Job 15 Cross References - BSB

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: ² “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind? ³ Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose? ⁴ But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him. ⁵ For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. ⁶ Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you. ⁷ Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? ⁸ Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself? ⁹ What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us? ¹⁰ Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father. ¹¹ Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you? ¹² Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, ¹³ as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth? ¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? ¹⁵ If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes, ¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water? ¹⁷ Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen, ¹⁸ what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers, ¹⁹ to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them. ²⁰ A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless. ²¹ Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him. ²² He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword. ²³ He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand. ²⁴ Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack. ²⁵ For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty, ²⁶ rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield. ²⁷ Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh, ²⁸ he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble. ²⁹ He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land. ³⁰ He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away. ³¹ Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward. ³² It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish. ³³ He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms. ³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery. ³⁵ They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”

¹¹ Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

⁷ After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.

⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s request.

²⁶ Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair?

² “How long will you go on saying such things? The words of your mouth are a blustering wind.

² “Should this stream of words go unanswered and such a speaker be vindicated? ³ Should your babbling put others to silence? Will you scoff without rebuke?

² What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.

¹ Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

⁴ You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians. ⁵ If only you would remain silent; for that would be your wisdom!

² “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all. ³ Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying?

¹ Then Job answered: ² “How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble! ³ How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight!

¹³ “Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts? ¹⁵ So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

³⁶ But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

⁶ Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

⁴ he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.

¹³ So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, ¹⁴ and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

⁵ But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed. ⁶ Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?

⁸ However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him—

¹⁴ A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁰ Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD. An oracle is in my heart regarding the transgression of the wicked man: There is no fear of God before his eyes. ² For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin. ³ The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and well-doing.

¹²⁶ It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.

¹⁴ They do not cry out to Me from their hearts when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from Me.

¹⁰ And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?” “None,” that person will answer. “Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.”

⁶ and those who turn back from following the LORD, neither seeking the LORD nor inquiring of Him.”

¹ Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

³¹ Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.

²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.

¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

²² It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ ²³ When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent. ²⁴ The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

⁶ The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.

¹⁹ You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit. ²⁰ You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.

² Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit. ³ You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah ⁴ You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

³ who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,

² Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. ³ What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?

³ “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD. ⁴ “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander. ⁵ Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.

⁸ Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.

²¹ For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.

⁴⁵ The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

²⁰ Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

⁸ Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard these very words: ⁹ ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me. ¹⁰ Yet God finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy. ¹¹ He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches over all my paths.’ ¹² Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

⁵ For Job has declared, ‘I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice. ⁶ Would I lie about my case? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ ⁷ What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water? ⁸ He keeps company with evildoers and walks with wicked men. ⁹ For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’

² “Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’ ³ For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’

⁸ Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

³ You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

⁸ They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.

³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

⁶⁵ At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.

²² His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?

¹ And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.

¹² Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

¹⁰ Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.

⁴ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. ⁵ Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it? ⁶ On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone, ⁷ while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? ⁸ Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, ⁹ when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket, ¹⁰ when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors, ¹¹ and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’? ¹² In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place, ¹³ that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it? ¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment. ¹⁵ Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken. ¹⁶ Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep? ¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? ¹⁸ Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. ¹⁹ Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides, ²⁰ so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home? ²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great! ²² Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail, ²³ which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle? ²⁴ In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth? ²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt, ²⁶ to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives, ²⁷ to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass? ²⁸ Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew? ²⁹ From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven, ³⁰ when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen? ³¹ Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? ³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs? ³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? ³⁴ Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? ³⁵ Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? ³⁶ Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind? ³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens ³⁸ when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together? ³⁹ Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions ⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket? ⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?

² Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

²² The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old. ²³ From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began. ²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water. ²⁵ Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth,

²⁹ The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

⁶ and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

² “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!

⁵ If only you would remain silent; for that would be your wisdom! ⁶ Hear now my argument, and listen to the plea of my lips.

⁴ when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,

¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

³² for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.

¹⁸ But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and obeyed it?

⁷ Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

¹¹ He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

³⁵ So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.

³⁴ “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”

²⁵ Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past ²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—

⁹ Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” ¹⁰ But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

¹⁶ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

³ But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

³ How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight! ⁴ To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?

