One Year Bible

Job 31:1-33:33

Job’s Final Appeal

1 “ I have made a covenant with my eyes.

How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?

2 For what is the allotment of God from above,

or the heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Does not disaster come to the unjust

and calamity to the workers of iniquity?

4 Does He not see my ways

and count my every step?

5 If I have walked in falsehood

or my foot has rushed to deceit,

6 let God weigh me with honest scales,

that He may know my integrity.

7 If my steps have turned from the path,

if my heart has followed my eyes,

or if impurity has stuck to my hands,

8 then may another eat what I have sown,

and may my crops be uprooted.

9 If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife,

or I have lurked at his door,

10 then may my own wife grind grain for another,

and may other men sleep with her.

11 For that would be a heinous crime,

an iniquity to be judged.

12 For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon;

it would root out my entire harvest.

13 If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant

when they made a complaint against me,

14 what will I do when God rises to judge?

How will I answer when called to account?

15 Did not He who made me in the womb also make them?

Did not the same One form us in the womb?

16 If I have denied the desires of the poor

or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

17 if I have eaten my morsel alone,

not sharing it with the fatherless —

18 though from my youth I reared him as would a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow —

19 if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing,

or a needy man without a cloak,

20 if his heart has not blessed me

for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,

21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless

because I saw that I had support in the gate,

22 then may my arm fall from my shoulder

and be torn from its socket.

23 For calamity from God terrifies me,

and His splendor I cannot overpower.

24 If I have put my trust in gold

or called pure gold my security,

25 if I have rejoiced in my great wealth

because my hand had gained so much,

26 if I have beheld the sun in its radiance

or the moon moving in splendor,

27 so that my heart was secretly enticed

and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

28 this would also be an iniquity to be judged,

for I would have denied God on high.

29 If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin,

or exulted when evil befell him —

30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin

by asking for his life with a curse —

31 if the men of my house have not said,

‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—

32 but no stranger had to lodge on the street,

for my door has been open to the traveler —

33 if I have covered my transgressions like Adam

by hiding my guilt in my heart,

34 because I greatly feared the crowds

and the contempt of the clans terrified me,

so that I kept silent

and would not go outside —

35(Oh, that I had one to hear me!

Here is my signature.

Let the Almighty answer me;

let my accuser compose an indictment.

36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder

and wear it like a crown.

37 I would give account of all my steps;

I would approach Him like a prince.)—

38 if my land cries out against me

and its furrows weep together,

39 if I have devoured its produce without payment

or broken the spirit of its tenants,

40 then let briers grow instead of wheat

and stinkweed instead of barley.”

Thus conclude the words of Job.

Elihu Rebukes Job’s Friends

1 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

2 This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God, 3and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.

4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he. 5But when he saw that the three men had no further reply, his anger was kindled. 6So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared:

“I am young in years,

while you are old;

that is why I was timid and afraid

to tell you what I know.

7 I thought that age should speak,

and many years should teach wisdom.

8 But there is a spirit in a man,

the breath of the Almighty,

that gives him understanding.

9 It is not only the old who are wise,

or the elderly who understand justice.

10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;

I too will declare what I know.’

11 Indeed, I waited while you spoke;

I listened to your reasoning;

as you searched for words,

12 I paid you full attention.

But no one proved Job wrong;

not one of you rebutted his arguments.

13 So do not claim, ‘We have found wisdom;

let God, not man, refute him.’

14 But Job has not directed his words against me,

and I will not answer him with your arguments.

15 Job’s friends are dismayed, with no more to say;

words have escaped them.

16 Must I wait, now that they are silent,

now that they stand and no longer reply?

17 I too will answer;

yes, I will declare what I know.

18 For I am full of words,

and my spirit within me compels me.

19 Behold, my belly is like unvented wine;

it is about to burst like a new wineskin.

20 I must speak and find relief;

I must open my lips and respond.

21 I will be partial to no one,

nor will I flatter any man.

22 For I do not know how to flatter,

or my Maker would remove me in an instant.’’

Elihu Rebukes Job

1 “ But now, O Job, hear my speech,

and listen to all my words.

2 Behold, I will open my mouth;

my address is on the tip of my tongue.

3 My words are from an upright heart,

and my lips speak sincerely what I know.

4 The Spirit of God has made me,

and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5 Refute me if you can;

prepare your case and confront me.

6 I am just like you before God;

I was also formed from clay.

7 Surely no fear of me should terrify you;

nor will my hand be heavy upon you.

8 Surely you have spoken in my hearing,

and I have heard these very words:

9‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am clean, with no iniquity in me.

10 Yet God finds occasions against me;

He counts me as His enemy.

11 He puts my feet in the stocks;

He watches over all my paths.’

12 Behold, you are not right in this matter.

I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

13 Why do you complain to Him

that He answers nothing a man asks?

14 For God speaks in one way and in another,

yet no one notices.

15 In a dream,

in a vision in the night,

when deep sleep falls upon men

as they slumber on their beds,

16 He opens their ears

and terrifies them with warnings

17 to turn a man from wrongdoing

and keep him from pride,

18 to preserve his soul from the Pit

and his life from perishing by the sword.

19 A man is also chastened on his bed

with pain and constant distress in his bones,

20 so that he detests his bread,

and his soul loathes his favorite food.

21 His flesh wastes away from sight,

and his hidden bones protrude.

22 He draws near to the Pit,

and his life to the messengers of death.

23 Yet if there is a messenger on his side,

one mediator in a thousand,

to tell a man what is right for him,

24 to be gracious to him and say,

‘Spare him from going down to the Pit;

I have found his ransom,’

25 then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s;

he returns to the days of his youth.

26 He prays to God and finds favor;

he sees God’s face and shouts for joy,

and God restores His righteousness

to that man.

27 Then he sings before men

with these words:

‘I have sinned and perverted what was right;

yet I did not get what I deserved.

28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,

and I will live to see the light.’

29 Behold, all these things God does to a man,

two or even three times,

30 to bring back his soul from the Pit,

that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

31 Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

32 But if you have something to say, answer me;

speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.

33 But if not, then listen to me;

be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Ministers of a New Covenant

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4 Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. 6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Glory of the New Covenant

(Exodus 34:10–35)

7 Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! 10Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. 11For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures!

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

14 But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. 15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Psalm 43:1-5

Send Out Your Light

1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case

against an ungodly nation;

deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.

2 For You are the God of my refuge.

Why have You rejected me?

Why must I walk in sorrow

because of the enemy’s oppression?

3 Send out Your light and Your truth;

let them lead me.

Let them bring me to Your holy mountain

and to the place where You dwell.

4 Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God, my greatest joy.

I will praise You with the harp,

O God, my God.

5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why the unease within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,

my Savior and my God.

Proverbs 22:8-9

8 He who sows injustice will reap disaster,

and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

9 A generous man will be blessed,

for he shares his bread with the poor.

sozo church

One Year Bible

Job 31:1-33:33

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Psalm 43:1-5

Proverbs 22:8-9