The One Year Bible TLB (183 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
If you must choose, take a good name rather than great riches; for to be held in loving esteem is better than silver and gold.
August 26The speech of Zophar the Naamathite:
2
“I hasten to reply, for I have the answer for you.
3
You have tried to make me feel ashamed of myself for calling you a sinner, but my spirit won’t let me stop.
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“Don’t you realize that ever since man was first placed upon the earth,
5
the triumph of the wicked has been short-lived, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
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Though the godless be proud as the heavens and walk with his nose in the air,
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yet he shall perish forever, cast away like his own dung. Those who knew him will wonder where he has gone.
8
He will fade like a dream.
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Neither his friends nor his family will ever see him again.
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“His children shall beg from the poor, their hard labor shall repay his debts.
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Though still a young man, his bones shall lie in the dust.
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“He enjoyed the taste of his wickedness, letting it melt in his mouth,
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sipping it slowly, lest it disappear.
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“But suddenly the food he has eaten turns sour within him.
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He will vomit the plunder he gorged. God won’t let him keep it down.
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It is like poison and death to him.
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He shall not enjoy the goods he stole; they will not be butter and honey to him after all.
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His labors shall not be rewarded; wealth will give him no joy.
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For he has oppressed the poor and foreclosed their homes; he will never recover.
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Though he was always greedy, now he has nothing; of all the things he dreamed of—none remain.
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Because he stole at every opportunity, his prosperity shall not continue.
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“He shall run into trouble at the peak of his powers; all the wicked shall destroy him.
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Just as he is about to fill his belly, God will rain down wrath upon him.
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He will be chased and struck down.
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The arrow is pulled from his body—and the glittering point comes out from his gall. The terrors of death are upon him.
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“His treasures will be lost in deepest darkness. A raging fire will devour his goods, consuming all he has left.
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The heavens will reveal his sins, and the earth will give testimony against him.
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His wealth will disappear beneath the wrath of God.
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This is what awaits the wicked man, for God prepares it for him.”
21:
1
Job’s reply:
2-3
“Listen to me; let me speak, and afterwards, mock on.
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“I am complaining about God,
*
not man; no wonder my spirit is so troubled.
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Look at me in horror, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
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Even I am frightened when I see myself. Horror takes hold upon me and I shudder.
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“The truth is that the wicked live on to a good old age and become great and powerful.
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They live to see their children grow to maturity around them, and their grandchildren too.
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Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them.
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Their cattle are productive,
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they have many happy children,
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they spend their time singing and dancing. They are wealthy and need deny themselves nothing; they are prosperous to the end.
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All this despite the fact that they ordered God away and wanted no part of him and his ways.
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“‘Who is Almighty God?’ they scoff. ‘Why should we obey him? What good will it do us?’
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“Look, everything the wicked touch has turned to gold! But I refuse even to deal with people like that.
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Yet the wicked get away with it every time. They never have trouble, and God skips them when he distributes his sorrows and anger.
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Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm? Not at all!
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“‘Well,’ you say, ‘at least God will punish their children!’ But I say that God should punish the man who sins, not his children! Let him feel the penalty himself.
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Yes, let him be destroyed for his iniquity. Let him drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty.
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For when he is dead, then he will never again be able to enjoy his family.
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“But who can rebuke God, the supreme Judge?
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He destroys those who are healthy, wealthy, fat, and prosperous;
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God also destroys those in deep and grinding poverty who have never known anything good.
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Both alike are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same worms.
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“I know what you are going to say—
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you will tell me of rich and wicked men who came to disaster because of their sins.
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But I reply, Ask anyone who has been around and he can tell you the truth,
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that the evil man is usually spared in the day of calamity and allowed to escape. No one rebukes him openly. No one repays him for what he has done. And an honor guard keeps watch at his grave.
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A great funeral procession precedes and follows him as the soft earth covers him.
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How can you comfort me when your whole premise is so wrong?”
22:
1
Another address from Eliphaz:
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“Is mere man of any worth to God? Even the wisest is of value only to himself!
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Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?
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Is it because you are good that he is punishing you?
