Job 12 Cross References - ISV

¹ Job Responds to ZopharIn response Job replied: ² “Truly, you are the people and wisdom will die with you! ³ Like you, I also have understanding. I’m not inferior to you; who doesn’t know things like this?”
⁴ Job Has Become a Laughingstock“I’m a laughingstock to my friends, someone who called on God. But then he answered this upright and blameless man, and I have become a laughingstock. ⁵ The carefree are thinking, ‘I have contempt for misfortune,’
Those who are about to stumble deserve it. ⁶ The tents of robbers are at rest, and those who provoke God are secure, that is, those who carry their god in their pocket.
⁷ Wisdom Can Be Found in God’s Creation“Ask the wild animals, and they’ll teach you; the birds of the sky will tell you. ⁸ Or ask the green plants of the earth and they’ll teach you; let the fish in the sea tell you. ⁹ Who among all of these doesn’t know that the LORD’s hand made them, ¹⁰ and that the life of every living thing rests in his control, along with the breath of every living human being? ¹¹ The ear scrutinizes speech just as the palate tastes food.”
¹² God is the All-Wise and All-Powerful Creator“Wisdom may be found in the company of the aged. Understanding comes with longevity. ¹³ With God is wisdom and strength; counsel and understanding belongs to him. ¹⁴ When he tears down, nobody rebuilds; when he incarcerates, nobody escapes. ¹⁵ When he withholds water, rivers dry up; when he lets them loose, they’ll flood the land. ¹⁶ “With God are strength and sound wisdom; both the deceived and those who deceive are responsible to him. ¹⁷ He leads counselors away naked; he turns judges into fools. ¹⁸ He strips away the authority of kings to punish and puts them in prison clothes instead. ¹⁹ He leads away the priests naked and overthrows the ruling class. ²⁰ He keeps reliable advisors from speaking, and removes discernment from elders. ²¹ He pours contempt on nobles and embarrasses the mighty. ²² He uncovers the hidden dimensions from darkness, bringing what is in deep shadow to light. ²³ He makes nations great, and then destroys them; he enlarges nations, but then sends them away to captivity. ²⁴ He withdraws understanding from national leaders of the world, causing them to wander through uncharted wilderness. ²⁵ They grope in the dark without light; he causes them to stagger around like a drunkard.”

²⁴ Job Requests Mercy from His Friends“Instruct me, and I’ll remain silent. Help me understand where I’ve gone astray. ²⁵ The truth can be painful, but what has your argument proven?

⁸ “Inquire of the previous generation, won’t you please? Consider what their forefathers searched out. ⁹ Because we are of yesterday and we know nothing, for our time on earth is only a shadow. ¹⁰ Won’t they instruct you, and tell you, and bring out words from the heart?

² “Shouldn’t a multitude of words be answered, or a person who talks too much be vindicated?

⁶ and disclose his wise secrets? After all, there’s so much more to understanding. So be aware that God will exact from you less than your sin deserves.”

¹² An empty-headed person will gain understanding when a wild donkey is born a human being!”

² “Should a wise person respond with knowledge based on wind? Should he fill his stomach with a wind storm from the east?

⁴ “Because you’re the one who closed their hearts to compassion; therefore, you won’t let them triumph.

¹⁰ Job Prepares for Death“Come here now, all of you, and I won’t find a wise person among you.

³ Whenever I hear an insulting rebuke, I respond from my spirit because I understand.”

⁷ I thought, experience should speak; abundance of years teaches wisdom. ⁸ However, a spirit exists in mankind, and the Almighty’s breath gives him insight.
⁹ There’s No Fool Like an Old Fool“The aged aren’t always wise, nor do the elderly always understand justice. ¹⁰ Therefore I’m saying, ‘Listen to me!’ Then I’ll declare what I know. ¹¹ “Look! I have waited to hear your speech, so I listened to your insights while you searched for the right words to say. ¹² Indeed, I paid close attention to you all, but none of you were able to refute Job or answer his arguments convincingly. ¹³ “So that you cannot claim, ‘We have found wisdom!’ let God do the rebuking, not man;

¹¹ The rich man may be wise in his own opinion; but a discerning, poor man sees through him.

