Study Desk

That is why the holidays are called Purim. Because of Mordecai's letter and because of all that had happened to them,

The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.

Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

I am not afraid. I am going to talk because I know my own heart.

I am ready to state my case, because I know I am in the right.

You are only hurting yourself with your anger. Will the earth be deserted because you are angry? Will God move mountains to satisfy you?

I will see him with my own eyes, and he will not be a stranger. My courage failed because you said,

because they oppressed and neglected the poor and seized houses someone else had built.

You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father. No! Let God punish the sinners themselves; let him show that he does it because of their sins.

It is not because you stand in awe of God that he reprimands you and brings you to trial.

No, it's because you have sinned so much; it's because of all the evil you do.

That happens because they mistreated widows and showed no kindness to childless women.

Because he sees the ends of the earth, Sees everything under the sky.

Because God has made me weak and helpless, they turn against me with all their fury.

Because I fear God's punishment, I could never do such a thing.

I have never feared what people would say; I have never kept quiet or stayed indoors because I feared their scorn.

Because Job was convinced of his own innocence, the three men gave up trying to answer him.

But a bystander named Elihu could not control his anger any longer, because Job was justifying himself and blaming God. (Elihu was the son of Barakel, a descendant of Buz, and belonged to the clan of Ram.)

Because Elihu was the youngest one there, he had waited until everyone finished speaking.

Because he knows what they do; he overthrows them and crushes them by night.