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Not at all! It is because of your wickedness! Your sins are endless!
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“For instance, you must have refused to loan money to needy friends unless they gave you all their clothing as a pledge—yes, you must have stripped them to the bone.
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You must have refused water to the thirsty and bread to the starving.
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But no doubt you gave men of importance anything they wanted and let the wealthy live wherever they chose.
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You sent widows away without helping them and broke the arms of orphans.
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That is why you are now surrounded by traps and sudden fears, and darkness and waves of horror.
12
“God is so great—higher than the heavens, higher than the stars.
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But you reply, ‘That is why he can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness?
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For thick clouds swirl about him so that he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’
15-16
“Don’t you realize that those treading the ancient paths of sin are snatched away in youth, and the foundations of their lives washed out forever?
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For they said to God, ‘Go away, God! What can you do for us?’
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(God forbid that I should say a thing like that.) Yet they forgot that he had filled their homes with good things.
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And now the righteous shall see them destroyed; the innocent shall laugh the wicked to scorn.
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‘See,’ they will say, ‘the last of our enemies have been destroyed in the fire.’
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“Quit quarreling with God! Agree with him and you will have peace at last! His favor will surround you if you will only admit that you were wrong.
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Listen to his instructions and store them in your heart.
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If you return to God and put right all the wrong in your home, then you will be restored.
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If you give up your lust for money and throw your gold away,
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then the Almighty himself shall be your treasure; he will be your precious silver!
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“Then you will delight yourself in the Lord and look up to God.
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You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill all your promises to him.
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Whatever you wish will happen! And the light of heaven will shine upon the road ahead of you.
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If you are attacked and knocked down, you will know that there is someone who will lift you up again. Yes, he will save the humble
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and help even sinners by your pure hands.”
Dear friends: This letter is from me, Paul, appointed by God to be Jesus Christ’s messenger; and from our dear brother Timothy. We are writing to all of you Christians there in Corinth and throughout Greece.
*
2
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ mightily bless each one of you and give you peace.
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What a wonderful God we have—he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.
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You can be sure that the more we undergo sufferings for Christ, the more he will shower us with his comfort and encouragement.
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We are in deep trouble for bringing you God’s comfort and salvation. But in our trouble God has comforted us—and this, too, to help you: to show you from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the strength to endure.
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I think you ought to know, dear brothers, about the hard time we went through in Asia. We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it.
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We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.
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And he did help us and saved us from a terrible death; yes, and we expect him to do it again and again.
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But you must help us too by praying for us. For much thanks and praise will go to God from you who see his wonderful answers to your prayers for our safety!
O Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me! My only hope is in your love and faithfulness.
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Otherwise I perish, for problems far too big for me to solve are piled higher than my head. Meanwhile my sins, too many to count, have all caught up with me, and I am ashamed to look up. My heart quails within me.
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Please, Lord, rescue me! Quick! Come and help me!
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Confuse them! Turn them around and send them sprawling—all these who are trying to destroy me. Disgrace these scoffers with their utter failure!
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But may the joy of the Lord be given to everyone who loves him and his salvation. May they constantly exclaim, “How great God is!”
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I am poor and weak, yet the Lord is thinking about me right now! O my God, you are my helper. You are my Savior; come quickly, and save me. Please don’t delay!
The rich and the poor are alike before the Lord who made them all.
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A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
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True humility and respect for the Lord lead a man to riches, honor, and long life.
August 27The reply of Job:
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“My complaint today is still a bitter one, and my punishment far more severe than my fault deserves.
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Oh, that I knew where to find God—that I could go to his throne and talk with him there.
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I would tell him all about my side of this argument, and listen to his reply, and understand what he wants.
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Would he merely overpower me with his greatness? No, he would listen with sympathy.
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Fair and honest men could reason with him and be acquitted by my Judge.
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“But I search in vain. I seek him here, I seek him there and cannot find him.
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I seek him in his workshop in the north but cannot find him there; nor can I find him in the south; there, too, he hides himself.
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But he knows every detail of what is happening to me; and when he has examined me, he will pronounce me completely innocent—as pure as solid gold!
