Suffering, Mystery, and the Throne of Heaven

1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, 2. “If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking? 3. Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands. 4. Your words have supported him who was falling, You have made firm the feeble knees. 5. But now it has come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled. 6. Isn’t your piety your confidence? Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope? 7. “Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off? 8. According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same. 9. By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed. 10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 11. The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad. 12. “Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it. 13. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, 14. fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. 15. Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up. 16. It stood still, but I couldn’t discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying, 17. ‘Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? 18. Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error. 19. How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth! 20. Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it. 21. Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’ 1. “Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? 2. For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple. 3. I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation. 4. His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them, 5. whose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance. 6. For affliction doesn’t come out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground; 7. but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. 8. “But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God, 9. who does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number; 10. who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields; 11. so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety. 12. He frustrates the plans of the crafty, So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise. 13. He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong. 14. They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night. 15. But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty. 16. So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth. 17. “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. 18. For he wounds, and binds up. He injures, and his hands make whole. 19. He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. 20. In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword. 21. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes. 22. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth. 23. For you shall be allied with the stones of the field. The animals of the field shall be at peace with you. 24. You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing. 25. You shall know also that your offspring shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth. 26. You shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season. 27. Look this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good.” 1. Then Job answered, 2. “Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! 3. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore have my words been rash. 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me. 5. Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder? 6. Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? 7. My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me. 8. “Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for, 9. even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! 10. Be it still my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn’t spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. 11. What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient? 12. Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass? 13. Isn’t it that I have no help in me, That wisdom is driven quite from me? 14. “To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15. My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away; 16. Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself. 17. In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. 18. The caravans that travel beside them turn away. They go up into the waste, and perish. 19. The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them. 20. They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded. 21. For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid. 22. Did I say, ‘Give to me?’ or, ‘Offer a present for me from your substance?’ 23. or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?’ or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?’ 24. “Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. 25. How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove? 26. Do you intend to reprove words, since the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind? 27. Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend. 28. Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I shall not lie to your face. 29. Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous. 30. Is there injustice on my tongue? Can’t my taste discern mischievous things? 1. “Isn’t a man forced to labor on earth? Aren’t his days like the days of a hired hand? 2. As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages, 3. so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me. 4. When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be gone?’ I toss and turn until the dawning of the day. 5. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh. 6. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. 7. Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good. 8. The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be. 9. As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more. 10. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. 11. “Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12. Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you put a guard over me? 13. When I say, ‘My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint;’ 14. then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions: 15. so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones. 16. I loathe my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. 17. What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him, 18. that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment? 19. How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle? 20. If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself? 21. Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be.”

1. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John, 2. who testified to God’s word, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw. 3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand. 4. John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; 5. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood; 6. and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen. 8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 9. I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet 11. saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 12. I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lamp stands. 13. And among the lamp stands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. 14. His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15. His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters. 16. He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. 17. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, 18. and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades. 19. Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter; 20. the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lamp stands are seven assemblies. 1. “To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: “He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lamp stands says these things: 2. “I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. 3. You have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4. But I have this against you, that you left your first love. 5. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lamp stand out of its place, unless you repent. 6. But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God. 8. “To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: 9. “I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10. Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won’t be harmed by the second death. 12. “To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: “He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: 13. “I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn’t deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14. But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15. So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise. 16. Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it. 18. “To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: “The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things: 19. “I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first. 20. But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 21. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22. Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works. 23. I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24. But to you I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don’t have this teaching, who don’t know what some call ‘the deep things of Satan,’ to you I say, I am not putting any other burden on you. 25. Nevertheless, hold that which you have firmly until I come. 26. He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. 27. He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father: 28. and I will give him the morning star. 29. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. 1. “And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2. Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God. 3. Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you. 4. Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5. He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. 7. “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things: 8. “I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn’t deny my name. 9. Behold, I give some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10. Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11. I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown. 12. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name. 13. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. 14. “To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things: 15. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. 17. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; 18. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 19. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. 21. He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.” 1. After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.” 2. Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne 3. that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at. 4. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads. 5. Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6. Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. 7. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8. The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!” 9. When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, 10. the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying, 11. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!” 1. I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals. 2. I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?” 3. No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look in it. 4. And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look in it. 5. One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.” 6. I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 7. Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8. Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9. They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, 10. and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.” 11. I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; 12. saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!” 13. I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!” 14. The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped.

1. Hear my prayer, Yahweh. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me. 2. Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous. 3. For the enemy pursues my soul. He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead. 4. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. 5. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands. 6. I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah. 7. Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit. 8. Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. 9. Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me. 10. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. 11. Revive me, Yahweh, for your name’s sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble. 12. In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am your servant.