Job 29 Cross References - NSB

¹ JOB UTTERED THESE WORDS: ² »Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me; ³ when his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness. ⁴ »I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent. ⁵ The Almighty was still with me, and my children were all around me. ⁶ »My steps were washed with milk and the rock poured out streams of oil for me! ⁷ »When I went out to the gate of the city, when I took my seat in the square, ⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose up and stood. ⁹ »The nobles refrained from talking, and laid their hands on their mouths. ¹⁰ »The voices of princes were hushed. Their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. ¹¹ »When the ear heard, it commended me, and when the eye saw, it approved. ¹² »This is because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. ¹³ »The blessing of the wretched came upon me. I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ »I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My justice was like a robe and a turban. ¹⁵ »I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. ¹⁶ »I was a father to the needy! I championed the cause of the stranger. ¹⁷ »I broke the fangs of the unrighteous. I made them drop their prey from their teeth. ¹⁸ »Then I thought: I shall die in my nest (house), and I shall multiply my days like the grains of sand. ¹⁹ »My roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches. ²⁰ »My glory was fresh within me, and my bow ever new in my hand. ²¹ »They listened to me, and waited! They kept quiet to hear my counsel. ²² »After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them like dew. ²³ »They waited for me as for the rain. They opened their mouths as for the spring rain. ²⁴ »I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They did not extinguish the light of my countenance. ²⁵ »I chose their way, and sat as chief. I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

⁷ Balaam delivered this message: »Balak brought me from Aram. The king of Moab summoned me from the eastern mountains. Come and curse Jacob for me,« he said. ‘Come and condemn Israel.

¹² »Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹ JOB CONTINUED:

¹ A man named Job lived in Uz. He was a man of integrity! He was decent, he respected God, and he stayed away from evil. ² He had seven sons and three daughters. ³ He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. In fact he was the greatest (richest) of all the Orientals in the East! ⁴ Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast. They invited many others to come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. ⁵ The morning after each feast, Job would get up early to offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.

¹⁰ »You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does. You have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country.

³ »I am allotted months of futility, long and weary nights of misery.

²⁸ Jehovah loves justice, and he will not abandon his godly ones. They will be kept safe forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be destroyed.

²⁸ »I watched over them to uproot them and tear them down, to ruin and hurt them. Now I will watch over them to build them up. I will plant them,« says Jehovah.

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:

¹⁷ »Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.

⁶ »The light in his tent becomes dark. The lamp beside him will be put out.

¹⁷ »How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does calamity come upon them? How often does God distribute pains and sorrow in his anger?

²⁸ »You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you. The light of God’s favor will shine on your ways.

⁶ Many are saying: »Who will show us good?« Lift up the light of your countenance (face) (presence) upon us, O Jehovah!

²⁸ O Jehovah, you light my lamp. My God turns my darkness into light.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me.

¹ ([Psalm of David]) Jehovah is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the stronghold of my life. Who is there to be afraid of?

¹¹ For Jehovah God is a sun and shield. Jehovah will give favor and honor. He will not withhold blessing from those who walk faithfully in truth.

⁹ The light of the righteous rejoices but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²⁰ He who curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in obscure darkness.

²⁰ There is no reward for the evil man! The candle of the wicked will be put out.

⁴ Then he will judge disputes between nations and settle matters between many people. They will beat (hammer) their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not fight against each other, and they will not learn war anymore.

¹² Again Jesus spoke to them, saying: »I am the light of the world. He that follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.«

⁴⁶ »I have come as a light to the world. Everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness.

⁸ You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk (live) (be occupied) as children of light

¹⁴ For this reason it says: »Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.«

⁸ »Have you heard God’s council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

¹⁴ Jehovah is intimate with those who respect him. He reveals the intent of his covenant to them.

⁵ He hides me in his shelter when there is trouble. He keeps me hidden in his tent. He puts me high on a rock.

¹ He who lives under the shelter of the Most High will remain in the shadow of the Almighty.

³² Jehovah hates people who do evil. He takes righteous people into his confidence.

