So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

He had been hired to scare me so that I would do this and thereby sin. They would thus bring reproach on me and I ¹  would be discredited. ² 

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted ¹  Job with a malignant ulcer ²  from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. ³ 

Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me. ¹ 

He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed; he is committed to a sinful lifestyle; ¹  he does not reject what is evil. ² 

Do not let me have evil desires, ¹  or participate in sinful activities with men who behave wickedly. ²  I will not eat their delicacies. ³ 

So I loathed ¹  life ²  because what happens ³  on earth ⁴  seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom ⁵  are futile – like chasing the wind.

Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste – do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, ¹  for he can do whatever he pleases.

When ¹  a sentence ²  is not executed ³  at once against a crime, ⁴  the human heart ⁵  is encouraged to do evil. ⁶ 

For God will evaluate every deed, ¹  including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, ¹  who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. ² 

Yet he too is wise ¹  and he will bring disaster; he does not retract his decree. ²  He will attack the wicked nation, ³  and the nation that helps ⁴  those who commit sin. ⁵ 

I am ¹  the one who forms light and creates darkness; ²  the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. ³  I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

The people who do this will be blessed, ¹  the people who commit themselves to obedience, ²  who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ³ 

That is how ¹  they have grown fat and sleek. ²  There is no limit to the evil things they do. ³  They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.

Everyone must be on his guard around his friends. He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹  For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ²  And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Maybe they will pay attention and each of them will stop living the evil way they do. ¹  If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them ²  as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing. ³ 

“Find Jeremiah ¹  and look out for him. ²  Do not do anything to harm him, ³  but do with him whatever he tells you.”

The Lord ¹  said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city.

Because of all their evil in Gilgal, I hate them there. On account of their evil deeds, I will drive them out of my land. ¹  I will no longer love them; all their rulers are rebels.