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 23

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23:1

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what is before you, 2

and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to appetite. 3

Do not desire his delicacies,

for they are deceptive food. 4

Do not toil to acquire wealth;

be discerning enough to desist. 5

When your eyes light on it, it is gone,

for suddenly it sprouts wings,

flying like an eagle toward heaven. 6

Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;

do not desire his delicacies, 7

for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you. 8

You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,

and waste your pleasant words. 9

Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

for he will despise the good sense of your words. 10

Do not move an ancient landmark

or enter the fields of the fatherless, 11

for their Redeemer is strong;

he will plead their cause against you. 12

Apply your heart to instruction

and your ear to words of knowledge. 13

Do not withhold discipline from a child;

if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14

If you strike him with the rod,

you will save his soul from Sheol. 15

My son, if your heart is wise,

my heart too will be glad. 16

My inmost being will exult

when your lips speak what is right. 17

Let not your heart envy sinners,

but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. 18

Surely there is a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.
19

Hear, my son, and be wise,

and direct your heart in the way. 20

Be not among drunkards

or among gluttonous eaters of meat, 21

for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and slumber will clothe them with rags.
22

Listen to your father who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23

Buy truth, and do not sell it;

buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. 24

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. 25

Let your father and mother be glad;

let her who bore you rejoice.
26

My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe my ways. 27

For a prostitute is a deep pit;

an adulteress is a narrow well. 28

She lies in wait like a robber

and increases the traitors among mankind.
29

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has redness of eyes? 30

Those who tarry long over wine;

those who go to try mixed wine. 31

Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly. 32

In the end it bites like a serpent

and stings like an adder. 33

Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter perverse things. 34

You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast. 35

“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I must have another drink.”

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!