JOB 18-20

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Bildad Speaks of the Wicked  18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

2 “How long will you hunt for words?

Show understanding and then we can talk.

3 “Why are we regarded as beasts,

As stupid in your eyes?

4 “O you who tear yourself in your anger--

For your sake is the earth to be abandoned,

Or the rock to be moved from its place?

5 “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out,

And the flame of his fire gives no light.

6 “The light in his tent is darkened,

And his lamp goes out above him.

7 “His vigorous stride is shortened,

And his own scheme brings him down.

8 “For he is thrown into the net by his own feet,

And he steps on the webbing.

9 “A snare seizes him by the heel,

And a trap snaps shut on him.

10 “A noose for him is hidden in the ground,

And a trap for him on the path.

11 “All around terrors frighten him,

And harry him at every step.

12 “His strength is famished,

And calamity is ready at his side.

13 “His skin is devoured by disease,

The firstborn of death devours his limbs.

14 “He is torn from the security of his tent,

And they march him before the king of terrors.

15 “There dwells in his tent nothing of his;

Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.

16 “His roots are dried below,

And his branch is cut off above.

17 “Memory of him perishes from the earth,

And he has no name abroad.

18 “He is driven from light into darkness,

And chased from the inhabited world.

19 “He has no offspring or posterity among his people,

Nor any survivor where he sojourned.

20 “Those in the west are appalled at his fate,

And those in the east are seized with horror.

21 “Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,

And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

Job Feels Insulted  19:1 Then Job responded,

2 “How long will you torment me

And crush me with words?

3 “These ten times you have insulted me;

You are not ashamed to wrong me.

4 “Even if I have truly erred,

My error lodges with me.

5 “If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me

And prove my disgrace to me,

6 Know then that God has wronged me

And has closed His net around me.

Everything Is against Him7 “Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;

I shout for help, but there is no justice.

8 “He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,

And He has put darkness on my paths.

9 “He has stripped my honor from me

And removed the crown from my head.

10 “He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;

And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

11 “He has also kindled His anger against me

And considered me as His enemy.

12 “His troops come together,

And build up their way against me

And camp around my tent.

13 “He has removed my brothers far from me,

And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

14 “My relatives have failed,

And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

15 “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.

I am a foreigner in their sight.

16 “I call to my servant, but he does not answer;

I have to implore him with my mouth.

17 “My breath is offensive to my wife,

And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

18 “Even young children despise me;

I rise up and they speak against me.

19 “All my associates abhor me,

And those I love have turned against me.

20 “My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,

And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

21 “Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,

For the hand of God has struck me.

22 “Why do you persecute me as God does,

And are not satisfied with my flesh?

Job Says, “My Redeemer Lives”23 “Oh that my words were written!

Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

24 “That with an iron stylus and lead

They were engraved in the rock forever!

25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

26 “Even after my skin is destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

27 Whom I myself shall behold,

And whom my eyes will see and not another.

My heart faints within me!

28 “If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’

And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’

29 “Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,

For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,

So that you may know there is judgment.”

Zophar Says, “The Triumph of the Wicked Is Short”  20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

2 “Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond,

Even because of my inward agitation.

3 “I listened to the reproof which insults me,

And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

4 “Do you know this from of old,

From the establishment of man on earth,

5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short,

And the joy of the godless momentary?

6 “Though his loftiness reaches the heavens,

And his head touches the clouds,

7 He perishes forever like his refuse;

Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

8 “He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him;

Even like a vision of the night he is chased away.

9 “The eye which saw him sees him no longer,

And his place no longer beholds him.

10 “His sons favor the poor,

And his hands give back his wealth.

11 “His bones are full of his youthful vigor,

But it lies down with him in the dust.

12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth

And he hides it under his tongue,

13 Though he desires it and will not let it go,

But holds it in his mouth,

14 Yet his food in his stomach is changed

To the venom of cobras within him.

15 “He swallows riches,

But will vomit them up;

God will expel them from his belly.

16 “He sucks the poison of cobras;

The viper’s tongue slays him.

17 “He does not look at the streams,

The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

18 “He returns what he has attained

And cannot swallow it;

As to the riches of his trading,

He cannot even enjoy them.

19 “For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor;

He has seized a house which he has not built.

20 “Because he knew no quiet within him,

He does not retain anything he desires.

21 “Nothing remains for him to devour,

Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

22 “In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped;

The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.

23 “When he fills his belly,

God will send His fierce anger on him

And will rain it on him while he is eating.

24 “He may flee from the iron weapon,

But the bronze bow will pierce him.

25 “It is drawn forth and comes out of his back,

Even the glittering point from his gall.

Terrors come upon him,

26 Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures,

And unfanned fire will devour him;

It will consume the survivor in his tent.

27 “The heavens will reveal his iniquity,

And the earth will rise up against him.

28 “The increase of his house will depart;

His possessions will flow away in the day of His anger.

29 “This is the wicked man’s portion from God,

Even the heritage decreed to him by God.”

PSALM 141

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An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.A Psalm of David.
141:1 O LORD, I call upon You; hasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to You!

2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You;

The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.

3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice deeds of wickedness

With men who do iniquity;

And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me;

It is oil upon the head;

Do not let my head refuse it,

For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.

6 Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock,

And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 As when one plows and breaks open the earth,

Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

8 For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord;

In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.

9 Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,

And from the snares of those who do iniquity.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

While I pass by safely.

REVELATION 15

« Revelation 14 | Revelation 15 | Revelation 16 »

A Scene of Heaven  15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
    2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3 And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and marvelous are Your works,

O Lord God, the Almighty;

Righteous and true are Your ways,

King of the nations!

4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are holy;

For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU,

FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

    5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.