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“I have stayed in God’s paths, following his steps. I have not turned aside.
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I have not refused his commandments but have enjoyed them more than my daily food.
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Nevertheless, his mind concerning me remains unchanged, and who can turn him from his purposes? Whatever he wants to do, he does.
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So he will do to me all he has planned, and there is more ahead.
*
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“No wonder I am so terrified in his presence. When I think of it, terror grips me.
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God has given me a fainting heart; he, the Almighty, has terrified me with darkness all around me, thick, impenetrable darkness everywhere.
24:
1
“Why doesn’t God open the court and listen to my case? Why must the godly wait for him in vain?
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For a crime wave has engulfed us—landmarks are moved, flocks of sheep are stolen,
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and even the donkeys of the poor and fatherless are taken. Poor widows must surrender the little they have as a pledge to get a loan.
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The needy are kicked aside; they must get out of the way.
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Like the wild donkeys in the desert, the poor must spend all their time just getting barely enough to keep soul and body together. They are sent into the desert to search for food for their children.
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They eat what they find that grows wild and must even glean the vineyards of the wicked.
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All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering.
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They are wet with the showers of the mountains and live in caves for want of a home.
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“The wicked snatch fatherless children from their mother’s breasts, and take a poor man’s baby as a pledge before they will loan him any money or grain.
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That is why they must go about naked, without clothing, and are forced to carry food while they are starving.
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They are forced to press out the olive oil without tasting it and to tread out the grape juice as they suffer from thirst.
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The bones of the dying cry from the city; the wounded cry for help; yet God does not respond to their moaning.
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“The wicked rebel against the light and are not acquainted with the right and the good.
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They are murderers who rise in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night they are thieves and adulterers, waiting for the twilight ‘when no one will see me,’ they say. They mask their faces so no one will know them.
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They break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime—they are not acquainted with the light.
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The black night is their morning; they ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.
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“But how quickly they disappear from the face of the earth. Everything they own is cursed. They leave no property for their children.
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Death consumes sinners as drought and heat consume snow.
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Even the sinner’s own mother shall forget him. Worms shall feed sweetly on him. No one will remember him anymore. For wicked men are broken like a tree in the storm.
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For they have taken advantage of the childless who have no protecting sons. They refuse to help the needy widows.
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“Yet sometimes
*
it seems as though God preserves the rich by his power and restores them to life when anyone else would die. God gives them confidence and strength, and helps them in many ways.
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But though they are very great now, yet in a moment they shall be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain.
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Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me a liar and claim that I am wrong?”
25:
1
The further reply of Bildad the Shuhite:
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“God is powerful and dreadful. He enforces peace in heaven.
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Who is able to number his hosts of angels? And his light shines down on all the earth.
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How can mere man stand before God and claim to be righteous? Who in all the earth can boast that he is clean?
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God is so glorious that even the moon and stars are less than nothing as compared to him.
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How much less is man, who is but a worm in his sight?”
26:
1
Job’s reply:
2
“What wonderful helpers you all are! And how you have encouraged me in my great need!
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How you have enlightened my stupidity! What wise things you have said!
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How did you ever think of all these brilliant comments?
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“The dead stand naked, trembling before God in the place where they go.
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God stretches out heaven over empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing.
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He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds are not split by the weight.
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He shrouds his throne with his clouds.
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He sets a boundary for the ocean, yes, and a boundary for the day and for the night.
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The pillars of heaven tremble at his rebuke.
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And by his power the sea grows calm; he is skilled at crushing its pride!
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The heavens are made beautiful by his Spirit;
*
he pierces the swiftly gliding serpent.
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“These are some of the minor things he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who then can withstand his thunder?”
27:
1
Job’s final defense:
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“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, even the Almighty God who has embittered my soul,
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that as long as I live, while I have breath from God,
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my lips shall speak no evil, my tongue shall speak no lies.
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I will never, never agree that you are right; until I die I will vow my innocence.
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I am
not
a sinner—I repeat it again and again. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.
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Those who declare otherwise are my wicked enemies. They are evil men.
