Job 5 Cross References - ISV

¹ Eliphaz: God Blesses those who Seek Him“Cry out, won’t you! Is there anyone who will answer you? To whom will you turn among the holy ones? ² For wrath will slay a fool; zealous anger will kill the naive. ³ “I myself saw a fool becoming established, but I suddenly cursed where he lived. ⁴ His children are far from deliverance; they’ll be maltreated before they leave home, with no one to rescue them. ⁵ Then the hungry will devour his harvest, snatching it even from the midst of thorns, while the thirsty covet their wealth. ⁶ For wickedness doesn’t crop up from dust, nor does trouble sprout out of the ground; ⁷ But mankind is born headed for trouble, just as sparks soar skyward.”
⁸ God Can be Trusted in Adversity“Now as for me, I would seek God if I were you; I would commit my case to God. ⁹ He is always doing great things that cannot be explained, countless awesome deeds. ¹⁰ He sends rain on the surface of the earth, and waters the surface of the open country. ¹¹ He sets the lowly on high, and lifts those who mourn to safety. ¹² He frustrates the plans of the crafty; so that what they work for never succeeds. ¹³ He captures the wise in their own craftiness, bringing a quick end to their cunning advice. ¹⁴ They meet with darkness in broad daylight; at noonday they grope around as if it were night. ¹⁵ So he delivers from the sword of their mouth— the poor from the power of the mighty. ¹⁶ Therefore there is hope for those who are poor, and iniquity shuts its mouth. ¹⁷ “Indeed, how blessed is the person whom God reproves! So never disrespect the discipline of the Almighty, ¹⁸ because though he wounds, but then applies bandages; though he strikes, his hands still heal. ¹⁹ “He will deliver you through six calamities; and calamity won’t touch you throughout the seventh. ²⁰ He will deliver you from death by famine; in war from the power of the sword. ²¹ You’ll be protected from the accusing tongue; you need not fear destruction when it heads your way. ²² You’ll laugh at destruction and famine; and you need not fear the beasts of the earth. ²³ For you’ll have a pact with the stones in the field; and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you. ²⁴ You’ll know that your home is secure; when you search your possessions, and nothing will be missing. ²⁵ You’ll know that you’ll have many children; and that your offspring will be like the grass of the earth. ²⁶ You’ll go to your grave at a ripe old age; like a stack of grain that’s harvested at just the right time. ²⁷ “Look! We have thought all this through, and what we’ve said is true; So please listen and learn for your own good!”

² He said: “The LORD came from Sinai. Rising from Seir upon us, he shone forth from Mount Paran, accompanied by a myriad of his holy ones, with flaming fire from his right hand for them. ³ Indeed, lover of people, all of his holy ones are in your control. They gather at your feet to do as you have instructed.

¹⁸ “Indeed, since he doesn’t trust his servants, since he charges his angels with error,

⁸ Have you listened in on God’s secret council? Have you limited wisdom only to yourself? ⁹ What do you know that we don’t know, or that you understand and that isn’t clear to us? ¹⁰ “We have both the gray-haired and the aged with us, and they are far older than your father.

¹⁵ Look, if God doesn’t trust his holy ones, if even the heavens aren’t pure as he looks at them,

³ As for the saints that are in the land, they are noble, and all my delight is in them.

¹⁶ They were envious of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.

¹ The LORD Comes as Judge “Be silent before me, you coastlands, and let the people renew their strength! Let them come forward, then let them speak together— let’s draw near for a ruling.

²¹ Can God’s Enemies Predict the Future?“Put forward your case!” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments!” says Jacob’s King. ²² Let them approach and ask us, ‘What will happen? As to the former things, what were they? Tell us, so that we may consider them and know. Or the latter things or the things to come— let us hear. ²³ Tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods! Yes, do something good or something bad, so we may hear and gaze at it together.’”

¹ Greetings from PaulFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by God’s will.
To: His holy and faithful people in Ephesus who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

¹ We Must Look Off to JesusTherefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us,

¹ Rachel’s Children by BilhahRachel noticed that she was not bearing children for Jacob, so because she envied her sister Leah, she told Jacob, “If you don’t give me sons, I’m going to die!”

⁸ Saul was very angry and he did not like what the women sang. He told himself, “They have attributed tens of thousands to David, but to me they have attributed thousands. What else can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ From then on Saul kept his eye on David.

⁴ You’re tearing yourself to pieces in your anger. Will the land be abandoned because of you, or the rock be moved from its place?”

¹ To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
The Fool and God’s Response Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and commit evil deeds; not one of them practices what is good.

⁴ I will say to the proud, “Don’t brag,” and to the wicked, “Don’t vaunt your strength.