²¹ Judgment on the Arrogant“How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion, and clever in their own reckoning!

¹⁰ We are fools for the Messiah’s sake, but you are wise in the Messiah. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored.

⁵ I say this to make you feel ashamed. Has it come to this, that there is not one person among you who is wise enough to settle disagreements between brothers? ⁶ Tasteless food isn’t eaten without salt, is it? Is there any taste in an egg white? ⁷ I cannot bring myself to touch them; food like this makes me sick.”

² What you know, I know, too; I’m not inferior to you. ³ But I want to talk to the Almighty; and I’m determined to argue my case before God.”
⁴ Job Accuses His Friends“But as for you, you whitewash with lies; all of you are worthless quacks. ⁵ I wish you’d all just shut up. Then at least you would appear to be wise.

² “What a help you are to the weak! How powerfully you deliver those without strength! ³ What counsel you provide to the fool! What insight you provide so abundantly! ⁴ Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness, or you will be just like him.

⁵ I do not think I’m inferior in any way to those “super-apostles.”

²¹ I am ashamed to admit it, but we have been too weak for that. Whatever anyone else dares to claim—I am talking like a fool—I can claim it, too. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelis? So am I. Are they among Abraham’s descendants? So am I. ²³ Are they the Messiah’s servants? I am insane to talk like this, but I am a far better one! I have been involved in far greater efforts, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and have faced death more than once.

²⁹ Repent! Let there be no injustice; Change your ways! My vindication is at stake.

³ Will your irrational babble silence people, and when you mock them, will you escape without being shamed?

¹⁰ People gaped at me with mouths wide open; they slap me in their scorn and gather together against me.

²⁰ My friends mock me, while my eyes overflow with tears to God,

² Mockers surround me; I cannot stop staring at their hostility all through the night.

⁶ “He has made me a byword among people; I’m being spit on in the face.

³ Bear with me and let me speak! Then, after I’ve spoken, you’ll be free to mock me.

¹ Job Describes His Current Status in Life“But now they mock me; men who are far younger than I, whose fathers I would have hated to entrust with my own sheep dogs.

⁷ Everyone who sees me mocks me; they gape at me with open mouths and shake their heads at me. ⁸ They say, “Commit yourself to the LORD; perhaps the LORD will deliver him, perhaps he will cause him to escape, since he delights in him.”

¹⁶ Malicious mockers— they gnashed their teeth against me.

¹⁵ When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in his distress. I will deliver him, and I will honor him.

² Someone whose conduct is upright fears the LORD, but whoever is devious in his ways despises him.

³ ‘Call to me and I’ll answer you, and will tell you about great and hidden things that you don’t know.’

⁷ Micah Looks to GodBut as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God who will deliver me. My God will hear me.

²⁹ Twisting some thorns into a victor’s crown, they placed it on his head and put a stick in his right hand. They knelt down in front of him and began making fun of him, saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!”

⁴⁰ They laughed and laughed at him. But when he had driven all of them outside, he took the child’s father and mother, along with the men who were with him, and went into the room where the child was.

¹⁴ The Law and the Kingdom of God
Now the Pharisees, who love money, had been listening to all this and began to ridicule Jesus.

³² When they heard about a resurrection of the dead, some began joking about it, while others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

³⁶ Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment.

³⁵ To me belong vengeance and recompense. In due time their feet will slip, because their time of calamity is near and the things prepared for them draw near.

⁵ “Will the wild donkey bray from hunger if fresh grass is beside him? Will the ox low from distress if it is near its feed?

⁴ “I could also talk like you if only you were in my place! Then I would put together an argument against you. I would shake my head at you

⁵ The Wicked are Trapped“Indeed, the light of the wicked is extinguished; the flame from his fire doesn’t shine.

