the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
January 12 - Old & New Testament
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Job 8,9,10
Bildad Speaks
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words(a) are a blast of wind.(b)
3 Does God pervert justice?(c)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?(d)
4 Since your children sinned against Him,
He gave them over to their rebellion.
5 But if you earnestly seek(e) God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,(f)
6 if you are pure and upright,
then He will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.(g)
7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.(h)
8 For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,(i)
9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are but a shadow.(j)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and speak from their understanding?
11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Do reeds flourish without water?
12 While still uncut shoots,
they would dry up quicker than any other plant.
13 Such is the destiny[a] of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless(k) will perish.
14 His source of confidence is fragile;[b]
what he trusts in is a spider's web.(l)
15 He leans on his web, but it doesn't stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.
16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;
his shoots spread out over his garden.
17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.
18 If he is uprooted[c] from his place,
it will deny knowing him, saying, "I never saw you."(m)
19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.
20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and He will not support evildoers.(n)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.(o)
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame;(p)
the tent(q) of the wicked will exist no longer.
Job's Reply to Bildad
1 Then Job answered:
2 Yes, I know what you've said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?(a)
3 If one wanted to take(b) Him to court,
he could not answer God[a] once in a thousand times.(c)
4 God is wise(d) and all-powerful.
Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?
5 He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overturning them in His anger.(e)
6 He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.(f)
8 He alone stretches out the heavens(g)
and treads on the waves of the sea.[b]
9 He makes the stars: the Bear,[c] Orion,
the Pleiades,(h) and the constellations[d] of the southern sky.
10 He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.(i)
11 If He passes by me, I wouldn't see Him;(j)
if He goes right by, I wouldn't recognize Him.
12 If He snatches something, who can stop[e] Him?
Who can ask Him, "What are You doing?"(k)
13 God does not hold back His anger;
Rahab's(l) assistants cringe in fear beneath Him!
14 How then can I answer Him
or choose my arguments against Him?
15 Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.(m)
16 If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.
17 He batters me with a whirlwind(n)
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He doesn't let me catch my breath
but soaks me with bitter experiences.
19 If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One!(o)
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon(p) Him?[f]
20 Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;(q)
if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.
21 Though I am blameless,
I no longer care about myself;
I renounce my life.(r)
22 It is all the same. Therefore I say,
"He destroys both the blameless and the wicked."(s)
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
He mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth[g] is handed over to the wicked;
He blindfolds[h] its judges.(t)
If it isn't He, then who is it?
25 My days fly by faster than a runner;[i](u)
they flee without seeing any good.(v)
26 They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.(w)
27 If I said, "I will forget my complaint,
change my expression, and smile,"
28 I would still live in terror of all my pains.(x)
I know You will not acquit me.(y)
29 Since I will be found guilty,(z)
why should I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then You dip me in a pit of mud,
and my own clothes despise me!
32 For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,(aa)
that we can take each other to court.
33 There is no one to judge between us,
to lay his hand on both of us.
34 Let Him take His rod away from me
so His terror will no longer frighten me.(ab)
35 Then I would speak and not fear Him.
But that is not the case; I am on my own.
1 I am disgusted with my life.(a)
I will express my complaint
and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God:
"Do not declare me guilty!
Let me know why You prosecute me.
3 Is it good for You to oppress,
to reject the work of Your hands,
and favor[a] the plans of the wicked?
4 Do You have eyes of flesh,
or do You see as a human sees?
5 Are Your days like those of a human,
or Your years like those of a man,(b)
6 that You look for my wrongdoing(c)
and search for my sin,
7 even though You know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
8 "Your hands shaped me and formed me.
Will You now turn and destroy me?
9 Please remember that You formed me like clay.
Will You now return me to dust?(d)
10 Did You not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and wove me together with bones and tendons.
12 You gave me life and faithful love,
and Your care has guarded my life.
13 "Yet You concealed these thoughts in Your heart;
I know that this was Your hidden plan:[b]
14 if I sin, You would notice,[c]
and would not acquit me of my wrongdoing.(e)
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am filled with shame
and aware of my affliction.(f)
16 If I am proud,[d] You hunt me like a lion
and again display Your miraculous power against me.(g)
17 You produce new witnesses[e] against me
and multiply Your anger toward me.
Hardships assault me, wave after wave.[f]
18 "Why did You bring me out of the womb?(h)
I should have died and never been seen.
19 I wish[g] I had never existed
but had been carried from the womb to the grave.(i)
20 Are my days not few? Stop it![h]
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little
21 before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,(j)
never to return.
22 It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like[i] the darkness."
Matthew 9:1-17
Chapter 9
The Son of Man Forgives and Heals
1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town.(a) 2 Just then(b) some men[a] brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, "Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven." (c)
3 At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, "He's blaspheming!"(d)
4 But perceiving their thoughts,(e) Jesus said, "Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?[b] 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Get up and walk'? 6 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" —then He told the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your mat, and go home." 7 And he got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck[c][d] and gave glory(f) to God who had given such authority to men.
The Call of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there,(g) He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, "Follow Me!" So he got up and followed Him.(h)
10 While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat[e] with Jesus and His disciples.(i) 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"(j)
12 But when He heard this, He said, "Those who are well don't need a doctor, but the sick do.(k) 13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. (l)[f] For I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners." [g]
A Question about Fasting
14 Then John's disciples came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"(m)
15 Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests[h] be sad while the groom is with them? The time[i] will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. 17 And no one puts[j] new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
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