⁶ A stupid man doesn’t know, and a fool can’t comprehend this:

¹⁷ Because of their rebellious ways, fools suffered for their iniquities.

²² “You naïve ones, how long will you love naiveté? And how long will scoffers delight in scoffing or fools hate knowledge?” ²³ Return to my correction! Look, I will pour out my spirit on you, and I will make my words known to you.

⁵ Understand prudence, you naïve people; and gain an understanding heart, you foolish ones.

¹⁶ The anger of a fool becomes readily apparent, but the prudent person overlooks an insult.

⁹ Never be in a hurry to become internally angry, since anger settles down in the lap of fools.

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

⁹ Then God asked Jonah, “Is your anger about the vine plant justified?”
And he answered, “Absolutely! I’m so angry I could die!”

⁸ but wrath and fury for those who in their selfish pride refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead.

⁶ For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires.

¹⁵ “‘Cursed is the one who makes a sculptured or cast image—a detestable thing to the LORD, the work of a craftsman—and sets it up secretly.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁶ “Cursed is the one who treats his father and mother with dishonor.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁷ “‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁸ “‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁹ “‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice due the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁰ “Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his father’s wife, because he has disgraced his father.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²¹ “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with any animal.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²² “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²³ “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁴ “‘Cursed is one who strikes his neighbor secretly.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁵ “‘Cursed is one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁶ “‘Cursed is the one who doesn’t uphold the words of this Law and observe them.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’”

¹⁸ Social Injustice will Be Punished“They remain only a short time on the water’s surface; their inheritance will be cursed in the land; no one will work in their vineyards.

⁸ For where is the hope of the godless when he is eliminated; when God takes away his life?

³⁵ I once observed a wicked and oppressive person, flourishing like a green tree in native soil. ³⁶ But then he passed away; in fact, he simply was not there. When I looked for him, he could not be found.

²⁵ May their camp become desolate and their tents remain unoccupied.

³ For I was envious of the proud when I observed the prosperity of the wicked. ⁴ For there is no struggle at their deaths, and their bodies are healthy. ⁵ They do not experience problems common to ordinary people; they aren’t afflicted as others are. ⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace and violence covers them like a garment. ⁷ Their eyes bulge from obesity and the imaginations of their mind cross the border into sin. ⁸ In their mockery they speak evil; from their arrogant position they speak oppression. ⁹ They choose to speak against heaven; while they talk about things on earth.

¹⁸ You have certainly set them in slippery places; you will make them fall to their ruin. ¹⁹ How desolate they quickly become, completely destroyed by calamities. ²⁰ Like a dream when one awakens, Lord, you will despise their image when you arise.

⁷ Though the wicked sprout like grass; and all who practice iniquity flourish, it is they who will be eternally destroyed.

¹ Jeremiah’s Complaint about Justice You are righteous, LORD, even when I bring a complaint to you. But I want to discuss justice with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper, while all who are treacherous are at ease? ² You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. “You are near to us,” they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you’re far from their hearts. ³ You know me, LORD. You see me and test my thoughts toward you. Pull the wicked out like sheep for slaughter; set them apart for the day of butchering.

²⁰ “For in the Book of Psalms it is written, ‘Let his estate be desolate, and let no one live on it,’ and, ‘Let someone else take over his office,’

⁵ You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the iniquity of the parents to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

¹⁹ when a strong wind came straight out of the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people, and they died. I alone escaped to tell you!”

¹⁰ “The lioness may roar, and the lion cub may growl; but even the ivory teeth of the full grown lion are broken. ¹¹ Full grown lions die when they cannot find prey; that’s when the lion cubs are scattered.

⁴ “If your children sin against him, he’ll make them a prisoner of their sins.

⁷ Although you know that I’m not guilty, there’s no one to deliver me from you!

¹⁶ His roots wither underneath, while his branches above are being cut off. ¹⁷ No one remembers him anywhere in the land; no one names streets in his honor. ¹⁸ He is driven away from light to darkness, made to wander the landscape. ¹⁹ He has no children or descendants within his own people; and no survivors where he once lived.

¹⁴ If he has many children, their destiny is to die by the sword, and his descendants won’t have enough food.

² Otherwise, they will rip me to shreds like a lion, tearing me apart with no one to rescue me.

⁹ May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow. ¹⁰ May his children roam around begging, seeking food while driven far from their ruined homes. ¹¹ May creditors seize all his possessions, and may foreigners loot the property he has acquired. ¹² May no one extend gracious love to him, or show favor to his fatherless children. ¹³ May his descendants be eliminated, and their memory be erased from the next generation. ¹⁴ May his ancestors’ guilt be remembered in the LORD’s presence, and may his mother’s guilt not be erased. ¹⁵ May what they have done be continually in the LORD’s presence; and may their memory be excised from the earth.

