Bible Readings for August 25, 2015

Today our passages are Job 16:1–19:29; 1 Corinthians 16:1-24; Psalm 40:1-10; and Proverbs 22:1. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal. 

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Job 16-19:29 (Contemporary English Version)

Job 16

Job's Reply to Eliphaz

I Have Often Heard This

 ¹Job said:     ²I have often heard this,
   and it offers no comfort.
    ³So why don't you keep quiet?
   What's bothering you?
    ⁴If I were in your place,
   it would be easy to criticize
   or to give advice.
    ⁵But I would offer hope
   and comfort instead.
    ⁶If I speak, or if I don't,
   I hurt all the same.
   My torment continues.
    ⁷God has worn me down
   and destroyed my family;
    ⁸my shriveled up skin proves
   that I am his prisoner.
    ⁹God is my hateful enemy,
   glaring at me
   and attacking
   with his sharp teeth.
    ¹⁰Everyone is against me;
   they sneer and slap my face.
    ¹¹And God is the one
   who handed me over
   to this merciless mob.
   

Everything Was Going Well

 ¹²Everything was going well,    until God grabbed my neck
   and shook me to pieces.
   God set me up as the target
    ¹³for his arrows,
   and without showing mercy,
   he slashed my stomach open,
   spilling out my insides.
    ¹⁴God never stops attacking,
    ¹⁵and so, in my sorrow
   I dress in sackcloth ^[a] and sit in the dust.
    ¹⁶My face is red with tears,
   and dark shadows
   circle my eyes,
    ¹⁷though I am not violent,
   and my prayers are sincere.
    ¹⁸If I should die,
   I beg the earth
   not to cover
   my cry for justice.
    ¹⁹Even now, God in heaven
   is both my witness
   and my protector.
    ²⁰My friends have rejected me,
   but God is the one I beg ^[b] ²¹to show that I am right,
   just as a friend should.
    ²²Because in only a few years,
   I will be dead and gone.
   

Job 17

Job Complains to God

My Hopes Have Died

 ¹My hopes have died,    my time is up,
   and the grave is ready.
    ²All I can see are angry crowds,
   making fun of me.
    ³If you, LORD, don't help,
   who will pay the price
   for my release?
    ⁴My friends won't really listen,
   all because of you,
   and so you must be the one
   to prove them wrong.
    ⁵They have condemned me,
   just to benefit themselves;
   now blind their children.
    ⁶You, God, are the reason
   I am insulted and spit on.
    ⁷I am almost blind with grief;
   my body is a mere shadow.
    ⁸People who are truly good
   would feel so alarmed,
   that they would become angry
   at my worthless friends.
    ⁹They would do the right thing
   and because they did,
   they would grow stronger. ^[c] ¹⁰But none of my friends
   show any sense.
    ¹¹My life is drawing to an end;
   hope has disappeared.
    ¹²But all my friends can do
   is offer empty hopes. ^[d] ¹³I could tell the world below
   to prepare me a bed.
    ¹⁴Then I could greet the grave
   as my father
   and say to the worms,
   "Hello, mother and sisters!"
    ¹⁵But what kind of hope is that?
    ¹⁶Will it keep me company
   in the world of the dead?
   

Job 18

Bildad's Second Speech

How Long Will You Talk?

 ¹Bildad from Shuah ^[e] said: ²How long will you talk?    Be sensible! Let us speak.
    ³Or do you think that we
   are dumb animals?
    ⁴You cut yourself in anger.
   Will that shake the earth
   or even move the rocks?
    ⁵The lamps of sinful people
   soon are snuffed out,
    ⁶leaving their tents dark.
    ⁷Their powerful legs become weak,
   and they stumble on schemes
   of their own doing.
    ⁸Before they know it,
    ⁹they are trapped
   in a net,
    ¹⁰hidden along the path.
    ¹¹Terror strikes and pursues
   from every side.
    ¹²Starving, they run,
   only to meet disaster,
    ¹³then afterwards to be eaten alive
   by death itself.
    ¹⁴Those sinners are dragged
   from the safety of their tents
   to die a gruesome death.
    ¹⁵Then their tents and possessions
   are burned to ashes,
    ¹⁶and they are left like trees,
   dried up from the roots.
    ¹⁷They are gone and forgotten,
    ¹⁸thrown far from the light
   into a world of darkness,
    ¹⁹without any children
   to carry on their name.
    ²⁰Everyone, from east to west,
   is overwhelmed with horror.
    ²¹Such is the fate of sinners
   and their families
   who don't know God.
   

Job 19

Job's Reply to Bildad

How Long Will You Torture Me?

 ¹Job said:     ²How long will you torture me
   with your words?
    ³Isn't ten times enough
   for you to accuse me?
   Aren't you ashamed?
    ⁴Even if I have sinned,
   you haven't been harmed.
    ⁵You boast of your goodness,
   claiming I am suffering
   because I am guilty.
    ⁶But God is the one at fault
   for finding fault with me.
    ⁷Though I pray to be rescued
   from this torment,
   no whisper of justice
   answers me.
    ⁸God has me trapped
   with a wall of darkness
    ⁹and stripped of respect.
    ¹⁰God rips me apart,
   uproots my hopes,
    ¹¹and attacks with fierce anger,
   as though I were his enemy.
    ¹²His entire army advances,
   then surrounds my tent.
   

