Amshir 21, 1744

1Then Job answered and said:

2"How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words?

3These ten times you have reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.

4And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me.

5If indeed you exalt yourselves against me, And plead my disgrace against me,

6Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.

7"If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice.

8He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths.

9He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.

10He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree.

11He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies.

12His troops come together And build up their road against me; They encamp all around my tent.

13"He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

14My relatives have failed, And my close friends have forgotten me.

15Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants, Count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

16I call my servant, but he gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth.

17My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.

18Even young children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me.

19All my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love have turned against me.

20My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21"Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me!

22Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

23"Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!

24That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!

25For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;

26And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,

7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

8Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, Till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!

9In my hearing the LORD of hosts said, "Truly, many houses shall be desolate, Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant.

10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, And a homer of seed shall yield one ephah."

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!

12The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands.

13Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst.

14Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself And opened its mouth beyond measure; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.

15People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.

16But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.

1Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

2The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

3The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.

4I said, "LORD, be merciful to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You."

5My enemies speak evil of me: "When will he die, and his name perish?"

6And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies; His heart gathers iniquity to itself; When he goes out, he tells it.

7All who hate me whisper together against me; Against me they devise my hurt.

8"An evil disease," they say, "clings to him. And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more."

9Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

10But You, O LORD, be merciful to me, and raise me up, That I may repay them.

11By this I know that You are well pleased with me, Because my enemy does not triumph over me.

12As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And set me before Your face forever.

13Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

22Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

23Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

24Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?

25And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

26If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?

27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

28If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field 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 should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.

30For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.

31But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

6But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

7So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

8And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

9As it is written: "He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever."

10Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

11while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

12For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,

13while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,

14and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.

15Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

1James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

4But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,

10but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.

11For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

12Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

14And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

15But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

16saying, "What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

17But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name."

18So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

19But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

20For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

21So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.

22For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.