³ For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

²⁷ »The eternal God is a dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He drove out the enemy from before you, and said: ‘Destroy!’ ²⁸ »Israel dwells in security. The fountain of Jacob is secluded in a land of grain and new wine. His heavens also drop down dew. ²⁹ »You are blessed O Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by Jehovah? He is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! So your enemies will cringe before you and you will tread upon their high places.«

⁹ »Have I commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage. Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed; for Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.«

¹² Jehovah’s angel appeared to him there and said: »Jehovah is with you, mighty man of valor!« ¹³ Gideon said to him: »May I ask, sir, why has all this happened to us if Jehovah is with us? What happened to all the wonderful things that our fathers told us Jehovah used to do, how he brought them out of Egypt? Jehovah has abandoned us. He left us to the mercy of the Midianites.«

³ »Oh that I knew where I might find him that I might come to his seat!

⁸ »Behold, I go forward but He is not there. I go backward, but I cannot perceive him. ⁹ »He acts on the left and I cannot behold. He turns on the right and I cannot see him. ¹⁰ »But He knows the way I walk. He has tried me. I shall come forth as gold.

¹³ He also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. ¹⁶ After this Job lived a hundred and forty years. He saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

⁷ By your favor, O Jehovah, you made my mountain to stand strong. You hid your face and I was alarmed (dismayed).

² You are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

⁸ All day long we praise our God. We give thanks to your name forever. ⁹ Yet you have rejected and disgraced us. You do not even go along with our armies.

³ Children are an inheritance from Jehovah. They are a blessing from him. ⁴ The children born to a man when he is young are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. ⁵ Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them. He will not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the city gate.

³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine inside your home. Your children will be like young olive trees around your table.

⁶ Grandchildren are the crowns of old men. Fathers take pride in their children.

⁴ (The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem) »He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me was love.

¹ (The Shulamite) »By night on my bed I sought the one I love. I sought him, but I did not find him. ² »I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets. I will seek the one I love in the streets and broad ways. I sought him, but I did not find him.

⁸ You are Israel's hope, its savior in times of trouble. Why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only one night?

¹⁵ Jesus replied: »Should the wedding guests mourn and also celebrate with the groom? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.

¹¹ »He will tie his donkey to a grapevine, his colt to the best vine. He will wash his clothes in wine, his garments in the blood of grapes.

¹³ »He made him ride on the heights of the earth and fed him with the produce of the fields. He gave him honey from rocks and olive oil from solid rock. ¹⁴ »He ate cheese from cows and drank milk from sheep and goats. He gave them fat (the best from the flock) from lambs, rams from the stock of Bashan, male goats, and the best wheat. He drank the blood-red wine of grapes.

²⁴ »Asher is the most blessed with sons. May his brothers favor him. And may he dip his foot in oil.

¹⁷ »He will not look upon the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

¹⁶ »I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.«

¹⁸ »Appoint judges and officers for your tribes in every city Jehovah your God gives you. They are to judge the people fairly.

¹⁹ »His father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown.

¹ Boaz went to the public place in the town and sat down. When the kinsman-redeemer came along, the one he had mentioned, Boaz said: »Come here, and sit down.« He came and was seated. ² Then he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said: »Be seated here. And they took their seats.«

¹¹ The leaders and the others said: »Yes, we are witnesses. May Jehovah make your wife become like Rachel and Leah, who bore many children to Jacob. May you become rich in the clan of Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

²¹ if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate;

¹⁶ »These are the things that you should do. Every man should speak the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates (towns).

³² »‘Show respect to the elderly, and honor older people. In this way you show respect for your God. I am Jehovah.

³¹ Gray hair is a crown of glory when it is found in the way of righteousness.

⁸ When a king sits on the throne of judgment he scatters away evil with his eyes.

³ For rulers are objects of fear, not to good works, but to the evil. Will you not have respect for the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it. ⁴ He is the minister of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain. He is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil.

⁷ Render therefore to all their due. Provide tribute to whom tribute is due. Give custom to whom custom is owed. Render fear to whom fear is owed and offer honor to whom honor is deserved.

¹ Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, and to be ready to do every good work,

¹⁷ Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Reverence and respect God. Honor the king.

⁵ Likewise, you younger men, be subject to the older men. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility and serve one another. God resists the proud, but gives loving kindness to the humble.

¹⁹ They told him: »Be quiet. Do not say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?«

² »If someone tries to talk to you, will you become impatient? But who can keep from talking?

