Thursday, October 24, 2019

Job 28

¹"There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined. ²Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. ³Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness. ⁴Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft, in places forgotten by the foot of man; far from men he dangles and sways. ⁵The earth, from which food comes, is transformed below as by fire; ⁶sapphires come from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold. ⁷No bird of prey knows that hidden path, no falcon's eye has seen it. ⁸Proud beasts do not set foot on it, and no lion prowls there. ⁹Man's hand assaults the flinty rock and lays bare the roots of the mountains. ¹⁰He tunnels through the rock; his eyes see all its treasures. ¹¹He searches the sources of the rivers and brings hidden things to light.

¹²"But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? ¹³Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living. ¹⁴The deep says, 'It is not in me'; the sea says, 'It is not with me.' ¹⁵It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver. ¹⁶It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires. ¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold. ¹⁸Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. ¹⁹The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold.

²⁰"Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? ²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air. ²²Destruction and Death say, 'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.' ²³God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, ²⁴for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. ²⁵When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, ²⁶when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, ²⁷then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it. ²⁸And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' "

Psalm 109:1–20

¹For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, ²for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. ³With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. ⁴In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. ⁵They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship. ⁶Appoint an evil man to oppose him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. ⁷When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. ⁸May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. ⁹May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. ¹⁰May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. ¹¹May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. ¹²May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. ¹³May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. ¹⁴May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. ¹⁵May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. ¹⁶For he never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted. ¹⁷He loved to pronounce a curse-- may it come on him; he found no pleasure in blessing-- may it be far from him. ¹⁸He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil. ¹⁹May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him. ²⁰May this be the LORD's payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me.

Luke 16:1–13

¹Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. ²So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'

³"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg-- ⁴I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'

⁵"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

⁶" 'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied.

"The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'

⁷"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'

" 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied.

"He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'

⁸"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. ⁹I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

¹⁰"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹²And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."