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Job replies to Eliphaz[a]
16 Then Job replied. This is what he said:
2 ‘I have heard all these things before.
You are not making my troubles any better.
You are making them worse!
3 Please stop speaking useless words.
Why do you talk to me like that?
4 If you were suffering like I am,
I could say the same things to you.
I could speak for a long time
about the wrong things that you have done.
I could shake my head
and laugh at you.
5 But, instead, I would help you to be strong.
I would say things to comfort you.
6 But now, if I speak,
my pain does not become any better.
If I stop speaking,
my pain continues to be there.
7 God, you have made me very weak.
You have destroyed my family.
8 You have taken hold of me.
Because of my troubles,
people think that I am guilty.
Because my body is so thin,
people think that I have done bad things.
9 God attacks me and he punishes me because he is angry.
He shows his anger like a wild animal.
He has become my enemy.
10 People insult me and they laugh at me.
They hit me on my face.
They all join together to attack me.
11 God has allowed evil men to take hold of me.
He has put me under the power of wicked men.
12 I was living in peace,
but then God destroyed me.
He took hold of my neck
and he shook me to pieces.
He decided to shoot his arrows at me.
13 His arrows come from all around me.
They go deep into my body
and my blood pours out on the ground.
But God still does not feel sorry for me.
14 He attacks me again and again.
He rushes to attack me like a strong fighter.
15 I have used sackcloth to make my clothes.[b]
I am no longer proud of my strength,
and I sit in the dust.
16 I have cried so much that my face is red.
There are dark circles around my eyes.
17 But I have not been cruel.
And when I pray, I speak honestly to God.
18 The earth should not hide my blood!
People should remember how I have suffered.
They should not forget that I asked for justice.
19 But even now, I know that I have a friend in heaven.
He knows that I am not guilty.
He speaks on my behalf.
20 My friends have turned against me.
I cry with many tears as I pray to God.
21 I need someone to speak to God on my behalf.
He should ask God not to punish me,
as someone might try to help his friends.
22 I only have a few more years to live.
I will die and I will never again return to this earth.
Job continues to speak
17 I am very weak and I will soon die.
Then my friends will bury me in my grave.
2 All around me, people are laughing at me.
I have to watch them as they insult me.
3 God, please help me to become free again.
Nobody else will pay the price to do that for me.
4 You have stopped my friends from thinking properly.
So do not allow them to win the argument.
5 People may turn against their friends
to get things for themselves.
If they do that, their children should become blind.
6 You have caused people to insult me,
like that proverb says.
People even spit at my face.
7 I have cried so much that my eyes have become weak.
My body is so thin that I am like a shadow.
8 Good people are upset,
when they see what is happening to me.
They are angry with those who turn away from you.
9 Righteous people continue to do things that are right.
People who do good things become stronger.
10 But you, my friends, come here!
Try again to help me, all of you!
I will not find a wise man among you.
11 I will not live for many more days.
I will never do the things that I wanted to do.
12 My friends say, “It is day”,
when it is still night.
They do not know the difference between light and dark.
13 The only home that I hope to go to is my grave.
I will lie down to sleep there in the dark.
14 I will say to the grave,
“You are my father.”
I will say to the worms that eat me,
“Hello, my mother. Hello, my sister.”
15 I can hope for nothing that is better than that.
No one can find anything better for me.
16 When I go to the world of dead people,
all my hope will have finished.
Everything that I had hoped for will lie with me in the dust.’
Bildad speaks to Job again[c]
18 Then Bildad, the man from Shuah, replied. This is what he said:
2 ‘You should not continue to talk like that!
Stop and think carefully. Then we can talk.
3 You should not think that we are as foolish as cows.
4 You are so angry that you are hurting yourself.
You will never change the way that things happen in the world.
Your anger will not cause the earth to shake,
or any rocks to move from their places.
What happens to wicked people
5 The light of a wicked person's life will stop shining.
His fire will no longer burn brightly.