¹⁵⁵ Deliverance remains remote from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.

⁵ How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be ashamed as they confront their enemies at the city gate.

¹² and because I know that your transgressions are many, and your sins are numerous as you oppose the righteous, taking bribes as a ransom, and turning away the poor in court—

⁴ What about those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? ⁵ Absolutely not, I tell you! But if you don’t repent, then you, too, will all die.”

³³ “A people whom you don’t know will devour what your land and labor produces. You’ll be only oppressed and discouraged continuously

⁵¹ Its army will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They will leave you without your grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, and the lamb of your flock, until you are completely destroyed.

³ Whenever the Israelis sowed their crops, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups from the east would come up and invade them. ⁴ They set up their military encampments to fight them, destroyed the harvest of the land as far as Gaza, and left nothing in Israel, whether harvested grain, sheep, oxen, or donkeys. ⁵ They would invade with their livestock and tents, swooping in as numerous as locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels—and they came into the land to destroy it. ⁶ Because Israel was deeply impoverished due to the Midianites, they cried out to the LORD.

¹¹ Gideon is Visited by the Angel of the LORDAfter this, the angel of the LORD arrived and sat down in the shade of the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press in order to safeguard it from the Midianites.

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.

¹⁵ when the Sabeans attacked, captured the servants, and killed them with swords. I alone escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷ While this messenger was still speaking, another came and announced, “The Chaldeans formed three companies, raided the camels, captured the servants, and killed them with swords. Only I alone escaped to tell you.”

³ The LORD asked Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth. The man is blameless as well as upright. He fears God and keeps away from evil. He remains firm in his integrity, even though you have been urging me to overwhelm him without cause.”

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.

⁸ “For he has stumbled into a net with his own feet; he walked right into the network! ⁹ The trap seizes him by the heel; a snare tightens its hold on him. ¹⁰ A rope lies hidden in the dirt; a trap lies waiting for him where he is walking.”

¹⁵ “Though he swallows wealth, he will vomit it; God will dislodge it from his stomach.

⁸ “The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: ‘I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; never again will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have toiled;

³⁴ Judah’s Complaint against Babylon“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me. He set me down like an empty vessel. He swallowed me like a monster, and filled his belly with my delicacies. Then he washed me away.

⁴⁴ I’ll punish Bel in Babylon, and I’ll make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth. The nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon will fall.

⁵ The Lord has become like an enemy— he has devoured Israel. He has devoured all of her palaces, destroying her fortresses. He filled cherished Judah with mourning and lament.

¹⁶ All of your enemies insult you with gaping mouths. They hiss and grind their teeth while saying, “We have devoured her completely. Yes, this is the day that we anticipated! We found it at last; we have seen it!”

⁷ “Because they sow the wind, they will reap the wind storm. The plant has no stalk and its bud yields no grain. Even if there’s a harvest, foreigners will gobble it up.

²⁷ if it weren’t for dreading the taunting of their enemies— otherwise, their adversary might misinterpret and say, “Our power is great. It isn’t the LORD who made all of this happen.”’”

⁹ Keep watching it. If it goes up along the road to its own territory to Beth-shemesh, it’s the LORD who has done this great evil to us. But if it does not, then we will know that he wasn’t pressuring us. It happened to us as a natural event.”

²⁹ “If he remains silent, who will condemn him? If he conceals his face, who can see him? He watches over both nation and individual alike,

⁷ Indeed, we are consumed by your anger and terrified by your wrath.

⁷ God is Sovereign“I form light and create darkness, I make goodness and create disaster. I am the LORD, who does all these things.

³⁸ Do not both good and evil things proceed from the mouth of the Most High?

⁴ Their word is falsely given as they make their agreements; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

⁶ And when an alarm sounds in the city, the people will tremble, won’t they? If there is trouble in a city, the LORD has brought it about, has he not?”

¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up and causes you trouble, or many of you will become defiled.

¹⁷ He told the man, “Because you have listened to what your wife said, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground because of you. You’ll eat from it through pain-filled labor for the rest of your life. ¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you’ll eat the plants from the meadows. ¹⁹ You will eat food by the sweat of your brow until you’re buried in the ground, because you were taken from it. You’re made from dust and you’ll return to dust.”

¹ Human Beings Live and DieHuman beings born by women are short-lived and full of trouble.

⁸ You have set our iniquities before you, what we have concealed in the light of your presence. ⁹ All our days pass away in your wrath; our years fade away and end like a sigh.

⁸ Everything is wearisome, more than man is able to express. The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by hearing.

