Today's SoulFood Reading

for Friday, Mar 31

Job 40–42 ()

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40:1 And the LORD said to Job:

  “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
    He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

  “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
    I lay my hand on my mouth.
  I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
    twice, but I will proceed no further.”

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

  “Dress for action like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.
  Will you even put me in the wrong?
    Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
  Have you an arm like God,
    and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10   “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
    clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11   Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
    and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
12   Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
    and tread down the wicked where they stand.
13   Hide them all in the dust together;
    bind their faces in the world below.
14   Then will I also acknowledge to you
    that your own right hand can save you.
15   “Behold, Behemoth,
    which I made as I made you;
    he eats grass like an ox.
16   Behold, his strength in his loins,
    and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17   He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
    the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18   His bones are tubes of bronze,
    his limbs like bars of iron.
19   “He is the first of the works of God;
    let him who made him bring near his sword!
20   For the mountains yield food for him
    where all the wild beasts play.
21   Under the lotus plants he lies,
    in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22   For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
    the willows of the brook surround him.
23   Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
    he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24   Can one take him by his eyes,
    or pierce his nose with a snare?
41:1   “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
    or press down his tongue with a cord?
  Can you put a rope in his nose
    or pierce his jaw with a hook?
  Will he make many pleas to you?
    Will he speak to you soft words?
  Will he make a covenant with you
    to take him for your servant forever?
  Will you play with him as with a bird,
    or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
  Will traders bargain over him?
    Will they divide him up among the merchants?
  Can you fill his skin with harpoons
    or his head with fishing spears?
  Lay your hands on him;
    remember the battle—you will not do it again!
  Behold, the hope of a man is false;
    he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10   No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
    Who then is he who can stand before me?
11   Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
    Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12   “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
    or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13   Who can strip off his outer garment?
    Who would come near him with a bridle?
14   Who can open the doors of his face?
    Around his teeth is terror.
15   His back is made of rows of shields,
    shut up closely as with a seal.
16   One is so near to another
    that no air can come between them.
17   They are joined one to another;
    they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18   His sneezings flash forth light,
    and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19   Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
    sparks of fire leap forth.
20   Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
    as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21   His breath kindles coals,
    and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22   In his neck abides strength,
    and terror dances before him.
23   The folds of his flesh stick together,
    firmly cast on him and immovable.
24   His heart is hard as a stone,
    hard as the lower millstone.
25   When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
    at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26   Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
    nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27   He counts iron as straw,
    and bronze as rotten wood.
28   The arrow cannot make him flee;
    for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.
29   Clubs are counted as stubble;
    he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30   His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
    he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31   He makes the deep boil like a pot;
    he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32   Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
    one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33   On earth there is not his like,
    a creature without fear.
34   He sees everything that is high;
    he is king over all the sons of pride.”

42:1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:

  “I know that you can do all things,
    and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
  ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
  Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
  ‘Hear, and I will speak;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
  I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
    but now my eye sees you;
  therefore I despise myself,
    and repent in dust and ashes.”

After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

12 And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

Luke 22:39–53 ()

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39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

47 While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Psalm 31:1–13 ()

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To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31:1   In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
  Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
  Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!
  For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
  you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
  Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
  I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
    but I trust in the LORD.
  I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have known the distress of my soul,
  and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in a broad place.
  Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
    my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
10   For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
  my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and my bones waste away.
11   Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
    especially to my neighbors,
  and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street flee from me.
12   I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like a broken vessel.
13   For I hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
  as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.

Proverbs 8:34–36 ()

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34   Blessed is the one who listens to me,
    watching daily at my gates,
    waiting beside my doors.
35   For whoever finds me finds life
    and obtains favor from the LORD,
36   but he who fails to find me injures himself;
    all who hate me love death.”

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