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“But what hope has the godless when God cuts him off and takes away his life?
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Will God listen to his cry when trouble comes upon him?
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For he does not delight himself in the Almighty or pay any attention to God except in times of crisis.
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“I will teach you about God—
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but really, I don’t need to, for you yourselves know as much about him as I do; yet you are saying all these useless things to me.
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“This is the fate awaiting the wicked from the hand of the Almighty:
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If he has a multitude of children, it is so that they will die in war or starve to death.
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Those who survive shall be brought down to the grave by disease and plague, with no one to mourn them, not even their wives.
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“The evil man may accumulate money like dust, with closets jammed full of clothing—
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yes, he may order them made by his tailor, but the innocent shall wear that clothing and shall divide his silver among them.
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Every house built by the wicked is as fragile as a spider web, as full of cracks as a leafy booth!
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“He goes to bed rich but wakes up to find that all his wealth is gone.
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Terror overwhelms him, and he is blown away in the storms of the night.
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The east wind carries him away, and he is gone. It sweeps him into eternity.
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For God shall hurl at him unsparingly. He longs to flee from God.
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Everyone will cheer at his death and boo him into eternity.”
We are so glad that we can say with utter honesty that in all our dealings we have been pure and sincere, quietly depending upon the Lord for his help and not on our own skills. And that is even more true, if possible, about the way we have acted toward you.
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My letters have been straightforward and sincere; nothing is written between the lines! And even though you don’t know me very well (I hope someday you will), I want you to try to accept me and be proud of me as you already are to some extent; just as I shall be of you on that day when our Lord Jesus comes back again.
15-16
It was because I was so sure of your understanding and trust that I planned to stop and see you on my way to Macedonia, as well as afterwards when I returned, so that I could be a double blessing to you and so that you could send me on my way to Judea.
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Then why, you may be asking, did I change my plan? Hadn’t I really made up my mind yet? Or am I like a man of the world who says yes when he really means no?
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Never! As surely as God is true, I am not that sort of person. My yes means yes.
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Timothy and Silvanus and I have been telling you about Jesus Christ the Son of God. He isn’t one to say yes when he means no. He always does exactly what he says.
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He carries out and fulfills all of God’s promises, no matter how many of them there are; and we have told everyone how faithful he is, giving glory to his name.
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It is this God who has made you and me into faithful Christians and commissioned us apostles to preach the Good News.
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He has put his brand upon us—his mark of ownership—and given us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to him and as the first installment of all that he is going to give us.
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I call upon this God to witness against me if I am not telling the absolute truth: the reason I haven’t come to visit you yet is that I don’t want to sadden you with a severe rebuke.
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When I come, although I can’t do much to help your faith, for it is strong already, I want to be able to do something about your joy: I want to make you happy, not sad.
2:
1
“No,” I said to myself, “I won’t do it. I’ll not make them unhappy with another painful visit.”
2
For if I make you sad, who is going to make me happy? You are the ones to do it, and how can you if I cause you pain?
3
That is why I wrote as I did in my last letter, so that you will get things straightened out before I come.
*
Then, when I do come, I will not be made sad by the very ones who ought to give me greatest joy. I felt sure that your happiness was so bound up in mine that you would not be happy either unless I came with joy.
4
Oh, how I hated to write that letter! It almost broke my heart, and I tell you honestly that I cried over it. I didn’t want to hurt you, but I had to show you how very much I loved you and cared about what was happening to you.
5-6
Remember that the man I wrote about, who caused all the trouble, has not caused sorrow to me as much as to all the rest of you—though I certainly have my share in it too. I don’t want to be harder on him than I should. He has been punished enough by your united disapproval.
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Now it is time to forgive him and comfort him. Otherwise he may become so bitter and discouraged that he won’t be able to recover.
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Please show him now that you still do love him very much.
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I wrote to you as I did so that I could find out how far you would go in obeying me.
10
When you forgive anyone, I do too. And whatever I have forgiven (to the extent that this affected me too) has been by Christ’s authority, and for your good.
11
A further reason for forgiveness is to keep from being outsmarted by Satan, for we know what he is trying to do.