⁵ Because my steps have held fast to your paths, my footsteps have not faltered.

¹⁸ When I say that my foot is shaking, your gracious love, LORD, will sustain me.

³ Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy, for we have had more than enough of contempt. ⁴ Our lives overflow with scorn from those who live at ease, with contempt from those who are proud.

⁹ The light of the righteous shines, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.

²⁰ Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the deepest darkness.

¹⁶ Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. You hope for light, but he turns it into deep darkness. He changes it into heavy gloom.

¹ Mourning for the House of Israel “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, to those who rest on the mountain of Samaria— the famous men of the nations to whom the house of Israel came! ² Cross over to Calneh and look around, then go on to that great city of Hamath, and from there go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory more extensive than yours? ³ “Disbelieving that a day of evil will come, embracing opportunities to commit violence, ⁴ lying on ivory beds, stretching out on your couches, eating lambs from the flock, and fattened calves from the stall, ⁵ chanting to the sound of stringed instruments as if they were David, composing songs to themselves as if they were musicians, ⁶ drinking wine from bowls, anointing themselves with the choicest of oils, but not grieving on the occasion of Joseph’s ruin—

⁸ “But the foolish ones told the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out!’

¹⁹ Then I’ll say to myself, “You’ve stored up plenty of good things for many years. Take it easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’

¹⁹ The Rich Man and Lazarus“Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day. ²⁰ A beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, was brought to his gate.

²⁴ A land is given into the hands of a wicked person; he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not God, then who is it?”

⁷ The Wicked Prospers“Why do the wicked live to reach old age and increase in power and wealth, too? ⁸ Their children grow up while they’re alive, and they live to see their grandchildren. ⁹ Their houses are safe from fear, and God’s chastisement never visits them. ¹⁰ Their bull breeds without fail, and their cows calve without miscarriages. ¹¹ They release their children to play like sheep; their young ones dance about, ¹² singing with tambourines and lyres as they rejoice to the sound of flutes. ¹³ They grow old in prosperity, as they descend peacefully into the afterlife. ¹⁴ “They say to God, ‘Turn away from us! We have no desire to know your ways. ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Where’s the profit in talking to him?’

¹⁸ “Though God fills their houses with good things, the counsel of the wicked will remain far from me.

¹⁴ from men, LORD, by your hand— from men who belong to this world, whose reward is only in this life. But as for your treasured ones, may their stomachs be full, may their children have an abundance, and may they leave wealth to their offspring.

¹ Davidic
Patiently Trust in God Don’t be angry because of those who do evil, do not be jealous because of those who commit iniquity.

³⁵ I once observed a wicked and oppressive person, flourishing like a green tree in native soil.

¹¹ Then they say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?” ¹² Just look at these wicked people! They’re perpetually carefree as they increase their wealth.

²⁷ Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent and rich,

²⁹ Haven’t you asked travelers on the highway? Don’t you accept their word ³⁰ that the wicked person is spared from times of calamity, that he is rescued on the day of wrath?

⁶ The Folly of LazinessGo to the ant, you lazy man! Observe its ways and become wise.

³ The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel doesn’t know, and my people don’t understand.

⁷ Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons, and the dove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time for migration. But my people don’t know the requirements of the LORD.

¹⁷ You may say to yourselves, ‘I have become wealthy by my own strength and by my own ability.’ ¹⁸ But remember the LORD your God, because he is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth, in order to confirm his covenant that he promised by an oath to your ancestors, as is the case today.

⁷ The LORD makes people poor and he makes people rich, he brings them low, and he also exalts them.

³ Like you, I also have understanding. I’m not inferior to you; who doesn’t know things like this?”

²⁰ all so that people may see and recognize, perceive, consider, and comprehend at the same time, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

⁵ “By my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth, mankind, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, and I give it to whomever I see fit. ⁶ Now I’ve given all these lands to my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I’ve even given him the wild animals to serve him.

¹⁸ Your majesty, the Most High God gave your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty, as well as greatness, glory, and splendor.