²² For what does a person gain from everything that he accomplishes and from his inner life struggles that he undergoes while working on earth?

¹⁵ Just as he came naked from his mother’s womb, he will leave as naked as he came; he will receive no profit from his efforts— he cannot carry away even a handful.
¹⁶ This is also a painful tragedy: However a person comes, he also departs; so what does he gain as he labors after the wind? ¹⁷ Furthermore, all his days he lives in darkness with great sorrow, anger, and affliction.

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is unusual for human beings. But God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. Instead, along with the temptation he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.

⁷ Feeling mounting terror and distress, Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, doing the same with the flocks, the cattle, and the camels. ⁸ Jacob was thinking, “If Esau comes to one group and attacks it, then the remaining group may escape.”
⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O LORD, you who told me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives and I’ll cause things to go well for you.’ ¹⁰ I’m unworthy of all your gracious love, your faithfulness, and everything that you’ve done for your servant. When I first crossed over this river, I had only my staff. But now I’ve become two groups. ¹¹ Deliver me from my brother Esau’s control, because I’m terrified of him, and I’m afraid that he’s coming to attack me, the mothers, and their children. ¹² Now, you promised me that ‘I’m certainly going to cause things to go well with you, and I’m going to make your offspring as numerous as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

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.

⁵ If you seek God, if you ask the Almighty for mercy,

²¹ Eliphaz Challenges Job to Repent“Get to know God, and you’ll be at peace with him, and then prosperity will come to you.

²⁷ You’ll entreat him and he’ll listen to you as you fulfill your vows.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD; Trust him, and he will act.

¹⁵ Call on me in the day of distress; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”

¹ To the director: To Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.
Remembering God in Times of Trouble I cry out to God! I cry out to God and he hears me. ² When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; my hands were raised at night and they did not grow weary. I refused to be comforted.

¹ Jonah’s Prayer for DeliveranceThen Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the sea creature. ² He said: “I called out to the LORD from the midst of affliction directed at me, and he answered me. From the depths of death I cried out for help; and you heard my cry. ³ You cast me into the deep— into the heart of the sea. Flood waters engulfed me. All your breakers and your waves swirled over me. ⁴ So I told myself, ‘I have been driven away from you. How will I again gaze on your holy Temple?’ ⁵ Flood waters encompassed me, the deep surrounded me while seaweed wrapped around my head. ⁶ I sank to the roots of the mountains; the earth’s prison bars closed around me forever. Yet you resurrect the dead from the Pit, LORD my God! ⁷ “As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to you in your holy Temple.

¹² That is why I suffer as I do. However, I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I’m convinced that he is able to protect what he has entrusted to me until the day that he comes.

²³ When he was insulted, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he did not threaten. It was his habit to commit the matter to the one who judges fairly.

¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do what is good.

¹⁰ He does great things that cannot be explained, and awesome deeds that cannot be counted.

⁷ God’s Wisdom is Unfathomable“Can you search through God’s complex things? Can you uncover the limits of the Almighty? ⁸ These things are higher than the heavens, so what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol, so what can you know? ⁹ They are longer than the earth’s circumference, and broader than the ocean.

⁵ Job Acknowledges God’s Power“The ghosts of the dead writhe under the waters along with those who live there with them. ⁶ Sheol is naked before God and Abaddon has no clothes. ⁷ He spreads out the north over empty space, suspending the earth over nothing. ⁸ “He restricts the waters within clouds and the clouds don’t burst open under them. ⁹ He has enclosed the face of the full moon and spread his clouds over it. ¹⁰ He has delimited a boundary over the surface of the oceans as a limit between light and darkness. ¹¹ The pillars of the heavens tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. ¹² By his power he disturbs the sea; and with his skill he shatters the sea monster. ¹³ he clears the skies with his wind; his hands have pierced the fleeing serpent. ¹⁴ Indeed, these are the fringes of his ways, and how faint is the whisper we’ve heard of it! But who can comprehend the thunder of his might?”

⁵ “God thunders with his wondrous voice; he does awesome works that we don’t comprehend.

³ You asked, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel without knowledge?’ Well now, I have talked about what I don’t understand— awesome things beyond me that I don’t know.

⁵ LORD, my God, You have done great things: marvelous works and your thoughts toward us. There is no one who compares to you! I will try to recite your actions, even though there are too many to number.

¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does awesome deeds.

¹⁰ For you are great, and you are doing awesome things; you alone are God.

¹⁸ Were I to count them, they would number more than the sand. When I awake, I will be with you.

²⁸ Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The LORD is the eternal God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary; and his understanding cannot be fathomed.

³³ In Praise of God’s WaysO how deep are God’s riches, and wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable are his decisions and unexplainable are his ways!

