Week 7 Bible Reading Plan (February 13-19)
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Job 27
27 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,
3 as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak unjustly,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 I will never affirm that you are right.
I will maintain my integrity[a] until I die.
6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!
7 May my enemy be like the wicked
and my opponent like the unjust.
8 For what hope does the godless person have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Will God hear his cry
when distress comes on him?
10 Will he delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11 I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.[b]
12 All of you have seen this for yourselves,
why do you keep up this empty talk?
13 This is a wicked man’s lot from God,
the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
14 Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword;
his descendants will never have enough food.
15 Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
yet their widows will not weep for them.
16 Though he piles up silver like dust
and heaps up fine clothing like clay—
17 he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,
and the innocent will divide up his silver.
18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon
or a shelter set up by a watchman.
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, it is gone.
20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;
a storm wind sweeps him away at night.
21 An east wind picks him up, and he is gone;
it carries him away from his place.
22 It blasts at him without mercy,
while he flees desperately from its force.
23 It claps its hands at him
and scoffs at him from its place.
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Job 31
31 I have made a covenant with my eyes.
How then could I look at a young woman?[a]
2 For what portion would I have from God above,
or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Doesn’t disaster come to the unjust
and misfortune to evildoers?
4 Does he not see my ways
and number all my steps?
5 If I have walked in falsehood
or my foot has rushed to deceit,
6 let God weigh me on accurate scales,
and he will recognize my integrity.
7 If my step has turned from the way,
my heart has followed my eyes,
or impurity has stained my hands,
8 let someone else eat what I have sown,
and let my crops be uprooted.
9 If my heart has gone astray over a woman
or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 let my own wife grind grain for another man,
and let other men sleep with[b] her.
11 For that would be a disgrace;
it would be an iniquity deserving punishment.
12 For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon;
it would destroy my entire harvest.
13 If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants
when they made a complaint against me,
14 what could I do when God stands up to judge?
How should I answer him when he calls me to account?
15 Did not the one who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same God form us both in the womb?
16 If I have refused the wishes of the poor
or let the widow’s eyes go blind,
17 if I have eaten my few crumbs alone
without letting the fatherless eat any of it—
18 for from my youth, I raised him as his father,
and since the day I was born[c] I guided the widow—
19 if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing
or a needy person without a cloak,
20 if he[d] did not bless me
while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep,
21 if I ever cast my vote[e] against a fatherless child
when I saw that I had support in the city gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my back,
and my arm be pulled from its socket.
23 For disaster from God terrifies me,
and because of his majesty I could not do these things.
24 If I placed my confidence in gold
or called fine gold my trust,
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great
or because my own hand has acquired so much,
26 if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining
or at the moon moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
and I threw them a kiss,[f]
28 this would also be an iniquity deserving punishment,
for I would have denied God above.
29 Have I rejoiced over my enemy’s distress,
or become excited when trouble came his way?
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by asking for his life with a curse.
31 Haven’t the members of my household said,
“Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table?”
32 No stranger had to spend the night on the street,
for I opened my door to the traveler.
33 Have I covered my transgressions as others do[g]
by hiding my iniquity in my heart
34 because I greatly feared the crowds
and because the contempt of the clans terrified me,
so I grew silent and would not go outside?
35 If only I had someone to hear my case!
Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me.
Let my Opponent compose his indictment.
36 I would surely carry it on my shoulder
and wear it like a crown.
37 I would give him an account of all my steps;
I would approach him like a prince.
38 If my land cries out against me
and its furrows join in weeping,
39 if I have consumed its produce without payment
or shown contempt for its tenants,[h]
40 then let thorns grow instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.
The words of Job are concluded.
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Job 32
So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified himself rather than God. He was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute him and yet had condemned him.
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry.
So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied:
I am young in years,
while you are old;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to tell you what I know.
I thought that age should speak
and maturity should teach wisdom.
But it is the spirit in a person—
the breath from the Almighty—
that gives anyone understanding.
It is not only the old who are wise
or the elderly who understand how to judge.
Therefore I say, “Listen to me.
I too will declare what I know.”
Look, I waited for your conclusions;
I listened to your insights
as you sought for words.
