Job 16 Cross References - BSB

¹ Then Job answered: 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? ⁴ I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you. ⁵ But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would bring relief. ⁶ Even if I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I hold back, how will it go away? ⁷ Surely He has now exhausted me; You have devastated all my family. ⁸ You have bound me, and it has become a witness; my frailty rises up and testifies against me. ⁹ His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes. ¹⁰ They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me. ¹¹ God has delivered me to unjust men; He has thrown me to the clutches of the wicked. 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; ¹³ His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground. ¹⁴ He breaks me with wound upon wound; He rushes me like a mighty warrior. ¹⁵ I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust. ¹⁶ My face is red with weeping, and deep shadows ring my eyes; ¹⁷ yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure. ¹⁸ O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest. ¹⁹ Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. ²⁰ My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God. ²¹ Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor! ²² For when only a few years are past I will go the way of no return.

⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?

²⁵ How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?

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?

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 “How long will you torment me and crush me with your words? ³ Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.

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!

²⁶ For they persecute the one You struck and recount the pain of those You wounded.

¹⁶ The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

¹⁹ My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

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 “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

³ I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.

³ and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. ⁴ Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he. ⁵ But when he saw that the three men had no further reply, his anger was kindled. 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.

⁴⁶ No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

¹¹ who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

⁸ and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

²¹ This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.

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. ⁵ Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder?

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

² “Should this stream of words go unanswered and such a speaker be vindicated?

¹⁶ So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”

⁷ All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:

¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.

¹⁹ When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

¹⁴ Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?

¹⁶ They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.

¹⁵ All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”

¹⁵ This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

¹² In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

³⁹ And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

³ Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands. ⁴ Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

²⁵ I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

¹⁴ Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!

⁹ Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is counsel to the soul.

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

³ Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees! ⁴ Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

¹ Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

¹ “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

¹ For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me. ² In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted. ³ I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah ⁴ You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak. ⁵ I considered the days of old, the years long in the past. ⁶ At night I remembered my song; in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered: ⁷ “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again? ⁸ Is His loving devotion gone forever? Has His promise failed for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?” Selah

¹⁵ From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair. ¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me. ¹⁷ All day long they engulf me like water; they enclose me on every side. ¹⁸ You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.

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!”

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.

³ So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.

¹⁶ I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

⁵ when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me, ⁶ when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! ⁷ When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square, ⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet. ⁹ The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands. ¹⁰ The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths. ¹¹ For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me, 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. ¹⁸ So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand. ¹⁹ My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches. ²⁰ My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’ ²¹ Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel. ²² After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew. ²³ They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers. ²⁴ If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious. ²⁵ I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

⁶ I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. ⁷ My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes.

¹¹ My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; ¹² for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.

⁴ The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

¹³ Therefore I am striking you severely, to ruin you because of your sins.

²¹ I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.”

¹⁷ You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave.

²⁰ My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

¹⁵ So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them.

²⁴ My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.

¹⁶ From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery.

²⁷ and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

¹⁶ Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me. ¹⁷ You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave.

²⁴ Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?

²⁷ You put my feet in the stocks and stand watch over all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet.

⁴ You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?

¹¹ His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.

¹⁶ Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.

¹² The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,

²² Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

¹⁶ All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

¹⁰ He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush.

¹⁴ For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.

¹ Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.

⁸ Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

⁵⁴ On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.

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?”

²³ 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?”

¹³ They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.

¹⁶ For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet. ¹⁷ I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.

¹⁵ But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.

²¹ They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”

²¹ They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

⁶ I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.

³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.

¹ Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.

⁶⁷ Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him

³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him and came up to offer Him sour wine.

²² When Jesus had said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Him in the face and said, “Is this how You answer the high priest?”

²⁷ In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.

² At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

²⁰ In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.

¹⁸ And you have shown this day how well you have dealt with me; for when the LORD delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me.

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,

⁷ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

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

¹² Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.

⁸ You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.

¹⁶ Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took Him away.

³² For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.

⁷ or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

² He had seven sons and three daughters, ³ and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

²⁶ I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”

¹⁰ The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹² Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?

²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?

¹⁷ For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.

²⁶ rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.