I Am Forgotten

 ¹³God has turned relatives    and friends against me,
    ¹⁴and I am forgotten.
    ¹⁵My guests and my servants
   consider me a stranger,
    ¹⁶and when I call my servants,
   they pay no attention.
    ¹⁷My breath disgusts my wife;
   everyone in my family
   turns away.
    ¹⁸Young children can't stand me,
   and when I come near,
   they make fun.
    ¹⁹My best friends and loved ones
   have turned from me.
    ²⁰I am skin and bones--
   just barely alive.
    ²¹My friends, I beg you for pity!
   God has made me his target.
    ²²Hasn't he already done enough?
   Why do you join the attack?
    ²³I wish that my words
   could be written down
    ²⁴or chiseled into rock.
    ²⁵I know that my Savior ^[f] lives, and at the end
   he will stand on this earth.
    ²⁶My flesh may be destroyed,
   yet from this body
   I will see God. ^[g] ²⁷Yes, I will see him for myself,
   and I long for that moment.
    ²⁸My friends, you think up ways
   to blame and torment me,
   saying
   I brought it on myself.
    ²⁹But watch out for the judgment,
   when God will punish you!
   

Footnotes:

1. Job 16:15 sackcloth: A rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat hair and used to make grain sacks. It was worn in times of trouble or sorrow.
2. Job 16:20 My friends. . . beg: Or "God is my friend, and he is the one I beg."
3. Job 17:9 stronger: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 8,9.
4. Job 17:12 hopes: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 12.
5. Job 18:1 Shuah: See the note at 2.11.
6. Job 19:25 Savior: Or "Defender."
7. Job 19:26 God: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 25,26.

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1 Corinthians 16:1-24 (Contemporary English Version)

1 Corinthians 16

A Collection for God's People

 ¹When you collect money for God's people, I want you to do exactly what I told the churches in Galatia to do. ²That is, each Sunday each of you must put aside part of what you have earned. If you do this, you won't have to take up a collection when I come. ³Choose some followers to take the money to Jerusalem. I will send them on with the money and with letters which show that you approve of them. ⁴If you think I should go along, they can go with me.    

Paul's Travel Plans

 ⁵After I have gone through Macedonia, I hope to see you ⁶and visit with you for a while. I may even stay all winter, so that you can help me on my way to wherever I will be going next. ⁷If the Lord lets me, I would rather come later for a longer visit than to stop off now for only a short visit. ⁸I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, ⁹because there is a wonderful opportunity for me to do some work here. But there are also many people who are against me.     ¹⁰When Timothy arrives, give him a friendly welcome. He is doing the Lord's work, just as I am. ¹¹Don't let anyone mistreat him. I am looking for him to return to me together with the other followers. So when he leaves, send him off with your blessings.
    ¹²I have tried hard to get our friend Apollos to visit you with the other followers. He doesn't want to come just now, but he will come when he can.
   

Personal Concerns and Greetings

 ¹³Keep alert. Be firm in your faith. Stay brave and strong. ¹⁴Show love in everything you do.     ¹⁵You know that Stephanas and his family were the first in Achaia to have faith in the Lord. They have done all they can for God's people. My friends, I ask you ¹⁶to obey leaders like them and to do the same for all others who work hard with you.
    ¹⁷I was glad to see Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus. Having them here was like having you. ¹⁸They made me feel much better, just as they made you feel better. You should appreciate people like them.
    ¹⁹Greetings from the churches in Asia.
   Aquila and Priscilla, together with the church that meets in their house, send greetings in the name of the Lord.
    ²⁰All of the Lord's followers send their greetings.
   Give each other a warm greeting.
    ²¹I am signing this letter myself: PAUL.
    ²²I pray that God will put a curse on everyone who doesn't love the Lord. And may the Lord come soon.
    ²³I pray that the Lord Jesus will be kind to you.
    ²⁴I love everyone who belongs to Christ Jesus.

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Psalm 40:1-10 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 40

(A psalm by David for the music leader.)

A Prayer for Help

 ¹I patiently waited, LORD,    for you to hear my prayer.
   You listened ²and pulled me
   from a lonely pit
   full of mud and mire.
   You let me stand on a rock
   with my feet firm,
    ³and you gave me a new song,
   a song of praise to you.
   Many will see this,
   and they will honor
   and trust
   you, the LORD God.
    ⁴You bless all of those
   who trust you, LORD,
   and refuse to worship idols
   or follow false gods.
    ⁵You, LORD God, have done
   many wonderful things,
   and you have planned
   marvelous things for us.
   No one is like you!
   I would never be able to tell
   all you have done.
    ⁶Sacrifices and offerings
   are not what please you;
   gifts and payment for sin
   are not what you demand.
   But you made me willing
   to listen and obey.
    ⁷And so, I said, "I am here
   to do what is written
   about me in the book,
   where it says,
    ⁸'I enjoy pleasing you.
   Your Law is in my heart.' "
    ⁹When your people worshiped,
   you know I told them,
   "Our LORD always helps!"
    ¹⁰When all your people met,
   I did not keep silent.
   I said, "Our LORD is kind.
   He is faithful and caring,
   and he saves us."

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Proverbs 22:1 (Contemporary English Version)

Proverbs 22

The Value of a Good Reputation

 ¹A good reputation and respect    are worth much more
   than silver and gold.

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Verse of the Day

“You give peace of mind to all who love your Law. Nothing can make them fall.” - Psalm 119:165

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

German theologian, philosopher and mystic, Meister Eckhart wrote, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”