Job 41–42; Psalms 1–6

Job 41–42 WEB

^41:1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord? ²Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook? ³Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you? ⁴Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever? ⁵Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls? ⁶Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants? ⁷Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears? ⁸Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more. ⁹Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him? ¹⁰None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? ¹¹Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine. ¹²“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. ¹³Who can strip off his outer garment? Who will come within his jaws? ¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. ¹⁵Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal. ¹⁶One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. ¹⁷They are joined to one another. They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart. ¹⁸His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. ¹⁹Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap out. ²⁰Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. ²¹His breath kindles coals. A flame goes out of his mouth. ²²There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him. ²³The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can’t be moved. ²⁴His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone. ²⁵When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing. ²⁶If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft. ²⁷He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. ²⁸The arrow can’t make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him. ²⁹Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin. ³⁰His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. ³¹He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. ³²He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair. ³³On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear. ³⁴He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”

^42:1Then Job answered the LORD: ²“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be restrained. ³You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ therefore I have uttered that which I didn’t understand, things too wonderful for me, which I didn’t know. ⁴You said, ‘Listen, now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.’ ⁵I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. ⁶Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” ⁷It was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has. ⁸Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.” ⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job. ¹⁰The LORD restored Job’s prosperity when he prayed for his friends. The LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, came to him and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that the LORD had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold. ¹²So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. ¹³He had also seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴He called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren Happuch. ¹⁵In all the land were no women found so beautiful as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. ¹⁶After this Job lived one hundred forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, to four generations. ¹⁷So Job died, being old and full of days.

Psalms 1–6 WEB

^1:1Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; ²but his delight is in the LORD’s law. On his law he meditates day and night. ³He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper. ⁴The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. ⁵Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. ⁶For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.

^2:1Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? ²The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed, saying, ³“Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.” ⁴He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision. ⁵Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath: ⁶“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.” ⁷I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father. ⁸Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. ⁹You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” ¹⁰Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. ¹¹Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. ¹²Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

^3:1LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me. ²Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah. ³But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. ⁴I cry to the LORD with my voice, and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah. ⁵I laid myself down and slept. I awakened, for the LORD sustains me. ⁶I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me on every side. ⁷Arise, LORD! Save me, my God! For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked. ⁸Salvation belongs to the LORD. May your blessing be on your people. Selah.

^4:1Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. ²You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah. ³But know that the LORD has set apart for himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to him. ⁴Stand in awe, and don’t sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah. ⁵Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Put your trust in the LORD. ⁶Many say, “Who will show us any good?” LORD, let the light of your face shine on us. ⁷You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased. ⁸In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.

^5:1Give ear to my words, LORD. Consider my meditation. ²Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you. ³LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly. ⁴For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you. ⁵The arrogant will not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity. ⁶You will destroy those who speak lies. The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. ⁷But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you. ⁸Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face. ⁹For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue. ¹⁰Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you. ¹¹But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you. ¹²For you will bless the righteous. LORD, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.

^6:1LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath. ²Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. ³My soul is also in great anguish. But you, LORD—how long? ⁴Return, LORD. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness’ sake. ⁵For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks? ⁶I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears. ⁷My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries. ⁸Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. ⁹The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD accepts my prayer. ¹⁰May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.