Job 29 Cross References - BSB

¹ And Job continued his discourse: ² “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, ³ when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness, ⁴ when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent, 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.

⁷ And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’

¹² Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹ Job continued his discourse:

¹ There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil. 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. ⁴ Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

¹⁰ Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

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

²⁸ For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.

²⁸ Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:

¹⁷ Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

⁶ The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.

¹⁷ How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?

²⁸ Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.

⁶ Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.

²⁸ For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

¹ Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread?

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

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.

⁴ Then He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation, nor train anymore for war.

¹² Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

¹⁴ So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

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

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

⁵ For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high upon a rock.

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

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

³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

²⁷ The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’ ²⁸ So Israel dwells securely; the fountain of Jacob lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine, where even the heavens drip with dew. ²⁹ Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

⁹ Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹² And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

³ If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.

⁸ If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him. ⁹ When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him. ¹⁰ Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

¹³ And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance among their brothers. ¹⁶ After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

⁷ O LORD, You favored me; You made my mountain stand strong. When You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

² For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?

⁸ In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever. Selah ⁹ But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies.

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.

³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.

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

⁴ He has brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love.

¹ On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him. ² I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and squares. I will seek the one I love. So I sought him but did not find him.

⁸ O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night?

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

¹¹ He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹³ He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag, ¹⁴ with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.

²⁴ And concerning Asher he said: “May Asher be the most blessed of sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers and dip his foot in oil.

¹⁷ He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

¹⁶ But I would feed you the finest wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

¹⁸ You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

¹⁹ his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

¹ Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. ² Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.

¹¹ “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

²¹ if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,

¹⁶ These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,

³² You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.

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

⁸ A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.

³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval. ⁴ For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.

⁷ Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

¹ Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,

¹⁷ Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

⁵ Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

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?”

² “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?

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.

⁵ Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.

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

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

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

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

⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

²⁶ I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

²⁰ if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,

² When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

²² All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.

²⁷ As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”

²² You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. ²³ If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry. ²⁴ My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.

¹⁸ He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.

² Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.” ³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” ⁴ Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.” ⁶ When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry, ⁷ and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them ⁸ and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say. ⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies? ¹⁰ I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury. ¹¹ Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.” ¹² “We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of His house and possession every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

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.

⁴ They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

¹⁷ if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—

⁵ A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.

¹² For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.

² “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah ³ Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed. ⁴ Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked.

¹³ Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.

¹¹ Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter. ¹² If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

¹⁶ He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.

²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

¹¹ and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹³ be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.

⁵ and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.

¹⁰ Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” ¹¹ And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.” ¹² Then all the people began to eat and drink, to send out portions, and to rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that had been made known to them.

⁹ You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

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,

⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth. Selah

⁶ Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul. ⁷ Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. ⁸ Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed. ⁹ Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.

¹³ And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.

³⁹ So Peter got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing him the tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. ⁴⁰ Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed, and turning toward her body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.

¹² For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God. ¹³ Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others. ¹⁴ And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he has often refreshed me and was unashamed of my chains. ¹⁷ Indeed, when he arrived in Rome, he searched diligently until he found me. ¹⁸ May the Lord grant Onesiphorus His mercy on that day. You know very well how much he ministered to me in Ephesus.

⁷ I take great joy and encouragement in your love, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

⁶ I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

⁹ May Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and Your saints shout for joy.

⁵ On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people,

¹⁷ He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.

¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

³ You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem in the palm of your God.

¹⁴ Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,

⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

⁸ She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.

³¹ “Please do not leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes.

⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

¹² The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. ²⁸ And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

²⁶ And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.

¹⁴ then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,

⁸ If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose. ⁹ You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case. ¹⁰ You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you,

¹⁶ At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. ¹⁸ On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone, with no one in the house but the two of us. ¹⁹ During the night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on him. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him in her bosom and put her dead son at my bosom. ²¹ The next morning, when I got up to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. But when I examined him, I realized that he was not the son I had borne.” ²² “No,” said the other woman, “the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman insisted, “No, the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.” So they argued before the king. ²³ Then the king replied, “This woman says, ‘My son is alive and yours is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead and mine is alive.’” ²⁴ The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought him a sword, ²⁵ and the king declared, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!” ²⁷ Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. By no means should you kill him; she is his mother.” ²⁸ When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

⁷ And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her in as his own daughter.

¹⁸ though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.

⁷ The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.

¹ Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

³⁵ I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.

⁷ Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.

³ when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,

⁶ Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.

¹⁴ there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men.

¹² But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”

⁴⁹ So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.

²⁶ You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.

¹⁶ After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ And so Job died, old and full of years.

⁶ In prosperity I said, “I will never be shaken.” ⁷ O LORD, You favored me; You made my mountain stand strong. When You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

²³ O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”

¹⁶ The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

⁴ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

⁹ Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!

¹⁶ The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

⁸ He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

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

¹³ Tell my father about all my splendor in Egypt and everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

²⁴ Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

⁹ He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

³ But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.

³⁴ He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

⁵ who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

³¹ But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

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 Indeed, I waited while you spoke; I listened to your reasoning; as you searched for words, ¹² I paid you full attention. But no one proved Job wrong; not one of you rebutted his arguments.

² Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.

¹⁵ Job’s friends are dismayed, with no more to say; words have escaped them. ¹⁶ Must I wait, now that they are silent, now that they stand and no longer reply?

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.”

¹¹ Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.

¹⁵ so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard.

⁴⁶ “Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.

¹⁶ Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

⁶ “Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”

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

⁶ May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.

³ So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.

¹ Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.

²⁶ “Joseph is still alive,” they said, “and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them.

¹⁵ Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.

¹ A song of ascents. When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.

⁴¹ While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

¹⁴ And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He retrieved all the goods, as well as his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the rest of the people. ¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁵ So the LORD became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered, when the tribes of Israel came together.

⁸ They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”

² Even in times past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And to you the LORD said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”

¹ Then David conferred with all his leaders, the commanders of hundreds and of thousands. ² And he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers in all the land of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites in their cities and pasturelands, so that they may join us. ³ Then let us bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of Him in the days of Saul.” ⁴ And because this proposal seemed right to all the people, the whole assembly agreed to it.

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.

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.

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

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 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, ² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, ³ to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

⁵ For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.

² We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that none of you would be shaken by these trials. For you know that we are destined for this.