Job 25-27

English Standard Version

Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous

25 Then ^(A)Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“Dominion and fear are with God;^[a]
    he makes peace in his high heaven.
³Is there any number to his ^(B)armies?
    Upon whom does his ^(C)light not arise?
⁴How then can man be ^(D)in the right before God?
    How can he who is ^(E)born of woman be ^(F)pure?
⁵Behold, even the moon is not bright,
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
⁶^(G)how much less man, who is ^(H)a maggot,
    and ^(I)the son of man, who is a worm!”

Job Replies: God's Majesty Is Unsearchable

26 Then Job answered and said:

²“How you have ^(J)helped him who has no power!
    How you have saved ^(K)the arm that has no strength!
³How you have ^(L)counseled him who has no wisdom,
    and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
⁴With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose breath ^(M)has come out from you?
⁵The ^(N)dead tremble
    under the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶Sheol is ^(O)naked before God,^[b]
    and ^(P)Abaddon has no covering.
⁷He ^(Q)stretches out the north over ^(R)the void
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸He ^(S)binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not split open under them.
⁹He covers the face of the full moon^[c]
    and ^(T)spreads over it his cloud.
¹⁰He has inscribed ^(U)a circle on the face of the waters
    at the boundary between light and darkness.
¹¹^(V)The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his ^(W)rebuke.
¹²By his power he ^(X)stilled the sea;
    by his understanding he shattered ^(Y)Rahab.
¹³^(Z)By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced ^(AA)the fleeing serpent.
¹⁴Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ^(AB)ways,
    and how small ^(AC)a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Job Continues: I Will Maintain My Integrity

27 And Job again ^(AD)took up his discourse, and said:

²“As God lives, who has ^(AE)taken away my right,
    and the Almighty, who has ^(AF)made my soul bitter,
³as long as my breath is in me,
    and ^(AG)the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴my lips will not speak ^(AH)falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter ^(AI)deceit.
⁵Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    till I die I will not put away my ^(AJ)integrity from me.
⁶I ^(AK)hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart does not ^(AL)reproach me for any of my days.

⁷“Let my enemy be as the wicked,
    and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
⁸^(AM)For what is the hope of the godless ^(AN)when God cuts him off,
    when God takes away his life?
⁹^(AO)Will God hear his cry
    when distress comes upon him?
¹⁰Will he ^(AP)take delight in the Almighty?
    Will he call upon God at all times?
¹¹I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    ^(AQ)what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹²Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³^(AR)“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
    and the heritage that ^(AS)oppressors receive from the Almighty:
¹⁴If his ^(AT)children are multiplied, it is for ^(AU)the sword,
    and his descendants have not enough bread.
¹⁵Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
    and his ^(AV)widows do not weep.
¹⁶Though he ^(AW)heap up silver like dust,
    and pile up clothing like clay,
¹⁷he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
    and ^(AX)the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸He builds his ^(AY)house like a moth's,
    like ^(AZ)a booth that ^(BA)a watchman makes.
¹⁹He goes to bed rich, but will ^(BB)do so no more;
    he opens his eyes, and ^(BC)his wealth is gone.
²⁰^(BD)Terrors overtake him like ^(BE)a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind ^(BF)carries him off.
²¹^(BG)The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
    it ^(BH)sweeps him out of his place.
²²It^[d] hurls at him ^(BI)without pity;
    he flees from its^[e] power in headlong flight.
²³It ^(BJ)claps its hands at him
    and ^(BK)hisses at him from its place.

Footnotes

Job 25:2 Hebrew him
Job 26:6 Hebrew him
Job 26:9 Or his throne
Job 27:22 Or He (that is, God); also verse 23
Job 27:22 Or his; also verse 23

1 Corinthians 9

English Standard Version

Paul Surrenders His Rights

9 ^(A)Am I not free? ^(B)Am I not an apostle? ^(C)Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? ^(D)Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? ²If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are ^(E)the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³This is my defense to those who would examine me. ⁴^(F)Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ⁵^(G)Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,^[a] as do the other apostles and ^(H)the brothers of the Lord and ^(I)Cephas? ⁶Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? ⁷^(J)Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? ^(K)Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

⁸Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? ⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses, ^(L)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written ^(M)for our sake, because ^(N)the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. ¹¹^(O)If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹²If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, ^(P)we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything ^(Q)rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. ¹³Do you not know that ^(R)those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord commanded that ^(S)those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

¹⁵But ^(T)I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ^(U)deprive me of my ground for boasting. ¹⁶For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For ^(V)necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with ^(W)a stewardship. ¹⁸What then is my reward? That in my preaching ^(X)I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹For ^(Y)though I am free from all, ^(Z)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might ^(AA)win more of them. ²⁰^(AB)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹To ^(AC)those outside the law I became ^(AD)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but ^(AE)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ²²^(AF)To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. ^(AG)I have become all things to all people, that ^(AH)by all means I might save some. ²³I do it all for the sake of the gospel, ^(AI)that I may share with them in its blessings.

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives ^(AJ)the prize? So ^(AK)run that you may obtain it. ²⁵Every ^(AL)athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we ^(AM)an imperishable. ²⁶So I do not run aimlessly; I ^(AN)do not box as one ^(AO)beating the air. ²⁷But I discipline my body and ^(AP)keep it under control,^[b] lest after preaching to others ^(AQ)I myself should be ^(AR)disqualified.