Job 24-28; Psalms 141 - Prayer Tents

Job 24

Job Asks Why the Wicked Are Not Punished

24"Why doesn't the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain?H6256H6845H7706H3045H2372H31172Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures.H5381H1367H1497H5739H74623They take the orphan's donkey and demand the widow's ox as security for a loan.H5090H2543H3490H2254H490H7794H22544The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety.H5186H34H1870H6041H6035H776H2244H31625Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor must spend all their time looking for food, searching even in the desert for food for their children.H6501H4057H3318H6467H7836H2964H6160H3899H52886They harvest a field they do not own, and they glean in the vineyards of the wicked.H7114H7114H1098H7704H3953H3754H75637All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering.H6174H3885H3830H3682H71358They are soaked by mountain showers, and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home.H7372H2230H2022H2263H6697H42689"The wicked snatch a widow's child from her breast, taking the baby as security for a loan.H1497H3490H7699H2254H604110The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.H1980H6174H3830H5375H6016H745711They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it, and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.H6671H996H7791H1869H3342H677012The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning.H4962H5008H5892H5315H2491H7768H433H7760H860413"Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths.H4775H216H5234H1870H3427H541014The murderer rises in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night he is a thief.H7523H6965H216H6991H6041H34H3915H159015The adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No one will see me then.' He hides his face so no one will know him.H5869H5003H8104H5399H559H5869H7789H5643H7760H644016Thieves break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime. They are not acquainted with the light.H2822H2864H1004H2856H3119H3045H21617The black night is their morning. They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.H1242H3162H6757H5234H1091H675718"But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.H7031H6440H4325H2513H7043H776H6437H1870H375419The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow.H6723H2527H1497H7950H4325H7585H239820Their own mothers will forget them. Maggots will find them sweet to eat. No one will remember them. Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm.H7358H7911H7415H4988H2142H5766H7665H608621They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow.H7462H6135H3205H3190H49022"God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life.H4900H47H3581H6965H539H241623They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them.H5414H983H8172H5869H187024And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain.H7426H4592H4355H7092H1870H5243H7218H764125Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me wrong?"H645H7760H3576H7760H4405H408

Job 25

Bildad’s Third Response to Job

25Then Bildad the Shuhite replied.H6030H1085H7747H559 2"God is powerful and dreadful. He enforces peace in the heavens.H4910H6343H6213H7965H4791 3Who is able to count his heavenly army? Doesn't his light shine on all the earth?H3426H4557H1416H216H6965 4How can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone born of a woman be pure?H582H6663H410H2135H3205H802 5God is more glorious than the moon; he shines brighter than the stars.H3394H166H3556H2141H5869 6In comparison, people are maggots; we mortals are mere worms."H582H7415H1121H120H8438

Job 26

Job’s Ninth Speech: A Response to Bildad

26Then Job spoke again.H347H6030H5592"How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the weak!H5826H3581H3467H2220H3808H57973How you have enlightened my stupidity! What wise advice you have offered!H3289H3808H2451H7230H3045H84544Where have you gotten all these wise sayings? Whose spirit speaks through you?H5046H4405H5397H33185"The dead tremble—those who live beneath the waters.H7496H2342H4325H79316The underworld is naked in God's presence. The place of destruction is uncovered.H7585H6174H11H36827God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.H5186H6828H8414H8518H776H10998He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don't burst with the weight.H6887H4325H5645H6051H12349He covers the face of the moon, shrouding it with his clouds.H270H6440H3678H6576H605110He created the horizon when he separated the waters; he set the boundary between day and night.H2328H6440H4325H2706H216H2822H850311The foundations of heaven tremble; they shudder at his rebuke.H5982H8064H7322H8539H160612By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.H7280H3220H3581H8394H8394H4272H729313His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent.H7307H8235H8064H3027H2342H1281H517514These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?"H7098H1870H8102H1697H8085H7482H1369H995