I paid close attention to you.
Yet no one proved Job wrong;
not one of you refuted his arguments.
So do not claim, “We have found wisdom;
let God deal with him, not man.”
But Job has not directed his argument to me,
and I will not respond to him with your arguments.
Job’s friends are dismayed and can no longer answer;
words have left them.
Should I continue to wait now that they are silent,
now that they stand there and no longer answer?
I too will answer;
yes, I will tell what I know.
For I am full of words,
and my spirit compels me to speak.
My heart is like unvented wine;
it is about to burst like new wineskins.
I must speak so that I can find relief;
I must open my lips and respond.
I will be partial to no one,
and I will not give anyone an undeserved title.
For I do not know how to give such titles;
otherwise, my Maker would remove me in an instant.
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JOB 35
35 Then Elihu continued, saying:
2 Do you think it is just when you say,
“I am righteous before God”?
3 For you ask, “What does it profit you,
and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”
4 I will answer you
and your friends with you.
5 Look at the heavens and see;
gaze at the clouds high above you.
6 If you sin, how does it affect God?
If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give him,
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects a person like yourself,
and your righteousness, a son of man.
9 People cry out because of severe oppression;
they shout for help because of the power of the mighty.
10 But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker,
who provides us with songs in the night,
11 who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”
12 There they cry out, but he does not answer,
because of the pride of evil people.
13 Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries,
and the Almighty does not take note of it—
14 how much less when you complain
that you do not see him,
that your case is before him
and you are waiting for him.
15 But now, because God’s anger does not punish
and he does not pay attention to transgression,
16 Job opens his mouth in vain
and multiplies words without knowledge.
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Job 36-37
36 Then Elihu continued, saying:
2 Be patient with me a little longer, and I will inform you,
for there is still more to be said on God’s behalf.
3 I will get my knowledge from a distant place
and ascribe justice to my Maker.
4 Indeed, my words are not false;
one who has complete knowledge is with you.
5 Yes, God is mighty, but he despises no one;
he understands all things.
6 He does not keep the wicked alive,
but he gives justice to the oppressed.
7 He does not withdraw his gaze from the righteous,
but he seats them forever with enthroned kings,
and they are exalted.
8 If people are bound with chains
and trapped by the cords of affliction,
9 God tells them what they have done
and how arrogantly they have transgressed.
10 He opens their ears to correction
and tells them to repent from iniquity.
11 If they listen and serve him,
they will end their days in prosperity
and their years in happiness.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will cross the river of death
and die without knowledge.
13 Those who have a godless heart harbor anger;
even when God binds them, they do not cry for help.
14 They die in their youth;
their life ends among male cult prostitutes.
15 God rescues the afflicted by their affliction;
he instructs them by their torment.
16 Indeed, he lured you from the jaws of distress
to a spacious and unconfined place.
Your table was spread with choice food.
17 Yet now you are obsessed with the judgment due the wicked;
judgment and justice have seized you.
18 Be careful that no one lures you with riches;
do not let a large ransom lead you astray.
19 Can your wealth or all your physical exertion
keep you from distress?
20 Do not long for the night
when nations will disappear from their places.
21 Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity,
for that is why you have been tested by affliction.
22 Look, God shows himself exalted by his power.
Who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has appointed his way for him,
and who has declared, “You have done wrong”?
24 Remember that you should praise his work,
which people have sung about.
25 All mankind has seen it;
people have looked at it from a distance.
26 Yes, God is exalted beyond our knowledge;
the number of his years cannot be counted.
27 For he makes waterdrops evaporate;
they distill the rain into its mist,
28 which the clouds pour out
and shower abundantly on mankind.
29 Can anyone understand how the clouds spread out
or how the thunder roars from God’s pavilion?
30 See how he spreads his lightning around him
and covers the depths of the sea.
31 For he judges the nations with these;
he gives food in abundance.
32 He covers his hands with lightning
and commands it to hit its mark.
33 The thunder declares his presence;
the cattle also, the approaching storm.
37 My heart pounds at this
and leaps from my chest.
2 Just listen to his thunderous voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He lets it loose beneath the entire sky;
his lightning to the ends of the earth.
