Was

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

…and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.

“May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?

I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.

Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind:

…what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,

…what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,

…to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.

I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;

Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,

You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

…when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,

…when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.

What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?

…so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

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

But when he saw that the three men had no further reply, his anger was kindled.

So 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.

I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.

Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.

She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.

They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.

From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

O LORD, You favored me; You made my mountain stand strong. When You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah

I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.

I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.

…yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.

I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.

For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.

For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.

You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.

They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it! Selah

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.

When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like the snow falling on Zalmon.

The chariots of God are tens of thousands—thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.

I made sackcloth my clothing, and I was sport to them.

Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.

When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight

When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,

When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,

I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.

I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.

From heaven You pronounced judgment, and the earth feared and was still

Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,

Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,

And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.

“I will mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me—along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush—when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”

The LORD will record in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” Selah

From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.

Your throne was established long ago; You are from all eternity.

For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.”

Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel was among those who called on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered.

Egypt was glad when they departed, for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.

But Phinehas stood and intervened, and the plague was restrained.

It was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.

They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.

He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless.

Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back,

The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.

The LORD preserves the simplehearted; I was helpless, and He saved me.

I was pushed so hard I was falling, but the LORD helped me.

I was pushed so hard I was falling, but the LORD helped me.

Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I keep Your word.

It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.

A song of ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

We heard that the ark was in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.

When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,

…at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.