³ when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,

¹⁸ So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand. ¹⁹ My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

¹⁹ But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness.

⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones.

¹¹ He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; He left me without help. ¹² He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.

⁷ When Israel took hold of you with their hands, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke, and their backs were wrenched.

⁴⁴ He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

⁴ who have risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

²³ The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.

²⁰ The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven

⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

¹⁰ It still brings me comfort, and joy through unrelenting pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

²⁷ I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!

²⁵ It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.

¹² If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow. ¹³ He has prepared His deadly weapons; He ordains His arrows with fire.

¹¹ My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

¹³ He pierced my kidneys with His arrows.

¹¹ Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.

³² He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

⁵ if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

⁸ And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

⁷ Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.

³ Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long. ⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. ⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

⁷ They charge like mighty men; they scale the walls like men of war. Each one marches in formation, not swerving from the course.

³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

¹⁰ Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

²⁷ When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.

¹⁹ He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

⁵ then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah

⁵ Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”

¹⁰ “All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

⁷ My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.

⁹ Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.

³ When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.

³ I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

³ For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. ⁴ My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread. ⁵ Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones.

⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears

³ The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.

¹⁴ Just as many were appalled at Him—His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness—

¹⁶ For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.

¹ From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God, ² saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice. ³ For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me. ⁴ At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’ ⁵ The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head. ⁶ To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God! ⁷ As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer went up to You, to Your holy temple. ⁸ Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion. ⁹ But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!” ¹⁰ And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

³⁴ Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.”

⁵ But if you would earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy, ⁶ if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate.

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

²⁰ A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

²⁷ Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me. ²⁸ For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’

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.

⁶ I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me. ⁷ May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

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.

¹ “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin? ² For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high? ³ Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity? ⁴ Does He not see my ways and count my every step? ⁵ If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit, ⁶ let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity. ⁷ If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands, ⁸ then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted. ⁹ If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door, ¹⁰ then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her. ¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged. ¹² For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest. ¹³ If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me, ¹⁴ what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account? ¹⁵ Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb? ¹⁶ If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail, ¹⁷ if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless— ¹⁸ though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow— ¹⁹ if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak, ²⁰ if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep, ²¹ if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate, ²² then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket. ²³ For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower. ²⁴ If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security, ²⁵ if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much, ²⁶ if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, ²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, ²⁸ this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high. ²⁹ If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him— ³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse— ³¹ if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’— ³² but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler— ³³ if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart, ³⁴ because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside— ³⁵ (Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment. ³⁶ Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown. ³⁷ I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)— ³⁸ if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together, ³⁹ if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, ⁴⁰ then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.

³ O LORD my God, if I have done this, if injustice is on my hands, ⁴ if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause, ⁵ then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah

¹⁷ All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant. ¹⁸ Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path. ¹⁹ But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness. ²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, ²¹ would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?

¹⁸ If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. ¹⁹ But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

⁶ Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.

⁸ Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands.

⁸ Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.

¹¹ Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

⁵ Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.

⁹ Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?

¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

²¹ For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk, ¹⁰ and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

²⁹ O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!

⁷ For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.

³ And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. ⁴ You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied.

² “Dominion and awe belong to God; He establishes harmony in the heights of heaven.

⁵ Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?

⁹ God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

¹ I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.

²³ I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.

⁵ As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!

¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless our conduct was among you who believed.

⁴ I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock. ⁵ The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

⁴ I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.

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

⁴ In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.

² I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.

⁴ Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there— ⁵ the LORD is the God of Hosts—the LORD is His name of renown.

¹¹ But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. ¹² In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

⁷ During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.

³⁴ Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me. ³⁵ Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.

³ Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.

²² Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.

³ If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat. ⁴ I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵ I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say. ⁶ Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me. ⁷ Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

³⁵ (Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.

¹ And the LORD said to Job: ² “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.” ³ Then Job answered the LORD: ⁴ “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth. ⁵ I have spoken once, but I have no answer—twice, but I have nothing to add.”

¹⁰ Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

⁹ Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

²⁰ But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”

⁹ As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. ¹⁰ He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.

⁵ Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,

¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?

¹⁴ When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

⁵ when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels—for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.