
22 In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. 2:1 ONE day the angels came again to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan the Accuser came with them. 2 " Where have you come from?" the LORD asked Satan. And Satan answered the LORD, " I have been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that's going on." 3 Then the LORD asked Satan, " Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth--a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you persuaded me to harm him without cause." 4 Satan replied to the LORD, " Skin for skin--he blesses you only because you bless him. A man will give up everything he has to save his life. 5 But take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!" 6 " All right, do with him as you please," the LORD said to Satan. " But spare his life." 7 So Satan left the LORD's presence, and he struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot. 8 Then Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, " Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die." 10 But Job replied, " You talk like a godless woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. 12 When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to demonstrate their grief. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. And no one said a word, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.3:1 AT last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said: 3 " Cursed be the day of my birth, and cursed be the night when I was conceived. 4 Let that day be turned to darkness. Let it be lost even to God on high, and let it be shrouded in darkness. 5 Yes, let the darkness and utter gloom claim it for its own. Let a black cloud overshadow it, and let the darkness terrify it. 6 Let that night be blotted off the calendar, never again to be counted among the days of the year, never again to appear among the months. 7 Let that night be barren. Let it have no joy. 8 Let those who are experts at cursing--those who are ready to rouse the sea monster--curse that day. 9 Let its morning stars remain dark. Let it hope for light, but in vain; may it never see the morning light. 10 Curse it for its failure to shut my mother's womb, for letting me be born to all this trouble. 11 " Why didn't I die at birth as I came from the womb? 12 Why did my mother let me live? Why did she nurse me at her breasts? 13 For if I had died at birth, I would be at peace now, asleep and at rest. 14 I would rest with the world's kings and prime ministers, famous for their great construction projects. 15 I would rest with wealthy princes whose palaces were filled with gold and silver. 16 Why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like a baby who never lives to see the light? 17 For in death the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. 18 Even prisoners are at ease in death, with no guards to curse them. 19 Rich and poor are there alike, and the slave is free from his master. 20 " Oh, why should light be given to the weary, and life to those in misery? 21 They long for death, and it won't come. They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure. 22 It is a blessed relief when they finally die, when they find the grave. 23 Why is life given to those with no future, those destined by God to live in distress? 24 I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water. 25 What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come to be. 26 I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest; instead, only trouble comes."
1 CORINTHIANS 14:1-17
Let love be your highest goal, but also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 For if your gift is the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking to God but not to people, since they won't be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious. 3 But one who prophesies is helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and comforting them. 4 A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally in the Lord, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. 5 I wish you all had the gift of speaking in tongues, but even more I wish you were all able to prophesy. For prophecy is a greater and more useful gift than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church can get some good out of it. 6 Dear brothers and sisters,* if I should come to you talking in an unknown language, how would that help you? But if I bring you some revelation or some special knowledge or some prophecy or some teaching--that is what will help you. 7 Even musical instruments like the flute or the harp, though they are lifeless, are examples of the need for speaking in plain language. For no one will recognize the melody unless the notes are played clearly. 8 And if the bugler doesn't sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle? 9 And it's the same for you. If you talk to people in a language they don't understand, how will they know what you mean? You might as well be talking to an empty room. 10 There are so many different languages in the world, and all are excellent for those who understand them, 11 but to me they mean nothing. I will not understand people who speak those languages, and they will not understand me. 12 Since you are so eager to have spiritual gifts, ask God for those that will be of real help to the whole church. 13 So anyone who has the gift of speaking in tongues should pray also for the gift of interpretation in order to tell people plainly what has been said. 14 For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don't understand what I am saying. 15 Well then, what shall I do? I will do both. I will pray in the spirit, and I will pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will sing in words I understand. 16 For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don't understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don't understand what you are saying? 17 You will be giving thanks very nicely, no doubt, but it doesn't help the other people present.
PSALM 37:12-29
The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
to slaughter those who do right.
15 But they will be stabbed through the heart with their own swords,
and their bows will be broken.
16 It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and possess much.
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the LORD takes care of the godly.
18 Day by day the LORD takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive a reward that lasts forever.
19 They will survive through hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
20 But the wicked will perish.
The LORD's enemies are like flowers in a field--
they will disappear like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
22 Those blessed by the LORD will inherit the land,
but those cursed by him will die.
23 The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will not fall,
for the LORD holds them by the hand.
25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
Yet I have never seen the godly forsaken,
nor seen their children begging for bread.
26 The godly always give generous loans to others,
and their children are a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good,
and you will live in the land forever.
28 For the LORD loves justice,
and he will never abandon the godly.
He will keep them safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will perish.
29 The godly will inherit the land
and will live there forever.
PROVERBS 21:25-26
The desires of lazy people will be their ruin, for their hands refuse to work. They are always greedy for more, while the godly love to give!
