Job 21 Cross References - BSB

¹ Then Job answered: ² “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me. ³ Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking. ⁴ Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient? ⁵ Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth. ⁶ When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror. ⁷ Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? ⁸ Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹ Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them. ¹⁰ Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry. ¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, ¹² singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. ¹³ They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. ¹⁴ Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’ ¹⁶ Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. ¹⁷ How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction? ¹⁸ Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm? ¹⁹ It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it. ²⁰ Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty. ²¹ For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out? ²² Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high? ²³ One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease. ²⁴ His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow. ²⁵ Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity. ²⁶ But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both. 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?’ ²⁹ Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports? ³⁰ Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath. ³¹ Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? ³² He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. ³³ The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number. ³⁴ So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

⁷ When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out: “Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, and may God listen to you.

³ Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God. ⁴ You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.

¹¹ Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?

² “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.

² “How long until you end these speeches? Show some sense, and then we can talk.

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

³¹ Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. ³² But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you. ³³ But if not, then listen to me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”

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

² Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

¹ We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

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.

⁹ Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him like a man?

¹³ Be silent, and I will speak. Then let come to me what may.

¹⁰ They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.

²⁰ My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.

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

⁹ Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.

¹⁶ Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.”

²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” ²⁷ He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”

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

¹¹ Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ¹² Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard? ¹³ When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, ¹⁴ then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, ¹⁵ so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. ¹⁶ I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. ¹⁷ What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, ¹⁸ that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? ¹⁹ Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle? 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? ²¹ Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”

¹ “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. ² I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

¹ For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning? ² I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest. ³ Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

¹¹ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

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

¹ A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You.

² I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him. ³ Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.

³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”

¹⁹ “Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”

¹² When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.

⁸ The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.

²⁰ My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. ²¹ Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

⁹ The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

⁴ “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.

⁹ I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

³² If you have foolishly exalted yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth.

¹³ Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.

¹⁶ Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.

³³ O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!

³ I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah

¹⁵ From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.

¹²⁰ My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall. ²⁰ Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me.

¹⁶ I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.

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

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

³⁵ I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

³ For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ⁴ They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. ⁵ They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men. ⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them. ⁷ From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild. ⁸ They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. ⁹ They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth. ¹⁰ So their people return to this place and drink up waters in abundance. ¹¹ The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?” ¹² Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree as they increase their wealth.

¹ Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? ² You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts. ³ But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.

¹⁷ This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’

¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

¹⁵ The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly. ¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

² The beast I saw was like a leopard, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast appeared to be mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast. ⁴ They worshiped the dragon who had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?” ⁵ The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months. ⁶ And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Then the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them, and it was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.

² The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.” ³ And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

³ I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. ⁴ His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.

¹⁹ He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.

¹⁰ His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.

²⁸ The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.

¹⁴ from such men, O LORD, by Your hand—from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.

⁶ Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of a son is his father.

³⁴ Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

²¹ Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

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

⁵ They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.

¹⁹ How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!

¹⁹ bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.” ²⁰ But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck. ²¹ “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

²⁶ No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

¹³ He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you. ¹⁴ You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock.

¹¹ The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

¹³ Our storehouses will be full, supplying all manner of produce; our flocks will bring forth thousands, tens of thousands in our fields. ¹⁴ Our oxen will bear great loads. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our streets.

¹ So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate. ² It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

¹⁶ Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance. ¹⁷ So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. 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.”

¹⁹ Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

⁴¹ But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks.

³ Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. ⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.

²¹ And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.

²⁷ Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.

¹² At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.

¹³ But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

⁴ You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. ⁵ You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. ⁶ You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

¹¹ If they obey and serve Him, then they end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness.

⁴ They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed.

³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹ And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

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?’

²⁸ It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

¹⁷ They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’

⁴ In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.

¹¹ He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

²⁹ For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

¹⁵ The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.

²⁸ When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!”

³⁷ Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, because great fear had taken hold of them. So He got into the boat and started back.

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me! ⁴⁶ Which of you can prove Me guilty of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

²³ Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.

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.

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

¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

³ For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. ⁴ So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

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.”

⁹ For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’

³ For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’

⁴ They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.

¹¹ Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”

¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.

⁶ When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.

¹³ You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the LORD. ¹⁴ “But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.

⁷ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

⁶ May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.

²¹ saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

⁹ Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? ¹⁰ The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

¹⁸ But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

¹ Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

⁶ They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches. ⁷ No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

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.”

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.

⁸ Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,

⁸ As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

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.’

²⁵ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

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.

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

¹⁰ Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.

⁷ For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath. ⁸ You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. ⁹ For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.

⁹ The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.

²⁰ Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.

²⁰ For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.

⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁴⁶ The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

⁷ You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble.

²⁵ Would You frighten a windblown leaf? Would You chase after dry chaff?

⁴ Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

⁵ May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.

¹³ Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.

²⁴ Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

¹³ The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

⁵ But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,

²⁴ No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

¹⁵ Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. ¹⁶ You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁴ “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.

³ Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.

¹⁰ For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.

¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”

⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

³⁴ “Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?