¹¹ »I will not keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. I must complain in my bitterness.

⁵ »Look at me, and be appalled, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

⁴ »I am so insignificant. How can I answer you? I will put my hand over my mouth.

¹⁹ Sin does not hide from a multitude of words. The wise controls his lips.

³² If you foolishly exalted yourself, or if you thought evil, lay your hand upon your mouth.

¹⁹ You know this, my beloved brothers. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

⁶ Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

²⁶ »I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you cannot talk or criticize them, even though they are rebellious people.

²⁰ whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

² When the righteous increase the people rejoice. When the wicked rule the people mourn.

²² All witnessed this and wondered at the kind words that he spoke. They said: »Is this not Joseph’s son?«

²⁷ As he was talking a woman out of the crowd shouted: »Blessed is the woman who bore you and nursed you.«

²² »Do not mistreat any widow or orphan. ²³ »If you do, I, Jehovah, will answer them when they cry out to me for help, ²⁴ and I will become angry and kill you in war. Your wives will become widows, and your children will be fatherless.

¹⁸ »He executes justice for the orphan and the widow. He shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.

² Some said: »We with our sons and our daughters are a great number. Let us get grain, so that we may have food for our needs.« ³ There were some who said: »We are giving our fields and our vine-gardens and our houses for debt. Let us get grain because we are in need.« ⁴ Yet others said: »We have given up our fields and our vine-gardens to get money for the king's taxes. ⁵ »But our flesh is the same as the flesh of our countrymen, and our children as their children. Now we give our sons and daughters into the hands of others, to be their servants. Some of our daughters are servants even now. We have no power to stop this. For other men have our fields and our vine-gardens.« ⁶ On hearing their outcry and what they said I was very angry. ⁷ After giving it much thought, I made a protest to the chiefs and the rulers, and said to them: »Everyone of you is collecting interest from his brothers.« I organized a big meeting of protest. ⁸ I said to them: »We have given whatever we were able to give, to make our brothers the Jews free. They were servants and prisoners of the nations. Would you now give up your brothers for a price? Are they to become our property?« They said nothing. They answered not a word! ⁹ I said: »What you are doing is not good. Is it not necessary for you to walk out of respect for our God, because of the shame the nations put on us? ¹⁰ »Even I and my servants have been collecting interest (Usury) for the money and the grain we have let them have. So now, let us give this up. ¹¹ »Give back to them this very day their fields, their vine-gardens, their olive-gardens, and their houses, as well as a hundredth part of the money and the grain and the wine and the oil that you have taken from them.« ¹² They said: »We will give them back, and take nothing for them. We will do as you say.« Then I sent for the priests and made them take an oath that they would keep this agreement. ¹³ Shaking out the folds of my robe, I said: »So, may God send out from his house and his work every man who does not keep this agreement. Even so let him be sent out and made as nothing.« All the people said: »Amen!« They praised Jehovah. The people did as they said.

⁵ »Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities. ⁶ »You have indeed exacted pledges from your family for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. ⁷ »You have given no water to the weary to drink. You have withheld bread from the hungry. ⁸ »The powerful possess the land, and the favored live in it. ⁹ »You have sent widows away empty-handed. You crush the arms of the orphans.

⁴ »They force the needy to yield the road. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.

¹⁷ »If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it,

⁵ In his holy habitation God is a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows.

¹² When he cries he will deliver the needy and the poor who have no helper.

² »How long are you going to judge unjustly? How long are you going to show partiality to the wicked? ³ »Defend the weak and fatherless. Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor. ⁴ »Rescue the weak and needy. Help them escape the power of the wicked.«

¹³ Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he also will cry, but will not be heard.

¹¹ If you do not deliver those who are condemned to death, ¹² You may say: »We did not know this,« but God knows and judges your motives. He keeps watch on you and knows. He will reward each man according to his deeds.

¹⁶ He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy. Then it was well. »Is that not what it means to know me?« Says Jehovah.

²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for the fatherless persons and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.

¹¹ »Enjoy yourselves in the presence of Jehovah your God along with your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, the Levites who live in your cities, the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. Enjoy yourselves at the place Jehovah your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.

¹³ »Return the pledge to him before the sun goes down. He will have his pledged item and he may sleep. He will bless you. And it will be righteousness for you before Jehovah your God.

