JOB 13

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Job Says His Friends’ Proverbs Are Ashes13:1 “Behold, my eye has seen all this,

My ear has heard and understood it.

2 “What you know I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3 “But I would speak to the Almighty,

And I desire to argue with God.

4 “But you smear with lies;

You are all worthless physicians.

5 “O that you would be completely silent,

And that it would become your wisdom!

6 “Please hear my argument

And listen to the contentions of my lips.

7 “Will you speak what is unjust for God,

And speak what is deceitful for Him?

8 “Will you show partiality for Him?

Will you contend for God?

9 “Will it be well when He examines you?

Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

10 “He will surely reprove you

If you secretly show partiality.

11 “Will not His majesty terrify you,

And the dread of Him fall on you?

12 “Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes,

Your defenses are defenses of clay.

Job Is Sure He Will Be Vindicated13 “Be silent before me so that I may speak;

Then let come on me what may.

14 “Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

And put my life in my hands?

15 “Though He slay me,

I will hope in Him.

Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

16 “This also will be my salvation,

For a godless man may not come before His presence.

17 “Listen carefully to my speech,

And let my declaration fill your ears.

18 “Behold now, I have prepared my case;

I know that I will be vindicated.

19 “Who will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and die.

20 “Only two things do not do to me,

Then I will not hide from Your face:

21 Remove Your hand from me,

And let not the dread of You terrify me.

22 “Then call, and I will answer;

Or let me speak, then reply to me.

23 “How many are my iniquities and sins?

Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.

24 “Why do You hide Your face

And consider me Your enemy?

25 “Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble?

Or will You pursue the dry chaff?

26 “For You write bitter things against me

And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.

27 “You put my feet in the stocks

And watch all my paths;

You set a limit for the soles of my feet,

28 While I am decaying like a rotten thing,

Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

JOB 14

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Job Speaks of the Finality of Death14:1 “Man, who is born of woman,

Is short-lived and full of turmoil.

2 “Like a flower he comes forth and withers.

He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.

3 “You also open Your eyes on him

And bring him into judgment with Yourself.

4 “Who can make the clean out of the unclean?

No one!

5 “Since his days are determined,

The number of his months is with You;

And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.

6 “Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest,

Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.

7 “For there is hope for a tree,

When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

And its shoots will not fail.

8 “Though its roots grow old in the ground

And its stump dies in the dry soil,

9 At the scent of water it will flourish

And put forth sprigs like a plant.

10 “But man dies and lies prostrate.

Man expires, and where is he?

11 “As water evaporates from the sea,

And a river becomes parched and dried up,

12 So man lies down and does not rise.

Until the heavens are no longer,

He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

13 “Oh that You would hide me in Sheol,

That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You,

That You would set a limit for me and remember me!

14 “If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my struggle I will wait

Until my change comes.

15 “You will call, and I will answer You;

You will long for the work of Your hands.

16 “For now You number my steps,

You do not observe my sin.

17 “My transgression is sealed up in a bag,

And You wrap up my iniquity.

18 “But the falling mountain crumbles away,

And the rock moves from its place;

19 Water wears away stones,

Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;

So You destroy man’s hope.

20 “You forever overpower him and he departs;

You change his appearance and send him away.

21 “His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it;

Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.

22 “But his body pains him,

And he mourns only for himself.”

PROVERBS 8

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The Commendation of Wisdom8:1 Does not wisdom call,

And understanding lift up her voice?

2 On top of the heights beside the way,

Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

3 Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,

At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

4 “To you, O men, I call,

And my voice is to the sons of men.

5 “O naive ones, understand prudence;

And, O fools, understand wisdom.

6 “Listen, for I will speak noble things;

And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.

7 “For my mouth will utter truth;

And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 “All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;

There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.

9 “They are all straightforward to him who understands,

And right to those who find knowledge.

10 “Take my instruction and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choicest gold.

11 “For wisdom is better than jewels;

And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

And I find knowledge and discretion.

13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;

Pride and arrogance and the evil way

And the perverted mouth, I hate.

14 “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;

I am understanding, power is mine.

15 “By me kings reign,

And rulers decree justice.

16 “By me princes rule, and nobles,

All who judge rightly.

17 “I love those who love me;

And those who diligently seek me will find me.

18 “Riches and honor are with me,

Enduring wealth and righteousness.

19 “My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,

And my yield better than choicest silver.

20 “I walk in the way of righteousness,

In the midst of the paths of justice,

21 To endow those who love me with wealth,

That I may fill their treasuries.

22 “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,

Before His works of old.

23 “From everlasting I was established,

From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

24 “When there were no depths I was brought forth,

When there were no springs abounding with water.

25 “Before the mountains were settled,

Before the hills I was brought forth;

26 While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,

Nor the first dust of the world.

27 “When He established the heavens, I was there,

When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

28 When He made firm the skies above,

When the springs of the deep became fixed,

29 When He set for the sea its boundary

So that the water would not transgress His command,

When He marked out the foundations of the earth;

30 Then I was beside Him, as a master workman;

And I was daily His delight,

Rejoicing always before Him,

31 Rejoicing in the world, His earth,

And having my delight in the sons of men.

32 “Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,

For blessed are they who keep my ways.

33 “Heed instruction and be wise,

And do not neglect it.

34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at my doorposts.

35 “For he who finds me finds life

And obtains favor from the LORD.

36 “But he who sins against me injures himself;

All those who hate me love death.”

PSALM 92

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Praise for the LORD’S Goodness.A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.
92:1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night,

3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,

With resounding music upon the lyre.

4 For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done,

I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

5 How great are Your works, O LORD!

Your thoughts are very deep.

6 A senseless man has no knowledge,

Nor does a stupid man understand this:

7 That when the wicked sprouted up like grass

And all who did iniquity flourished,

It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore.

8 But You, O LORD, are on high forever.

9 For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD,

For, behold, Your enemies will perish;

All who do iniquity will be scattered.

10 But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;

I have been anointed with fresh oil.

11 And my eye has looked exultantly upon my foes,

My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.

12 The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,

He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13 Planted in the house of the LORD,

They will flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They will still yield fruit in old age;

They shall be full of sap and very green,

15 To declare that the LORD is upright;

He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

PSALM 93

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The Majesty of the LORD.93:1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty;

The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength;

Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

2 Your throne is established from of old;

You are from everlasting.

3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD,

The floods have lifted up their voice,

The floods lift up their pounding waves.

4 More than the sounds of many waters,

Than the mighty breakers of the sea,

The LORD on high is mighty.

5 Your testimonies are fully confirmed;

Holiness befits Your house,

O LORD, forevermore.