JOB 11

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Zophar Rebukes Job  11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

2 “Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,

And a talkative man be acquitted?

3 “Shall your boasts silence men?

And shall you scoff and none rebuke?

4 “For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,

And I am innocent in your eyes.’

5 “But would that God might speak,

And open His lips against you,

6 And show you the secrets of wisdom!

For sound wisdom has two sides.

Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.

7 “Can you discover the depths of God?

Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?

8 “They are high as the heavens, what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?

9 “Its measure is longer than the earth

And broader than the sea.

10 “If He passes by or shuts up,

Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?

11 “For He knows false men,

And He sees iniquity without investigating.

12 “An idiot will become intelligent

When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.

13 “If you would direct your heart right

And spread out your hand to Him,

14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

15 “Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect,

And you would be steadfast and not fear.

16 “For you would forget your trouble,

As waters that have passed by, you would remember it.

17 “Your life would be brighter than noonday;

Darkness would be like the morning.

18 “Then you would trust, because there is hope;

And you would look around and rest securely.

19 “You would lie down and none would disturb you,

And many would entreat your favor.

20 “But the eyes of the wicked will fail,

And there will be no escape for them;

And their hope is to breathe their last.”

JOB 12

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Job Chides His Accusers  12:1 Then Job responded,

2 “Truly then you are the people,

And with you wisdom will die!

3 “But I have intelligence as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

And who does not know such things as these?

4 “I am a joke to my friends,

The one who called on God and He answered him;

The just and blameless man is a joke.

5 “He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt,

As prepared for those whose feet slip.

6 “The tents of the destroyers prosper,

And those who provoke God are secure,

Whom God brings into their power.

7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;

And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.

8 “Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;

And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

9 “Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the LORD has done this,

10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?

11 “Does not the ear test words,

As the palate tastes its food?

12 “Wisdom is with aged men,

With long life is understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God13 “With Him are wisdom and might;

To Him belong counsel and understanding.

14 “Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;

He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

15 “Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;

And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.

16 “With Him are strength and sound wisdom,

The misled and the misleader belong to Him.

17 “He makes counselors walk barefoot

And makes fools of judges.

18 “He loosens the bond of kings

And binds their loins with a girdle.

19 “He makes priests walk barefoot

And overthrows the secure ones.

20 “He deprives the trusted ones of speech

And takes away the discernment of the elders.

21 “He pours contempt on nobles

And loosens the belt of the strong.

22 “He reveals mysteries from the darkness

And brings the deep darkness into light.

23 “He makes the nations great, then destroys them;

He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

24 “He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people

And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

25 “They grope in darkness with no light,

And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

PROVERBS 7

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The Wiles of the Harlot7:1 My son, keep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

2 Keep my commandments and live,

And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

3 Bind them on your fingers;

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

5 That they may keep you from an adulteress,

From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

6 For at the window of my house

I looked out through my lattice,

7 And I saw among the naive,

And discerned among the youths

A young man lacking sense,

8 Passing through the street near her corner;

And he takes the way to her house,

9 In the twilight, in the evening,

In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

11 She is boisterous and rebellious,

Her feet do not remain at home;

12 She is now in the streets, now in the squares,

And lurks by every corner.

13 So she seizes him and kisses him

And with a brazen face she says to him:

14 “I was due to offer peace offerings;

Today I have paid my vows.

15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

16 “I have spread my couch with coverings,

With colored linens of Egypt.

17 “I have sprinkled my bed

With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

19 “For my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a long journey;

20 He has taken a bag of money with him,

At the full moon he will come home.”

21 With her many persuasions she entices him;

With her flattering lips she seduces him.

22 Suddenly he follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a bird hastens to the snare,

So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,

Do not stray into her paths.

26 For many are the victims she has cast down,

And numerous are all her slain.

27 Her house is the way to Sheol,

Descending to the chambers of death.

PSALM 91

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Security of the One Who Trusts in the LORD.91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

My God, in whom I trust!”

3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper

And from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with His pinions,

And under His wings you may seek refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,

Or of the arrow that flies by day;

6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

7 A thousand may fall at your side

And ten thousand at your right hand,

But it shall not approach you.

8 You will only look on with your eyes

And see the recompense of the wicked.

9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place.

10 No evil will befall you,

Nor will any plague come near your tent.

11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,

To guard you in all your ways.

12 They will bear you up in their hands,

That you do not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.

15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

16 “With a long life I will satisfy him

And let him see My salvation.”