Week 52, Day 3

"Hear my words, you wise men,
And listen to me, you who know.
"For the ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.
"Let us choose for ourselves what is right;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
"For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,
But God has taken away my right;
Should I lie concerning my right?
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’
"What man is like Job,
Who drinks up derision like water,
Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walks with wicked men?
"For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
When he is pleased with God.’

"Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.
"For He pays a man according to his work,
And makes him find it according to his way.
"Surely, God will not act wickedly,
And the Almighty will not pervert justice.
"Who gave Him authority over the earth?
And who has laid on Him the whole world?
"If He should determine to do so,
If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,
All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.

"But if you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.
"Shall one who hates justice rule?
And will you condemn the righteous mighty One,
Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’
To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;
Who shows no partiality to princes
Nor regards the rich above the poor,
For they all are the work of His hands?
"In a moment they die, and at midnight
People are shaken and pass away,
And the mighty are taken away without a hand.

"For His eyes are upon the ways of a man,
And He sees all his steps.
"There is no darkness or deep shadow
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
"For He does not need to consider a man further,
That he should go before God in judgment.
"He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.
"Therefore He knows their works,
And He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
"He strikes them like the wicked
In a public place,
Because they turned aside from following Him,
And had no regard for any of His ways;
So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted—
When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him,
That is, in regard to both nation and man?—
So that godless men would not rule
Nor be snares of the people.

"For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne chastisement;
I will not offend anymore;
Teach me what I do not see;
If I have done iniquity,
I will not do it again’?
"Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore declare what you know.
"Men of understanding will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,
‘Job speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom.
‘Job ought to be tried to the limit,
Because he answers like wicked men.
‘For he adds rebellion to his sin;
He claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.’"

"Do you think this is according to justice?
Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?
"For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You?
What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’
"I will answer you,
And your friends with you.
"Look at the heavens and see;
And behold the clouds—they are higher than you.
"If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?
"If you are righteous, what do you give to Him,
Or what does He receive from your hand?
"Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,
And your righteousness is for a son of man.

"Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.
"But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs in the night,
Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
"There they cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil men.
"Surely God will not listen to an empty cry,
Nor will the Almighty regard it.
"How much less when you say you do not behold Him,
The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!
"And now, because He has not visited in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged transgression well,
So Job opens his mouth emptily;
He multiplies words without knowledge."

"Wait for me a little, and I will show you
That there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.
"I will fetch my knowledge from afar,
And I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
"For truly my words are not false;
One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
"Behold, God is mighty but does not despise any;
He is mighty in strength of understanding.
"He does not keep the wicked alive,
But gives justice to the afflicted.
"He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous;
But with kings on the throne
He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.
"And if they are bound in fetters,
And are caught in the cords of affliction,
Then He declares to them their work
And their transgressions, that they have magnified themselves.
"He opens their ear to instruction,
And commands that they return from evil.
"If they hear and serve Him,
They will end their days in prosperity
And their years in pleasures.
"But if they do not hear, they shall perish by the sword
And they will die without knowledge.
"But the godless in heart lay up anger;
They do not cry for help when He binds them.
"They die in youth,
And their life perishes among the cult prostitutes.
"He delivers the afflicted in their affliction,
And opens their ear in time of oppression.
"Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress,
Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness.

"But you were full of judgment on the wicked;
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
"Beware that wrath does not entice you to scoffing;
And do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
"Will your riches keep you from distress,
Or all the forces of your strength?
"Do not long for the night,
When people vanish in their place.
"Be careful, do not turn to evil,
For you have preferred this to affliction.
"Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a teacher like Him?
"Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

"Remember that you should exalt His work,
Of which men have sung.
"All men have seen it;
Man beholds from afar.
"Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.
"For He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain from the mist,
Which the clouds pour down,
They drip upon man abundantly.
"Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
The thundering of His pavilion?
"Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him,
And He covers the depths of the sea.
"For by these He judges peoples;
He gives food in abundance.
"He covers His hands with the lightning,
And commands it to strike the mark.
"Its noise declares His presence;
The cattle also, concerning what is coming up.