Job 30 Cross References - ISV

¹ Job Describes His Current Status in Life“But now they mock me; men who are far younger than I, whose fathers I would have hated to entrust with my own sheep dogs. ² Furthermore, what could I have gained from men whose strength is gone? ³ Unproductive due to poverty and hunger, they could only scratch in parched soil, devastated and desolated. ⁴ “They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat; and roots of the broom shrub for food. ⁵ Driven away from human company, they were shouted at as though they were thieves. ⁶ They lived in the most dangerous of ravines, in holes in the ground, and among rocks. ⁷ They bray like donkeys among the bushes and huddle together under the desert weeds. ⁸ Sons of fools and of uncertain reputation, they have been driven from the land by scourging.”
⁹ Job Presents the Actions of the Mockers“Now, I’ve become the object of their mocking melodies; I’m nothing but a fool’s proverb to them! ¹⁰ They abhor me—they keep their distance from me; but they don’t refrain from spitting at the sight of me. ¹¹ But God has loosened his cord and afflicted me; so they’ve cast off all restraints in my presence. ¹² “A wretched crowd ambushes me to my right; they trip my feet; they build up their path of calamity for me. ¹³ They tear up my pathways; they profit from my destruction, and they need no help to do this! ¹⁴ They come like those who breach through a wall; as everything crashes around me they’ll roll on and on! ¹⁵ My greatest fears have overcome me; my honor is assaulted as though by a wind storm; my prosperity evaporates like a morning cloud.”
¹⁶ Job Accuses God of Mistreating Him“Now, my soul pours itself out; the time of my affliction has taken control of me. ¹⁷ The night racks my bones; and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest. ¹⁸ My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me; he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak. ¹⁹ “He tossed me into the mire; I’ve become like dust and ashes. ²⁰ I cry for help to you, but you won’t answer me; I stand still, but you only look at me. ²¹ You changed toward me, and now you’re cruel to me; with your mighty hand you are persecuting me; ²² you carried me off in a wind storm, making me ride on it while you toss me about as the storm roars around me. ²³ I know that you’re about to kill me, so I’m about to go to the house that’s appointed for all the living.”
²⁴ Job Lists His Hopes Despite His Deplorable Condition“Surely he won’t stretch his hand against the needy, will he, especially if they cry to him in their calamity? ²⁵ Haven’t I wept for the one who is going through hard times? Haven’t I grieved for the needy? ²⁶ I have hoped for good, but evil came instead; I have hoped for light, but darkness came. ²⁷ I’m boiling mad inside, and I won’t remain silent; the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived. ²⁸ “In growing darkness, I walked without sunlight; I stood in the congregation to cry for help. ²⁹ I’ve become a brother to jackals, and a friend to ostriches. ³⁰ My skin turns black all over me; and my bones seem burned from the heat. ³¹ But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping.”

²³ Elisha Rebukes Some MockersLater, Elisha left there to go up to Bethel, and as he was traveling along the road, some insignificant young men came from the city and started mocking him. They told him, “Get on up, baldy! Get on up, baldy!”

⁴ Job Has Become a Laughingstock“I’m a laughingstock to my friends, someone who called on God. But then he answered this upright and blameless man, and I have become a laughingstock.

¹³ Job’s Family and Friends Abandoned Him“My brothers are alienated from me; my acquaintances are estranged; ¹⁴ my relatives have failed me; and my friends have abandoned me. ¹⁵ Those who live in my house— and my maidservants, too!— treat me like a stranger; they think I’m a foreigner. ¹⁶ “I call to my servant, but he doesn’t respond, even though I beg to him earnestly. ¹⁷ My wife says my breath stinks; even my children say I smell bad! ¹⁸ Even little children hate me; when I get up, they mock me. ¹⁹ My closest friends detest me; even the ones I love have turned against me.

⁸ The young men would see me and withdraw, and the aged would rise and stand. ⁹ Nobles would refrain from speaking, covering their mouths with their hands. ¹⁰ The voices of the commanders-in-chief were hushed, and their tongues would cling to the roofs of their mouths.”

