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What a big help you are to me--- poor, weak man that I am!
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You give such good advice and share your knowledge with a fool like me!
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Who do you think will hear all your words? Who inspired you to speak like this?
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The spirits of the dead tremble in the waters under the earth.
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The world of the dead lies open to God; no covering shields it from his sight.
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God stretched out the northern sky and hung the earth in empty space.
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It is God who fills the clouds with water and keeps them from bursting with the weight.
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He hides the full moon behind a cloud.
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He divided light from darkness by a circle drawn on the face of the sea.
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When he threatens the pillars that hold up the sky, they shake and tremble with fear.
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It is his strength that conquered the sea; by his skill he destroyed the monster Rahab.
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It is his breath that made the sky clear, and his hand that killed the escaping monster.
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But these are only hints of his power, only the whispers that we have heard. Who can know how truly great God is?
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I swear by the living Almighty God, who refuses me justice and makes my life bitter---
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as long as God gives me breath,
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my lips will never say anything evil, my tongue will never tell a lie.
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I will never say that you men are right; I will insist on my innocence to my dying day.
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I will never give up my claim to be right; my conscience is clear.
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May all who oppose me and fight against me be punished like the wicked and the unrighteous.
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What hope is there for the godless in the hour when God demands their life?
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When trouble comes, will God hear their cries?
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They should have desired the joy he gives; they should have constantly prayed to him.
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Let me teach you how great is God's power, and explain what Almighty God has planned.
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But no, after all, you have seen for yourselves; so why do you talk such nonsense?
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This is how Almighty God punishes wicked, violent people.
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They may have many sons, but all will be killed in war; their children never have enough to eat.
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Those who survive will die from disease, and even their widows will not mourn their death.
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The wicked may have too much silver to count and more clothes than anyone needs;
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but some good person will wear the clothes, and someone honest will get the silver.
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The wicked build houses like a spider's web or like the hut of a slave guarding the fields.
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One last time they will lie down rich, and when they wake up, they will find their wealth gone.
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Terror will strike like a sudden flood; a wind in the night will blow them away;
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the east wind will sweep them from their homes;
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it will blow down on them without pity while they try their best to escape.
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The wind howls at them as they run, frightening them with destructive power.
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Early in the morning the chief priests met hurriedly with the elders, the teachers of the Law, and the whole Council, and made their plans. They put Jesus in chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
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Pilate questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "So you say."
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The chief priests were accusing Jesus of many things,
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so Pilate questioned him again, "Aren't you going to answer? Listen to all their accusations!"
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Again Jesus refused to say a word, and Pilate was amazed.
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At every Passover Festival Pilate was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the people asked for.
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At that time a man named Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder in the riot.
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When the crowd gathered and began to ask Pilate for the usual favor,
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he asked them, "Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?"
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He knew very well that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.
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But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask, instead, that Pilate set Barabbas free for them.
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Pilate spoke again to the crowd, "What, then, do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?"
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They shouted back, "Crucify him!"
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"But what crime has he committed?" Pilate asked. They shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
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Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed him over to be crucified.
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The soldiers took Jesus inside to the courtyard of the governor's palace and called together the rest of the company.
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They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown out of thorny branches, and put it on his head.
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Then they began to salute him: "Long live the King of the Jews!"
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They beat him over the head with a stick, spat on him, fell on their knees, and bowed down to him.
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When they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
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On the way they met a man named Simon, who was coming into the city from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. (Simon was from Cyrene and was the father of Alexander and Rufus.)
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They took Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means "The Place of the Skull."
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There they tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but Jesus would not drink it.
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Then they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get which piece of clothing.
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It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.
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The notice of the accusation against him said: "The King of the Jews."
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They also crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left.
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People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: "Aha! You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days!
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Now come down from the cross and save yourself !"
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In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law made fun of Jesus, saying to one another, "He saved others, but he cannot save himself !
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Let us see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him!" And the two who were crucified with Jesus insulted him also.
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At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.
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At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?"
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Some of the people there heard him and said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah!"
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One of them ran up with a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, and put it on the end of a stick. Then he held it up to Jesus' lips and said, "Wait! Let us see if Elijah is coming to bring him down from the cross!"
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With a loud cry Jesus died.
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The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
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The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw how Jesus had died. "This man was really the Son of God!" he said.
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Some women were there, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph, and Salome.
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They had followed Jesus while he was in Galilee and had helped him. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there also.
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It was toward evening when Joseph of Arimathea arrived. He was a respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was Preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), so Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus.
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Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He called the army officer and asked him if Jesus had been dead a long time.
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After hearing the officer's report, Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.
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Joseph bought a linen sheet, took the body down, wrapped it in the sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb.
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Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching and saw where the body of Jesus was placed.
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After the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to go and anoint the body of Jesus.
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Very early on Sunday morning, at sunrise, they went to the tomb.
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On the way they said to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" (It was a very large stone.) Then they looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled back.
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So they entered the tomb, where they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe---and they were alarmed.
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"Don't be alarmed," he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here---he has been raised! Look, here is the place where he was placed.
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Now go and give this message to his disciples, including Peter: 'He is going to Galilee ahead of you; there you will see him, just as he told you.' "
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So they went out and ran from the tomb, distressed and terrified. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
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[After Jesus rose from death early on Sunday, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons.
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She went and told his companions. They were mourning and crying;
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and when they heard her say that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe her.
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After this, Jesus appeared in a different manner to two of them while they were on their way to the country.
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They returned and told the others, but these would not believe it.
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Last of all, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating. He scolded them, because they did not have faith and because they were too stubborn to believe those who had seen him alive.
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He said to them, "Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people.
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Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
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Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange tongues;
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if they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people, and these will get well."
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After the Lord Jesus had talked with them, he was taken up to heaven and sat at the right side of God.
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The disciples went and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and proved that their preaching was true by the miracles that were performed.]
