Bible Reading Plan

¹ "But now they mock me,^(a)
     men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
     to put with my sheep dogs.^(b)
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
     since their vigor had gone from them?
³ Haggard from want and hunger,
     they roamed^[a] the parched land^(c)
     in desolate wastelands^(d) at night.^(e)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,^(f)
     and their food^[b] was the root of the broom bush.^(g)
5 They were banished from human society,
     shouted at as if they were thieves.
⁶ They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
     among the rocks and in holes in the ground.^(h)
7 They brayed⁽ⁱ⁾ among the bushes^(j)
     and huddled in the undergrowth.
⁸ A base and nameless brood,^(k)
     they were driven out of the land.^(l)

⁹ "And now those young men mock me^(m) in song;⁽ⁿ⁾
     I have become a byword^(o) among them.
¹⁰ They detest me^(p) and keep their distance;
     they do not hesitate to spit in my face.^(q)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow^(r) and afflicted me,^(s)
     they throw off restraint^(t) in my presence.
¹² On my right^(u) the tribe^[c] attacks;
     they lay snares^(v) for my feet,^(w)
     they build their siege ramps against me.^(x)
13 They break up my road;^(y)
     they succeed in destroying me.^(z)
     ‘No one can help him,' they say.
¹⁴ They advance as through a gaping breach;^(aa)
     amid the ruins they come rolling in.
¹⁵ Terrors^(ab) overwhelm me;^(ac)
     my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
     my safety vanishes like a cloud.^(ad)

¹⁶ "And now my life ebbs away;^(ae)
     days of suffering grip me.^(af)
17 Night pierces my bones;
     my gnawing pains never rest.^(ag)
18 In his great power^(ah) God becomes like clothing to me^[d];
     he binds me like the neck of my garment.
¹⁹ He throws me into the mud,^(ai)
     and I am reduced to dust and ashes.^(aj)

²⁰ "I cry out to you,^(ak) God, but you do not answer;^(al)
     I stand up, but you merely look at me.
²¹ You turn on me ruthlessly;^(am)
     with the might of your hand^(an) you attack me.^(ao)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;^(ap)
     you toss me about in the storm.^(aq)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,^(ar)
     to the place appointed for all the living.^(as)

²⁴ "Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man^(at)
     when he cries for help in his distress.^(au)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?^(av)
     Has not my soul grieved for the poor?^(aw)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
     when I looked for light, then came darkness.^(ax)
27 The churning inside me never stops;^(ay)
     days of suffering confront me.^(az)
28 I go about blackened,^(ba) but not by the sun;
     I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(bb)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,^(bc)
     a companion of owls.^(bd)
30 My skin grows black^(be) and peels;^(bf)
     my body burns with fever.^(bg)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,^(bh)
     and my pipe^(bi) to the sound of wailing.

¹ "I made a covenant with my eyes^(a)
     not to look lustfully at a young woman.^(b)
2 For what is our lot^(c) from God above,
     our heritage from the Almighty on high?^(d)
3 Is it not ruin^(e) for the wicked,
     disaster^(f) for those who do wrong?^(g)
4 Does he not see my ways^(h)
     and count my every step?⁽ⁱ⁾

⁵ "If I have walked with falsehood
     or my foot has hurried after deceit^(j)—
⁶ let God weigh me^(k) in honest scales^(l)
     and he will know that I am blameless^(m)—
⁷ if my steps have turned from the path,⁽ⁿ⁾
     if my heart has been led by my eyes,
     or if my hands^(o) have been defiled,^(p)
8 then may others eat what I have sown,^(q)
     and may my crops be uprooted.^(r)

⁹ "If my heart has been enticed^(s) by a woman,^(t)
     or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door,
¹⁰ then may my wife grind^(u) another man's grain,
     and may other men sleep with her.^(v)
11 For that would have been wicked,^(w)
     a sin to be judged.^(x)
12 It is a fire^(y) that burns to Destruction^[a];^(z)
     it would have uprooted my harvest.^(aa)

¹³ "If I have denied justice to any of my servants,^(ab)
     whether male or female,
     when they had a grievance against me,^(ac)
14 what will I do when God confronts me?^(ad)
     What will I answer when called to account?^(ae)
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?^(af)
     Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?^(ag)

¹⁶ "If I have denied the desires of the poor^(ah)
     or let the eyes of the widow^(ai) grow weary,^(aj)
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
     not sharing it with the fatherless^(ak)—
¹⁸ but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
     and from my birth I guided the widow^(al)—
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,^(am)
     or the needy^(an) without garments,
²⁰ and their hearts did not bless me^(ao)
     for warming them with the fleece^(ap) from my sheep,
²¹ if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,^(aq)
     knowing that I had influence in court,^(ar)
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
     let it be broken off at the joint.^(as)
23 For I dreaded destruction from God,^(at)
     and for fear of his splendor^(au) I could not do such things.^(av)

²⁴ "If I have put my trust in gold^(aw)
     or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,'^(ax)
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,^(ay)
     the fortune my hands had gained,^(az)
26 if I have regarded the sun^(ba) in its radiance
     or the moon^(bb) moving in splendor,
²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed^(bc)
     and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,^(bd)
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,^(be)
     for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.^(bf)

²⁹ "If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune^(bg)
     or gloated over the trouble that came to him^(bh)—
³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin
     by invoking a curse against their life^(bi)—
³¹ if those of my household have never said,
     ‘Who has not been filled with Job's meat?'^(bj)—
³² but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
     for my door was always open to the traveler^(bk)—
³³ if I have concealed^(bl) my sin as people do,^[b]
     by hiding^(bm) my guilt in my heart
³⁴ because I so feared the crowd^(bn)
     and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
     that I kept silent^(bo) and would not go outside—

³⁵ ("Oh, that I had someone to hear me!^(bp)
     I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
     let my accuser^(bq) put his indictment in writing.
³⁶ Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,^(br)
     I would put it on like a crown.^(bs)
37 I would give him an account of my every step;^(bt)
     I would present it to him as to a ruler.^(bu))—

³⁸ "if my land cries out against me^(bv)
     and all its furrows are wet^(bw) with tears,
³⁹ if I have devoured its yield without payment^(bx)
     or broken the spirit of its tenants,^(by)
40 then let briers^(bz) come up instead of wheat
     and stinkweed^(ca) instead of barley."

"I am young in years,
     and you are old;^(j)
that is why I was fearful,
     not daring to tell you what I know.
⁷ I thought, ‘Age should speak;
     advanced years should teach wisdom.'^(k)
8 But it is the spirit^[b](l) in a person,
     the breath of the Almighty,^(m) that gives them understanding.^(n)
9 It is not only the old^[c] who are wise,^(o)
     not only the aged^(p) who understand what is right.^(q)

¹⁰ "Therefore I say: Listen to me;^(r)
     I too will tell you what I know.^(s) <