JOB 25

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Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous  25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2

“Dominion and fear are with God;

he makes peace in his high heaven. 3

Is there any number to his armies?

Upon whom does his light not arise? 4

How then can man be in the right before God?

How can he who is born of woman be pure? 5

Behold, even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 6

how much less man, who is a maggot,

and the son of man, who is a worm!”

JOB 26

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Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable  26:1 Then Job answered and said:
2

“How you have helped him who has no power!

How you have saved the arm that has no strength! 3

How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,

and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 4

With whose help have you uttered words,

and whose breath has come out from you? 5

The dead tremble

under the waters and their inhabitants. 6

Sheol is naked before God,

and Abaddon has no covering. 7

He stretches out the north over the void

and hangs the earth on nothing. 8

He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,

and the cloud is not split open under them. 9

He covers the face of the full moon

and spreads over it his cloud. 10

He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters

at the boundary between light and darkness. 11

The pillars of heaven tremble

and are astounded at his rebuke. 12

By his power he stilled the sea;

by his understanding he shattered Rahab. 13

By his wind the heavens were made fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14

Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,

and how small a whisper do we hear of him!

But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

PROVERBS 17

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17:1

Better is a dry morsel with quiet

than a house full of feasting with strife. 2

A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully

and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. 3

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and the Lord tests hearts. 4

An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. 5

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;

he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. 6

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,

and the glory of children is their fathers. 7

Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;

still less is false speech to a prince. 8

A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;

wherever he turns he prospers. 9

Whoever covers an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. 10

A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding

than a hundred blows into a fool. 11

An evil man seeks only rebellion,

and a cruel messenger will be sent against him. 12

Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs

rather than a fool in his folly. 13

If anyone returns evil for good,

evil will not depart from his house. 14

The beginning of strife is like letting out water,

so quit before the quarrel breaks out. 15

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

are both alike an abomination to the Lord. 16

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom

when he has no sense? 17

A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity. 18

One who lacks sense gives a pledge

and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor. 19

Whoever loves transgression loves strife;

he who makes his door high seeks destruction. 20

A man of crooked heart does not discover good,

and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity. 21

He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,

and the father of a fool has no joy. 22

A joyful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 23

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret

to pervert the ways of justice. 24

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,

but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. 25

A foolish son is a grief to his father

and bitterness to her who bore him. 26

To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,

nor to strike the noble for their uprightness. 27

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. 28

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;

when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

PSALM 94

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The Lord Will Not Forsake His People94:1

O Lord, God of vengeance,

O God of vengeance, shine forth! 2

Rise up, O judge of the earth;

repay to the proud what they deserve! 3

O Lord, how long shall the wicked,

how long shall the wicked exult? 4

They pour out their arrogant words;

all the evildoers boast. 5

They crush your people, O Lord,

and afflict your heritage. 6

They kill the widow and the sojourner,

and murder the fatherless; 7

and they say, “The Lord does not see;

the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
8

Understand, O dullest of the people!

Fools, when will you be wise? 9

He who planted the ear, does he not hear?

He who formed the eye, does he not see? 10

He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?

He who teaches man knowledge— 11

the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,

that they are but a breath.
12

Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,

and whom you teach out of your law, 13

to give him rest from days of trouble,

until a pit is dug for the wicked. 14

For the Lord will not forsake his people;

he will not abandon his heritage; 15

for justice will return to the righteous,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16

Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers? 17

If the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 18

When I thought, “My foot slips,”

your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. 19

When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul. 20

Can wicked rulers be allied with you,

those who frame injustice by statute? 21

They band together against the life of the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death. 22

But the Lord has become my stronghold,

and my God the rock of my refuge. 23

He will bring back on them their iniquity

and wipe them out for their wickedness;

the Lord our God will wipe them out.