JOB 41

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God’s Power Shown in Creatures41:1 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?

Or press down his tongue with a cord?

2 “Can you put a rope in his nose

Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3 “Will he make many supplications to you,

Or will he speak to you soft words?

4 “Will he make a covenant with you?

Will you take him for a servant forever?

5 “Will you play with him as with a bird,

Or will you bind him for your maidens?

6 “Will the traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him among the merchants?

7 “Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

Or his head with fishing spears?

8 “Lay your hand on him;

Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

9 “Behold, your expectation is false;

Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?

10 “No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him;

Who then is he that can stand before Me?

11 “Who has given to Me that I should repay him?

Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.

13 “Who can strip off his outer armor?

Who can come within his double mail?

14 “Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth there is terror.

15 “His strong scales are his pride,

Shut up as with a tight seal.

16 “One is so near to another

That no air can come between them.

17 “They are joined one to another;

They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18 “His sneezes flash forth light,

And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19 “Out of his mouth go burning torches;

Sparks of fire leap forth.

20 “Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth

As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21 “His breath kindles coals,

And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

22 “In his neck lodges strength,

And dismay leaps before him.

23 “The folds of his flesh are joined together,

Firm on him and immovable.

24 “His heart is as hard as a stone,

Even as hard as a lower millstone.

25 “When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;

Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

26 “The sword that reaches him cannot avail,

Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

27 “He regards iron as straw,

Bronze as rotten wood.

28 “The arrow cannot make him flee;

Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

29 “Clubs are regarded as stubble;

He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

30 “His underparts are like sharp potsherds;

He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.

31 “He makes the depths boil like a pot;

He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

32 “Behind him he makes a wake to shine;

One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

33 “Nothing on earth is like him,

One made without fear.

34 “He looks on everything that is high;

He is king over all the sons of pride.”

JOB 42

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Job’s Confession  42:1 Then Job answered the LORD and said,

2 “I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

4 ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;

I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;

But now my eye sees You;

6 Therefore I retract,

And I repent in dust and ashes.”

God Displeased with Job’s Friends    7 It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. 8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job.
God Restores Job’s Fortunes    10 The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold. 11 Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12 The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man and full of days.

PROVERBS 26

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Similitudes, Instructions26:1 Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,

So honor is not fitting for a fool.

2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,

So a curse without cause does not alight.

3 A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,

And a rod for the back of fools.

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

Or you will also be like him.

5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves,

That he not be wise in his own eyes.

6 He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence

Who sends a message by the hand of a fool.

7 Like the legs which are useless to the lame,

So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

8 Like one who binds a stone in a sling,

So is he who gives honor to a fool.

9 Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard,

So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

10 Like an archer who wounds everyone,

So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.

11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit

Is a fool who repeats his folly.

12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?

There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!

A lion is in the open square!”

14 As the door turns on its hinges,

So does the sluggard on his bed.

15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;

He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes

Than seven men who can give a discreet answer.

17 Like one who takes a dog by the ears

Is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him.

18 Like a madman who throws

Firebrands, arrows and death,

19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor,

And says, “Was I not joking?”

20 For lack of wood the fire goes out,

And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

21 Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,

So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

22 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,

And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

23 Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross

Are burning lips and a wicked heart.

24 He who hates disguises it with his lips,

But he lays up deceit in his heart.

25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,

For there are seven abominations in his heart.

26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile,

His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.

27 He who digs a pit will fall into it,

And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,

And a flattering mouth works ruin.

PSALM 98

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A Call to Praise the LORD for His Righteousness.A Psalm.
98:1 O sing to the LORD a new song,

For He has done wonderful things,

His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

2 The LORD has made known His salvation;

He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

3 He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of melody.

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn

Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.

7 Let the sea roar and all it contains,

The world and those who dwell in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy

9 Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with equity.

PSALM 99

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Praise to the LORD for His Fidelity to Israel.99:1 The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble;

He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!

2 The LORD is great in Zion,

And He is exalted above all the peoples.

3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name;

Holy is He.

4 The strength of the King loves justice;

You have established equity;

You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

5 Exalt the LORD our God

And worship at His footstool;

Holy is He.

6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,

And Samuel was among those who called on His name;

They called upon the LORD and He answered them.

7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;

They kept His testimonies

And the statute that He gave them.

8 O LORD our God, You answered them;

You were a forgiving God to them,

And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.

9 Exalt the LORD our God

And worship at His holy hill,

For holy is the LORD our God.