⁵ »Answer before Jehovah your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and traveled there. They were few in number but he became a great, mighty and populous nation.

¹⁰ He said to them: »Go away now, and take the fat for your food and the sweet for your drink, and send some to him for whom nothing is made ready. This day is holy to our Lord. Let there be no grief in your hearts. The joy of Jehovah is your strong place.« ¹¹ So the Levites made all the people quiet, saying: »Be quiet, for the day is holy; and do not give way to grief.« ¹² All the people went away to take food and drink, and to send food to others, and to be glad, because the words that were said to them had been clearly communicated.

⁹ »You have sent widows away empty-handed. You crush the arms of the orphans.

¹⁹ »If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering, ²⁰ whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

⁴ Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy. For you will judge the peoples with uprightness, and govern the nations on earth.

⁶ Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish, and wine to those who are bitter. ⁷ Let him drink and forget his poverty. Let him remember his misery no more. ⁸ Open your mouth for the dumb in the cause of all who are appointed to destruction. ⁹ Open your mouth and judge righteously. Plead the cause of the poor and needy.

¹³ A great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship Jehovah on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

¹⁴ My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit.

³⁹ Peter went to them right a way. When he arrived they brought him into the upper chamber. All the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats and garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. ⁴⁰ Peter put them all outside, kneeled down, and prayed. He turned to the body and said: »Tabitha, rise!« She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ He gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then he called the holy ones and widows and presented her alive.

¹² This service not only takes care of the needs of the holy ones, but also abounds with many expressions of thanksgiving to God. ¹³ The proof of this ministry is that they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the good news of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men. ¹⁴ They pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

¹⁶ The Lord grants mercy to the house of Onesiphorus: for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains. ¹⁷ When he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me. ¹⁸ May the Lord grant him to find the mercy of God in that day, and in how many things he ministered at Ephesus, you know very well.

⁷ For I have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed through you, brother.

⁶ »I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it! My conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

⁹ Clothe your priests with righteousness. Let your godly ones sing with joy.

⁵ Jehovah of armies will then become a crown of glory and beauty to the remnant of his people.

¹⁷ He puts on righteousness like a coat of armor and a helmet of salvation on his head. He wears clothes of vengeance. He wraps himself with zeal as a coat.

¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in Jehovah. I will exult in my God for he has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

³ »You will be a beautiful crown in the hand of Jehovah, a royal crown in the hand of your God.

¹⁴ Put on (live like) (clothe yourself with) the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make provision for the desires of the flesh.

⁷ in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

¹⁴ Stand firm therefore and gird your loins with truth. Put on the breastplate of righteousness.

⁸ Let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love; and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

⁸ »It was granted to her that she dress in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the holy ones.«

³¹ »Please do not leave us,« Moses said. »You know where we can camp in the desert. You can be our guide.

⁵ »The blind receive their sight. The lame walk! The lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

¹² For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many and are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or people of the nations, whether we are bond or free; we were all made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say: »Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body;« is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁶ If the ear should say: »Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body;« is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where is the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where is the smelling? ¹⁸ Has God set the members of the body, every one of them, just as it pleased him? ¹⁹ And if they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now they are many members, yet they are one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, »I have no need of you:« nor again the head to the feet, »I have no need of you.« ²² Those members of the body, which seem to be weaker, are necessary. ²³ And those members of the body that we think to be less honorable, we offer these more honors. Our less acceptable parts have more abundant acceptability. ²⁴ For our acceptable parts have no need. But God has assembled the body together, having given more abundant honor to the part that was lacking. ²⁵ There should be no division in the body. So the members should have the same care for each other. ²⁶ When one member suffers all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. ²⁸ God has appointed some in the congregation: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helpers, abilities to direct, different tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? ³⁰ Do all have the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ Zealously seek (earnestly desire) the best gifts. Yet I show you a more excellent way.

²⁶ They judged the people on a permanent basis. The difficult cases were taken to Moses but they decided the smaller disputes themselves.

¹⁴ »Investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you,

⁸ »If any case is too difficult for you to decide, between one kind of homicide or another, between one kind of lawsuit or another, and between one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your courts, then you should go to the place Jehovah your God chooses. ⁹ »Approach the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days. Inquire of them and they will declare to you the verdict in the case. ¹⁰ »Act according to the terms of the verdict they declare to you from that place Jehovah chooses. Be careful to abide by all that they teach you.

