4, Psalm 124; Job 9-10; Isaiah 29:1-30:17; John 2:18-3:3
Psalm 124
1
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
4
Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5
Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6
Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
22 I
Job 9
1
Then Job answered and said,
2
I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
3
If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
2 I
4
He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
4 I
5
Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
2 I
6
Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7
Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
2 I
8
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
2 I
9
Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
2 I
10
Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
2 I
11
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
12
Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
4 I
13
If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
14
How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?
15
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
4 I
16
If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
17
For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
18
He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
19
If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
20
If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
21
Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
22
This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
23
If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
24
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
25
Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
26
They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
27
If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:
28
I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
29
If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
30
If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
31
Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
32
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
2 I
33
Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
34
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
2 I
35
Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
Job 10
1
My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I
2
I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
6 I
3
Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4
Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
5
Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man’s days,
6
That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
7
Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.
2 I
8
Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
9
Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
10
Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11
Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.
2 I
12
Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
19 I
13
And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.
4 I
14
If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
6 I
15
If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
8 I
16
For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
17
Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
18
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19
I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20
Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21
Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22
A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
Isaiah 29
1
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2
Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3
And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4
And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5
Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6
Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
4 I
7
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8
It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9
Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10
For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
2 I
11
And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12
And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
11 I
14
Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
4 I
16
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
2 I
19
The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
6 I
20
For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
4 I
21
That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22
Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23
But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
Isaiah 30
1
Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
4 I
2
That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4
For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5
They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6
The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7
For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
2 I
9
That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
4 I
10
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14
And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16
But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
John 2
18
Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
19
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
2 I
20
Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21
But he spake of the temple of his body.
2 I
22
When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
8 I
23
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
24
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
25
And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
John 3
1
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 I
2
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
2 I
3
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
24 I