Bible In A Year

¹> Hear my prayer, Yahweh. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.

²Don't enter into judgment with your servant, For in your sight no man living is righteous.

³For the enemy pursues my soul. He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead.

⁴Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.

⁵I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands.

⁶I spread forth my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.

⁷Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don't hide your face from me, So that I don't become like those who go down into the pit.

⁸Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, For I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to you.

⁹Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me.

¹⁰Teach me to do your will, For you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.

¹¹Revive me, Yahweh, for your name's sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.

¹²In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am your servant.

¹So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ²Then the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled against Job. His wrath was kindled because he justified himself rather than God. ³Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. ⁴Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were elder than he. ⁵When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled. ⁶Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, "I am young, and you are very old; Therefore I held back, and didn't dare show you my opinion. ⁷I said, 'Days should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom.' ⁸But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. ⁹It is not the great who are wise, Nor the aged who understand justice. ¹⁰Therefore I said, 'Listen to me; I also will show my opinion.' ¹¹"Behold, I waited for your words, And I listened for your reasoning, While you searched out what to say. ¹²Yes, I gave you my full attention, But there was no one who convinced Job, Or who answered his words, among you. ¹³Beware lest you say, 'We have found wisdom, God may refute him, not man:' ¹⁴For he has not directed his words against me; Neither will I answer him with your speeches. ¹⁵"They are amazed. They answer no more. They don't have a word to say. ¹⁶Shall I wait, because they don't speak, Because they stand still, and answer no more? ¹⁷I also will answer my part, And I also will show my opinion. ¹⁸For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me. ¹⁹Behold, my breast is as wine which has no vent; Like new wineskins it is ready to burst. ²⁰I will speak, that I may be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer. ²¹Please don't let me respect any man's person, Neither will I give flattering titles to any man. ²²For I don't know how to give flattering titles; Or else my Maker would soon take me away.

¹"However, Job, Please hear my speech, And listen to all my words. ²See now, I have opened my mouth. My tongue has spoken in my mouth. ³My words shall utter the uprightness of my heart; That which my lips know they shall speak sincerely. ⁴The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. ⁵If you can, answer me; Set your words in order before me, and stand forth. ⁶Behold, I am toward God even as you are: I am also formed out of the clay. ⁷Behold, my terror shall not make you afraid, Neither shall my pressure be heavy on you. ⁸"Surely you have spoken in my hearing, I have heard the voice of your words, saying, ⁹'I am clean, without disobedience. I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me: ¹⁰Behold, he finds occasions against me, He counts me for his enemy: ¹¹He puts my feet in the stocks, He marks all my paths.' ¹²"Behold, I will answer you. In this you are not just; For God is greater than man. ¹³Why do you strive against him, Because he doesn't give account of any of his matters? ¹⁴For God speaks once, Yes twice, though man pays no attention. ¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls on men, In slumbering on the bed; ¹⁶Then he opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction, ¹⁷That he may withdraw man from his purpose, And hide pride from man. ¹⁸He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from perishing by the sword. ¹⁹He is chastened also with pain on his bed, With continual strife in his bones; ²⁰So that his life abhors bread, And his soul dainty food. ²¹His flesh is so consumed away, that it can't be seen; His bones that were not seen stick out. ²²Yes, his soul draws near to the pit, And his life to the destroyers. ²³"If there is beside him an angel, An interpreter, one among a thousand, To show to man what is right for him; ²⁴Then God is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.' ²⁵His flesh shall be fresher than a child's; He returns to the days of his youth. ²⁶He prays to God, and he is favorable to him, So that he sees his face with joy: He restores to man his righteousness. ²⁷He sings before men, and says, 'I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, And it didn't profit me. ²⁸He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit, My life shall see the light.' ²⁹"Behold, God works all these things, Twice, yes three times, with a man, ³⁰To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of the living. ³¹Mark well, Job, and listen to me: Hold your peace, and I will speak. ³²If you have anything to say, answer me: Speak, for I desire to justify you. ³³If not, listen to me: Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."

¹Moreover Elihu answered, ²"Hear my words, you wise men; Give ear to me, you who have knowledge. ³For the ear tries words, As the palate tastes food. ⁴Let us choose for us that which is right. Let us know among ourselves what is good. ⁵For Job has said, 'I am righteous, God has taken away my right: ⁶Notwithstanding my right I am considered a liar; My wound is incurable, though I am without disobedience.' ⁷What man is like Job, Who drinks scorn like water, ⁸Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, And walks with wicked men? ⁹For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing That he should delight himself with God.' ¹⁰"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, From the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. ¹¹For the work of a man will he render to him, And cause every man to find according to his ways. ¹²Yes surely, God will not do wickedly, Neither will the Almighty pervert justice. ¹³Who gave him a charge over the earth? Or who has appointed him over the whole world? ¹⁴If he set his heart on himself, If he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath; ¹⁵All flesh would perish together, And man would turn again to dust. ¹⁶"If now you have understanding, hear this. Listen to the voice of my words. ¹⁷Shall even one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty?-- ¹⁸Who says to a king, 'Vile!' Or to nobles, 'Wicked!' ¹⁹Who doesn't respect the persons of princes, Nor regards the rich more than the poor; For they all are the work of his hands. ²⁰In a moment they die, even at midnight; The people are shaken and pass away, The mighty are taken away without hand. ²¹"For his eyes are on the ways of a man, He sees all his goings. ²²There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. ²³For he doesn't need to consider a man further, That he should go before God in judgment. ²⁴He breaks in pieces mighty men in ways past finding out, And sets others in their place. ²⁵Therefore he takes knowledge of their works. He overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed. ²⁶He strikes them as wicked men In the open sight of others; ²⁷Because they turned aside from following him, And wouldn't have regard in any of his ways: ²⁸So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, He heard the cry of the afflicted. ²⁹When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? Alike whether to a nation, or to a man: ³⁰That the godless man may not reign, That there be no one to ensnare the people. ³¹"For has any said to God, 'I am guilty, but I will not offend any more. ³²Teach me that which I don't see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'? ³³Shall his recompense be as you desire, that you refuse it? For you must choose, and not I. Therefore speak what you know. ³⁴Men of understanding will tell me, Yes, every wise man who hears me: ³⁵'Job speaks without knowledge, His words are without wisdom.' ³⁶I wish that Job were tried to the end, Because of his answering like wicked men. ³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin. He claps his hands among us, And multiplies his words against God."