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First Reading: Job Chapter 20 and 21
Job 20
20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2 "My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.
4 "Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since man was placed
on the earth, 5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless
lasts but a moment. 6 Though his pride reaches to the heavens and his head touches
the clouds, 7 he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen
him will say, 'Where is he?' 8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
banished like a vision of the night. 9 The eye that saw him will not see him
again; his place will look on him no more. 10 His children must make amends
to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth. 11 The youthful vigor
that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.
12 "Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,
13 though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth, 14 yet his
food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within
him. 15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach
vomit them up. 16 He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder
will kill him. 17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey
and cream. 18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy
the profit from his trading. 19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them
destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.
20 "Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself
by his treasure. 21 Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not
endure. 22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full
force of misery will come upon him. 23 When he has filled his belly, God will
vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows upon him. 24 Though
he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him. 25 He pulls
it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over
him; 26 total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will
consume him and devour what is left in his tent. 27 The heavens will expose
his guilt; the earth will rise up against him. 28 A flood will carry off his
house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath. 29 Such is the fate God allots
the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God."
Job 21
21:1 Then Job replied:
2 "Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.
3 Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 "Is my complaint directed to man? Why should I not be impatient? 5 Look
at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth. 6 When I think about
this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. 7 Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power? 8 They see their children established around
them, their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their homes are safe and free from
fear; the rod of God is not upon them. 10 Their bulls never fail to breed; their
cows calve and do not miscarry. 11 They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about. 12 They sing to the music of tambourine and harp;
they make merry to the sound of the flute. 13 They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace. 14 Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways. 15 Who is the Almighty, that we should
serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?' 16 But their prosperity is
not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.
17 "Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does
calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? 18 How often are
they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? 19[It is said,]
'God stores up a man's punishment for his sons.' Let him repay the man himself,
so that he will know it! 20 Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink
of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 For what does he care about the family he leaves
behind when his allotted months come to an end?
22 "Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?
23 One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, 24 his body well
nourished, his bones rich with marrow. 25 Another man dies in bitterness of
soul, never having enjoyed anything good. 26 Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.
27 "I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would
wrong me. 28 You say, 'Where now is the great man's house, the tents where wicked
men lived?' 29 Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no
regard to their accounts- 30 that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
that he is delivered from the day of wrath? 31 Who denounces his conduct to
his face? Who repays him for what he has done? 32 He is carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over his tomb. 33 The soil in the valley is sweet to him;
all men follow after him, and a countless throng goes before him.
34 "So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your
answers but falsehood!"
Second Reading: Luke Chapter 10
Luke 10
10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by
two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told
them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord
of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go!
I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or
sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6 If a man
of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.
7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker
deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.
9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'
10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,
11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you.
Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' 12 I tell you, it will be
more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that
were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have
repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable
for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will
you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.
16 "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me;
but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit
to us in your name."
18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have
given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the
power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the
spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things
from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father,
for this was your good pleasure.
22 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who
the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the
Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the
eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted
to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not
hear it."
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher,"
he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read
it?"
27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your
neighbor as yourself.'"
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and
you will live."
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my
neighbor?"
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat
him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down
the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So
too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other
side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he
saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring
on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and
took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them
to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse
you for any extra expense you may have.'
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of robbers?"
37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where
a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary,
who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted
by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord,
don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her
to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and
upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what
is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
GOOD VS. EVIL
Part 5 of 7
According to the dictionary "evil" is defined as:
We have seen several verses showing that the heart of man is evil. Another word for this evil is sin. This is referring to the first definition of evil: morally bad or wrong, wicked.
The next two meanings of "evil" are harmful, injurious, unlucky, disastrous. In the Bible there are references to God bringing "evil" on people. This evil refers to these secondary meanings of "evil." Look at these verses:
God does bring punishment on the wicked. He also allows suffering to those who love Him. There are many purposes to these actions of God. From the beginning we are told that there is one God and only one God. There is no other god whether good or evil.
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