¹⁶ One day two women who were prostitutes came to the king. ¹⁷ One of them said: »Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby boy at home while she was there. ¹⁸ »Two days after my child was born she also gave birth to a baby boy. Only the two of us were there in the house. No one else was there. ¹⁹ »One night she accidentally rolled over on her baby and smothered it. ²⁰ »She got up during the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She took him to her bed and put the dead child in my bed. ²¹ »The next morning I woke up and was going to nurse my baby. It was dead. I looked at it more closely and saw that it was not my child.« ²² The other woman said: »The living child is mine, and the dead one is yours!« The first woman answered back: »The dead child is yours, and the living one is mine!« They argued before the king. ²³ King Solomon said: »Each of you claims that the living child is hers and that the dead child belongs to the other one.« ²⁴ He sent for a sword. When it arrived, ²⁵ he said: »Cut the living child in two and give each woman half of it.« ²⁶ With a heart full of love for her son the real mother said: »Please, Your Majesty, do not kill the child! Give it to her!« But the other woman said: »Do not give it to either of us cut it in two.« ²⁷ Then Solomon said: »Do not kill the child! Give it to the first woman. She is the real mother.« ²⁸ The people of Israel heard of Solomon's decision and were all filled with deep respect for him. They knew then that God had given him the wisdom to settle disputes fairly.

⁷ And he had been a father to Hadassah who is Esther, the daughter of his father's brother: for she had no father or mother. When her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his daughter. She was very beautiful.

¹⁸ for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow.

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.

⁷ The righteous considers the cause of the poor. The wicked do not get to know it.

¹ Therefore imitate God like beloved children.

³⁵ »I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. If the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death.

⁷ Arise, O Jehovah! Save me, O my God! You have slapped all my enemies in the face. You have broken the teeth of wicked people.

⁸ Let them be like a snail that melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.

³ »Then they would have swallowed us up quickly, when their wrath was kindled against us.

⁶ »Blessed is Jehovah, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.

¹⁴ There is a generation, whose teeth are like swords, and their jaw teeth like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

¹² »You said, ‘I will make sure that you are prosperous and that your descendants will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to count them because there are so many.’«

⁴⁹ Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea. He finally stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.

²⁶ »You will come to your grave at a very old age like a stack of hay in its season.

¹⁶ After this Job lived a hundred and forty years. He saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ He died a very old man.

⁶ Now as for me, I said in my prosperity: »I will never be shaken.« ⁷ By your favor, O Jehovah, you made my mountain to stand strong. You hid your face and I was alarmed (dismayed).

¹⁶ I will satisfy you with a long life. I will show you my salvation.

²³ »You who dwell in Lebanon nested in the cedars. How you will groan when pangs come upon you, Pain like a woman in childbirth!«

¹⁶ »You have frightened other people. Your arrogance has deceived you. You live on rocky cliffs and occupy the highest places in the hills. Even though you build your nest as high as an eagle, I will bring you down from there,« proclaims Jehovah.

⁴ »Even though you place yourself as high as the eagle, and though you nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there,« said Jehovah!

⁹ »He who receives a dishonest profit for his house will have trouble. He may set his nest on high in order to be delivered from the hand of evil!

¹⁶ »His roots dry up below and his branches wither above.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water. It yields its fruit in season and its leaves do not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

⁸ »For he will be like a tree planted by the water. It extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes. Its leaves will be green. It will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

⁵ »I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily and he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁶ »His shoots will sprout and his beauty will be like the olive tree. His fragrance will be like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁷ »Those who live in his shadow will raise grain again. They will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

¹³ »You must tell my father of my entire splendor in Egypt. Tell him all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.«

²⁴ »His bow stayed steady! His arms remained limber because of the help of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

⁹ »He stripped me of my honor. He took the crown off my head.

¹⁴ »I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My justice was like a robe and a turban.

³ You, O Jehovah, are a protective shield over me. You are my glory. You hold my head high.

³⁴ He trains my hands for battle so that my arms can bend an archer's bow of bronze.

⁵ He satisfies you with good; your youth is renewed like the eagles.