²⁶ He set in place ordinances for the rain; and determined the pathway for thunder that accompanies lightning.

²⁸ When the clouds pour down; they drop their rain on all of humanity.

²⁶ to bring rain upon a land without inhabitants, a desert in which no human beings live, ²⁷ to satisfy a desolate and devastated desert, causing it to sprout vegetation? ²⁸ “Does the rain have a father? Who fathered the dew?

⁹ You take care of the earth, you water it, and you enrich it greatly with the river of God that overflows with water. You provide grain for them, for you have ordained it this way. ¹⁰ You fill the furrows of the field with water so that their ridges overflow. You soften them with rain showers; their sprouts you have blessed. ¹¹ You crown the year with your goodness; your footsteps drop prosperity behind them.

⁸ He shields the heavens with clouds, preparing rain for the earth and making grass grow on the hills.

²⁴ They don’t say to themselves, ‘Let’s fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’

¹³ When his voice sounds there is thunder from the waters of heaven, and he makes clouds rise up from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings wind out of his storehouses.

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.

⁷ “I therefore have withheld the rain from you three months before the harvest, causing rain to come upon one city, but not upon another, and upon one field but not upon another, so that it would wither.

¹⁷ yet he has not abandoned his witness: he continues to do good, to give you rain from heaven, to give you fruitful seasons, and to fill you with food and your hearts with joy.”

²⁷ The God of old is a dwelling place, with everlasting arms underneath. He drove out your enemies before you and said: ‘Destroy them!’

⁷ The LORD makes people poor and he makes people rich, he brings them low, and he also exalts them. ⁸ He raises the poor up from the dust, he lifts up the needy from the trash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. Indeed the pillars of the earth belong to the LORD, and he has set the world on them.

¹⁴ The LORD SpeaksBecause he has focused his love on me, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name.

⁴¹ Yet he lifted the needy from affliction and made them families like a flock.

⁷ He lifts the poor person from the dust, raising the needy from the trash pile

²⁴ Then all the trees of the fields will know that I, the LORD, bring down the lofty tree and exalt the lowly tree. I dry up the green tree and cause the dry tree to bud. I the LORD have spoken this, and I will fulfill it.”

⁵² He pulled powerful rulers from their thrones and lifted up humble people. ⁵³ He filled hungry people with good things and sent rich people away with nothing.

²¹ How blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be satisfied! How blessed are you who are crying now, because you will laugh!

⁹ A brother of humble means should rejoice in his having been exalted,

⁶ But he gives all the more grace. And so he says, “God opposes the arrogant but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.

³ Our Hope and Joy are in the MessiahBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you.

¹⁵ Our opponents heard that we had learned about them, that God had brought their plans to failure, and that each and every one of us had come to work on the wall.

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.

¹¹ Though they plot evil against you and devise schemes, they will not succeed.

¹⁰ The LORD makes void the counsel of nations; he frustrates the plans of peoples. ¹¹ But the LORD’s counsel stands firm forever, the plans in his mind for all generations.

¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.

³⁰ No wisdom, insight, or counsel can prevail against the LORD.

¹⁰ Take counsel together, but it will all be for nothing; go ahead and talk, but it will all be for nothing, for God is with us.”

³ The spirits of the Egyptians within them will be drained of courage, and I will bring their plans to nothing. They will consult idols and spirits of the dead, and mediums and spiritists.

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!

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I’m sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting!”

¹² Some Jews Plot to Kill PaulIn the morning, the Jewish leaders formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink anything before they had killed Paul. ¹³ More than 40 men formed this conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the high priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now then, you and the Council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to look into his case more carefully, but before he arrives we’ll be ready to kill him.”
¹⁶ But the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, so he came and got into the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him.”
¹⁸ So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
¹⁹ The tribune took him by the hand, stepped aside to be alone with him, and asked, “What have you got to tell me?”
²⁰ He answered, “The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully. ²¹ Don’t believe them, because more than 40 of them are planning to ambush him. They’ve taken an oath not to eat or drink before they’ve killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”
²² The tribune dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell anyone that he had notified him.

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

³⁴ So go back to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I’ll be your servant, your majesty! Just as I served your father in the past, I can be your servant now.’ That way you can manipulate Ahithophel’s advice to my benefit.

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.

