JOB 3

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Job Laments His Birth  3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said:
3

“Let the day perish on which I was born,

and the night that said,

‘A man is conceived.’ 4

Let that day be darkness!

May God above not seek it,

nor light shine upon it. 5

Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.

Let clouds dwell upon it;

let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6

That night—let thick darkness seize it!

Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;

let it not come into the number of the months. 7

Behold, let that night be barren;

let no joyful cry enter it. 8

Let those curse it who curse the day,

who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. 9

Let the stars of its dawn be dark;

let it hope for light, but have none,

nor see the eyelids of the morning, 10

because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,

nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11

“Why did I not die at birth,

come out from the womb and expire? 12

Why did the knees receive me?

Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? 13

For then I would have lain down and been quiet;

I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, 14

with kings and counselors of the earth

who rebuilt ruins for themselves, 15

or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver. 16

Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,

as infants who never see the light? 17

There the wicked cease from troubling,

and there the weary are at rest. 18

There the prisoners are at ease together;

they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. 19

The small and the great are there,

and the slave is free from his master.
20

“Why is light given to him who is in misery,

and life to the bitter in soul, 21

who long for death, but it comes not,

and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 22

who rejoice exceedingly

and are glad when they find the grave? 23

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,

whom God has hedged in? 24

For my sighing comes instead of my bread,

and my groanings are poured out like water. 25

For the thing that I fear comes upon me,

and what I dread befalls me. 26

I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;

I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

JOB 4

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Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper  4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2

“If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?

Yet who can keep from speaking? 3

Behold, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened the weak hands. 4

Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees. 5

But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed. 6

Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7

“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off? 8

As I have seen, those who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same. 9

By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. 10

The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

the teeth of the young lions are broken. 11

The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12

“Now a word was brought to me stealthily;

my ear received the whisper of it. 13

Amid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men, 14

dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake. 15

A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up. 16

It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice: 17

‘Can mortal man be in the right before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker? 18

Even in his servants he puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error; 19

how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed like the moth. 20

Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;

they perish forever without anyone regarding it. 21

Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

PROVERBS 6

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Practical Warnings6:1

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

have given your pledge for a stranger, 2

if you are snared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth, 3

then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. 4

Give your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber; 5

save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6

Go to the ant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise. 7

Without having any chief,

officer, or ruler, 8

she prepares her bread in summer

and gathers her food in harvest. 9

How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep? 10

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest, 11

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.
12

A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with crooked speech, 13

winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,

points with his finger, 14

with perverted heart devises evil,

continually sowing discord; 15

therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16

There are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him: 17

haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood, 18

a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil, 19

a false witness who breathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers. Warnings Against Adultery20

My son, keep your father’s commandment,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching. 21

Bind them on your heart always;

tie them around your neck. 22

When you walk, they will lead you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you. 23

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, 24

to preserve you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. 25

Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; 26

for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,

but a married woman hunts down a precious life. 27

Can a man carry fire next to his chest

and his clothes not be burned? 28

Or can one walk on hot coals

and his feet not be scorched? 29

So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

none who touches her will go unpunished. 30

People do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, 31

but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;

he will give all the goods of his house. 32

He who commits adultery lacks sense;

he who does it destroys himself. 33

He will get wounds and dishonor,

and his disgrace will not be wiped away. 34

For jealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when he takes revenge. 35

He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

LUKE 12

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Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees  12:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. Have No Fear4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. Acknowledge Christ Before Men8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” The Parable of the Rich Fool13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Do Not Be Anxious22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
    32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. You Must Be Ready35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
    41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. Not Peace, but Division49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Interpreting the Time54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Settle with Your Accuser57 “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”