³¹ »Those who hope in Jehovah will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary! They will walk and not be faint.«

¹⁶ We do not give up! Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.

⁹ »The nobles refrained from talking, and laid their hands on their mouths. ¹⁰ »The voices of princes were hushed. Their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

¹¹ »Listen! I waited for your words. I listened for your wise sayings, while you determined what to say. ¹² »I gave you my attention, but there was in fact no one that disproved Job, no one among you that answered his words.

² »My instruction shall drop as the rain; my words shall descend like dew, as the gentle rains on the tender plant, and as the showers on vegetation.

¹⁵ »They are dismayed and they answer no more. They do not have a word to say. ¹⁶ »Should I wait, because they do not speak, because they stand there, and answer no more?

³¹ »Pay attention, Job, and listen to me! Be silent, and I will speak. ³² »If you have anything to say answer me. Speak up, for I want you to be cleared. ³³ »But if not, then listen to me. Be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.

¹¹ »Your lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under your tongue; and the smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

¹⁵ He will startle (amaze) (astonish) many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

⁴⁶ »Son of man, turn to the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest in the Negev.

¹⁶ Now hear the word of Jehovah: »You say, do not prophesy against Israel, and do not speak against the house of Isaac.«

⁶ »Do not prophesy to me. They prophesy. But they will not prophesy these things.

⁴⁶ No one was able to answer him. After that they asked no more questions.

⁶ He will come down like rain on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.

³ »Let us get to know Jehovah! Let us press on (run after) (follow) to get to know him. As surely as the sun rises he will appear. He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.«

¹ »In the spring ask Jehovah for rain. It is Jehovah who makes storm clouds and lightning. He will give showers of rain for the vegetation in the field.

²⁶ they told their father that Joseph was still alive and was the ruler of Egypt. But their father was so surprised that he could not believe them.

¹⁵ How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Jehovah, they walk in the light of your countenance.

¹ When Jehovah brought back the captive ones of Zion, it was like a dream.

⁴¹ While they still did not believe him but were filled with joy and wonder, he asked for something to eat.

¹⁴ Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive. Abram led his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night. He and his servants routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ Then he brought back all the goods. He also brought back his nephew Lot and all the men and women. ¹⁷ As soon as the king of Sodom returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, he went out to meet Abram at the King's Valley of Shaveh.

⁴⁰ »I will put you in charge of my country. All my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine.

⁵ »He was king in Jeshurun (Israel) when the leaders and all the tribes of the people of Israel were gathered.

⁸ They replied: »We turn to you now because we want you to go with us and fight the Ammonites and lead all the people of Gilead.«

² »For a long time when Saul was still our king, you led the people of Israel in battle. Jehovah promised you that you would lead his people and be their ruler.«

¹ David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² He then said to the whole assembly of Israel: »If it seems good to you and if it is the will of Jehovah our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. ³ »Let us bring the Ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.« ⁴ The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people.

³ He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. In fact he was the greatest (richest) of all the Orientals in the East!

³ »Look, you have instructed many people. When hands were weak, you made them strong. ⁴ »When someone stumbled, you lifted him up with your words. When knees were weak, you gave them strength.

³⁷ »I would give him an account of all my steps. Like a prince I would approach him.

³ Strengthen the tired hands and the knees that tremble with weakness. ⁴ Tell the discouraged ones with anxious heart: »Be strong and do not be afraid! God is coming to your rescue! He is coming to punish your enemies.«

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is upon me, because Jehovah has anointed me to announce good news to the lowly and meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. ² To proclaim the favorable Year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn, ³ to present a garland, instead of ashes, to those who mourn in Zion, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. They will be called oaks of righteousness. They are the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. ⁴ He comforts us in all our trouble, that we may be able to comfort those who also have trouble, through the comfort with which we are comforted from God.

⁵ When we came to Macedonia our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side, fighting on the outside and fears on the inside. ⁶ Nevertheless he who comforts the lowly, even God, comforted us by the coming of Titus. ⁷ This is not by his coming only, but also by the comfort he brought from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me so that I rejoiced yet more.

² So we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the good news of Christ. He came to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith. ³ We do not want anyone to be discouraged by these troubles. You know we were bound to suffer persecution.