JOB 34:1-36:33
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-12
PSALM 44:1-8
PROVERBS 22:10-12
JOB 34:1-36:33
Then Elihu said: 2 " Listen to me, you wise men. Pay attention, you who have knowledge. 3 ` Just as the mouth tastes good food, the ear tests the words it hears.' 4 So let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good. 5 For Job has said, ` I am innocent, but God has taken away my rights. 6 I am innocent, but they call me a liar. My suffering is incurable, even though I have not sinned.'7 " Has there ever been a man as arrogant as Job, with his thirst for irreverent talk? 8 He seeks the companionship of evil people. He spends his time with wicked men. 9 He has even said, ` Why waste time trying to please God?' 10 " Listen to me, you who have understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn't sin! The Almighty can do no wrong. 11 He repays people according to their deeds. He treats people according to their ways. 12 There is no truer statement than this: God will not do wrong. The Almighty cannot twist justice. 13 Who put the world in his care? Who has set the whole world in place? 14 If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, 15 all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust. 16 " Listen now and try to understand. 17 Could God govern if he hated justice? Are you going to condemn the almighty Judge? 18 For he says to kings and nobles, ` You are wicked and unjust.' 19 He doesn't care how great a person may be, and he doesn't pay any more attention to the rich than to the poor. He made them all. 20 In a moment they die. At midnight they all pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.21 " For God carefully watches the way people live; he sees everything they do. 22 No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes. 23 For it is not up to mortals to decide when to come before God in judgment. 24 He brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone, and he sets up others in their places. 25 He watches what they do, and in the night he overturns them, destroying them. 26 He openly strikes them down for their wickedness. 27 For they turned aside from following him. They have no respect for any of his ways. 28 So they cause the poor to cry out, catching God's attention. Yes, he hears the cries of the needy. 29 When he is quiet, who can make trouble? But when he hides his face, who can find him? 30 He prevents the godless from ruling so they cannot be a snare to the people. 31 " Why don't people say to God, ` I have sinned, but I will sin no more'? 32 Or ` I don't know what evil I have done; tell me, and I will stop at once'? 33 " Must God tailor his justice to your demands? But you have rejected him! The choice is yours, not mine. Go ahead, share your wisdom with us. 34 After all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say, 35 ` Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.' 36 Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked. 37 For now you have added rebellion and blasphemy against God to your other sins."35:1 THEN Elihu said: 2 " Do you think it is right for you to claim, ` I am righteous before God'? 3 Yet you also ask, ` What's the use of living a righteous life? How will it benefit me?' 4 " I will answer you and all your friends, too. 5 Look up into the sky and see the clouds high above you. 6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against him? Even if you sin again and again, what effect will it have on him? 7 If you are good, is this some great gift to him? What could you possibly give him? 8 No, your sins affect only people like yourself, and your good deeds affect only other people. 9 " The oppressed cry out beneath the wrongs that are done to them. They groan beneath the power of the mighty. 10 Yet they don't ask, ` Where is God my Creator, the one who gives songs in the night? 11 Where is the one who makes us wiser than the animals and birds?' 12 " And if they do cry out and God does not answer, it is because of their pride. 13 But it is wrong to say God doesn't listen, to say the Almighty isn't concerned. 14 And it is even more false to say he doesn't see what is going on. He will bring about justice if you will only wait. 15 But do you cry out against him because he does not respond in anger? 16 Job, you have protested in vain. You have spoken like a fool."36:1 ELIHU continued speaking: 2 " Let me go on, and I will show you the truth of what I am saying. For I have not finished defending God! 3 I will give you many illustrations of the righteousness of my Creator. 4 I am telling you the honest truth, for I am a man of well-rounded knowledge. 5 " God is mighty, yet he does not despise anyone! He is mighty in both power and understanding. 6 He does not let the wicked live but gives justice to the afflicted. 7 His eyes never leave the innocent, but he establishes and exalts them with kings forever. 8 If troubles come upon them and they are enslaved and afflicted, 9 he takes the trouble to show them the reason. He shows them their sins, for they have behaved proudly. 10 He gets their attention and says they must turn away from evil. 11 " If they listen and obey God, then they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives. All their years will be pleasant. 12 But if they refuse to listen to him, they will perish in battle and die from lack of understanding. 13 For the godless are full of resentment. Even when he punishes them, they refuse to cry out to him for help. 14 They die young after wasting their lives in immoral living. 15 But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity. 16 " God has led you away from danger, giving you freedom. You have prospered in a wide and pleasant valley. 17 But you are too obsessed with judgment on the godless. Don't worry, justice will be upheld. 18 But watch out, or you may be seduced with wealth. Don't let yourself be bribed into sin. 19 Could all your wealth and mighty efforts keep you from distress? 20 Do not long for the cover of night, for that is when people will be destroyed. 21 Be on guard! Turn back from evil, for it was to prevent you from getting into a life of evil that God sent this suffering. 22 " Look, God is all-powerful. Who is a teacher like him? 23 No one can tell him what to do. No one can say to him, ` You have done wrong.' 24 Instead, glorify his mighty works, singing songs of praise. 25 Everyone has seen these things, but only from a distance. 26 " Look, God is exalted beyond what we can understand. His years are without number. 27 He draws up the water vapor and then distills it into rain. 28 The rain pours down from the clouds, and everyone benefits from it. 29 Can anyone really understand the spreading of the clouds and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven? 30 See how he spreads the lightning around him and how it lights up the depths of the sea. 31 By his mighty acts he governs the people, giving them food in abundance. 32 He fills his hands with lightning bolts. He hurls each at its target. 33 The thunder announces his presence; the storm announces his indignant anger.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-12
And so, since God in his mercy has given us [Paul and his coworkers] this wonderful ministry, we never give up. 2 We reject all shameful and underhanded methods. We do not try to trick anyone, and we do not distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know that. 3 If the Good News we preach is veiled from anyone, it is a sign that they are perishing. 4 Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don't understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 5 We don't go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us. 6 For God, who said, " Let there be light in the darkness," has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But this precious treasure--this light and power that now shine within us--is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. 9 We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10 Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.
PSALM 44:1-8
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1 O God, we have heard it with our own ears--
our ancestors have told us
of all you did in other days,
in days long ago:
2 You drove out the pagan nations
and gave all the land to our ancestors;
you crushed their enemies,
setting our ancestors free.
3 They did not conquer the land with their swords;
it was not their own strength that gave them victory.
It was by your mighty power that they succeeded;
it was because you favored them and smiled on them.
4 You are my King and my God.
You command victories for your people.
5 Only by your power can we push back our enemies;
only in your name can we trample our foes.
6 I do not trust my bow;
I do not count on my sword to save me.
7 It is you who gives us victory over our enemies;
it is you who humbles those who hate us.
8 O God, we give glory to you all day long
and constantly praise your name.
Interlude
PROVERBS 22:10-12
Throw out the mocker, and fighting, quarrels, and insults will disappear. Anyone who loves a pure heart and gracious speech is the king's friend. The LORD preserves knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the deceitful.
