Friday in Season after Pentecost

5Verse 5. “Look at the nations and observe— be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you. 6Verse 6. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans — that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. 7Verse 7. They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty. 8Verse 8. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour. 9Verse 9. All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand. 10Verse 10. They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it. 11Verse 11. Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.” 12Verse 12. Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have established them for correction. 13Verse 13. Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? 14Verse 14. You have made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler. 15Verse 15. The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly. 16Verse 16. Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich. 17Verse 17. Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?

21Verse 21. Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. 22Verse 22. Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. 23Verse 23. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents 24Verse 24. and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, 25Verse 25. then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you. 26Verse 26. Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. 27Verse 27. You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. 28Verse 28. Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways. 29Verse 29. When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly. 30Verse 30. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.” 1Verse 1. Then Job answered: 2Verse 2. “Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. 3Verse 3. If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat. 4Verse 4. I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. 5Verse 5. I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say. 6Verse 6. Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me. 7Verse 7. Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge. 8Verse 8. If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him. 9Verse 9. When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him. 10Verse 10. Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11Verse 11. My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside. 12Verse 12. I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread. 13Verse 13. But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. 14Verse 14. For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans. 15Verse 15. Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him. 16Verse 16. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. 17Verse 17. Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.[’’]