Job Laments the Finality of Death

¹“Man, who is born of woman,is short of days and full of trouble.

²Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away;like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

³Do You open Your eyes to one like this?Will You bring him into judgment before You?

⁴Who can bring out clean from unclean?No one!

⁵Since his days are determinedand the number of his months is with You,and since You have set limitsthat he cannot exceed,

⁶look away from him and let him rest,so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.

⁷For there is hope for a tree:If it is cut down, it will sprout again,and its tender shoots will not fail.

⁸If its roots grow old in the groundand its stump dies in the soil,

⁹at the scent of water it will budand put forth twigs like a sapling.

¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low;he breathes his last, and where is he?

¹¹As water disappears from the seaand a river becomes parched and dry,

¹²so a man lies downand does not rise.Until the heavens are no more,he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.

¹³If only You would hide me in Sheoland conceal me until Your anger has passed!If only You would appoint a time for meand then remember me!

¹⁴When a man dies, will he live again?All the days of my hard service I will wait,until my renewalcomes.

¹⁵You will call, and I will answer;You will desire the work of Your hands.

¹⁶For then You would count my steps,but would not keep track of my sin.

¹⁷My transgression would be sealed in a bag,and You would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸But as a mountain erodes and crumblesand a rock is dislodged from its place,

¹⁹as water wears away the stonesand torrents wash away the soil,so You destroy a man’s hope.

²⁰You forever overpower him, and he passes on;You change his countenance and send him away.

²¹If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;if they are brought low, he is unaware.

²²He feels only the pain of his own bodyand mourns only for himself.”

Abram and Lot Part Ways

¹So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.

²And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

³From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,

⁴to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

⁵Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

⁶But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist.

⁷And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.

⁸So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are kinsmen.

⁹Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

Lot Proceeds toward Sodom

¹⁰And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

¹¹So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.

¹²Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.

God Renews the Promise to Abram

¹⁴After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west,

¹⁵for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

¹⁶I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.

¹⁷Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”

¹⁸So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaksof Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

¹When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything that the LORD had sent him to say—

²Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’

³Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans,so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!”

⁴So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah.

⁵Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered,

⁶the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.

⁷So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:

⁹“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes.

¹⁰Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

¹¹He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.

¹²I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives.So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed.

¹³He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt,and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

Tried but Trusting

¹Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me,for I am poor and needy.

²Preserve my soul, for I am godly.You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.

³Be merciful to me, O Lord,for I call to You all day long.

⁴Bring joy to Your servant,for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

⁵For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving,rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.

⁶Hear my prayer, O LORD,and attend to my plea for mercy.

⁷In the day of my distress I call on You,because You answer me.

⁸O Lord, there is none like You among the gods,nor any works like Yours.

⁹All the nations You have madewill come and bow before You, O Lord,and they will glorify Your name.

¹⁰For You are great and perform wonders;You alone are God.

¹¹Teach me Your way, O LORD,that I may walk in Your truth.Give me an undivided heart,that I may fear Your name.

¹²I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;I will glorify Your name forever.

¹³For great is Your loving devotion to me;You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.

¹⁴The arrogant rise against me, O God;a band of ruthless men seeks my life;they have no regard for You.

¹⁵But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.

¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy;grant Your strength to Your servant;save the son of Your maidservant.

¹⁷Show me a sign of Your goodness,that my enemies may see and be ashamed;for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.