⁴ The king said, “Who is in the courtyard?” Now Haman had just entered the outer courtyard of the palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the pole he had set up.
⁵ The king’s young men told him, “Look, Haman is standing in the courtyard.”
The king said, “Let him come in.”
⁶ After Haman came in, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?”
Haman told himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” ⁷ Haman answered the king, “For a man whom the king desires to honor, ⁸ let them bring royal robes that the king has worn and a horse on which the king has ridden, with a royal crown placed on its head. ⁹ Then give the robes and the horse to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them put the robes on the man whom the king desires to honor, and let them put him on the horse in the main square of the city. Then let them announce in front of him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”
¹⁰ Then the king told Haman, “Quick! Take the clothes and the horse just as you have suggested and do this for Mordecai the Jew who sits in the king’s gate. And don’t let anything you’ve suggested fall through the cracks.”
¹¹ So Haman took the clothes and the horse, dressed Mordecai, and put him on the horse in the main square of the city. He cried out in front of him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and then the king’s anger subsided.

²⁵ But when Esther came before the king, he ordered through a letter that the evil plot that Haman had devised against the Jewish people be rescinded, and that he and his sons be hanged on poles.

¹⁵ He digs a pit, even excavates it; then he fell into the hole that he had made. ¹⁶ The trouble he planned will return on his own head, and his violence will descend on his skull.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk down into the pit they made, their feet are ensnared in the trap they set. ¹⁶ The LORD has made himself known, executing judgment. The wicked are ensnared by what their hands have made. Interlude

²⁶ to the pure, you show yourself pure, and to the morally corrupt, you appear to be perverse.

⁷ Without justification they laid a snare for me; without justification they dug a pit to trap me. ⁸ Let destruction come upon them unawares, and let the net that he hid catch him; let him fall into destruction.

³² Indeed, a perverse man is utterly disgusting to the LORD, but he takes the upright into his confidence.

⁵¹ He displayed his mighty power with his arm. He scattered people who were proud in mind and heart.

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?

¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is nonsense in God’s sight. For it is written, “He catches the wise with their own trickery,”

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.

²⁵ They grope in the dark without light; he causes them to stagger around like a drunkard.”

¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness, and they do not know what they are stumbling over.

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.

⁹ It will come about at that time,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will cause the sun to set at noon and the earth to darken in the daylight.

¹⁰ “The lioness may roar, and the lion cub may growl; but even the ivory teeth of the full grown lion are broken.

¹⁴ But you do see! You take note of trouble and grief in order to take the matter into your own hand. The helpless one commits himself to you; you have been the orphan’s helper.

¹⁷ LORD, you heard the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen them, you will listen carefully,

¹⁰ All my bones will say, “LORD, who is like you? Who delivers the weak from the one who is stronger than he, and the weak and the needy from the one who wants to rob him?”

⁴ May he defend the afflicted of the people and deliver the children of the poor, but crush the oppressor.

¹² For he will deliver the needy when they cry out for help, and the poor when there is no deliverer. ¹³ He will have compassion on the poor and the needy, and he will save the lives of the needy.

³¹ for he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to deliver him from his accusers.

¹² I know that the LORD will act on behalf of the tormented, providing justice for the needy.

⁷ But among the Israelis, from people to animals, not even a dog will bark, so you may know that the LORD is distinguishing between the Egyptians and the Israelis.’

⁸ He raises the poor up from the dust, he lifts up the needy from the trash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. Indeed the pillars of the earth belong to the LORD, and he has set the world on them. ⁹ He guards the steps of his faithful ones, while the wicked are made silent in darkness. He grants the request of the one who prays. He blesses the year of the righteous. Indeed it’s not by strength that a person prevails.

¹⁸ For he will not always overlook the plight of the poor, nor will the hope of the afflicted perish forever.

¹¹ But as for the king, he will rejoice in God. Indeed, everyone who swears by God will exult, because the mouths of liars will be silenced.

⁴² The upright see it and rejoice, but the mouth of an evil person is shut.

³² How will they answer the messengers of the nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, and in it the afflicted among his people will find refuge.”

¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners who have hope. Even today I am telling you: In return I will repay you double.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says applies to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

¹² How blessed is the man whom you instruct, LORD, whom you teach from your Law,

¹¹ My son, do not reject the LORD’s discipline, and do not despise his correction, ¹² because the LORD corrects the person he loves, just as a father corrects the son he delights in.

¹⁸ Ephraim’s Prayer and Confession“I’ve certainly heard Ephraim shuddering with grief as they said, ‘You have disciplined me, and I’m disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and let me return, for you are the LORD my God.

⁵ You have forgotten the encouragement that is addressed to you as sons: “My son, do not think lightly of the Lord’s discipline or give up when you are corrected by him. ⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he accepts.” ⁷ What you endure disciplines you: God is treating you as sons. Is there a son whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ Now if you are without any discipline, in which all sons share, then you are illegitimate and not God’s sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. We should submit even more to the Father of our spirits and live, shouldn’t we? ¹⁰ For a short time they disciplined us as they thought best, but God does it for our good, so that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, for those who have been trained by it, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.

