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JOB 21

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Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper
  21:1 Then Job answered and said:
2
“Keep listening to my words,
and let this be your comfort.
3
Bear with me, and I will speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4
As for me, is my complaint against man?
Why should I not be impatient?
5
Look at me and be appalled,
and lay your hand over your mouth.
6
When I remember, I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7
Why do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8
Their offspring are established in their presence,
and their descendants before their eyes.
9
Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.
10
Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and does not miscarry.
11
They send out their little boys like a flock,
and their children dance.
12
They sing to the tambourine and the lyre
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13
They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14
They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16
Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17
“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity comes upon them?
That God distributes pains in his anger?
18
That they are like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
19
You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.
20
Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21
For what do they care for their houses after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
22
Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he judges those who are on high?
23
One dies in his full vigor,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24
his pails full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25
Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of prosperity.
26
They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.

27
“Behold, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
28
For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
29
Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony
30
that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
31
Who declares his way to his face,
and who repays him for what he has done?
32
When he is carried to the grave,
watch is kept over his tomb.
33
The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
all mankind follows after him,
and those who go before him are innumerable.
34
How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”



PSALM 37

« Psalm 36 | Psalm 37 | Psalm 38 »

He Will Not Forsake His Saints
Of David.
37:1
Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.

3
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

7
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

8
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9
For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11
But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

12
The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
13
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.

14
The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
15
their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.

16
Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
17
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18
The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will remain forever;
19
they are not put to shame in evil times;
in the days of famine they have abundance.

20
But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21
The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
22
for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23
The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
24
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.

25
I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26
He is ever lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.

27
Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
28
For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29
The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.

30
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31
The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.

32
The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
33
The Lord will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34
Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

35
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36
But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

37
Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38
But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40
The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.



PROVERBS 1

« Psalm 150 | Proverbs 1 | Proverbs 2 »

The Beginning of Knowledge
  1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The Enticement of Sinners
8
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
9
for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.
10
My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
11
If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12
like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13
we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14
throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—
15
my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths,
16
for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
17
For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,
18
but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.
19
Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
The Call of Wisdom
20
Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23
If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24
Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25
because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30
would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
31
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
32
For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33
but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

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