⁷ You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.

⁵ I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”

²¹ To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. ²⁶ In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, ²⁷ in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸ Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief? ³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

⁷ Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.

⁸ Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers. ⁹ For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow. ¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak from their understanding?

²⁰ He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.

⁶ So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared: “I am young in years, while you are old; that is why I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know. ⁷ I thought that age should speak, and many years should teach wisdom.

³¹ Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is attained along the path of righteousness.

²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?”

⁸ However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him— ⁹ the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. ¹⁰ He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields. ¹¹ He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety. ¹² He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. ¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning. ¹⁴ They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night. ¹⁵ He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful. ¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. ¹⁷ Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. ¹⁸ For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal. ¹⁹ He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. ²⁰ In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. ²¹ You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes. ²² You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. ²³ For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. ²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home. ²⁵ You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth. ²⁶ You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.

¹³ As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him, ¹⁴ if you put away the iniquity in your hand, and allow no injustice to dwell in your tents, ¹⁵ then indeed you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and unafraid. ¹⁶ For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by. ¹⁷ Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. ¹⁸ You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety. ¹⁹ You will lie down without fear, and many will court your favor.

⁸ Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?

¹⁶ Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. ⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

¹³ As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him,

² Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

¹⁹ Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.

¹³ winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.

⁹ Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land? ⁴ Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How could you conceive such a deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God!”

²² Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart.

¹⁴ But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. ¹⁵ Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

⁴ God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?

³ Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?

²⁵ For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty, ²⁶ rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield. ²⁷ Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,

¹³ Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

¹³ “Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

⁷ because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

² We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body. ³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal. ⁴ Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined. ⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁴⁶ When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

³⁶ When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,

² “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

⁴ Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!

⁴ How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure? ⁵ If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in His sight, ⁶ how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”

³ All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

⁵ Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

⁹ Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

²⁰ Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²⁹ Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

⁶ Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.

¹⁸ I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

²² But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.

² in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

¹⁸ If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,

¹ “Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

⁵ If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in His sight,

² Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵ Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

¹⁹ how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!

¹² Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

⁷ What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water?

⁶ Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

¹ For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good. ² The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God. ³ All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

³ All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

²⁸ A corrupt witness mocks justice, and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.

⁹ What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. ¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. ¹¹ There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” ¹³ “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.” ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ ruin and misery lie in their wake, ¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.” ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

²⁷ Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”

¹ “But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words.

² “Hear my words, O wise men; give ear to me, O men of learning.

² “Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you that there is more to be said on God’s behalf.

⁸ Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers.

¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

³ that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us. ⁴ We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed. ⁵ For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, ⁶ that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children

¹⁹ The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.

²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.

³² All these are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their generations and nations. From these the nations of the earth spread out after the flood.

⁸ When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

¹⁷ Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.

¹ “Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?

¹³ This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

³ You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.” ⁴ For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night.

¹² So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.

³ This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ ²¹ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.

¹ Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days. ⁴ Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.

⁹ But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ “I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

³⁶ As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.

³⁶ When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light. ³⁷ In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

⁶ For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”

¹³ One day, while Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵ the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹¹ Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.

⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary? ⁶ Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds, ⁷ he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’

²² In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him. ²³ When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats. ²⁴ Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him. ²⁵ It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.

²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night.

¹⁸ Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin. ¹⁹ How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors! ²⁰ Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

⁷ that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.

²⁶ in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you, ²⁷ when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

²¹ On the appointed day, Herod donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people. ²² And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!” ²³ Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

¹⁰ And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.

³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

¹¹ They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon.

³³ While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

¹¹ What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?

¹⁶ If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

²⁹ then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”

¹⁴ Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.

²¹ They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. ²² Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

⁵ So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

¹² When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

⁵ Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow. ⁶ The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.

¹² His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.

¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.

³ Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. ⁴ They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

¹⁵ They scavenge for food, and growl if they are not satisfied.

¹⁰ May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.

⁸ So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.

⁶ We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.

⁹ We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.

² a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.

²⁰ Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,

²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.

³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. ³⁸ The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

² “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales. ³ For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been rash. ⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

¹⁴³ Trouble and distress have found me, but Your commandments are my delight.