¹⁵ But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together. They gathered together against me— attackers whom I did not know. They tore me apart and would not stop. ¹⁶ Malicious mockers— they gnashed their teeth against me.

¹² The prominent people mock me, composing drinking songs.

⁵ People will oppress one another— It will be man against man and neighbor against neighbor. The young will be disrespectful to the old, and the worthless to the honorable.

⁶⁵ Some of them began to spit on him. They blindfolded him and kept hitting him with their fists and telling him, “Prophesy!” Even the servants took him and slapped him around.

¹⁷ They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted some thorns into a victor’s crown, and placed it on his head. ¹⁸ They began to greet him, “Long live the king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They kept hitting him on the head with a stick, spitting on him, kneeling in front of him, and worshiping him. ²⁰ When they had finished making fun of him, they stripped him of the purple robe, put his own clothes back on him, and led him away to crucify him.

¹⁴ and told them, “You brought this man to me as one who turns the people against the government. And here in your presence I have examined him and have found him ‘Not Guilty’ of the charges you make against him.

¹⁸ But they all shouted out together, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas for us!”

³⁵ Meanwhile, the people stood looking on. The leaders were mocking him by saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Messiah of God, the chosen one!”

³⁹ Now one of the criminals hanging there kept insulting him, “You are the Messiah, aren’t you? Save yourself…and us!”

⁵ But the Jewish leaders became jealous, and they took some contemptible characters who used to hang out in the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason’s home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the people.

¹² One of their very own prophets said, “Liars ever, men of Crete, savage brutes that live to eat.”

⁵ “Look! Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, they work diligently as they seek wild game in the desert, food for them and their young ones.

¹³ “Then there are those who rebel against the light; they are not acquainted with its ways; and they don’t stay on its course. ¹⁴ The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night, he is like a thief. ¹⁵ The adulterer watches for twilight, saying, ‘No eye is watching me’ while he veils his face. ¹⁶ They break into houses in the dark; during the day they remained sealed in. They don’t know daylight.

³⁸ The world wasn’t worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and from caves to holes in the ground.

³⁸ Poisoned Stew is PurifiedElisha returned to Gilgal during a time of famine in the land. While the Guild of Prophets were having a meal with him, he instructed his attendant, “Put a large pot on the fire and boil some stew for the Guild of Prophets.” ³⁹ Somebody went out into the fields to grab some herbs, found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds, which he came and sliced up into the stew pot, but nobody else knew.

¹⁴ Amos replied in answer to Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor am I a prophet’s son, for I have been shepherding and picking the fruit of sycamore trees.

¹⁶ No one would give him anything, even though he would gladly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating.

¹² Whenever you work the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you, and you’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive.”
¹³ “My punishment is too great to bear,” Cain told the LORD. ¹⁴ “You’re driving me from the soil today. I’ll be hidden from you, and I’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive. In the future, whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁰ May his children roam around begging, seeking food while driven far from their ruined homes.

²⁵ You’ll be driven from people, and you’ll live among wild animals of the field. You’ll eat grass like cattle and be soaked with the dew of the sky while seven years pass you by—until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.

³² You’re to be driven away from people. You’re to live with the wild animals of the field. You are to be made to eat grass like cattle, and seven years will pass you by until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.’”
³³ The decree was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar immediately. He was driven away from people to eat grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

² Midian’s control predominated throughout Israel, and because of Midian the Israelis went out to find temporary hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and fortified places.

¹ David at the Cave of AdullamDavid left from there and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. His brothers and all his father’s family heard about this and went down to him there. ² Everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was malcontent gathered around him, and he became their leader. There were about 400 men with him.

¹⁹ “They will enter caverns in the rocks and holes in the ground to escape the presence of the terror of the LORD, to escape the splendor of his majesty when he arises to terrify the earth.

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people concealed themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains.

¹² He’ll be a wild donkey of a man. He’ll be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live in conflict with all of his relatives.”