¹⁷ ‘So now, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his requests, and look with favor on your desolate sanctuary, for the sake of the Lord.

³⁵ When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who in the world doesn’t know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven?

³⁶ For all things are from him, by him, and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not? ⁶ But you have humiliated the man who is poor. Are not rich people the ones who oppress you and drag you into court? ⁷ Are not they the ones who blaspheme the noble Name by which you have been called?

⁷ So the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed life into his lungs, and the man became a living being.

¹⁷ “For my part, I’m about to flood the earth with water and destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.

²² Then they fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will you be angry at the entire congregation on account of one man’s sin?”

³ As long as I can breathe; as long as God’s breath is in my nostrils,

⁴ “The spirit of God fashioned me; and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

¹⁴ If he were to decide to do so, that is, to take back to himself his spirit and breath of life, ¹⁵ every living thing would die all at once, and mankind would return to dust.”

²⁹ When you withdraw your favor, they are disappointed; Take away their breath, and they die and return to dust.

³ Do not look to nobles, nor to mere human beings who cannot save. ⁴ When they stop breathing, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans evaporate!

²³ “You’ve exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven.
“You’ve had the vessels from his Temple brought into your presence.
“And you, your officials, and your wives and mistresses drank wine from them.
“You praised gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which can’t see, hear, or demonstrate knowledge.
“But you didn’t honor God, who holds in his power your very life and all your ways.

⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

²⁵ and he isn’t served by people as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.

²⁸ For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: ‘…Since we are his children, too.’

³⁰ Have I said anything that’s unjust? I can discern evil, can’t I?”

³ Since the ear tests words like a palate tastes food,

¹⁵ I am talking to sensible people. Apply what I am saying to yourselves.

¹⁰ so that you may be able to choose what is best and be pure and blameless until the day when the Messiah returns,

¹⁴ But solid food is for mature people, whose minds are trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

³ Surely you have tasted that the Lord is good!

⁸ “Inquire of the previous generation, won’t you please? Consider what their forefathers searched out.

¹⁰ “We have both the gray-haired and the aged with us, and they are far older than your father.

⁷ I thought, experience should speak; abundance of years teaches wisdom.

⁴ He is wise in heart and strong in will— who can be stubborn against him and succeed?

¹⁶ “With God are strength and sound wisdom; both the deceived and those who deceive are responsible to him.

²⁰ Wisdom is from God“From where, then, does wisdom originate? Where does understanding live? ²¹ It has been concealed from the sight of every living creature and hidden even from the birds in the skies. ²² Abaddon and death said, ‘We did hear a rumor about it.’ ²³ God understands how to get there; he knows where they live. ²⁴ For he looks as far as the ends of the earth and sees everything under the sky. ²⁵ “He imparted weight to the wind; he regulated water by his measurement. ²⁶ He set in place ordinances for the rain; and determined the pathway for thunder that accompanies lightning. ²⁷ Then he looked at wisdom, and fixed it in place; he established it, and also examined it. ²⁸ He has commanded mankind: ‘To fear the Lord—that is wisdom; to move away from evil—that is understanding.’”

⁶ Barachel’s son Elihu from Buz responded and said: I’m younger than you are. Because you’re older, I was terrified to tell you what I know. ⁷ I thought, experience should speak; abundance of years teaches wisdom. ⁸ However, a spirit exists in mankind, and the Almighty’s breath gives him insight.
⁹ There’s No Fool Like an Old Fool“The aged aren’t always wise, nor do the elderly always understand justice.

⁵ God Disciplines“Indeed God is mighty and he doesn’t show disrespect; he is mighty and strong of heart.

³⁶ “Who sets wisdom within you, or imbues your mind with understanding?

⁵ Our Lord is great, and rich in power; his understanding has no limitation.

⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. ⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright and is a shield to those who walk in integrity—

¹⁴ Counsel belongs to me, along with sound judgment. I am understanding. Power belongs to me.

