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I still rebel and complain against God; I cannot keep from groaning.
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How I wish I knew where to find him, and knew how to go where he is.
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I would state my case before him and present all the arguments in my favor.
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I want to know what he would say and how he would answer me.
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Would God use all his strength against me? No, he would listen as I spoke.
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I am honest; I could reason with God; he would declare me innocent once and for all.
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I have searched in the East, but God is not there; I have not found him when I searched in the West.
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God has been at work in the North and the South, but still I have not seen him.
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Yet God knows every step I take; if he tests me, he will find me pure.
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I follow faithfully the road he chooses, and never wander to either side.
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I always do what God commands; I follow his will, not my own desires.
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He never changes. No one can oppose him or stop him from doing what he wants to do.
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He will fulfill what he has planned for me; that plan is just one of the many he has;
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I tremble with fear before him.
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Almighty God has destroyed my courage. It is God, not the dark, that makes me afraid--- even though the darkness has made me blind.
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Why doesn't God set a time for judging, a day of justice for those who serve him?
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People move property lines to get more land; they steal sheep and put them with their own flocks.
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They take donkeys that belong to orphans, and keep a widow's ox till she pays her debts.
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They prevent the poor from getting their rights and force the needy to run and hide.
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So the poor, like wild donkeys, search for food in the dry wilderness; nowhere else can they find food for their children.
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They have to harvest fields they don't own, and gather grapes in vineyards of the wicked.
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At night they sleep with nothing to cover them, nothing to keep them from the cold.
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They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains, and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
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Evil people make slaves of fatherless infants and take the children of the poor in payment for debts.
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But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them; they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.
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They press olives for oil, and grapes for wine, but they themselves are thirsty.
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In the cities the wounded and dying cry out, but God ignores their prayers.
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There are those who reject the light; they don't understand it or go where it leads.
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At dawn the murderer gets up and goes out to kill the poor, and at night he steals.
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The adulterer waits for twilight to come; he covers his face so that no one can see him.
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At night thieves break into houses, but by day they hide and avoid the light.
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They fear the light of day, but darkness holds no terror for them.
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The wicked are swept away by floods, and the land they own is under God's curse; they no longer go to work in their vineyards.
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As snow vanishes in heat and drought, so sinners vanish from the land of the living.
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Not even their mothers remember them now; they are eaten by worms and destroyed like fallen trees.
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That happens because they mistreated widows and showed no kindness to childless women.
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God, in his strength, destroys the mighty; God acts---and the wicked die.
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God may let them live secure, but keeps an eye on them all the time.
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For a while the wicked prosper, but then they wither like weeds, like stalks of grain that have been cut down.
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Can anyone deny that this is so? Can anyone prove that my words are not true?
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As they approached Jerusalem, near the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, they came to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead
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with these instructions: "Go to the village there ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
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And if someone asks you why you are doing that, say that the Master needs it and will send it back at once."
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So they went and found a colt out in the street, tied to the door of a house. As they were untying it,
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some of the bystanders asked them, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"
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They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the crowd let them go.
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They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the animal, and Jesus got on.
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Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches in the field and spread them on the road.
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The people who were in front and those who followed behind began to shout, "Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord!
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God bless the coming kingdom of King David, our father! Praise be to God!"
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Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the Temple, and looked around at everything. But since it was already late in the day, he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.
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The next day, as they were coming back from Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
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He saw in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, so he went to see if he could find any figs on it. But when he came to it, he found only leaves, because it was not the right time for figs.
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Jesus said to the fig tree, "No one shall ever eat figs from you again!" And his disciples heard him.
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When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple and began to drive out all those who were buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons,
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and he would not let anyone carry anything through the Temple courtyards.
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He then taught the people: "It is written in the Scriptures that God said, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations.' But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!"
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The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard of this, so they began looking for some way to kill Jesus. They were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
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When evening came, Jesus and his disciples left the city.
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Early next morning, as they walked along the road, they saw the fig tree. It was dead all the way down to its roots.
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Peter remembered what had happened and said to Jesus, "Look, Teacher, the fig tree you cursed has died!"
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Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.
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I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
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For this reason I tell you: When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.
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And when you stand and pray, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive the wrongs you have done."
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They arrived once again in Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders came to him
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and asked him, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?"
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Jesus answered them, "I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things.
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Tell me, where did John's right to baptize come from: was it from God or from human beings?"
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They started to argue among themselves: "What shall we say? If we answer, 'From God,' he will say, 'Why, then, did you not believe John?'
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But if we say, 'From human beings...' " (They were afraid of the people, because everyone was convinced that John had been a prophet.)
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So their answer to Jesus was, "We don't know." Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."
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Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: "Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip.
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When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest.
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The tenants grabbed the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing.
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Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully.
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The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others.
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The only one left to send was the man's own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. 'I am sure they will respect my son,' he said.
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But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and his property will be ours!'
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So they grabbed the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
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"What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?" asked Jesus. "He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others.
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Surely you have read this scripture? 'The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.
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This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is!' "
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The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
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Some Pharisees and some members of Herod's party were sent to Jesus to trap him with questions.
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They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know that you tell the truth, without worrying about what people think. You pay no attention to anyone's status, but teach the truth about God's will for people. Tell us, is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor? Should we pay them or not?"
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But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring a silver coin, and let me see it."
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They brought him one, and he asked, "Whose face and name are these?" "The Emperor's," they answered.
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So Jesus said, "Well, then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay to God what belongs to God." And they were amazed at Jesus.
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Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said,
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"Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: 'If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man's brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.'
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Once there were seven brothers; the oldest got married and died without having children.
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Then the second one married the woman, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother,
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and then to the rest: all seven brothers married the woman and died without having children. Last of all, the woman died.
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Now, when all the dead rise to life on the day of resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her."
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Jesus answered them, "How wrong you are! And do you know why? It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power.
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For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry.
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Now, as for the dead being raised: haven't you ever read in the Book of Moses the passage about the burning bush? There it is written that God said to Moses, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
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He is the God of the living, not of the dead. You are completely wrong!"
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A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: "Which commandment is the most important of all?"
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Jesus replied, "The most important one is this: 'Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord.
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
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The second most important commandment is this: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment more important than these two."
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The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, "Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he.
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And you must love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength; and you must love your neighbor as you love yourself. It is more important to obey these two commandments than to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God."
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Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.
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As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked the question, "How can the teachers of the Law say that the Messiah will be the descendant of David?
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The Holy Spirit inspired David to say: 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.'
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David himself called him 'Lord'; so how can the Messiah be David's descendant?" A large crowd was listening to Jesus gladly.
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As he taught them, he said, "Watch out for the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplace,
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who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts.
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They take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers. Their punishment will be all the worse!"
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As Jesus sat near the Temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money;
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then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny.
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He called his disciples together and said to them, "I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others.
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For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had---she gave all she had to live on."