⁵ “Will the wild donkey bray from hunger if fresh grass is beside him? Will the ox low from distress if it is near its feed?

¹² An empty-headed person will gain understanding when a wild donkey is born a human being!”

¹⁸ He lived his life like the kings of Israel did, following the example of Ahab’s household when he married Ahab’s daughter and practiced what was evil in the LORD’s presence.

²⁷ Ahaziah lived his life following the example of Ahab’s household, practicing what the LORD considered to be evil, just like the household of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law to Ahab’s household.

³ He followed the example of Ahab’s dynasty because his mother gave him evil counsel.

⁴ “I must look insignificant to you! How can I answer you? I’m speechless.

⁴ The one who despises those who are utterly wicked, but who honors the one who fears the LORD, who keeps his word even when it hurts and does not change,

¹⁰ Indeed, he will see wise people die; the stupid and the senseless will meet their doom and leave their wealth to others. ¹¹ Their inner thoughts are on their homes forever; their dwellings from generation to generation. They even name their lands after themselves. ¹² But humanity cannot last, despite its conceit; it will pass away just like the animals. ¹³ This is the fate of those who are foolish and of those who correct their words after they speak. Interlude

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

²² “You naïve ones, how long will you love naiveté? And how long will scoffers delight in scoffing or fools hate knowledge?”

²² Anyone who has understanding is a fountain of life, but foolishness brings punishment to fools.

⁶ For fools utter contempt, and their minds plot wrong things: practicing ungodliness, spreading lies about the LORD, leaving the pangs of hungry people unsatisfied, and depriving thirsty people of drink.

¹⁸ The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and they pour out liquid offerings to other gods in order to provoke me.

²⁴ So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”

⁶ “He has made me a byword among people; I’m being spit on in the face.

¹⁴ You made us an object lesson among the nations; people shake their heads at us.

¹¹ When I dressed in sackcloth, I became an object of gossip among them. ¹² The prominent people mock me, composing drinking songs.

¹⁴ I have become a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunts throughout the day.

⁶³ Watch! Whether they sit down or stand up, they mock me with their songs.

¹⁴ But the LORD told Moses, “If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn’t she be humiliated? She is to be placed in isolation for seven days. After that, she may be brought in.”

⁹ then she is to approach her brother-in-law in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and say in response, ‘May this be done to the man who does not preserve the lineage of his brother.’

¹³ Job’s Family and Friends Abandoned Him“My brothers are alienated from me; my acquaintances are estranged; ¹⁴ my relatives have failed me; and my friends have abandoned me.

¹⁹ My closest friends detest me; even the ones I love have turned against me.

⁶ As a result, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

⁸ You caused my acquaintances to shun me; you make me extremely abhorrent to them. Restrained, I am unable to go out.

⁷ All the relatives of a poor person shun him— how much more do his friends avoid him! Though he runs after them pleading, they aren’t around.

⁶ I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not turn away my face from insults and spitting.

⁸ In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me.

⁵⁶ But all of this has happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”
Then all the disciples deserted Jesus and ran away.

⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face and hit him. Some slapped him,

³⁰ Then they spit on him and took the stick and hit him repeatedly on his head.

²¹ I left here full, but the LORD brought me back empty. So why call me ‘Naomi’? After all, the LORD is against me, and the Almighty has broken me.”

⁵ Shimei Curses DavidLater on, as King David approached Bahurim, Gera’s son Shimei, who was related to the family of Saul’s household, went out to meet David, cursing continually as he approached. ⁶ He threw rocks at David and all of David’s staff who were accompanying him, while all the rest of the entourage, including all of David’s security detail, were close by him. ⁷ “Get out of here! Get out!” Shimei yelled as he cursed. “You murderer! You who think you’re above the law! ⁸ The LORD has repaid you personally for murdering the entire dynasty of Saul, whose place you’ve taken to reign! And the LORD has given the kingdom into your son Absalom’s control. Now look! Your own evil has caught up with you, because you’re guilty of murder!”