¹³ Who has fathomed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has taught him? ¹⁴ With whom did he consult to enlighten and instruct him on the path of justice? Or who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of wisdom?

¹⁰ I declare from the beginning things to follow, and from ancient times things that have not yet been done; saying, ‘My purpose will stand, and he will accomplish everything that I please.’

¹² A Hymn of Praise to GodThe LORD is the one who made the world by his power, who established the earth by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

²⁰ and said, “May the name of God be blessed forever and ever; wisdom and power are his for evermore.

¹⁵ because I will give you the ability to speak, along with wisdom, that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

³⁴ Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his adviser?

²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, the Messiah is God’s power and God’s wisdom.

⁸ that he lavished on us, along with all wisdom and understanding,

¹¹ In the Messiah we were also chosen when we were predestined according to the purpose of the one who does everything that he wills to do,

³ In him are stored all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him.

⁴⁶ This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I’ll strike you down and remove your head from you. And this very day I’ll give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel,

¹⁸ You have explained how you treated me well, in that the LORD delivered me into your hand but you didn’t kill me.

⁸ Abishai told David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Let me run the spear through him into the ground with a single blow. I won’t need to strike him twice!”

¹² Indeed, if he snatches someone away, who could restrain him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹³ “God doesn’t restrain his anger. Rahab’s assistants are humiliated under him.

¹⁰ “If he bypasses, or imprisons, or convenes a court, who can stop him?

¹¹ God has delivered me over to the ungodly, throwing me into the control of the wicked.

¹⁰ He is breaking me down on every side, and now it’s too late for me; he has uprooted my hopes like a tree.

⁷ “He puts a limit to the skill of every person; to delineate all people from what they do.

²³ “And I’m going to make it a possession of the hedgehog—pools of water—and I’ll sweep with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

²² “I’ll place on his shoulder the key to the house of David—what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open.

² For you have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified city into a ruin; the foreigners’ citadel is no longer a city— it will never be rebuilt!

⁵⁸ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “The broad wall of Babylon will be completely leveled, and its high gate set on fire. and so the peoples toil for nothing, and the nations weary themselves only for fire.”

⁶⁴ Then say, ‘Babylon will sink like this and won’t rise from the disaster that I’m bringing on her. Her people will be exhausted.’” This concludes the writings of Jeremiah.

⁴ Even though Edom may claim, ‘We were crushed, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,’ this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “They may rebuild, but I’ll demolish. People will call them, ‘The Wicked Land,’ and, ‘The People With Whom the LORD is Forever Angry.’

³² For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

⁷ The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia“To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write: ‘The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens a door that no one can shut, and who shuts a door that no one can open, ‘says this:

¹³ So God announced to Noah, “I’ve decided to destroy every living thing on earth, because it has become filled with violence due to them. Look! I’m about to annihilate them, along with the earth.

¹¹ On the seventeenth day of the second month, when Noah was 600 years old, all the springs of the great deep burst open, the floodgates of the heavens were opened,

¹⁷ The wrath of God will burn against you so that he will restrain the heavens and it won’t rain. The ground won’t yield its produce and you’ll be swiftly destroyed from the good land that the LORD is about to give you.

³⁵ “When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, ³⁶ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.

¹ Elijah Calls for a DroughtElijah the foreigner, who was an alien resident from Gilead, told Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, in whose presence I’m standing, there will be neither dew nor rain these next several years, except when I say so.”

¹⁰ and that the life of every living thing rests in his control, along with the breath of every living human being?

⁷ They flee at your rebuke; they rush away at the sound of your thunders. ⁸ Mountains rise up and valleys sink to the place you have ordained for them. ⁹ You have set a boundary they cannot cross; they will never again cover the earth.

²² Can any of the worthless gods of the nations make it rain? Can the heavens themselves bring forth showers? Aren’t you the one who does this, LORD our God? So we hope in you, for you are the one who does all these things.

⁸ Seek the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the deep darkness into morning, who darkens day into night, who calls out to the waters of the sea, pouring them out onto the surface of the earth— the LORD is his name.

