The Vision of the Flying Scroll

¹Again I lifted up my eyes and saw before me a flying scroll.

²“What do you see?” asked the angel.“I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”

³Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.

⁴I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”

The Vision of the Woman in a Basket

⁵Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Now lift up your eyes and see what is approaching.”

⁶“What is it?” I asked.And he replied, “A measuring basketis going forth.” Then he continued, “This is their iniquityin all the land.”

⁷And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.

⁸“This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.

⁹Then I lifted up my eyes and saw two women approaching, with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

¹⁰“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.

¹¹“To build a house for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “And when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its pedestal.”

Job: How Can I Contend with God?

¹Then Job answered:

²“Yes, I know that it is so,but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

³If one wished to contend with God,he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.Who has resisted Him and prospered?

⁵He moves mountains without their knowledgeand overturns them in His anger.

⁶He shakes the earth from its place,so that its foundations tremble.

⁷He commands the sun not to shine;He seals off the stars.

⁸He alone stretches out the heavensand treads on the waves of the sea.

⁹He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

¹⁰He does great things beyond searching out,and wonders without number.

¹¹Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him;were He to move, I would not recognize Him.

¹²If He takes away,who can stop Him?Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³God does not restrain His anger;the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.

¹⁴How then can I answer Himor choose my arguments against Him?

¹⁵For even if I were right, I could not answer.I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

¹⁶If I summoned Him and He answered me,I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

¹⁷For He would crush me with a tempestand multiply my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He does not let me catch my breath,but overwhelms me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength,He is indeed mighty!If it is a matter of justice,who can summon Him?

²⁰Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me;if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

²¹Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself;I despise my own life.

²²It is all the same, and so I say,‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³When the scourge brings sudden death,He mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;He blindfolds its judges.If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵My days are swifter than a runner;they flee without seeing good.

²⁶They sweep by like boats of papyrus,like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

²⁷If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaintand change my expression and smile,’

²⁸I would still dread all my sufferings;I know that You will not acquit me.

²⁹Since I am already found guilty,why should I labor in vain?

³⁰If I should wash myself with snowand cleanse my hands with lye,

³¹then You would plunge me into the pit,and even my own clothes would despise me.

³²For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,that we can take each other to court.

³³Nor is there a mediator between us,to lay his hand upon us both.

³⁴Let Him remove His rod from me,so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

³⁵Then I would speak without fear of Him.But as it is, I am on my own.

Job Longs for God

¹Then Job answered:

²“Even today my complaint is bitter.His hand is heavy despite my groaning.

³If only I knew where to find Him,so that I could go to His seat.

⁴I would plead my case before Himand fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would learn how He would answer,and consider what He would say.

⁶Would He contend with me in His great power?No, He would certainly take note of me.

⁷Then an upright man could reason with Him,and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

⁸If I go east, He is not there,and if I go west, I cannot find Him.

⁹When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him;when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.

¹⁰Yet He knows the way I have taken;when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

¹¹My feet have followed in His tracks;I have kept His way without turning aside.

¹²I have not departed from the command of His lips;I have treasured the words of His mouthmore than my daily bread.

¹³But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him?He does what He desires.

¹⁴For He carries out His decree against me,and He has many such plans.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified in His presence;when I consider this, I fear Him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint;the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Victory with God

¹You have rejected us, O God;You have broken us;You have been angry;restore us!

²You have shaken the landand torn it open.Heal its fractures,for it is quaking.

³You have shown Your people hardship;we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.

⁴You have raised a banner for those who fear You,that they may flee the bow.Selah

⁵Respond and save us with Your right hand,that Your beloved may be delivered.

⁶God has spoken from His sanctuary:“I will triumph!I will parcel out Shechemand apportion the Valley of Succoth.

⁷Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.

⁸Moab is My washbasin;upon Edom I toss My sandal;over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

⁹Who will bring me to the fortified city?Who will lead me to Edom?

¹⁰Have You not rejected us, O God?Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies?

¹¹Give us aid against the enemy,for the help of man is worthless.

¹²With God we will perform with valor,and He will trample our enemies.