¹⁸ He strips away the authority of kings to punish and puts them in prison clothes instead.

²¹ He pours contempt on nobles and embarrasses the mighty.

⁹ Don’t be like a horse or mule, without understanding. They are held in check by a bit and bridle in their mouths; otherwise they will not remain near you.

²¹ They open their mouth wide against me, claiming, “Yes! Yes! We saw him do it with our own eyes!”

⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face and hit him. Some slapped him, ⁶⁸ saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you?”

³⁹ Those who passed by kept insulting him, shaking their heads, ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who were going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days—save yourself! If you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
⁴¹ In the same way the high priests, along with the scribes and elders, were also making fun of him. They kept saying, ⁴² “He saved others but can’t save himself! He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God rescue him, if he wants to do so now. After all, he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
⁴⁴ In a similar way, the bandits who were being crucified with him kept insulting him.

²⁶ If anyone thinks that he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but instead deceives himself, his religion is worthless.

¹² His troops march in a column against me, erecting their siege ramps against me; they surround my tent.”

¹⁸ Even little children hate me; when I get up, they mock me.

⁴ Protect me, LORD, from the control of evil people, from violent men who have planned to trip me. ⁵ The arrogant have laid a trap for me; they have spread a net with ropes, lining it with snares along the way. Interlude

²⁶ For they persecute those whom you have struck, and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded.

¹² “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders are misleading you— they’re giving you confusing directions.”

¹⁵ I am deeply angry with the nations who are complacent, with whom I was only a little displeased—but they made things worse!”

¹⁶ who were snatched away before their time; when their foundation was swept away by a river?

⁴ The cords of death entangled me; the rivers of Belial made me afraid.

¹⁴ Rescue me from the mud and do not let me sink. Rescue me from those who hate me, and from the deep waters. ¹⁵ Let neither the floodwaters overwhelm me nor let the deep swallow me up, nor the mouth of the well close over me.

⁷ watch out! The LORD God is about to bring the flood waters of the Euphrates River against them, mighty and strong.
“It’s the king of Assyria and all of his arrogance! He will rise over all of the river’s channels and run over all of its banks. ⁸ He will sweep on into Judah, overflowing as he passes through, like flood waters reaching up to a person’s neck. His outstretched wings will flow as wide as your land, O Immanuel!”

²⁵ For the dreaded thing that I feared has happened to me, what caused me to worry has engulfed me.

⁴ “The arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit absorbs their poison; God’s terrors have been arranged just for me!

⁹ As a cloud fades away and vanishes, the one who descends to the afterlife doesn’t return.

¹⁴ But then you scared me with dreams; you terrified me with visions.

²⁷ If I were to say, ‘Let me forget my complaint,’ change the expression on my face, and look cheerful, ²⁸ then I still dread all of my suffering; I know you still won’t acquit me.

¹⁶ But if I do lift up my head, you will hunt me like a lion! You will perform miracles in order to fight against me.

²³ For I’m terrified of what calamity God may have in store for me; and I cannot endure his grandeur.”

⁴ My heart is trembling within me, and the terrors of death have assaulted me. ⁵ Fear and trembling have overwhelmed me, and horror has covered me.

¹⁵ Since my youth I have been oppressed and in danger of death. I bear your dread and am overwhelmed.

²² I’ve wiped away your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist. Return to me; because I’ve redeemed you.

⁴ “What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your love is like a morning rain cloud— it passes away like the morning dew.

³ Therefore they will be like morning clouds, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff blown away from the threshing floor, or like smoke from a chimney.”

¹⁵ “No, sir!” Hannah replied. “I’m a deeply troubled woman. I’ve drunk neither wine nor beer. I’ve been pouring out my soul in the LORD’s presence.

²⁴ “As far as I’m concerned, my food comes to me in the form of sighs, and my cries of anguish pour out like water.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me.

¹² Innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me so that I cannot see. They are more in number than the hair on my head, and my courage has forsaken me.

⁴ These things I will recall as I pour out my troubles within me: I used to go with the crowd in a procession to the house of God, accompanied with shouts of joy and thanksgiving.

¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.”

⁴ “When I lie down I ask, ‘When will I wake up?’ But the night continues and I keep tossing and turning until dawn.

¹⁹ “He is being reproved by painful bed rest, with continual aching in his bones. ²⁰ He cannot stand his food, and he has no desire for appetizing food. ²¹ His flesh wastes away; his bones, which once couldn’t be seen, are visible.

² Be gracious to me, LORD, because I am fading away. Heal me, because my body is distressed. ³ And my soul is deeply distressed. But you, LORD, how long do I wait? ⁴ Return, LORD, save my life! Deliver me, because of your gracious love. ⁵ In death, there is no memory of you. Who will give you thanks where the dead are? ⁶ I am weary from my groaning. Every night my couch is drenched with tears, my bed is soaked through.

² My God, I cry out to you throughout the day, but you do not answer; and throughout the night, but I have no rest.

² because your arrows have sunk deep into me, and your hand has come down hard on me. ³ My body is unhealthy due to your anger, and my bones have no rest due to my sin. ⁴ My iniquities loom over my head; like a cumbersome burden, they are too heavy for me. ⁵ My wounds have putrefied and festered because of my foolishness. ⁶ I am bent over and walk about greatly bowed down; all day long I go around mourning. ⁷ My insides are burning and my body is unhealthy. ⁸ I am weak and utterly crushed; I cry out in distress because of my heart’s anguish.

¹³ I’ve been swept bare until morning; just like a lion, he breaks all my bones— day and night you make an end of me.

⁷ So Satan left the LORD’s presence and struck Job with terrible boils from the sole of his feet to the top of his head.

⁵ My skin is covered with worms and clods of dirt; my skin becomes rough and then breaks out afresh.

²⁰ I’m a pile of skin and bones; I have barely escaped by the skin of my teeth.”

⁵ My wounds have putrefied and festered because of my foolishness.

⁵ “Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? Your whole head is sick, and your whole heart is faint. ⁶ From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there’s no soundness evident— only bruises, sores, and festering wounds that haven’t been cleaned out, bandaged, or treated with oil.”

²⁷ Abraham answered, “Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I’ve ventured to speak to my LORD.

⁸ Job took a broken piece of pottery to scrape himself while sitting among the ashes.

³¹ you’ll still drop me into the Pit, and my own clothes will despise me.

¹ To the Director: To the tune of “The Lilies”. Davidic.
When God Seems Distant Deliver me, God, because the waters are up to my neck. ² I am sinking in deep mire, and there is no solid ground. I have come into deep water, and the flood overwhelms me.

¹⁴ Rescue me from the mud and do not let me sink. Rescue me from those who hate me, and from the deep waters.

⁶ So they threw Jeremiah into a cistern that belonged to the king’s son Malchijah and was located in the courtyard of the guard. When they let Jeremiah down with ropes, because there was no water in the cistern—only mud—Jeremiah sank into the mud.

⁷ Job Accuses God of Being Angry“Although I cried out ‘Violence!’ I received no answer; I cried for help, but there was no justice.

⁹ Will God hear his cry when distress overtakes him?

⁴ LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, when will your smoldering anger toward your people’s prayers cease? ⁵ You fed them tears as their food, and caused them to drink a full measure of tears.

⁸ Indeed, when I cry out, calling for help, he shuts out my prayer.

⁴⁴ You covered yourself with a cloud that prayer cannot pierce.

²³ But he didn’t answer her at all.
Then his disciples came up and kept urging him, “Send her away, because she keeps on screaming as she follows us.”

⁹ that God would just be willing to crush me; that he would let loose and eliminate me!

²⁰ So what if I sin? What have I done against you, you observer of humankind? Why have you made me your target? Why burden yourself with me? ²¹ Why haven’t you pardoned my transgression and taken away my iniquity? Now I’m about to lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I won’t be around!”

³ Does it delight you to oppress or despise what you have made, while you smile at the plans of the wicked?