⁴ He rebukes the sea, and it evaporates; he dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, while the flowers of Lebanon languish.

²⁵ I’m telling you the truth—there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain for three years and six months and there was a severe famine everywhere in the land.

¹⁷ Elijah was a person just like us, and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and rain never came to the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the skies poured out rain, and the ground produced its crops.

⁶ These witnesses have authority to close the heavens in order to keep rain from falling while they are prophesying. They also have authority to turn bodies of water into blood and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they desire.

²² “And the LORD asked him, ‘How?’
“‘I will go,’ he announced, ‘and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!’
“So the LORD said, ‘You’re just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.’
²³ “Now therefore, listen! The LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, because the LORD has determined to bring disaster upon you.”

¹³ With God is wisdom and strength; counsel and understanding belongs to him.

⁷ Why do you speak falsely on God’s behalf and speak deceitfully about him?

⁹ Will things go well for you under his cross-examination? Can you lie to him, as you would to a human being?

⁹ On False Prophets“Now as to the prophet, if through deceit he delivers a message, I the LORD have deceived that prophet! I’ll reach out in opposition to him and exterminate him from among my people Israel.

¹³ And never bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

³¹ Just then, someone told David, “Ahithophel is one of Absalom’s conspirators!”
So David prayed, “LORD, please turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

¹⁴ Absalom and all of the Israelis replied, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s!”
Hushai Warns DavidBut the LORD had planned to circumvent the sound advice of Ahithophel so the LORD could bring Absalom to destruction.

²³ Ahithophel’s SuicideMeanwhile, when Ahithophel observed that his counsel was not being acted upon, he saddled his donkey, got up, and left for his hometown. Leaving behind a set of orders for his household, he hanged himself. After his death he was buried in his father’s tomb.

¹⁴ along with kings and counselors of the earth, who used to build for themselves what are now only ruins,

¹² Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you, let them make known what the LORD has planned against Egypt. ¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis deluded; the leaders of its tribes have led Egypt astray. ¹⁴ The LORD has mixed within them a spirit of confusion; so they make Egypt stagger in all that it does, like a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

¹⁴ Therefore, watch out! “As for me, I will once again do amazing things with this people, wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the insights of their discerning men will stay hidden.”

¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject.”
²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn’t he?

¹¹ so the LORD brought in the army commanders who worked for the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him in bronze chains, and took him off to Babylon. ¹² But when he was in trouble, he sought the face of the LORD his God, humbled himself magnificently before the God of his ancestors, ¹³ and prayed to him. Moved by Manasseh’s entreaties, the LORD heard his supplications and brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. That’s how Manasseh learned that the LORD is God.
¹⁴ Later on, Manasseh reinforced the outer wall to the City of David on the west side overlooking the Gihon Valley as far as the Fish Gate. He encircled the Ophel, raising it to a great height.

¹⁶ LORD, I am indeed your servant. I am your servant. I am the son of your handmaid. You have released my bonds.

³¹ Jehoiachin Released from PrisonIn the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah. ³² He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the other kings who were in Babylon with him. ³³ Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and regularly dined with the king as long as he lived. ³⁴ As for his living expenses, a regular allowance was given him daily by the king of Babylon as long as he lived, until the day of his death.

²¹ It is God who alters the times and seasons, and he removes kings and promotes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

¹⁶ On his robe that covers his thigh he has a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

²⁴ When they had brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel and spoke to the leaders of the men who had gone out to war along with him, “Come close and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came near and put their feet on their necks.

⁴² Joshua conquered all of these kings and their territories in one campaign, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.

⁴⁵ Then David told the Philistine, “You come at me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I’ll strike you down and remove your head from you. And this very day I’ll give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel,

²² God prolongs the life of the strong by his power, but they get up in the morning without purpose in life.

²⁸ As a result, the cries of the poor have reached him and he has heard the cry of the afflicted.

⁹ “They cry out because they have many oppressors; they cry for help because the powerful are abusing them.

