JOB 22

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Eliphaz Accuses and Exhorts Job  22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

2 “Can a vigorous man be of use to God,

Or a wise man be useful to himself?

3 “Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous,

Or profit if you make your ways perfect?

4 “Is it because of your reverence that He reproves you,

That He enters into judgment against you?

5 “Is not your wickedness great,

And your iniquities without end?

6 “For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause,

And stripped men naked.

7 “To the weary you have given no water to drink,

And from the hungry you have withheld bread.

8 “But the earth belongs to the mighty man,

And the honorable man dwells in it.

9 “You have sent widows away empty,

And the strength of the orphans has been crushed.

10 “Therefore snares surround you,

And sudden dread terrifies you,

11 Or darkness, so that you cannot see,

And an abundance of water covers you.

12 “Is not God in the height of heaven?

Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!

13 “You say, ‘What does God know?

Can He judge through the thick darkness?

14 ‘Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see;

And He walks on the vault of heaven.’

15 “Will you keep to the ancient path

Which wicked men have trod,

16 Who were snatched away before their time,

Whose foundations were washed away by a river?

17 “They said to God, ‘Depart from us!’

And ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’

18 “Yet He filled their houses with good things;

But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19 “The righteous see and are glad,

And the innocent mock them,

20 Saying, ‘Truly our adversaries are cut off,

And their abundance the fire has consumed.’

21 “Yield now and be at peace with Him;

Thereby good will come to you.

22 “Please receive instruction from His mouth

And establish His words in your heart.

23 “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;

If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent,

24 And place your gold in the dust,

And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,

25 Then the Almighty will be your gold

And choice silver to you.

26 “For then you will delight in the Almighty

And lift up your face to God.

27 “You will pray to Him, and He will hear you;

And you will pay your vows.

28 “You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you;

And light will shine on your ways.

29 “When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence,

And the humble person He will save.

30 “He will deliver one who is not innocent,

And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

PSALM 38

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Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.A Psalm of David, for a memorial.
38:1 O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath,

And chasten me not in Your burning anger.

2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me,

And Your hand has pressed down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation;

There is no health in my bones because of my sin.

4 For my iniquities are gone over my head;

As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

5 My wounds grow foul and fester

Because of my folly.

6 I am bent over and greatly bowed down;

I go mourning all day long.

7 For my loins are filled with burning,

And there is no soundness in my flesh.

8 I am benumbed and badly crushed;

I groan because of the agitation of my heart.

9 Lord, all my desire is before You;

And my sighing is not hidden from You.

10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me;

And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.

11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;

And my kinsmen stand afar off.

12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me;

And those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction,

And they devise treachery all day long.

13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;

And I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,

And in whose mouth are no arguments.

15 For I hope in You, O LORD;

You will answer, O Lord my God.

16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,

Who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me.”

17 For I am ready to fall,

And my sorrow is continually before me.

18 For I confess my iniquity;

I am full of anxiety because of my sin.

19 But my enemies are vigorous and strong,

And many are those who hate me wrongfully.

20 And those who repay evil for good,

They oppose me, because I follow what is good.

21 Do not forsake me, O LORD;

O my God, do not be far from me!

22 Make haste to help me,

O Lord, my salvation!

PSALM 39

« Psalm 38 | Psalm 39 | Psalm 40 »

The Vanity of Life.For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
39:1 I said, “I will guard my ways

That I may not sin with my tongue;

I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle

While the wicked are in my presence.”

2 I was mute and silent,

I refrained even from good,

And my sorrow grew worse.

3 My heart was hot within me,

While I was musing the fire burned;

Then I spoke with my tongue:

4 “LORD, make me to know my end

And what is the extent of my days;

Let me know how transient I am.

5 “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths,

And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;

Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.

6 “Surely every man walks about as a phantom;

Surely they make an uproar for nothing;

He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in You.

8 “Deliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the reproach of the foolish.

9 “I have become mute, I do not open my mouth,

Because it is You who have done it.

10 “Remove Your plague from me;

Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.

11 “With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;

You consume as a moth what is precious to him;

Surely every man is a mere breath. Selah.

12 “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry;

Do not be silent at my tears;

For I am a stranger with You,

A sojourner like all my fathers.

13 “Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again

Before I depart and am no more.”

PROVERBS 2

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The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security2:1 My son, if you will receive my words

And treasure my commandments within you,

2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,

Incline your heart to understanding;

3 For if you cry for discernment,

Lift your voice for understanding;

4 If you seek her as silver

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD

And discover the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 Guarding the paths of justice,

And He preserves the way of His godly ones.

9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice

And equity and every good course.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart

And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11 Discretion will guard you,

Understanding will watch over you,

12 To deliver you from the way of evil,

From the man who speaks perverse things;

13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness

To walk in the ways of darkness;

14 Who delight in doing evil

And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

15 Whose paths are crooked,

And who are devious in their ways;

16 To deliver you from the strange woman,

From the adulteress who flatters with her words;

17 That leaves the companion of her youth

And forgets the covenant of her God;

18 For her house sinks down to death

And her tracks lead to the dead;

19 None who go to her return again,

Nor do they reach the paths of life.

20 So you will walk in the way of good men

And keep to the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will live in the land

And the blameless will remain in it;

22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land

And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.