Job 40
1Moreover the LORD answered Job,
2“Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
Then Job answered the LORD,
4“Behold, I am of small account. What will I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
7“Now brace yourself like a man.
I will question you, and you will answer me.
8Will you even annul my judgment?
Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?
9Or do you have an arm like God?
Can you thunder with a voice like him?
“Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity.
Array yourself with honor and majesty.
11Pour out the fury of your anger.
Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low.
12Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him.
Crush the wicked in their place.
13Hide them in the dust together.
Bind their faces in the hidden place.
14Then I will also admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
“See now behemoth, which I made as well as you.
He eats grass as an ox.
16Look now, his strength is in his thighs.
His force is in the muscles of his belly.
17He moves his tail like a cedar.
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18His bones are like tubes of bronze.
His limbs are like bars of iron.
He is the chief of the ways of God.
He who made him gives him his sword.
20Surely the mountains produce food for him,
where all the animals of the field play.
21He lies under the lotus trees,
in the covert of the reed, and the marsh.
22The lotuses cover him with their shade.
The willows of the brook surround him.
23Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn’t tremble.
He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth.
24Shall any take him when he is on the watch,
or pierce through his nose with a snare?
Job 41
“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?
None 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.
“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.
One 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.”
Job 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.”
It 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.
Psalm 1
BOOK 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.
Psalm 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.
Psalm 3
A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
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.
Psalm 4
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm by David.
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.
Psalm 5
For the Chief Musician, with the flutes. A Psalm by David.
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.
Psalm 6
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David.
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.
Psalm 7
A meditation by David, which he sang to the LORD, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.
1LORD, my God, I take refuge in you.
Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
2lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,
ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.
3LORD, my God, if I have done this,
if there is iniquity in my hands,
4if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me
(yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),
5let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;
yes, let him tread my life down to the earth,
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
6Arise, LORD, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.
Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
7Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.
8The LORD administers judgment to the peoples.
Judge me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
and to my integrity that is in me.
9Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
10My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11God is a righteous judge,
yes, a God who has indignation every day.
12If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow.
13He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.
14Behold, he travails with iniquity.
Yes, he has conceived mischief,
and brought out falsehood.
15He has dug a hole,
and has fallen into the pit which he made.
16The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
17I will give thanks to the LORD according to his righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
Psalm 8
For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David.
1LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens!
2From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,
4what is man, that you think of him?
What is the son of man, that you care for him?
5For you have made him a little lower than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
7All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
8the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 9
For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm by David.
1I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart.
I will tell of all your marvelous works.
2I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish in your presence.
4For you have maintained my just cause.
You sit on the throne judging righteously.
5You have rebuked the nations.
You have destroyed the wicked.
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin.
The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
7But the LORD reigns forever.
He has prepared his throne for judgment.
8He will judge the world in righteousness.
He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
9The LORD will also be a high tower for the oppressed;
a high tower in times of trouble.
10Those who know your name will put their trust in you,
for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion,
and declare among the people what he has done.
12For he who avenges blood remembers them.
He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.
13Have mercy on me, LORD.
See my affliction by those who hate me,
and lift me up from the gates of death,
14that I may show all of your praise.
I will rejoice in your salvation in the gates of the daughter of Zion.
15The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made.
In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
16The LORD has made himself known.
He has executed judgment.
The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.
17The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol,
even all the nations that forget God.
18For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
19Arise, LORD! Don’t let man prevail.
Let the nations be judged in your sight.
20Put them in fear, LORD.
Let the nations know that they are only men. Selah.