¹⁴ If I sin, you watch me and won’t acquit me for my iniquity. ¹⁵ “‘Woe to me if I’m guilty! If I’m innocent, I cannot lift my head, because I am filled with disgrace. Look at my affliction! ¹⁶ But if I do lift up my head, you will hunt me like a lion! You will perform miracles in order to fight against me. ¹⁷ “‘You have brought new witnesses against me, you’re even more angry with me— you’ve brought fresh troops to attack me!

²⁵ Are you a god who would make a leaf tremble or who would prosecute a dry straw? ²⁶ You’ve accused me of bitter things; you’ve caused me to reap the sins of my youth. ²⁷ You’ve locked my feet in stocks; you watch all my steps; You’ve limited where I can walk. ²⁸ So I’m a man who wears out like something rotten, like a garment that has become moth-eaten.”

⁹ His anger tears me in his persistent resentment against me; he gnashes his teeth at me. My adversary glares at me. ¹⁰ People gaped at me with mouths wide open; they slap me in their scorn and gather together against me. ¹¹ God has delivered me over to the ungodly, throwing me into the control of the wicked. ¹² “He tore me apart when I was at ease; grabbing me by my neck, he shook me to pieces— then he really made me his target. ¹³ His archers surround me, slashing open my kidneys without pity; he pours out my gall on the ground. ¹⁴ Attack follows attack as he breaks through my defenses! He runs over me like a mighty warrior.

⁶ then at least you must know that God has accused me of wrong, and trapped me with his net.”
⁷ Job Accuses God of Being Angry“Although I cried out ‘Violence!’ I received no answer; I cried for help, but there was no justice. ⁸ He blocked my path, so I cannot pass; and he turned out the lights on my pathways. ⁹ “He has stripped me of my honor; he has stolen the crown off my head!

²² Why are you chasing me, as God has been doing? Aren’t you satisfied that I’m sick?

⁶ “Would he use his great power to fight me? No, he’ll pay attention to me.

⁷ Will the Lord reject me forever and not show favor again? ⁸ Has his gracious love ceased forever? Will his promise be unfulfilled in future generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? Interlude

¹³ Your arm is strong; your hand is mighty; indeed, your right hand is victorious.

¹⁴ All your lovers have forgotten you; they don’t seek you. Indeed, I’ve struck you down with the blow of an enemy, with the punishment of a cruel foe because your wickedness is great, and your sins are numerous.

⁶ Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

¹⁷ For he crushes me with a storm, and keeps on wounding me for no reason.

¹⁸ May they become like a straw, blown away before the wind; like a chaff that’s swept off by a storm.

²¹ He’ll be swept up by a storm wind and carried away; he’ll be whirled away from his place.

⁴ But this is not the case with the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

¹⁰ He rode upon a cherub and flew; he soared upon the wings of the wind.

³ He lays the beams of his roof loft on the water above, making clouds his chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

¹³ The nations roar like the rushing of many waters, but the LORD will rebuke them, and they will run far away, chased like chaff blown down from the mountains or like thick dust that rolls along, blown along by a wind storm.

¹¹ The Scorching Wind of JudgmentAt that time, it will be told this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert is coming toward my people, and it’s not for winnowing or cleansing. ¹² A wind too strong for that is coming at my bidding. Now I’m judging them as I speak.”

² You are to burn a third of it in the middle of the city when you’ve finished your siege. Next, you are to take another third of it and beat it with your sword. Last, you are to scatter the remaining third to the wind, after which I’ll unsheathe my sword and pursue them.

¹⁹ A wind storm will carry them away in its embrace, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.”

¹⁹ You will eat food by the sweat of your brow until you’re buried in the ground, because you were taken from it. You’re made from dust and you’ll return to dust.”

¹⁴ After all, even though we all die, and we’re all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn’t take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged.

¹⁹ The unimportant and the important are both there, and the servant is free from his master.

²² I say it’s all the same— he destroys both the blameless and the guilty.

⁸ Your hands formed and fashioned me, but then you have destroyed me all at once on all sides.