²⁷ when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

¹¹ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

³⁴ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

³ I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.

³⁷ He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. ³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”

⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

² But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.” ³ “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

¹⁷ Still, you lord it over My people and do not allow them to go.

²³ And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,

⁷ the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹ Take courage and be men, O Philistines! Otherwise, you will serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”

⁶ Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, did they not send the people on their way as they departed?

⁹ then He tells them their deeds and how arrogantly they have transgressed.

⁹ Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His? ¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory. ¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low.

⁷ “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”

⁹ They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.

¹¹ The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

⁹ Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered! ¹⁰ Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

¹² So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers. ¹⁴ My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

⁴ I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.

⁴ Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.” ⁵ The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward. ⁶ Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!” ⁷ The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

¹ About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church.

²³ Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

⁸ Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

²² In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.

¹³ Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵ So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand!” ¹⁶ And the servants of Sennacherib spoke further against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He also wrote letters mocking the LORD, the God of Israel, and saying against Him: “Just as the gods of the nations did not deliver their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”

¹² I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;

⁴⁰ You have made my enemies retreat before me; I put an end to those who hated me.

¹⁵ But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁰ But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.

¹⁰ They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.

⁷ From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.

³¹ God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.

¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

²⁸ They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.

¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins,

¹⁵ Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur rains down on his dwelling.

⁸ Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land. ⁹ I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied. ¹⁰ For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”

¹¹ “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

¹⁸ “Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’

³⁷ Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.

¹² Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

¹⁸ Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?

²² In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him. ²³ When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats. ²⁴ Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him. ²⁵ It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him. ²⁶ Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. ²⁷ The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. ²⁸ The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.

¹⁵ Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod? ¹⁶ They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood. ¹⁷ They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’ ¹⁸ But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. ¹⁹ The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them: ²⁰ ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’

¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay, ¹⁷ what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent.

¹⁶ Do not be amazed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. ¹⁷ For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.

² So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’

¹⁹ Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. ²⁰ And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.

¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹ Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days.

⁹ By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

¹⁴ They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.

²¹ before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom, ²² to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”

²² He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.

²⁶ Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

²⁰ ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’

⁴ but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

³³ For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

⁴ No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵ Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it! ⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. ⁷ And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.

⁴⁷ Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched. ⁴⁸ Then all people will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it will not be quenched.”

¹² But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³ Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

⁴¹ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

⁴³ If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. ^{44 45} If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ^{46 47} And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.’ ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.

⁸ in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,

¹⁷ These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁵ And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

⁸ As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.

¹⁶ True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

¹⁰ Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

⁸ He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

¹⁰ For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines— ¹¹ though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout—yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

²⁰ He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

⁴ No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

⁷ For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

⁸ Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.

³ If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. ⁸ The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

¹⁶ He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden. ¹⁷ His roots wrap around the rock heap; he looks for a home among the stones. ¹⁸ If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’ ¹⁹ Surely this is the joy of his way; yet others will spring from the dust.

⁷ For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail. ⁸ If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil, ⁹ at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling.

¹⁶ The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away. ¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the land.

¹⁶ They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

⁵ Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah ⁶ The righteous will see and fear; they will mock the evildoer, saying, ⁷ “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.” ⁸ But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.

²³ But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

¹⁷ Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

¹¹ When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

⁸ It had been planted in good soil by abundant waters in order to yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’ ⁹ So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Will it flourish? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it shrivels? All its foliage will wither! It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by its roots. ¹⁰ Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”

¹⁶ Ephraim is struck down; their root is withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay the darlings of their wombs.

⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁶ His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁷ They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

³⁹ You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. ⁴⁰ You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.

⁹ The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind.

³ But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.

³ Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”

¹³ Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.

²² Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

¹⁴ if you put away the iniquity in your hand, and allow no injustice to dwell in your tents,

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

⁵ Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless? ⁶ For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. ⁷ You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, ⁸ while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. ⁹ You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

¹² because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper. ¹³ The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban. ¹⁵ I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger. ¹⁷ I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹³ The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?” ¹⁵ He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—

¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. ¹² For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.

² The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.

⁵¹ Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹⁴ Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

⁴ No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. ⁵ They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.

¹³ You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men,

¹⁵ Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.