According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble, reap the same. Job 4:8
Job 4-7
Job 4
The Innocent Prosper
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
2 “If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be impatient?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 You have instructed many.
You have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have supported him who was falling.
You have made firm the feeble knees.
5 But now it has come to you, and you faint.
It touches you, and you are troubled.
6 Is your piety not your confidence?
Is the integrity of your ways not your hope?
7 Remember now: who, being innocent, ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
8 According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble, reap the same.
9 At the breath of God they perish.
At the blast of his anger are they consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion,
and the voice of the fierce lion,
the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey.
The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
12 Now something was secretly brought to me.
My ear received a whisper of it.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
14 fear came on me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face.
The hair of my flesh stood up.
16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes.
Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,
17 ‘Shall mortal man be more just than God?
Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 He puts no trust in his servants.
He charges his angels with error.
19 How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed before the moth!
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed.
They perish forever without any regarding it.
21 Is their tent cord not plucked up within them?
They die, and that without wisdom.’ “
Job 5
Eliphaz Continues
1 “Call now. Is there any who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 For resentment kills the foolish man,
and jealousy kills the simple.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4 His children are far from safety.
They are crushed in the gate.
Nor is there any to deliver them.
5 The hungry eats up his harvest,
and even takes it out of the thorns.
And the thirsty pants for their wealth.
6 For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble spring from the ground,
7 but man is born to trouble,
as the sparks fly upward.
8 But as for me, I would seek God.
I would commit my cause to God.
9 He does great things that cannot be fathomed,
marvelous things without number.
10 He gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields.
11 He sets up on high those who are low.
Those who mourn are exalted to safety.
12 He frustrates the plans of the crafty,
so that their hands cannot achieve success.
13 He traps the “wise” in their own craftiness,
and the counsel of the cunning comes quickly to an end.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime,
and grope at noonday as in the night.
15 But he saves the needy
from the sword of their mouth,
the needy from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.
17 Happy is the man whom God corrects.
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds, and he binds up.
He injures, and his hands make whole.
19 He will deliver you in six troubles.
Indeed, in seven no evil will touch you.
20 In famine he will redeem you from death
and in war, from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
and you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and you will not be afraid of the animals of the earth.
23 For you will be allied with the stones of the field.
The animals of the field will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is in peace.
You will visit your fold and will miss nothing.
25 You will know also that your offspring will be great,
Your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to your grave in a full age,
like a shock of grain comes in its season.
27 Look at this. We have searched it. It is so.
Hear it, and know it for your good.”
Job 6
Job Replies: My Complaint is Just
1 Then Job answered,
2 “Oh that my anguish could be weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the scales!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas,
therefore have my words been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me.
My spirit drinks up their poison.
The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?
Or does the ox low over his fodder?
6 Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 I refuse to touch them.
They are like loathsome food to me.
8 “Oh that I might have my request,
that God would grant the thing that I long for,
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 Let still be my consolation.
Yes, let me exult in pain that does not spare,
that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
What is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh of bronze?
13 Is it not that I have no help in me,
that wisdom is driven quite from me?
14 To him who is ready to faint,
kindness should be shown from his friend,
even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a seasonal brook,
like the stream of brooks that pass away,
16 which are dark with ice,
and into which the snow hides itself.
17 In the dry season, they disappear.
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans that travel beside them turn away.
They go up into the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked.
The companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They were distressed because they were confident.
They came there and were confounded.
21 For now you are nothing.
You see a terror and are afraid.
22 Did I say, ‘Give to me?’
or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth?’
23 or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?’
or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?’
24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace.
Cause me to understand my error.
25 How forcible are words of uprightness!
But your reproof, what does it reprove?
26 Do you intend to reprove words,
since the speeches of one who is desperate are like wind?
27 Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless,
and make merchandise of your friend.
28 Now therefore be pleased to look at me,
for surely I will not lie to your face.
29 Please return.
Let there be no injustice.
Yes, return again.
My cause is righteous.
30 Is there iniquity on my tongue?
Can my taste not discern perverse things?”
Job 7
Job Continues: Life Seems Futile
1 “Is a man not forced to labor on earth?
Are his days not like the days of a hired hand?
2 As a servant who longs for the shade,
as a hireling who looks for his wages,
3 so am I made to possess months of misery,
wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say,
‘When will I rise and the night be gone?’
I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust.
My skin closes up and breaks out afresh.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and are spent without hope.
7 Oh remember that my life is a breath.
My eye will not see happiness again.
8 The eye of him who sees me will see me no more.
Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away,
so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more.
10 He will return no more to his house,
nor will his place know him any more.
11 Therefore I will not keep silent.
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit.
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a sea or a sea monster,
that you put a guard over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me.
My couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then you scare me with dreams,
and terrify me through visions,
15 so that my soul chooses strangling,
death rather than my bones.
16 I loathe my life.
I do not want to live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17 What is man, that you should exalt him,
that you should set your mind on him,
18 that you should visit him every morning,
and test him every moment?
19 How long? Will you not look away from me,
and leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you watcher of men?
Why have you set me as a mark for you,
so that I am a burden to myself?
21 Why do you not pardon my disobedience and take away my iniquity?
For now will I lie down in the dust.
You will seek me diligently, but I will not be.”
1 Corinthians 14
Good Order in Worship
26 What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, or an interpretation. Let everything be done to build each other up. 27 If any man speaks in another language, let it be two, or at the most three, and in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly and let him speak to himself and to God.
29 Let the prophets speak, two or three, and let the others discern. 30 But if a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first keep silent. 31 For all of you can prophesy one by one, that everyone may learn, and everyone may be exhorted. 32 The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, 33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints.
34 Let the wives be quiet in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to be talking except in submission, as the law also says, 35 if they desire to learn anything. “Let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a wife to be talking in the assembly.”
36 What!? Was it from you that the word of God went out? Or did it come to you alone?
37 If any man thinks himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I am writing to you, that they are at the command of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
39 Therefore, brothers, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other languages. 40 Let everything be done decently and in order.
Psalm 37:30-40
30 The mouth of the godly utters wisdom.
His tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart.
None of his steps shall slide.
32 The wicked watch the righteous,
and seek to kill him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand,
nor condemn him when he is judged.
34 Wait for the Lord, and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to possess the land.
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
36 But he passed away, and he was not.
Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Take note of the man of integrity, and observe the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together.
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord.
He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and rescues them.
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
because they have taken refuge in him.
Proverbs 21:27
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination—
how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!