³⁶ Sennacherib is DefeatedAfter this, the angel of the LORD went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When Hezekiah’s army awakened in the morning—there were all the dead bodies!
³⁷ King Sennacherib broke camp, retreated, returned home to Nineveh, and remained there. ³⁸ Later, while he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with swords and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then Sennacherib’s son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

¹ Cyrus: God’s Deliverer This is what the LORD says to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, as I strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him and gates that cannot keep closed:

¹⁴ They will wage war against the lamb, but the lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him.”

¹⁹ The Vision of the Judgment of the Beast and False ProphetThen I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ The beast was captured, along with the false prophet who had performed signs on its behalf. By these signs the false prophet had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹ The rest were killed by the sword that belonged to the rider on the horse and that came from his mouth, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.

²⁴ He withdraws understanding from national leaders of the world, causing them to wander through uncharted wilderness.

⁹ There’s No Fool Like an Old Fool“The aged aren’t always wise, nor do the elderly always understand justice.

¹⁷ because God didn’t grant her wisdom and never gave her understanding.

²¹ What the righteous person says nourishes many, but fools die because they lack discerning hearts.

¹⁹ A truthful saying is trusted forever, but the liar only for a moment.

²² Deceitful speech is reprehensible to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

¹ Judgment Comes to Judah’s Leaders “Note this! The Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah everything that your society needs— all food supplies and all water supplies, ² the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the fortune-teller and the elder, ³ the commander of fifty and the man of rank, and the counselor, the expert magician, and the medium.

² And if you refuse to let them go, then I’m going to strike all your territory with frogs.

²⁴ So they put it away until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not smell bad, and there were no maggots in it.

²³ The LORD also has this to say about Jezebel: ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel within the outer ramparts of Jezreel. ²⁴ Dogs will eat whoever belongs to Ahab and who dies in the city. The birds of the sky will eat whoever dies in the fields.’”

²⁶ ‘This is what the LORD says, “I have certainly observed the blood of Naboth and his sons, and I will repay you on this property,” declares the LORD.’“Therefore take the body and throw it in the field, just as the LORD said.”

³⁴ Later on, after he had come in to eat and drink, he ordered, “Go and see to this cursed woman, and bury her, because she was a king’s daughter.” ³⁵ But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing left of her except her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands. ³⁶ So they returned and reported to Jehu, and he responded, “This fulfills this message from the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the foreigner, who said: ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s flesh on the property of Jezreel, ³⁷ and her corpse will lie like dung on the surface of the field on the property in Jezreel, but no one will say, “This is Jezebel.”’”

⁴⁰ Having poured contempt on their nobles, causing them to err aimlessly in the way.

²⁷ No one is weary, no one stumbles, and no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt around their waists will come undone, nor will their sandal straps be broken.

⁵ Righteousness will be the sash around his loins, and faithfulness the belt around his waist.”

²¹ and I’ll clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I’ll transfer your authority to him, and he’ll be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

⁹ The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has planned it— to neutralize all the hubris of grandeur, to discredit all the renowned men of earth.

²¹ “And it will come about at that time, the LORD will punish the armies of the exalted ones in the heavens, and the rulers of the earth on earth. ²² They will be herded together into the Pit; they will be shut up in prison, and after many days they will be punished.

³⁸ Later, while he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with swords and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then Sennacherib’s son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

²¹ It is God who alters the times and seasons, and he removes kings and promotes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. ²² He reveals what is profoundly mysterious and knows what is in the darkness; with him dwells light.

³² You’re to be driven away from people. You’re to live with the wild animals of the field. You are to be made to eat grass like cattle, and seven years will pass you by until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.’”
³³ The decree was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar immediately. He was driven away from people to eat grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

¹² Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they left for their own country by a different road.
¹³ The Escape to EgyptAfter they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,” he said. “Stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and kill him.”

²³ Immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.

¹⁰ Putting on the Whole Armor of GodFinally, be strong in the Lord, relying on his mighty strength.

