Job 38

The Lord Challenges Job

 2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
      with such ignorant words?
 3 Brace yourself like a man,
      because I have some questions for you,
      and you must answer them.

 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
      Tell me, if you know so much.
 5 Who determined its dimensions
      and stretched out the surveying line?
 6 What supports its foundations,
      and who laid its cornerstone
 7 as the morning stars sang together
      and all the angels shouted for joy?

 34 “Can you shout to the clouds
      and make it rain?
 35 Can you make lightning appear
      and cause it to strike as you direct?
 36 Who gives intuition to the heart
      and instinct to the mind?
 37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
      Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
 38 when the parched ground is dry
      and the soil has hardened into clods?

 39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness
      and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
 40 as they lie in their dens
      or crouch in the thicket?
 41 Who provides food for the ravens
      when their young cry out to God
      and wander about in hunger?

Psalm 104

 1 Let all that I am praise the Lord.
      O Lord my God, how great you are!
    You are robed with honor and majesty .
 2 You are dressed in a robe of light.
   You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
 3 you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
   You make the clouds your chariot;
      you ride upon the wings of the wind.
 4 The winds are your messengers;
      flames of fire are your servants.
 5 You placed the world on its foundation
      so it would never be moved.
 6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
      water that covered even the mountains.
 7 At your command, the water fled;
      at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
 8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
      to the levels you decreed.
 9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
      so they would never again cover the earth.

 24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
      In wisdom you have made them all.
      The earth is full of your creatures.

35 Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;
      let the wicked disappear forever.
 Let all that I am praise the Lord.

  Praise the Lord!

Jesus Teaches about Serving Others

 36 “What is your request?” he asked.

 37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

 38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”

 39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

 41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant , 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Hebrews 5

1 Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. 2 And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. 3 That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.

 4 And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. 5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him,

   “You are my Son.
      Today I have become your Father.”

 6 And in another passage God said to him,

   “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

 7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. 10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.