4 Then there comes a roaring sound;
God thunders with his majestic voice.
He does not restrain the lightning
when his rumbling voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For he says to the snow, “Fall to the earth,”
and the torrential rains, his mighty torrential rains,
7 serve as his sign to all mankind,
so that all men may know his work.
8 The wild animals enter their lairs
and stay in their dens.
9 The windstorm comes from its chamber,
and the cold from the driving north winds.
10 Ice is formed by the breath of God,
and watery expanses are frozen.
11 He saturates clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
12 They swirl about,
turning round and round at his direction,
accomplishing everything he commands them
over the surface of the inhabited world.
13 He causes this to happen for punishment,
for his land, or for his faithful love.
14 Listen to this, Job.
Stop and consider God’s wonders.
15 Do you know how God directs his clouds
or makes their lightning flash?
16 Do you understand how the clouds float,
those wonderful works of him who has perfect knowledge?
17 You whose clothes get hot
when the south wind brings calm to the land,
18 can you help God spread out the skies
as hard as a cast metal mirror?
19 Teach us what we should say to him;
we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Can a man speak when he is confused?
21 Now no one can even look at the sun
after a wind has swept through and cleared the sky.
22 Out of the north he comes, shrouded in a golden glow;
awesome majesty surrounds him.
23 The Almighty—we cannot reach him—
he is exalted in power!
He will not violate justice and abundant righteousness,
24 therefore, men fear him.
He does not look favorably on any who are wise in heart.
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JOB 38-39
The Lord Speaks
38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:
2 Who is this who obscures my counsel
with ignorant words?
3 Get ready to answer me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform me.
4 Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and total darkness its blanket,
10 when I determined its boundaries
and put its bars and doors in place,
11 when I declared, “You may come this far, but no farther;
your proud waves stop here”?
12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning
or assigned the dawn its place,
13 so it may seize the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth is changed as clay is by a seal;
its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15 Light is withheld from the wicked,
and the arm raised in violence is broken.
16 Have you traveled to the sources of the sea
or walked in the depths of the oceans?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the extent of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 Where is the road to the home of light?
Do you know where darkness lives,
20 so you can lead it back to its border?
Are you familiar with the paths to its home?
21 Don’t you know? You were already born;
you have lived so long!
22 Have you entered the place where the snow is stored?
Or have you seen the storehouses of hail,
23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble,
for the day of warfare and battle?
24 What road leads to the place where light is dispersed?
Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain
or clears the way for lightning,
26 to bring rain on an uninhabited land,
on a desert with no human life,
27 to satisfy the parched wasteland
and cause the grass to sprout?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathered the drops of dew?
29 Whose womb did the ice come from?
Who gave birth to the frost of heaven
30 when water becomes as hard as stone,
and the surface of the watery depths is frozen?
31 Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Can you bring out the constellations in their season
and lead the Bear and her cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of heaven?
Can you impose its authority on earth?
34 Can you command the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you?
35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?
Do they report to you, “Here we are”?
36 Who put wisdom in the heart
or gave the mind understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the dust hardens like cast metal
and the clods of dirt stick together?
39 Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of young lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
and lie in wait within their lairs?
41 Who provides the raven’s food
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
39 Do you know when mountain goats give birth?
Have you watched the deer in labor?
2 Can you count the months they are pregnant
so you can know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down to give birth to their young;
they deliver their newborn.
4 Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field.
They leave and do not return.
5 Who set the wild donkey free?
Who released the swift donkey from its harness?
6 I made the desert its home,
and the salty wasteland its dwelling.
7 It scoffs at the noise of the village
and never hears the shouts of a driver.
8 It roams the mountains for its pastureland,
searching for anything green.
9 Would the wild ox be willing to serve you?
Would it spend the night by your feeding trough?
10 Can you hold the wild ox to a furrow by its harness?
Will it plow the valleys behind you?
11 Can you depend on it because its strength is great?
Would you leave it to do your hard work?
12 Can you trust the wild ox to harvest your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but are her feathers and plumage like the stork’s?
14 She abandons her eggs on the ground
and lets them be warmed in the sand.
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them
or that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,
with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom;
he has not endowed her with understanding.