⁵ Since his days have been determined, the number of his months is known to you. You’ve set his limit and he cannot exceed it.

³³ The runoff from the streams will seem sweet to him; everyone will follow after him; countless crows march ahead of him.

⁸ Just as no human being has control over the wind to restrain it, so also no human being has control over the day of his death. Just as no one is discharged during war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

⁵ At least the living know they will die, but the dead know nothing; they no longer have a reward, since memory about them has been forgotten.

⁵ At that time they will fear climbing heights and dangers along the road while the almond tree will blossom, and the grasshopper is weighed down. Desire will cease, because the person goes to his eternal home, and mourners will gather in the marketplace. ⁶ When the silver cord is severed, the golden vessel is broken, the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, and the wheel is broken at the cistern, ⁷ then man’s dust will go back to the earth, returning to what it was, and the spirit will return to the God who gave it.

²⁷ Indeed, just as people are destined to die once and after that to be judged,

³¹ “May all of your enemies perish like this, LORD! But may those who love him be like the ascending sun in its strength!”
Then the land enjoyed quiet for 40 years.

²⁵ Don’t let them say in their hearts, “Yes! We got what we wanted.” Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”

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

¹⁶ No Injustice on the Poor“If I refused to grant the desire of the poor or exhausted the eyes of the widow, ¹⁷ if I ate my meals by myself without feeding orphans, ¹⁸ (even a poor man had grown up with me as if I were his father, and even though I had guided the widow from the time I was born), ¹⁹ if I’ve observed someone who is about to die for lack of clothes or if I have no clothing to give to the poor, ²⁰ if he hadn’t thanked me from the bottom of his heart, if he had not been warmed by wool from my sheep, ²¹ if I’ve raised my hand against an orphan when I thought I would against him in court,

¹ To the Director: On an eight stringed harp. A Davidic Psalm.
Human and Divine Words Contrasted Help, LORD, for godly people no longer exist; trustworthy people have disappeared from humanity.

¹³ But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth, humbled myself with fasting, and prayed from my heart repeatedly for them. ¹⁴ I paced about as for my friend or my brother, and fell down mourning as one weeps for one’s mother.

²¹ Whoever despises his neighbor sins, but whoever shows kindness to the poor will be happy.

³¹ Whoever oppresses the poor defies their Creator, but whoever is kind to the needy honors them.

⁵ Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their maker, and whoever is happy about disaster will not go unpunished.

¹⁷ Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to the LORD— the benefit of his gift will return to him in abundance.

⁸ Whoever gains wealth by charging exorbitant interest collects it for someone who is kind to the poor.

⁷ Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him with clothing, and not to raise yourself up from your own flesh and blood?”
⁸ God’s Reward“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will spring up quickly; and your vindication will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will guard your back.

¹⁷ If you don’t listen, I’ll cry secretly because of your pride. My eyes will cry bitterly, flowing tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

²⁰ Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit to take my life. Remember! I stood before you and spoke good on their behalf in order to turn your wrath away from them.

²⁷ Therefore, your majesty, may my advice be acceptable to you: Stop your sinning, do what’s right, and put a stop to your wickedness by showing kindness to the oppressed. Perhaps your tranquility will continue.”

⁴¹ When he came closer and saw the city, he began to grieve over it:

³⁵ Jesus burst into tears.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Cry with those who are crying.

⁹ As it is written, “He scatters everywhere and gives to the poor; his righteousness lasts forever.”

²⁵ For the dreaded thing that I feared has happened to me, what caused me to worry has engulfed me. ²⁶ I will not be at ease; I will not be quiet; I will not rest; because trouble has arrived.”

⁶ Light in his tent is dark, and his lamp goes out above him.

¹⁸ He is driven away from light to darkness, made to wander the landscape.

⁸ He blocked my path, so I cannot pass; and he turned out the lights on my pathways.

¹⁷ Nevertheless, I haven’t been silenced because of the darkness, even when thick darkness obscures my vision.”

