Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Job, chapters 27 through 31. Chapter 27 Moreover,
Job continued his discourse and said, As God
lives, who has taken away my justice, and the
Almighty who has made my soul bitter, as long
as my breath is in me, and the breath of God
in my nostrils. My lips will not speak wickedness,
nor my tongue utter deceit, far be it from me,
that I should say you are right. Till I die,
I will not put away my integrity from me. My
righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it
go. My heart shall not reproach me as long as
I live. May my enemy be like the wicked, and
he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though
he may gain much, if God takes away his life?
Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon
him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God? I will teach you
about the hand of God. What is with the Almighty
I will not conceal. Surely all of you have seen
it. Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?
This is the portion of a wicked man with God
and the heritage of oppressors received from
the Almighty. If his children are multiplied,
it is for the sword. and his offspring shall
not be satisfied with bread. Those who survive
him shall be buried in death, and their widows
shall not weep. Though he heaps up silver like
dust, and piles up clothing like clay, he may
pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the
innocent will divide the silver. He builds his
house like a moth, like a booth which a watchman
makes. The rich man will lie down, but not be
gathered up. He opens his eyes, and he is no
more. Terrors overtake him like a flood. A tempest
steals him away in the night. The east wind carries
him away and he is gone. It sweeps him out of
his place. It hurls against him and does not
spare. He flees desperately from its power. Men
shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss
him out of his place. Surely there is a mine
for silver and a place where gold is refined.
Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted
from ore. Man puts an end to darkness, and searches
every recess for ore in the darkness and the
shadow of death. He breaks open a shaft away
from people, in places forgotten by feet. They
hang far away from men, they swing to and fro.
As for the earth, from it comes bread, but underneath
it is turned up as by fire. Its stones are the
source of sapphires, and it contains gold dust.
That path no bird knows, nor has the falcon's
eye seen it. The proud lions have not trodden
it, nor has the fierce lion passed over it. He
puts his hand on the flint, he overturns the
mountains at the roots. He cuts out channels
in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious
thing. He dams up the streams from trickling.
What is hidden he brings forth to light. But
where can wisdom be found? And where is the place
of understanding? Man does not know its value,
nor is it found in the land of the living. The
deep says, It is not in me, and the sea says,
It is not with me. It cannot be purchased for
gold, nor can silver be weighed for its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in
precious onyx or sapphire. Neither gold nor crystal
can equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewelry
of fine gold. No mansion shall be made of coral
or quartz. for the price of wisdom is above rubies
the topaz of ethiopia cannot equal it nor can
it be valued in pure gold from where then does
wisdom come and where is the place of understanding
it is hidden from the eyes of all living and
concealed from the birds of the air destruction
and death say we have heard a report about it
with our ears god understands its way and he
knows its place For he looks to the ends of the
earth and sees under the whole heavens to establish
a weight for the wind and apportion the waters
by measure. When he made a law for the rain and
a path for the thunderbolt, then he saw wisdom
and declared it. He prepared it indeed, he searched
it out. And to man he said, Behold, the fear
of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from
evil is understanding. Chapter 29 Job further
continued his discourse and said, and the rock
poured out rivers of oil for me when i went out
to the gate by the city when i took my seat in
the open square the young men saw me and hid
and the aged arose and stood the princes refrained
from talking and put their hand on their mouth
the voice of nobles was hushed and their tongue
stuck to the roof of their mouth when the ear
heard then it blessed me and when the eye saw
then it approved me because i delivered the poor
who cried out the fatherless and the one who
had no helper the blessing of a perishing man
came upon me and i caused the widow's heart to
sing for joy i put on righteousness and it clothed
me my justice was like a robe and a turban i
was eyes to the blind and i was feet to the lame
i was a father to the poor and i searched out
the case that i did not know i broke the fangs
of the wicked and plucked the victim from his
teeth then i said i shall die in my nest and
multiply my days as the sand my root is spread
out to the waters and the dew lies all night
on my branch my glory is fresh within me and
my bow is renewed in my hand men listened to
me and waited and kept silence for my counsel
after my words they did not speak again and my
speech settled on them as due they waited for
me as for the rain and they opened their mouths
wide as for the spring rain if i mocked at them
they did not believe it in the light of my countenance
they did not cast down i chose the way for them
and sat as chief so i dwelt as a king in the
army as one who comforts mourners chapter thirty
but now they mock at me men younger than i whose
fathers i disdained to put with the dogs of my
flock indeed what profit is the strength of their
hands to me their vigor has perished they are
gaunt from want and famine fleeing late to the
wilderness desolate and waste and the rocks.
