Job 40

New American Standard Bible

Job Says What Can I Say?

40 Then the Lord said to Job,

²“Will the faultfinder ^(A)contend with the Almighty?
Let him who ^(B)rebukes God ^[a]give an answer.”

³Then Job answered the Lord and said,

⁴“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I say in response to You?
I ^(C)put my hand on my mouth.
⁵I have spoken once, and ^(D)I will not reply;
Or twice, and I will add nothing more.”

God Questions Job

⁶Then the ^(E)Lord answered Job from the whirlwind and said,

⁷“Now ^[b]^(F)tighten the belt on your waist like a man;
I will ^(G)ask you, and you instruct Me.
⁸Will you really ^(H)nullify My judgment?
Will you ^(I)condemn Me ^(J)so that you may be justified?
⁹Or do you have an arm like God,
And can you ^(K)thunder with a voice like His?

¹⁰“^(L)Adorn yourself with pride and dignity,
And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.
¹¹Let out your ^(M)outbursts of anger,
And look at everyone who is ^(N)arrogant, and humble him.
¹²Look at everyone who is arrogant, and ^(O)humble him,
And ^(P)trample down the wicked ^[c]where they stand.
¹³^(Q)Hide them together in the dust;
Imprison ^[d]them in the hidden place.
¹⁴Then I will also ^[e]confess to you,
That your own right hand can save you.

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

¹⁵“Behold, ^[f]Behemoth, which ^(R)I made ^[g]as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.
¹⁶Behold, his strength in his waist,
And his power in the muscles of his belly.
¹⁷He hangs his tail like a cedar;
The tendons of his thighs are knit together.
¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze;
His ^[h]limbs are like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is the ^(S)first of the ways of God;
Let his ^(T)Maker bring His sword near.
²⁰Indeed the ^[i]mountains ^(U)bring him food,
And all the animals of the field ^(V)play there.
²¹He lies down under the lotus plants,
In the hiding place of the reeds and the marsh.
²²The lotus plants cover him with ^[j]shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
²³If a river ^[k]rages, he is not alarmed;
He is confident, though the ^(W)Jordan rushes to his mouth.
²⁴Can anyone capture him ^[l]when he is on watch,
Can anyone pierce his nose with barbs?

Footnotes

Job 40:2 Lit answer it
Job 40:7 I.e., as if for battle
Job 40:12 Lit under them
Job 40:13 Lit their faces
Job 40:14 Or praise you
Job 40:15 I.e., a powerful animal, possibly a hippopotamus
Job 40:15 Lit with you
Job 40:18 Lit bones
Job 40:20 I.e., the mountain streams
Job 40:22 Lit his shade
Job 40:23 Or oppresses
Job 40:24 Lit in his eyes

Proverbs 5:15-23

New American Standard Bible

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
And ^[a]fresh water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your ^(A)springs overflow into the street,
Streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷Let them be yours alone,
And not for strangers with you.
¹⁸Let your ^(B)fountain be blessed,
And ^(C)rejoice in the ^(D)wife of your youth.
¹⁹Like a loving ^(E)doe and a graceful mountain goat,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be ^[b]exhilarated always with her love.
²⁰For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ^[c]^(F)adulteress,
And embrace the breasts of a ^(G)foreigner?
²¹For the ^(H)ways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ^(I)observes all his paths.
²²His ^(J)own wrongdoings will trap the wicked,
And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.
²³He will ^(K)die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 5:15 Lit flowing
Proverbs 5:19 Lit intoxicated
Proverbs 5:20 Lit strange woman

Matthew 13:1-23

New American Standard Bible

Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 On that day Jesus had gone out of ^(A)the house and was sitting ^(B)by the sea. ²And large crowds gathered to Him, so ^(C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³And He told them many things in ^(D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Others fell ^[a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a ^(E)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. ⁹^(F)The one who has ears, ^[b]let him hear.”

An Explanation for Parables

¹⁰And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹And ^[c]Jesus answered them, “^(G)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ¹²^(H)For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^(I)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴And ^[d]in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘^[e]^(J)You shall keep on listening, ^[f]but shall not understand;
And ^[g]you shall keep on looking, ^[h]but shall not perceive;
¹⁵^(K)For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their heart, and return,
And I would heal them.’

¹⁶^(L)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷For truly I say to you that ^(M)many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Sower Explained

¹⁸“^(N)Listen then to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears ^(O)the ^[i]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(P)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. ²⁰The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the ^[j]word, immediately he ^[k]^(Q)falls away. ²²And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of ^(R)the ^[l]world and the ^(S)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it ^[m]becomes unfruitful. ²³But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some ^(T)a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”