JOB 41

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41:1

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook

or press down his tongue with a cord? 2

Can you put a rope in his nose

or pierce his jaw with a hook? 3

Will he make many pleas to you?

Will he speak to you soft words? 4

Will he make a covenant with you

to take him for your servant forever? 5

Will you play with him as with a bird,

or will you put him on a leash for your girls? 6

Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants? 7

Can you fill his skin with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears? 8

Lay your hands on him;

remember the battle—you will not do it again! 9

Behold, the hope of a man is false;

he is laid low even at the sight of him. 10

No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.

Who then is he who can stand before me? 11

Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?

Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12

“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. 13

Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who would come near him with a bridle? 14

Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth is terror. 15

His back is made of rows of shields,

shut up closely as with a seal. 16

One is so near to another

that no air can come between them. 17

They are joined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated. 18

His sneezings flash forth light,

and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. 19

Out of his mouth go flaming torches;

sparks of fire leap forth. 20

Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. 21

His breath kindles coals,

and a flame comes forth from his mouth. 22

In his neck abides strength,

and terror dances before him. 23

The folds of his flesh stick together,

firmly cast on him and immovable. 24

His heart is hard as a stone,

hard as the lower millstone. 25

When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;

at the crashing they are beside themselves. 26

Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,

nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. 27

He counts iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood. 28

The arrow cannot make him flee;

for him, sling stones are turned to stubble. 29

Clubs are counted as stubble;

he laughs at the rattle of javelins. 30

His underparts are like sharp potsherds;

he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. 31

He makes the deep boil like a pot;

he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. 32

Behind him he leaves a shining wake;

one would think the deep to be white-haired. 33

On earth there is not his like,

a creature without fear. 34

He sees everything that is high;

he is king over all the sons of pride.”

JOB 42

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Job’s Confession and Repentance  42:1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2

“I know that you can do all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3

‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4

‘Hear, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ 5

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you; 6

therefore I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes.” The Lord Rebukes Job’s Friends7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer. The Lord Restores Job’s Fortunes10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
    12 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

PROVERBS 22

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22:1

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

and favor is better than silver or gold. 2

The rich and the poor meet together;

the Lord is the Maker of them all. 3

The prudent sees danger and hides himself,

but the simple go on and suffer for it. 4

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord

is riches and honor and life. 5

Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;

whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. 6

Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it. 7

The rich rules over the poor,

and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 8

Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,

and the rod of his fury will fail. 9

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,

for he shares his bread with the poor. 10

Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,

and quarreling and abuse will cease. 11

He who loves purity of heart,

and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. 12

The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,

but he overthrows the words of the traitor. 13

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!

I shall be killed in the streets!” 14

The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;

he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. 15

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 16

Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,

or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. Words of the Wise17

Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,

and apply your heart to my knowledge, 18

for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,

if all of them are ready on your lips. 19

That your trust may be in the Lord,

I have made them known to you today, even to you. 20

Have I not written for you thirty sayings

of counsel and knowledge, 21

to make you know what is right and true,

that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
22

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,

or crush the afflicted at the gate, 23

for the Lord will plead their cause

and rob of life those who rob them. 24

Make no friendship with a man given to anger,

nor go with a wrathful man, 25

lest you learn his ways

and entangle yourself in a snare. 26

Be not one of those who give pledges,

who put up security for debts. 27

If you have nothing with which to pay,

why should your bed be taken from under you? 28

Do not move the ancient landmark

that your fathers have set. 29

Do you see a man skillful in his work?

He will stand before kings;

he will not stand before obscure men.

PSALM 98

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Make a Joyful Noise to the LordA Psalm.
98:1

Oh sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvelous things!

His right hand and his holy arm

have worked salvation for him. 2

The Lord has made known his salvation;

he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3

He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness

to the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.
4

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
7

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

the world and those who dwell in it! 8

Let the rivers clap their hands;

let the hills sing for joy together 9

before the Lord, for he comes

to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

and the peoples with equity.

PSALM 99

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The Lord Our God Is Holy99:1

The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!

He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 2

The Lord is great in Zion;

he is exalted over all the peoples. 3

Let them praise your great and awesome name!

Holy is he! 4

The King in his might loves justice.

You have established equity;

you have executed justice

and righteousness in Jacob. 5

Exalt the Lord our God;

worship at his footstool!

Holy is he!
6

Moses and Aaron were among his priests,

Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.

They called to the Lord, and he answered them. 7

In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;

they kept his testimonies

and the statute that he gave them.
8

O Lord our God, you answered them;

you were a forgiving God to them,

but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 9

Exalt the Lord our God,

and worship at his holy mountain;

for the Lord our God is holy!