¹⁸ Job Remembers His Previous Condition“I used to say: ‘I will die in my home. I’m going to live as many days as there are grains of sand on the shore.

¹¹ Light shines on the righteous; gladness on the morally upright.

¹⁰ Who among you fears the LORD, obeying the voice of his servant, who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God.

¹⁵ We waited for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but instead there was terror.

¹⁹ The People Plead to the LORDHave you completely rejected Judah? Do you despise Zion? Why have you struck us, so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.

¹⁸ Why is my pain unending and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
God’s Answer to Jeremiah’s Revised Complaint You are like a deceptive brook, whose waters cannot be depended on.

¹² Even though the inhabitants of Maroth long for success, nevertheless evil descended from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem.

⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you; they trusted and you delivered them.

¹⁹ Jeremiah’s Lament for His People“My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the aching of my heart! My heart pounds within me; I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm for war.

²⁰ God’s Gracious Response“Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? Indeed, as often as I’ve spoken about him, I surely still remember him. Therefore I deeply yearn for him. I’ll surely have great compassion on him,” declares the LORD.

²⁰ Look, LORD, how distressed I am; all my insides are churning. My heart is troubled within me, because I vigorously rebelled. Outside the sword brings loss of life, while at home death rules.

¹¹ My eyes are worn out from crying, my insides are churning, My emotions pour out in grief because my people are destroyed— Children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

⁶ I am bent over and walk about greatly bowed down; all day long I go around mourning.

⁹ I will ask God, my Rock, “Why have you forsaken me? Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”

² Since you are the God who strengthens me, why have you forsaken me? Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”

³ “He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him. ⁴ “Surely he has borne our sufferings and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted.

¹ The LORD’s Purposes for Affliction I am a man familiar with affliction— under the rod of God’s anger. ² He has led me—brought me into darkness, not into light. ³ He truly turned his hand against me, again and again, all day long.

¹⁴ if I call out to the Pit, ‘You’re my father!’ or say to the worm, ‘My mother!’ or ‘My sister!’

¹⁹ Nevertheless, you crushed us in the lair of jackals, and covered us in deep darkness.

⁶ I resemble a pelican in the wilderness or an owl in a desolate land.

²¹ But desert beasts will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there owls will dwell, and goat-demons will dance there. ²² Hyenas will howl in its strongholds, and jackals will make their dens in its citadels. Its time is close at hand, and its days will not be extended any further.

¹⁴ Like a swallow or a crane I chirp, I moan like a dove. My eyes look weakly upward. O Lord, I am oppressed, so stand up for me!

⁸ The Coming Destruction“Therefore I will cry out and grieve loudly; I will walk around stripped and naked. I will cry out like a jackal and mourn like a company of ostriches.

³ rejected Esau, turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to desert jackals.

³ For my days are vanishing like smoke; my bones are charred as in a fireplace.

⁸³ Though I have become like a water skin dried by smoke, I have not forgotten your statutes.

⁴ He made my flesh and skin prematurely old; he broke my bones.

⁸ Now their faces are blacker than coal; they are unrecognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it has become dry like a stick.

¹⁰ Our skin blisters as from an oven, due to ravaging blasts of the famine.

¹ Remembering Jerusalem There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion. ² On the willows there we hung our harps, ³ for it was there that our captors asked us for songs and our torturers demanded joy from us, “Sing us one of the songs about Zion!” ⁴ How are we to sing the song of the LORD on foreign soil?

⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁴ And as for my heart, horror has terrified me; the twilight I longed for has started to make me tremble.

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies called for weeping and mourning, for shaving heads and wearing sackcloth.

⁷ The new wine evaporates; the vine and the oil dry up; all the merrymakers groan. ⁸ “The celebrations of the tambourine have ended, the noise of the jubilant has stopped, and the mirth that the harp produces has ended. ⁹ No longer do they drink wine accompanied by singing; even beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁵ The joy of our hearts has ceased, and our dancing has turned into dirges.

¹⁸ Then the king retired to his palace to spend the night fasting. He enjoyed no entertainment, and he couldn’t sleep.