Job 29

Job 29:1 Job added to his discourse, and said:

Job 29:2 If only I could be as in months before, in the days when God watched over me,

Job 29:3 when his lamp shone above my head, and I walked through darkness by his light!

Job 29:4 I would be as I was in the days of my youth when God’s friendship rested on my tent,

Job 29:5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

Job 29:6 when my feet were bathed in curds and the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

Job 29:7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square,

Job 29:8 the young men saw me and backed off, while older men stood to their feet.

Job 29:9 City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with their hands.

Job 29:10 The noblemen’s voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

Job 29:11 When they heard me, they praised me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.

Job 29:12 Because I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.

Job 29:13 The dying blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.

Job 29:14 I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.

Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.

Job 29:16 I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger.

Job 29:17 I broke the fangs of the unfair and snatched the prey from his teeth.

Job 29:18 So I thought, “I will die in my own nest and multiply my days as the sand.

Job 29:19 My roots will have access to water, and the dew will rest on my branches all night.

Job 29:20 My whole being will be refreshed within me, and my bow will be renewed in my hand.”

Job 29:21 Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my advice.

Job 29:22 After a word from me, they did not speak again; my speech settled on them like dew.

Job 29:23 They waited for me as for the rain and opened their mouths as for spring showers.

Job 29:24 If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it; they were thrilled at the light of my countenance.

Job 29:25 I directed their course and presided as chief. I lived as a king among his troops, like one who comforts those who mourn.

links:

good ole days
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, January 24, 2022
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, July 30, 2016
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, July 31, 2016
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, January 22, 2020
the good old days

The Job shelf in my library

Job 27

Job 27:1 Job added to his discourse, and said:

Job 27:2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, and the Almighty who has made my throat bitter,

Job 27:3 as long as my breathing is still in me and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,

Job 27:4 my lips will not speak unfairly, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

Job 27:5 I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die.

Job 27:6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!

Job 27:7 May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

Job 27:8 Because what hope does the godless person have when he is cut off, when God silences his throat?

Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when distress comes on him?

Job 27:10 Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God always?

Job 27:11 I will teach you about God’s power and not conceal what the Almighty has planned.

Job 27:12 All of you have seen this for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk?

Job 27:13 This is a wicked man’s lot from God, the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

Job 27:14 Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword; his descendants will never have enough food.

Job 27:15 Those who survive him will be buried by the plague, yet their widows will not weep for them.

Job 27:16 Though he piles up silver like dust and heaps up fine clothing like clay —

Job 27:17 he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide up his silver.

Job 27:18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon or a shelter set up by a watchman.

Job 27:19 He lies down wealthy but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

Job 27:20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; a storm wind sweeps him away at night.

Job 27:21 An east wind picks him up, and he is gone; it carries him away from his place.

Job 27:22 It blasts at him without mercy, while he flees desperately from its force.

Job 27:23 It claps its hands at him and scoffs at him from its place.

links:

hand of correction
the hand of God

The Job shelf in my library

Job 26

Job 26:1 Then Job answered and said:

Job 26:2 See how you have helped the powerless and delivered the weak arm!

Job 26:3 See how you have counseled the unwise and abundantly provided insight!

Job 26:4 With whom did you speak these words? Whose breathing came out of your mouth?

Job 26:5 The departed spirits tremble beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.

Job 26:6 Sheol is naked in God’s presence, and Abaddon has no covering.

Job 26:7 He sends the northern skies over empty space; he hangs the land on nothing.

Job 26:8 He wraps up the water in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight.

Job 26:9 He obscures the view of his throne, spreading his cloud over it.

Job 26:10 He laid out the horizon on the surface of the water at the boundary between light and darkness.

Job 26:11 The pillars that hold up the sky tremble, astounded at his rebuke.

Job 26:12 By his power, he struck the sea, and by his understanding, he crushed Rahab.

Job 26:13 By his breath the sky gained its beauty; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

Job 26:14 These are but the fringes of his ways; how faint is the word we hear of him! Who can understand his mighty thunder?

links:

above it all
we know differently

The Job shelf in my library

Job 25

Job 25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

Job 25:2 Dominion and terror belong to him, the one who establishes harmony in his heights.

Job 25:3 Can his troops be numbered? Does his light not shine on everyone?

Job 25:4 How can a mortal be justified before God? How can one born of a woman be pure?

Job 25:5 If even the moon does not shine and the stars are not pure in his sight,

Job 25:6 how much less a mortal, who is a maggot, a son of Adam, who is a worm!

links:

above it all
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, March 6, 2024
we know differently

The Job shelf in my library

Job 24

Job 24:1 Why does the Almighty not keep times for judgment? Why do those who know him never see his days?

Job 24:2 The wicked displace boundary markers. They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.

Job 24:3 They drive away the donkey owned by the fatherless and take the widow’s ox as collateral.

Job 24:4 They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding.

Job 24:5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor go out to their task of foraging for food; the desert provides bread for their children.

Job 24:6 They gather their fodder in the field and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

Job 24:7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked, having no covering against the cold.

Job 24:8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks, shelterless.

Job 24:9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.

Job 24:10 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry sheaves but go hungry.

Job 24:11 They crush olives in their presses; they tread the winepresses but go thirsty.

Job 24:12 From the city, men groan; the pierced throats cry for help, yet God pays no attention to this crime.

Job 24:13 The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths.

Job 24:14 The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and by night he becomes a thief.

Job 24:15 The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight, thinking, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.

Job 24:16 In the dark they break into houses; by day they lock themselves in, never experiencing the light.

Job 24:17 For the morning is like darkness to them. Surely, they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!

Job 24:18 They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the ground is cursed, so that they never go to their vineyards.

Job 24:19 As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

Job 24:20 The womb forgets them; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. That is how injustice is broken like a tree.

Job 24:21 They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive, and do not deal kindly with the widow.

Job 24:22 Yet God drags away the mighty by his power; when he rises against them, they have no assurance of life.

Job 24:23 He gives them a sense of security so that they can rely on it, but his eyes watch over their ways.

Job 24:24 They are exalted for a moment, then gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.

Job 24:25 If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar and show that my speech is worthless?

links:

a plea for vindication
the time of judgment

The Job shelf in my library