Friday, October 25, 2019

Job 29

¹Job continued his discourse:

²"How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, ³when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness! ⁴Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house, ⁵when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me, ⁶when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

⁷"When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square, ⁸the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet; ⁹the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands; ¹⁰the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. ¹¹Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, ¹²because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. ¹³The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing. ¹⁴I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. ¹⁵I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. ¹⁶I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. ¹⁷I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.

¹⁸"I thought, 'I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand. ¹⁹My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches. ²⁰My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.'

²¹"Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel. ²²After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears. ²³They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain. ²⁴When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them. ²⁵I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.

Psalm 109:21–31

²¹But you, O Sovereign LORD, deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. ²²For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. ²³I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. ²⁴My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt. ²⁵I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads. ²⁶Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love. ²⁷Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it. ²⁸They may curse, but you will bless; when they attack they will be put to shame, but your servant will rejoice. ²⁹My accusers will be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak. ³⁰With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I will praise him. ³¹For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.

Luke 16:14–31

¹⁴The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. ¹⁵He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.

¹⁶"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. ¹⁷It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

¹⁸"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

¹⁹"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

²⁵"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

²⁷"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, ²⁸for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

²⁹"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

³⁰" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

³¹"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"