¹² Trial and TemptationHow blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor’s crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him.

¹¹ We consider those who endured to be blessed. You have heard about Job’s endurance and have seen the purpose of the Lord—that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹⁹ I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent!

³⁹ “Look now! I AM, and there is no other god besides me. I myself cause death and I sustain life; I wound severely and I also heal; from my power no one can deliver.

⁶ The LORD kills and gives life, he brings people down to where the dead are and he raises them up.

³ He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their injuries.

²⁶ Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the sun’s light will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

¹ A Call for Israel to Repent “Come, let us return to the LORD; even though he has torn us, he will heal us. Even though he has wounded us, he will bind our wounds.

¹⁹ A righteous person will have many troubles, but the LORD will deliver him from them all.

³ He will surely deliver you from the hunter’s snare and from the destructive plague. ⁴ With his feathers he will cover you, under his wings you will find safety. His truth is your shield and armor. ⁵ You need not fear terror that stalks in the night, the arrow that flies in the day, ⁶ plague that strikes in the darkness, or calamity that destroys at noon. ⁷ If a thousand fall at your side or ten thousand at your right hand, it will not overcome you. ⁸ Only observe it with your eyes, and you will see how the wicked are paid back. ⁹ “LORD, you are my refuge!” Because you chose the Most High as your dwelling place, ¹⁰ no evil will fall upon you, and no affliction will approach your tent,

¹⁶ for though a righteous man falls seven times, he will rise again, but the wicked stumble into calamity.

⁸ How God Rescued PaulFor we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about the suffering we experienced in Asia. We were so crushed beyond our ability to endure that we even despaired of living.

⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment,

⁷ God sent me ahead of you to keep you alive on the earth, and to save you all in a magnificent way.

⁶ Crows would bring him bread and meat both in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.

³ If an army encamps against me, my heart will not fear. If a war is launched against me, I will even trust in that situation.

¹⁹ to deliver them from death; to keep them alive in times of famine.

¹⁹ They will not experience shame in times of trouble; in times of famine they will have plenty.

⁷ No man can redeem the life of another, nor can he give to God a sufficient payment for him—

¹⁰ to you who gives victory to kings, rescuing his servant David from cruel swords.

³ The LORD won’t cause the righteous to hunger, but he will reject what the wicked crave.

¹⁶ this is the one who will live on the heights; his refuge will be a mountain fortress. His food will be supplied, and his water will be guaranteed.

¹⁴ “From the power of Sheol I will rescue them, from death I will redeem them. Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? My eyes will remain closed to your pleas for compassion.

¹⁷ Even though the fig tree does not blossom, and there are no grapes on the vines; even if the olive harvest fails, and the fields produce nothing edible; even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold, and there is no herd in the stalls—

⁶ You’ll hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you aren’t alarmed. These things must take place, but the end hasn’t come yet,

²⁰ You will hide them in the secret place of your presence, away from the conspiracies of men. You will hide them in your tent, away from their contentious tongues.

²¹ His mouth is as smooth as butter, while war is in his heart. His words were as smooth as olive oil, while his sword is drawn.

⁴ I am surrounded by lions. I lie down with those who burn with fire— that is, with people whose teeth are like spears and arrows— whose tongues are like sharp swords.

⁵ You need not fear terror that stalks in the night, the arrow that flies in the day, ⁶ plague that strikes in the darkness, or calamity that destroys at noon. ⁷ If a thousand fall at your side or ten thousand at your right hand, it will not overcome you.

¹⁸ Some speak rashly like the cutting of a sword, but what the wise say promotes healing.

¹⁷ no weapon that is forged against you will be effective. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their righteousness from me,” says the LORD.

¹⁸ Jeremiah Reacts to the Plot against HimThen they said, “Come, let’s make up a plot against Jeremiah. After all, the priest’s instruction, the wise man’s counsel, and the prophet’s message won’t be destroyed. So let’s verbally attack him. Pay no attention to anything he says!”

⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it can boast of great achievements. A huge forest can be set on fire by a little flame. ⁶ The tongue is a fire, a world of evil. Placed among the parts of our bodies, the tongue contaminates the whole body and sets on fire the course of life, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷ For all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be or have been tamed by humans, ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison.

²¹ “This is what the LORD has spoken against him: ‘She despises and mocks you, this virgin daughter of Zion! Behind your back she shakes her head, this daughter of Jerusalem!

¹³ You will stomp on lions and snakes; you will trample young lions and serpents.

⁹ No lions will be there— no— nor will any ferocious beasts get up on it, and they will not be found there. “But the redeemed will walk there,

²⁵ “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but as for the serpent— its food will be dust! They won’t harm or destroy on my entire holy mountain,”
says the LORD.