6 His tent will be dark.
The lamp that gives him light will stop burning.
7 Once he was strong
but now his legs are weak.
His own ideas cause him to fall down.
8 He does not know where he is going
and he walks into a dangerous trap.
9 A trap catches his foot
and he cannot move.
10 Someone has hidden a rope on the ground.
It catches him as he walks along.
11 Everywhere a wicked person goes,
things frighten him.
He cannot escape from them.
12 Now he is hungry
and his strength has disappeared.
Terrible trouble is ready to take hold of him
whenever it has the chance.
13 A bad disease eats his skin.
It causes his arms and his legs to become useless
and he dies.
14 Then he has to leave his tent
where he had lived safely.
He will have to meet the terrible king of death.
15 Other people will live in his tent.
They have used sulphur to burn all his things.[d]
16 He is like a tree whose roots have become dry,
and its branches have fallen off.
17 Nobody remembers that he ever lived.
They have forgotten his name.
18 The wicked person has had to leave this world.
He has gone from a place where there is light
to a place where it is dark.
19 He has no children or grandchildren.
He has no family to live in his home.
20 All people are very upset
when they see what has happened to him.
Wherever they live,
they are very upset.
21 I know that this is what happens to the homes of evil people.
It happens to people who turn away from God.’
Job replies to Bildad[e]
19 Then Job replied. This is what he said:
2 ‘Please stop speaking to me like that!
Your words continue to make me suffer.
3 You have insulted me many, many times.
You should be ashamed to attack me like that.
4 I might have done things that are wrong.
But even if that might be true,
those wrong things have not hurt you.
5 You think that you are better people than I am.
Because I have all these troubles,
you say that I must be guilty.
6 But you should realize that God has caused all my troubles.
He is the one who has caught me in his trap.
7 If I shout, “Help me, I am in trouble!”
nobody answers me.
I shout to get help,
but nobody comes to give me justice.
8 God has stopped me
so that I cannot move forward.
He has made my path dark
so that I cannot see the way to go.
9 He has taken away my honour
so that nobody respects me.
10 Everywhere that I go, God is there to attack me.
He is ready to destroy me.
He has taken away my hope,
as if he has dug a tree out of the ground.
11 He is very angry against me.
He attacks me as if I am his enemy.
12 His whole army is coming to attack me!
They build a road so that they can reach me.
They are all around me.
13 God has caused my brothers to stay away from me.
My friends do not want to meet me.
14 My relatives have left me.
My best friends have forgotten me.
15 Visitors who stayed in my house
now think that I am a stranger.
Even my servants think that I am a foreigner.
16 I tell my servant to come to me
but he does not come.
I ask him to help me,
but he does nothing.
17 My wife moves away from the smell of my breath.
My brothers stay away from me.
18 Even young children insult me.
When I stand up, they laugh at me.
19 My best friends hate me.
People that I love have turned against me.
20 My body is now only skin and bones.
I still breathe but I am only just alive.
21 Please be kind to me, my friends.
God has caused me to suffer,
so please be kind to me.
22 Do not punish me as God is punishing me.
You have already caused me to suffer enough.
23 Someone should write down the words that I speak.
My words should be written on a scroll.
24 If someone uses an iron tool to write them on a rock,
that would be good.
Then they would never disappear.
25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.[f]
I know that, in the end, he will stand on the earth.
26 Illness may completely destroy my skin.
But after that happens,
I know that in this body I will see God.
27 I will see him for myself,
with my own eyes.
It makes me feel weak inside as I think about it!
28 My friends, you should not think of ways to make me suffer even more.
You say that I have caused my own trouble.
29 Instead, you yourselves should be afraid of punishment!
When God is angry with someone,
he punishes that person.
Then you will know that he is the one who judges people.’