⁴¹ when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.

³⁹ And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

²⁴ and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

⁵ He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.

⁹ May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. ¹⁰ May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes. ¹¹ May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. ¹² May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children. ¹³ May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation. ¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out. ¹⁵ May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth. ¹⁶ For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death. ¹⁷ The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him. ¹⁸ The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil. ¹⁹ May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him. ²⁰ May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me. ²¹ But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion. ²² For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me. ²³ I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. ²⁴ My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt. ²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads. ²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion. ²⁷ Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it. ²⁸ Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice. ²⁹ May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe. ³⁰ With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many. ³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.

²¹ Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the iniquities of their forefathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or cover the earth with their cities.

⁴ Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. ⁵ But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. ⁶ We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

²⁹ “In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’

² “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge’?

¹⁴ Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:

¹⁹ Yet you may ask, ‘Why shouldn’t the son bear the iniquity of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right, carefully observing all My statutes, he will surely live. ²⁰ The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.

¹⁸ So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

¹⁹ Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. ³³ You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? ³⁴ Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. ³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

²¹ God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

⁶ Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.

¹⁹ He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

³ You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.

⁸ For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.

¹⁷ Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.

¹⁵ This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. ¹⁶ And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.”

⁷ Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

¹⁰ he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

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.

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,

²¹ If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware.

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.

²⁴ I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.

¹⁸ I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

²⁷ ‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’

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

¹⁵ If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,

¹⁷ Could one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the just and mighty One, ¹⁸ who says to kings, ‘You are worthless!’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’ ¹⁹ who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

¹¹ who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

²² Behold, God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him?

² “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:

⁵ Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high? ⁶ He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth.

⁸ If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

¹³ Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor? ¹⁴ Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding?

²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. ²³ He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.

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’?

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

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

³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.

¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

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.

¹⁷ For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.

⁴ They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. ⁵ They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.

²⁷ Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,

⁸ This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.

⁸ He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.

¹² But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

²⁰ Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,

¹¹ Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁸ He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.

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

²³ When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.

¹⁰ The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares in its joy.

² God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.

¹⁵ What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul. ¹⁶ O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live. ¹⁷ Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

¹⁶ Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure. ¹⁷ So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.

¹⁸ “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.

¹⁸ The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. ¹⁹ Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.

¹⁴ and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

²⁶ Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

¹¹ The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.

²⁰ The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.

¹⁴ Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.

² It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

¹¹ Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.

⁸ As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same. ⁹ By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed. ¹⁰ The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken. ¹¹ The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

³ I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. ⁴ His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. ⁵ The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

³ Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? ⁴ When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion. 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.

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.”

⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

²⁹ This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”

³ and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.

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.

⁴ For no fault of my own, they move swiftly to attack me. Arise to help me, and take notice.

⁸⁶ All Your commandments are faithful; I am persecuted without cause—help me!

²² Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

¹⁹ For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.

²⁶ And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” ²⁷ So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing: ²⁹ If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” ³¹ As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. ³⁴ At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!”

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.

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

⁷ he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’

³⁷ I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)—

³⁶ yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

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,

⁹ Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster! ¹⁰ You have plotted shame for your house by cutting off many peoples and forfeiting your life. ¹¹ For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.

⁴ I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”

⁸ May none who pass by say to them, “The blessing of the LORD be on you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.”

⁵ The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.

⁴ Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

⁴ The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.

² The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.

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,

⁹ if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. ¹⁰ Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings. ¹¹ Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord. ¹² These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. ¹³ The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. ¹⁴ Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. ¹⁷ These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

⁷ And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

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

¹⁷ For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

¹⁰ But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ ¹¹ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. ¹² You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

¹⁹ Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’” ²⁰ When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD. ²¹ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free. ²² I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked My anger and caused Israel to sin.’ ²³ And the LORD also speaks concerning Jezebel: ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ ²⁴ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”

¹⁹ It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.

¹¹ Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.

²¹ You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

¹³ rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

³³ How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways. ³⁴ Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things ³⁵ you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

¹⁸ For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife!”

²⁵ As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

¹⁹ Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”

¹¹ When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned.

¹³ For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

²¹ Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’ ²² Assyria is there with her whole company; her graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. ²³ Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who once spread terror in the land of the living. ²⁴ Elam is there with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. ²⁵ Among the slain they prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed among the slain. ²⁶ Meshech and Tubal are there with all their multitudes, with their graves all around them. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because they spread their terror in the land of the living. ²⁷ They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their bones, although the terror of the mighty was once in the land of the living. ²⁸ But you too will be shattered and lie down among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. ²⁹ Edom is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit. ³⁰ All the leaders of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down in disgrace with the slain, despite the terror of their might. They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit. ³¹ Pharaoh will see them and be comforted over all his multitude—Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD. ³² For I will spread My terror in the land of the living, so that Pharaoh and all his multitude will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.”

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.

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

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

²² who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave?

¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?”

²⁴ They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.

²³ Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

⁴ Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

⁷ before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

²⁷ Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

⁴ You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.