One Story That Leads to Jesus, Day 144
Job 16
16Then Job spoke again.H347H6030H559 2"I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!H8085H7227H5999H5162 3Won't you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking?H7307H1697H7093H4834H6030 4I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.H1696H3863H5315H3426H5315H2266H4405H5128H7218H1119 5But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.H553H1119H6310H5205H8193H2820 6Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.H1696H3511H2820H2308H1980 7"O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family.H3811H8074H5712 8As if to prove I have sinned, you've reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me.H7059H5707H3585H6965H6030H6440 9God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes.H2963H639H7852H2786H8127H6862H3913H5869 10People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me.H6473H6310H5221H3895H2781H4390H3162 11God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.H410H5462H5760H3399H3027H7563 12"I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target,H7961H6565H270H6203H6327H6965H4307 13and now his archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood.H7228H5437H6398H3629H6398H2550H8210H4845H776 14Again and again he smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior.H6555H6556H6440H6556H7323H1368 15I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust.H8609H8242H1539H5953H7161H6083 16My eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes.H6440H2560H1065H6079H6757 17Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure.H2555H3709H8605H2134 18"O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.H776H3680H1818H2201H4725 19Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high.H5707H8064H7717H4791 20My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.H7453H3887H5869H1811H433 21I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.H3198H1397H433H120H1121H7453 22For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.H4557H8141H857H1980H734H7725
Job 17
17"My spirit is crushed, and my life is nearly snuffed out. The grave is ready to receive me.H7307H2254H3117H2193H69132I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.H2049H5869H3885H47843"You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.H7760H6148H8628H30274You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph.H6845H3820H7922H73115They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.H5046H2506H7453H5869H1121H36156"God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.H3322H4914H5971H6440H86117My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.H5869H3543H3708H3338H67388The virtuous are horrified when they see me. The innocent rise up against the ungodly.H3477H8074H5355H5782H26119The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.H6662H270H1870H2890H3027H3254H55510"As for all of you, come back with a better argument, though I still won't find a wise man among you.H199H7725H935H4672H245011My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken.H3117H5674H2154H5423H4180H382412These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light.H7760H3915H3117H216H7138H6440H282213What if I go to the grave and make my bed in darkness?H6960H7585H1004H7502H3326H282214What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister?H7121H7845H1H7415H517H26915Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it?H645H8615H8615H778916No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!"H3381H905H7585H5183H3162H6083
Job 18
18Then Bildad the Shuhite replied.H6030H1085H7747H5592"How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer!H5704H7760H7078H4405H995H310H16963Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid?H2803H929H2933H58694You may tear out your hair in anger, but will that destroy the earth? Will it make the rocks tremble?H2963H5315H639H776H5800H6697H6275H47255"Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. The sparks of their fire will not glow.H216H7563H1846H7632H784H50506The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.H216H2821H168H5216H18467The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened. Their own schemes will be their downfall.H6806H202H3334H6098H79938The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit.H7971H7568H7272H1980H76399A trap grabs them by the heel. A snare holds them tight.H6341H270H6119H6782H238810A noose lies hidden on the ground. A rope is stretched across their path.H2256H2934H776H4434H541011"Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step.H1091H1204H5439H6327H727212Hunger depletes their strength, and calamity waits for them to stumble.H202H7457H343H3559H676313Disease eats their skin; death devours their limbs.H398H905H5785H1060H4194H398H90514They are torn from the security of their homes and are brought down to the king of terrors.H4009H5423H168H6805H4428H109115The homes of the wicked will burn down; burning sulfur rains on their houses.H7931H168H1097H1614H2219H511616Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither.H8328H3001H4605H7105H524317All memory of their existence will fade from the earth, No one will remember their names.H2143H6H776H8034H6440H235118They will be thrust from light into darkness, driven from the world.H1920H216H2822H5074H839819They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in the place where they lived.H5209H5220H5971H8300H403320People in the west are appalled at their fate; people in the east are horrified.H314H8074H3117H6931H270H817821They will say, 'This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.'"H4908H5767H4725H3045H410
Job 19
19Then Job spoke again.H347H6030H5592"How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words?H3013H5315H1792H44053You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly.H6235H6471H3637H954H19704Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours.H551H7686H4879H38855You think you're better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.H551H1431H3198H27816But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net.H3045H645H433H5791H5362H46867"I cry out, 'Help!' but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice.H6817H2555H6030H7768H49418God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.H1443H734H5674H7760H2822H54109He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.H6584H3519H5493H5850H721810He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.H5422H5439H3212H8615H5265H608611His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy.H2734H639H2803H686212His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent.H1416H935H3162H5549H1870H2583H5439H16813"My relatives stay far away, and my friends have turned against me.H7368H251H7368H3045H211414My family is gone, and my close friends have forgotten me.H7138H2308H3045H791115My servants and maids consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them.H1481H1004H519H2803H2114H5237H586916When I call my servant, he doesn't come; I have to plead with him!H7121H5650H6030H2603H1119H631017My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family.H7307H2114H802H2589H1121H99018Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.H5759H3988H6965H169619My close friends detest me. Those I loved have turned against me.H5475H4962H8581H157H201520I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.H6106H1692H5785H1320H4422H5785H812721"Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me.H2603H2603H7453H3027H433H506022Must you also persecute me, like God does? Haven't you chewed me up enough?H7291H410H7646H132023"Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,H5414H4405H645H3789H5414H2710H561224carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.H2672H1270H5842H5777H6697H570325"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.H3045H1350H2416H6965H314H608326And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!H310H5785H5362H1320H2372H43327I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!H2372H5869H7200H2114H3629H3615H243628"How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, 'It's his own fault'?H559H7291H8328H1697H467229You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment."H1481H2719H2534H5771H6440H2719H3045H1779H1779
Psalms 139
139[For the choir director: A psalm of David.] O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.H5329H4210H1732H3068H2713H30452You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.H3045H3427H6965H995H7454H73503You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.H2219H734H7252H5532H18704You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.H4405H3956H3068H30455You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.H6696H268H6924H7896H37096Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!H1847H6383H6383H7682H32017I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!H3212H7307H1272H64408If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.H5266H8064H3331H75859If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,H5375H3671H7837H7931H319H322010even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.H3027H5148H3225H27011I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—H559H2822H7779H3915H216H115712but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.H2822H2821H3915H215H3117H2825H21913You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.H7069H3629H5526H517H99014Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.H3034H3372H6395H6381H4639H5315H3045H396615You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.H6108H3582H6213H5643H7551H8482H77616You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.H5869H7200H1564H5612H3789H3117H3335H25917How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!H3365H7454H410H6105H721818I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!H5608H7235H2344H6974H575019O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers!H6991H7563H433H5493H1818H58220They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name.H559H4209H6145H5375H772321O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?H8130H3068H8130H6962H861822Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.H8130H8503H8135H34123Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.H2713H410H3045H3824H974H3045H831224Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.H7200H6090H1870H5148H1870H5769
Dublin, OH
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