Help for God's people
16 You asked me about the money that you want to give to God's people at Jerusalem. You should do it in the same way that I told the churches in Galatia.[a] 2 On the first day of every week, each of you should put some of your money in a safe place. Think about how much God has given you. Then decide how much you can give each week. If you do that, the gift will be ready when I come to you. We will not need to start doing it after I come. 3 When I arrive there, you should choose people from your group who will take your gift to Jerusalem. I will write some letters that they will take with them. The letters will explain about your gift. 4 I may also go myself, if that seems the right thing for me to do. Then they can travel with me.
5 But I must travel through Macedonia first.[b] After I have been to Macedonia, then I will come to you. 6 I will probably remain with you for some time. I may even stay for the whole winter. Then you can help me to continue my journey to the next place. I am not sure yet where that may be. 7 If I come now, I would only have a short time with you. But I want to stay with you for a longer time, if the Lord will let me do that. 8 So I will remain here at Ephesus city until the Pentecost festival.[c] 9 God has given me the chance to do a great work here. But many people are against what I am doing.
10 If Timothy comes to you, please take care of him. Make sure that you welcome him. He is doing the Lord's work, as I am also doing. 11 So you should all respect him properly. When he is ready to leave, help him with the things that he needs. Then he can continue his journey and come to me here. I am waiting for him to come with the other believers.
12 As for our Christian friend Apollos, I wanted him to visit you. I have often told him to come to you together with the other believers. But he does not think that this is the right time. He will come to you when he has the chance.
Paul finishes his letter
13 Watch carefully for danger. Never stop trusting God. Continue to be brave and strong. 14 Whatever you do, do it with love.
15 My Christian friends, you know about Stephanas and his family. They were the first people in Achaia to become Christians.[d] They have worked hard as God's servants to help his people. So I say this to you. 16 You must respect people like them. Do what they say. And also respect everyone who works hard to serve God together with them.
17 I was very happy when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived here. You could not be here yourselves, but they have taken your place. 18 They have helped me to feel stronger, as they also did for you. You should recognize the authority of people like them.
19 The churches here in Asia region say ‘hello’ to you. Aquila and Priscilla, and the group of believers that meets in their house, also say ‘hello’ to you. They love you because you belong to the Lord, as they do. 20 All the Christians here say ‘hello’ to you.
When you meet, kiss each other as Christian brothers and sisters.
21 I, Paul, am writing these words at the end of this letter with my own hand. I say ‘hello’ to you.
22 If anyone among you does not really love the Lord, I pray that God will curse that person.
Our Lord, come now! We are waiting for you!
23 I pray that the Lord Jesus will continue to be kind to all of you.
24 I love all of you who belong to Christ Jesus, as I do.
David wrote this song for the music leader.
God has helped me[a]
40 I was patient while I waited for the Lord to help me.
He turned towards me,
and he heard me when I called to him.
2 He lifted me out of the deep hole of danger.
He picked me up out of the mud.
He put my feet on a rock.
Then I could walk and not slip.
3 He gave me a new song to sing.
It was a song to praise our God.
Many people will see what God has done to help me.
Then they will respect and obey him.
Yes, they will trust in the Lord.
4 If anyone trusts in the Lord
he blesses them!
They do not expect proud people to help them.
They do not join with those people who worship false gods.
5 Lord, my God, you have done many great things.
You have done so many things for us
that we cannot count them!
There is nobody else like you!
I want to talk about the things that you have done,
but there are too many things to speak about!
6 You do not really want sacrifices and offerings.
I understand that!
You do not ask for burnt offerings
or sin offerings.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am, my God!
The message that is written in the book
tells me what I must do.[b]
8 I want to do what pleases you.
Your law is always in my thoughts.’
9 In the great meeting of your people,
I have told them about your justice.
I cannot keep quiet!
You know that this is true, Lord.
10 I have not hidden the good news about your justice.
I have told everyone that they can trust you,
and that you have the power to save.
I tell the great meeting of your people about your faithful love.
22 It is better to receive honour from people than to be very rich.
If people respect you, that is better than silver or gold.
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