Among the bushes they brayed, under the nettles
they nestled. They were sons of fools, yes, sons
of vile men. They were scourged from the land.
And now I am their taunting song, yes, I am their
byword. They abhor me, they keep far from me.
They do not hesitate to spit in my face, because
he has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me.
They have cast off restraint before me. At my
right hand the rabble arises. They push away
my feet, and they raise against me their ways
of destruction. They break up my path. They promote
my calamity. They have no helper. They come as
broad breakers. Under the ruinous storm they
roll along. Terrors are turned upon me. They
pursue my honor as the wind. And my prosperity
has passed like a cloud. And now my soul is poured
out because of my plight. The days of affliction
take hold of me. My bones are pierced in me at
night, and my gnawing pains take no rest. By
great force my garment is disfigured. It binds
me about as the collar of my coat. He has cast
me into the mire, and I have become like dust
and ashes. I cry out to you, but you do not answer
me. I stand up, and you regard me. But you have
become cruel to me. With the strength of your
hand, you oppose me. you lift me up to the wind
and cause me to ride on it you spoil my success
for i know that you will bring me to death and
to the house appointed for all living surely
he would not stretch out his hand against a heap
of ruins if they cry out when he destroys it
have i not wept for him who was in trouble has
not my soul grieved for the poor but when i looked
for good evil came to me and when i waited for
light then came darkness My heart is in turmoil
and cannot rest. Days of affliction confront
me. I go about mourning, but not in the sun.
I stand up in assembly and cry out for help.
I am a brother of jackals and a companion of
ostriches. My skin grows black and falls from
me. My bones burn with fever. My harp is turned
to mourning and my flute to the voice of those
who weep. Chapter 31 I have made a covenant with
my eyes. Why then should I look upon a young
woman? For what is the allotment of God from
above and the inheritance of the Almighty from
on high? Is it not destruction for the wicked
and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does
he not see my ways and count all my steps? If
I have walked with falsehood or if my foot has
hastened to deceit, let me be weighed on honest
scales, that God may know my integrity. If my
step has turned from the way, or my heart walked
after my eyes, or if any spot adheres to my hands,
then let me sow and another eat. Yes, let my
harvest be rooted out. If my heart has been enticed
by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor's
door, then let my wife grind for another, and
let others bow down over her, for that would
be wickedness. Yes, it would be iniquity deserving
of judgment, for that would be a fire that consumes
to destruction and would root out all my increase.
If I have despised the cause of my male or female
servant, when they complained against me, what
then shall I do when God rises up? When he punishes,
how shall I answer him? Did not he who made me
in the womb make them? Did not the same one fashion
us in the womb? If I have kept the poor from
their desire, or caused the eyes of the widow
to fail, or eaten my morsel by myself, so that
the fatherless could not eat of it, but from
my youth I reared him as a father, and from my
mother's womb I guided the widow, if I have seen
anyone perish for lack of clothing, or any poor
man without covering, if his heart has not blessed
me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece
of my sheep, If I have raised my hand against
the fatherless, when I saw I had help in the
gate, then let my arm fall from my shoulder.
Let my arm be torn from the socket, for destruction
from God is a terror to me, and because of his
magnificence I cannot endure. If I have made
gold my hope, or said to fine gold, you are my
confidence. If I have rejoiced because my wealth
was great, and because my hand had gained much,
If I have observed the sun when it shines or
the moon moving in brightness so that my heart
has been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed
my hand, this also would be an iniquity deserving
of judgment, for I would have denied God who
is above. If I have rejoiced at the destruction
of him who hated me or lifted myself up when
evil found him, indeed I have not allowed my
mouth to sin by asking for a curse on his soul.
If the men of my tent have not said, Who is there
that has not been satisfied with his meat? But
no sojourner had to lodge in the street, for
I have opened my doors to the traveller. If I
have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding
my iniquity in my bosom, because I feared the
great multitude, and dreaded the contempt of
families, so that I kept silence, and did not
go out of the door, O that I had one to hear
me! Here is my mark. O that the Almighty would
answer me, that my prosecutor had written a book.
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind
it on me like a crown. I would declare to him
the number of my steps, like a prince I would
approach him. If my land cries out against me,
and its furrows weep together, if I have eaten
its fruit without money, or caused its owners
to lose their lives, then let thistles grow instead
of wheat. and weeds instead of barley. The words
of Job are ended. I hope you enjoyed today's
reading as much as I did, and I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.