²⁵ “I’m going to enter into a covenant with them, one of peace, and I’ll eliminate wild beasts from the land so they can live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests.

¹⁸ I will make a covenant with them at that time, a covenant with the wild animals of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creatures of the ground. I will banish the battle bow, the sword, and war from the earth. I will cause my people to lie down where it is safe.

⁶ I’ll give peace in the land so that you’ll lie down without fear. I’ll remove wild beasts from the land, and not even war will come to your land.

¹² With their hands they will lift you up so you will not trip over a stone. ¹³ You will stomp on lions and snakes; you will trample young lions and serpents.

⁶ A Transformed Ecology“The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with the young goat. The calf and the lion will graze together, and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear will graze, and their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on vipers’ dens. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

¹⁵ “If I were to make wild animals pass throughout the land, so that they kill its residents and it were to become desolate because no one will travel through it due to those wild animals, ¹⁶ then even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they wouldn’t be able to deliver even their sons or daughters. They would only save themselves, but the land would become desolate.

²² My God sent his angel and sealed the mouths of the lions. They have not harmed me, proving that I’m innocent before him. Also against you, your majesty, I’ve committed no offense.”

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.

⁶ “Blessed will you be in your comings and goings.”

³ David and his men came to the town, and it had been burned down. Their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

⁶ if you are clean and upright, surely then, he’ll act on your behalf and restore your rightful place.

⁶ Light in his tent is dark, and his lamp goes out above him.

¹⁵ “There’s nothing in his tent that belongs to him; sulfur is scattered all over his dwelling place.

²¹ Indeed, the residences of the wicked are like this; and so are the homes of those who don’t know God.”

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.

¹³ He will experience good things; his descendants will inherit the earth.

¹⁰ no evil will fall upon you, and no affliction will approach your tent,

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

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

⁷ The LORD will guard you from all evil, preserving your life. ⁸ The LORD will guard your goings and comings, from this time on and forever.

⁵ Then the LORD will create over the entire site of Mount Zion—including over those who assemble there—a cloud by day ⁶ and also to serve as a refuge and shelter from storms and rain.”

⁵ Then the LORD took him outside. “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can!” he said. “Your descendants will be that numerous.”

⁹ “I’ll look after you, ensuring that you’ll be fruitful. I’ll increase your number and keep my covenant with you.

⁴ “Blessed will your children be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.

¹³ He also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ He named the first daughter Jemima, the second Keziah, and the name of the third was Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ No one could find more beautiful women in the whole land than Job’s daughters. Their father gave them their inheritance along with their brothers. ¹⁶ Job lived 140 years after this, and saw his children and grandchildren to the fourth generation.

¹⁶ May grain be abundant in the land all the way to the mountain tops; may its fruits flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and may the cities sprout like the grass of the earth.

² His descendants will be powerful in the land, a generation of the upright who will be blessed.

³ Children are a gift from the LORD; a productive womb, the LORD’s reward. ⁴ As arrows in the hand of a warrior, so also are children born during one’s youth. ⁵ How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be ashamed as they confront their enemies at the city gate.

³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children like olive shoots surrounding your table. ⁴ See how the man will be blessed who fears the LORD. ⁵ May the LORD bless you from Zion, and may you observe the prosperity of Jerusalem every day that you live! ⁶ And may you see your children’s children! Peace be on Israel!

³ For I’ll pour water upon thirsty ground and streams on parched land. So will I pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants. ⁴ They’ll spring up as among the green grass, like willows by flowing streams.

¹⁵ Now as for you, you’ll die peacefully, join your ancestors, and be buried at a good old age.

⁸ then passed away, dying at a ripe old age, having lived a full life, and joined his ancestors.

¹⁶ Job lived 140 years after this, and saw his children and grandchildren to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ Then Job died at an old age, having lived a full life.

¹⁶ I will satisfy him with long life; I will show him my deliverance.

¹¹ For because of me you will live a long life, and years will be added to your life.

²⁷ Fearing the LORD prolongs life, but the wicked will not live long.

¹³ and observe his commands and statutes that I’m commanding you today for your own good.

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 “Truly, you are the people and wisdom will die with you!

¹⁷ Eliphaz Describes the Plight of the Wicked“I’ll tell you what, listen to me! Let me relate what I’ve seen,

² “Can a human being be useful to God, since he, who is wise, is sufficient to himself?

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.

² Great are the acts of the LORD; they are within reach of all who desire them.

³ if, indeed, you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, ⁴ if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, ⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD and learn to know God.

¹² If you are wise, your wisdom will assist you. If you mock, you alone will be held responsible.