18 When she proudly spreads her wings,
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 Do you give strength to the horse?
Do you adorn his neck with a mane?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust?
His proud snorting fills one with terror.
21 He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
he charges into battle.
22 He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing;
he does not run from the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side,
along with a flashing spear and a javelin.
24 He charges ahead with trembling rage;
he cannot stand still at the sound of the ram’s horn.
25 When the ram’s horn blasts, he snorts defiantly.
He smells the battle from a distance;
he hears the officers’ shouts and the battle cry.
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding
and spread its wings to the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and make its nest on high?
28 It lives on a cliff where it spends the night;
its stronghold is on a rocky crag.
29 From there it searches for prey;
its eyes penetrate the distance.
30 Its brood gulps down blood,
and where the slain are, it is there.
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Job 40 -41
40 The Lord answered Job:
2 Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who argues with God give an answer.
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 I am so insignificant. How can I answer you?
I place my hand over my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not reply;
twice, but now I can add nothing.
6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
7 Get ready to answer me like a man;
When I question you, you will inform me.
8 Would you really challenge my justice?
Would you declare me guilty to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 Adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
and clothe yourself with honor and glory.
11 Pour out your raging anger;
look on every proud person and humiliate him.
12 Look on every proud person and humble him;
trample the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them together in the dust;
imprison them in the grave.
14 Then I will confess to you
that your own right hand can deliver you.
15 Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you.
He eats grass like cattle.
16 Look at the strength of his back
and the power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree;
the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together.
18 His bones are bronze tubes;
his limbs are like iron rods.
19 He is the foremost of God’s works;
only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
20 The hills yield food for him,
while all sorts of wild animals play there.
21 He lies under the lotus plants,
hiding in the protection of marshy reeds.
22 Lotus plants cover him with their shade;
the willows by the brook surround him.
23 Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;
he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth.
24 Can anyone capture him while he looks on,
or pierce his nose with snares?
41 Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he beg you for mercy
or speak softly to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
so that you can take him as a slave forever?
5 Can you play with him like a bird
or put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain for him
or divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay a hand on him.
You will remember the battle
and never repeat it!
9 Any hope of capturing him proves false.
Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?
10 No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;
who then can stand against me?
11 Who confronted me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 I cannot be silent about his limbs,
his power, and his graceful proportions.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?
14 Who can open his jaws,
surrounded by those terrifying teeth?
15 His pride is in his rows of scales,
closely sealed together.
16 One scale is so close to another
that no air can pass between them.
17 They are joined to one another,
so closely connected they cannot be separated.
18 His snorting flashes with light,
while his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flaming torches shoot from his mouth;
fiery sparks fly out!
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils
as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames pour out of his mouth.
22 Strength resides in his neck,
and dismay dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
solid as metal and immovable.
24 His heart is as hard as a rock,
as hard as a lower millstone!
25 When Leviathan rises, the mighty are terrified;
they withdraw because of his thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches him will have no effect,
nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.
27 He regards iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 No arrow can make him flee;
slingstones become like stubble to him.
29 A club is regarded as stubble,
and he laughs at the sound of a javelin.
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds,
spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;
he makes the sea like an ointment jar.
32 He leaves a shining wake behind him;
one would think the deep had gray hair!
33 He has no equal on earth—
a creature devoid of fear!
34 He surveys everything that is haughty;
he is king over all the proud beasts.
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JOB 42
Job Replies to the Lord
42 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 I know that you can do anything
and no plan of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?”
Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,
things too wondrous for me to know.
4 You said, “Listen now, and I will speak.
When I question you, you will inform me.”
5 I had heard reports about you,
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them;
I am dust and ashes.
7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
God Restores Job
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and doubled his previous possessions. 11 All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to him and dined with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him concerning all the adversity the Lord had brought on him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold earring.
12 So the Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first. He owned fourteen thousand sheep and goats, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch. 15 No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.
16 Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 Then Job died, old and full of days.
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What mistake do Job’s friends make?
What act of Job 38-41 is most humbling to you?
Take time to confess and repent of the sin in your life? Rest in the redemptive love of the Father demonstrated through Jesus.
