“Bildad’s First Response to Job Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:
2 “How long will you go on like this? You sound like a blustering wind. 3 Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right? 4 Your children must have sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved. 5 But if you pray to God and seek the favor of the Almighty, 6 and if you are pure and live with integrity, he will surely rise up and restore your happy home. 7 And though you started with little, you will end with much.
8 “Just ask the previous generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors. 9 For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow. 10 But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you the wisdom of old.
11 “Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh? Can marsh grass flourish without water? 12 While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass. 13 The same happens to all who forget God. The hopes of the godless evaporate. 14 Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web. 15 They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure. 16 The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden. 17 Its roots grow down through a pile of stones; it takes hold on a bed of rocks. 18 But when it is uprooted, it’s as though it never existed! 19 That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.
20 “But look, God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he lend a hand to the wicked. 21 He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. 22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.””
job 9
“Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad Then Job spoke again:
2 “Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight? 3 If someone wanted to take God to court,[a] would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times? 4 For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?
5 “Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble. 7 If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine. 8 He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. 9 He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky. 10 He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.
11 “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go. 12 If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ 13 And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea[b] are crushed beneath his feet.
14 “So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him? 15 Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy. 16 And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me. 17 For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause. 18 He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows. 19 If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one. If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him[c] to court? 20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it[d] would prove me wicked.
21 “I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life. 22 Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ 23 When a plague[e] sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent. 24 The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges. If he’s not the one who does it, who is?
25 “My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness. 26 It disappears like a swift papyrus boat, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. 27 If I decided to forget my complaints, to put away my sad face and be cheerful, 28 I would still dread all the pain, for I know you will not find me innocent, O God. 29 Whatever happens, I will be found guilty. So what’s the use of trying? 30 Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye, 31 you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me.
32 “God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. 33 If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together. 34 The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment. 35 Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength.”
job 10
“Job Frames His Plea to God “I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. My bitter soul must complain. 2 I will say to God, ‘Don’t simply condemn me— tell me the charge you are bringing against me. 3 What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while smiling on the schemes of the wicked? 4 Are your eyes like those of a human? Do you see things only as people see them? 5 Is your lifetime only as long as ours? Is your life so short 6 that you must quickly probe for my guilt and search for my sin? 7 Although you know I am not guilty, no one can rescue me from your hands.
8 “‘You formed me with your hands; you made me, yet now you completely destroy me. 9 Remember that you made me from dust— will you turn me back to dust so soon? 10 You guided my conception and formed me in the womb.[a] 11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. 12 You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.
13 “‘Yet your real motive— your true intent— 14 was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my guilt. 15 If I am guilty, too bad for me; and even if I’m innocent, I can’t hold my head high, because I am filled with shame and misery. 16 And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion and display your awesome power against me. 17 Again and again you witness against me. You pour out your growing anger on me and bring fresh armies against me.
18 “‘Why, then, did you deliver me from my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth? 19 It would be as though I had never existed, going directly from the womb to the grave. 20 I have only a few days left, so leave me alone, that I may have a moment of comfort 21 before I leave—never to return— for the land of darkness and utter gloom. 22 It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of gloom and confusion, where even the light is dark as midnight.’””
ENCOURAGEMENT
mark 10
“Discussion about Divorce and Marriage Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again crowds gathered around him, and as usual he was teaching them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus answered them with a question: “What did Moses say in the law about divorce?”
4 “Well, he permitted it,” they replied. “He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away.”[a]
5 But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts. 6 But ‘God made them male and female’[b] from the beginning of creation. 7 ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife,[c] 8 and the two are united into one.’[d] Since they are no longer two but one, 9 let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
10 Later, when he was alone with his disciples in the house, they brought up the subject again. 11 He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries someone else, she commits adultery.”
Jesus Blesses the Children 13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.
The Rich Man 17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’[e]”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard[f] to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
27 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
28 Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.[g]”
Jesus Again Predicts His Death 32 They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. 33 “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man[h] will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans.[i] 34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.”
Jesus Teaches about Serving Others 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”
36 “What is your request?” he asked.
37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”
38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus 46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My Rabbi,[j]” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.”