¹⁴ Stand firm, therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

¹² “No, your majesty,” one of his servants said. “Elisha the prophet, who lives in Israel, tells the king of Israel what you talk about in your bedroom!”

⁵ Let darkness and deep gloom reclaim it; let clouds settle down on it; let blackness in mid-day terrify it.

¹⁷ As a group, deep darkness is their morning time; fear that lives in darkness is their friend.”

²⁰ Wisdom is from God“From where, then, does wisdom originate? Where does understanding live? ²¹ It has been concealed from the sight of every living creature and hidden even from the birds in the skies. ²² Abaddon and death said, ‘We did hear a rumor about it.’ ²³ God understands how to get there; he knows where they live.

²² There’s no such thing as darkness to him— not even deep darkness— that can conceal those who practice evil.

²¹ wouldn’t God find out since he knows the secrets of the heart?

¹² even darkness isn’t dark to you, darkness and light are the same to you.

²² He reveals what is profoundly mysterious and knows what is in the darkness; with him dwells light.

²⁶ Fear God
“So never be afraid of them, because there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be made known.

⁷⁹ to shine on those who sit in darkness and in death’s shadow, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

¹⁰ But God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.

⁵ Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

⁷ But the Israelis were fruitful and increased abundantly. They multiplied in numbers and became very, very strong. As a result, the land was filled with them.

²⁰ God was pleased with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong.

³⁸ Then he blessed them, and they became numerous; he multiplied their cattle.

³ You have increased the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice in your presence as they rejoice at the harvest, as they are glad when they’re dividing the spoils of war.

¹⁵ “But you have enlarged the nation, LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained honor; you have extended all the borders of the land.

⁶ In times to come, Jacob will take root, and Israel will blossom, sprout shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.

² Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. For when he was only one person I called him, but I made him fruitful and made him many.

²² The least of them will become a thousand, and the smallest one a mighty nation. “I am the LORD; When the time is right, I will do this swiftly.”

¹⁹ Thanksgiving and the sounds of laughter will come out of them. I’ll cause them to increase in numbers and not decrease. I’ll honor them and not make them insignificant.

²² As the heavenly bodies cannot be counted, and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I’ll multiply the descendants of my servant David and the descendants of Levi who serve me.’”

⁸ I will whistle for them, gathering them together, because I have redeemed them, and they will multiply as they were before.

²⁰ He keeps reliable advisors from speaking, and removes discernment from elders.

⁴ They wandered in desolate wilderness; they found no road to a city where they could live.

⁹ “Go!” he responded. “Tell this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ ¹⁰ Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. By doing so, they won’t see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.”

¹ A Rebuke to EgyptA message about Egypt: “Watch out! The LORD rides on a swift cloud, and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.

¹⁶ Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of an animal until seven seasons of time pass by for him.

³³ The decree was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar immediately. He was driven away from people to eat grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

¹¹ “Ephraim is also like a silly dove, lacking sense: They call out to Egypt, and turn toward Assyria.

¹¹ and blinded the men who were at the entrance of the house, from the least important to the greatest, so they were unable to find the doorway.

²⁹ As a result, you’ll wander aimlessly in broad daylight just as a blind person wanders in darkness. You won’t prosper in life. Instead you’ll be oppressed and plundered all day long, with no deliverer.

¹⁴ They meet with darkness in broad daylight; at noonday they grope around as if it were night.

²⁷ They reeled and staggered like a drunkard, as all their wisdom became useless.

¹⁴ The LORD has mixed within them a spirit of confusion; so they make Egypt stagger in all that it does, like a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

²⁰ The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies so heavy upon it, that it falls, never to rise again.

¹⁰ Let’s grope along the wall like the blind; let us grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as if it were twilight, in desolate places like dead people.

¹¹ The Lord is against you now, and you’ll be blind and unable to see the sun for a while!” At that moment a dark mist came over him, and he went around looking for someone to lead him by the hand.

¹¹ But the person who hates his brother is in the darkness and lives in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.