Job 27

Job’s Final Speech

27Job continued speaking.H347H3254H5375H4912H5592I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul—H410H2416H5493H4941H7706H4843H53153As long as I live, while I have breath from God,H5750H5397H7307H433H6394my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies.H8193H1696H5766H3956H1897H74235I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die.H2486H6663H1478H5493H85386I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.H6666H2388H7503H3824H2778H31177"May my enemy be punished like the wicked, my adversary like those who do evil.H341H7563H6965H57678For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?H8615H2611H1214H433H7953H53159Will God listen to their cry when trouble comes upon them?H410H8085H6818H6869H93510Can they take delight in the Almighty? Can they call to God at any time?H6026H7706H6256H7121H43311I will teach you about God's power. I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.H3384H3027H410H7706H358212But you have seen all this, yet you say all these useless things to me.H2372H1892H189113"This is what the wicked will receive from God; this is their inheritance from the Almighty.H2506H7563H120H410H5159H6184H3947H770614They may have many children, but the children will die in war or starve to death.H1121H7235H3926H2719H6631H7646H389915Those who survive will die of a plague, and not even their widows will mourn them.H8300H6912H4194H490H105816"Evil people may have piles of money and may store away mounds of clothing.H6651H3701H6083H3559H4403H256317But the righteous will wear that clothing, and the innocent will divide that money.H3559H6662H3847H5355H2505H370118The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider's web, as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.H1129H1004H6211H5521H5341H621319The wicked go to bed rich but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.H6223H7901H622H6491H586920Terror overwhelms them like a flood, and they are blown away in the storms of the night.H1091H5381H4325H5492H1589H391521The east wind carries them away, and they are gone. It sweeps them away.H6921H5375H3212H8175H472522It whirls down on them without mercy. They struggle to flee from its power.H7993H2550H1272H1272H302723But everyone jeers at them and mocks them.H5606H3709H8319H4725

Job 28

Job Speaks of Wisdom and Understanding

28"People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold.H3426H4161H3701H4725H2091H22122They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock.H1270H3947H6083H5154H6694H683They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the dark for ore.H7760H7093H2822H2713H8503H68H652H67574They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.H5158H6555H1481H7911H7272H1809H5128H5825Food is grown on the earth above, but down below, the earth is melted as by fire.H776H3318H3899H2015H7846Here the rocks contain precious lapis lazuli, and the dust contains gold.H68H4725H5601H6083H20917These are treasures no bird of prey can see, no falcon's eye observe.H5410H5861H3045H344H5869H78058No wild animal has walked upon these treasures; no lion has ever set his paw there.H7830H1121H1869H7826H57109People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains.H7971H3027H2496H2015H2022H832810They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones.H1234H2975H6697H5869H7200H336611They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures.H2280H5104H1065H8587H3318H21612"But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?H370H2451H4672H4725H99813No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living.H582H3045H6187H4672H776H241614'It is not here,' says the ocean.'Nor is it here,' says the sea.H8415H559H3220H55915It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver.H5414H5458H3701H8254H424216It's worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli.H5541H3800H211H3368H7718H560117Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold.H2091H2137H6186H8545H3627H633718Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies.H2142H7215H1378H4901H2451H644319Precious peridot from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. It's worth more than the purest gold.H6357H3568H6186H5541H2889H380020"But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?H370H935H2451H4725H99821It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.H5956H5869H2416H5641H5775H806422Destruction and Death say, 'We've heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.'H11H4194H559H8085H8088H24123"God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found,H430H995H1870H3045H472524for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens.H5027H7098H776H7200H806425He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall.H6213H4948H7307H8505H4325H406026He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning.H6213H2706H4306H1870H2385H696327Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.H7200H5608H3559H271328And this is what he says to all humanity: 'The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.'"H120H559H3374H136H2451H5493H7451H998

Psalms 141

141[A psalm of David.] O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help!H4210H1732H3068H7121H2363H238H6963H7121 2Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.H8605H3559H6440H7004H4864H3709H6153H4503 3Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.H7896H8108H3068H6310H5341H1817H8193 4Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong.H5186H3820H7451H1697H5953H7562H5949H376H6466H205H3898H4516 5Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don’t let me refuse it. But I pray constantly against the wicked and their deeds.H6662H1986H2617H3198H7218H8081H5106H7218H8605H7451 6When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff, the wicked will listen to my words and find them true.H8199H8058H5553H3027H8085H561H5276 7Like rocks brought up by a plow, the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.H6106H6340H7585H6310H6398H1234H776 8I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord. You are my refuge; don’t them kill me.H5869H3069H136H2620H6168H5315H6168 9Keep me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those who do wrong.H8104H3027H6341H3369H4170H6466H205 10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, but let me escape.H7563H5307H4364H3162H5674