‭‭Psalms‬ ‭7:1‭-‬17‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] God! God! I am running to you for dear life; the chase is wild. If they catch me, I’m finished: ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions, dragged into the forest and left unlooked for, unremembered. [3-5] God, if I’ve done what they say— betrayed my friends, ripped off my enemies— If my hands are really that dirty, let them get me, walk all over me, leave me flat on my face in the dirt. [6-8] Stand up, God; pit your holy fury against my furious enemies. Wake up, God. My accusers have packed the courtroom; it’s judgment time. Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel, throw out the false charges against me. I’m ready, confident in your verdict: “Innocent.” [9-11a] Close the book on Evil, God, but publish your mandate for us. You get us ready for life: you probe for our soft spots, you knock off our rough edges. And I’m feeling so fit, so safe: made right, kept right. God in solemn honor does things right, but his nerves are sandpapered raw. [11b-13] Nobody gets by with anything. God is already in action— Sword honed on his whetstone, bow strung, arrow on the string, Lethal weapons in hand, each arrow a flaming missile. [14] Look at that guy! He had sex with sin, he’s pregnant with evil. Oh, look! He’s having the baby—a Lie-Baby! [15-16] See that man shoveling day after day, digging, then concealing, his man-trap down that lonely stretch of road? Go back and look again—you’ll see him in it headfirst, legs waving in the breeze. That’s what happens: mischief backfires; violence boomerangs. [17] I’m thanking God, who makes things right. I’m singing the fame of heaven-high God.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.7.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭6:1‭-‬10‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2a] Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed. Treat me nice for a change; I’m so starved for affection. [2b-3] Can’t you see I’m black-and-blue, beaten up badly in bones and soul? God, how long will it take for you to let up? [4-5] Break in, God, and break up this fight; if you love me at all, get me out of here. I’m no good to you dead, am I? I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb! [6-7] I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed has been floating forty days and nights On the flood of my tears. My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears. The sockets of my eyes are black holes; nearly blind, I squint and grope. [8-9] Get out of here, you Devil’s crew: at last God has heard my sobs. My requests have all been granted, my prayers are answered. [10] Cowards, my enemies disappear. Disgraced, they turn tail and run.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.6.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭5:1‭-‬12‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-3] Listen, God! Please, pay attention! Can you make sense of these ramblings, my groans and cries? King-God, I need your help. Every morning you’ll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend. [4-6] You don’t socialize with Wicked, or invite Evil over as your houseguest. Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you; you shake your head over Mischief-Maker. God destroys Lie-Speaker; Blood-Thirsty and Truth-Bender disgust you. [7-8] And here I am, your invited guest— it’s incredible! I enter your house; here I am, prostrate in your inner sanctum, Waiting for directions to get me safely through enemy lines. [9-10] Every word they speak is a land mine; their lungs breathe out poison gas. Their throats are gaping graves, their tongues slick as mudslides. Pile on the guilt, God! Let their so-called wisdom wreck them. Kick them out! They’ve had their chance. [11-12] But you’ll welcome us with open arms when we run for cover to you. Let the party last all night! Stand guard over our celebration. You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers, for decking us out in delight.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.5.1-3.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭4:1‭-‬8‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1] When I call, give me answers. God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, you gave me room; Now I’m in trouble again: grace me! hear me! [2] You rabble—how long do I put up with your scorn? How long will you lust after lies? How long will you live crazed by illusion? [3] Look at this: look Who got picked by God! He listens the split second I call to him. [4-5] Complain if you must, but don’t lash out. Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking. Build your case before God and wait for his verdict. [6-7a] Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say. “More, more.” I have God’s more-than-enough, More joy in one ordinary day [7b-8] Than they get in all their shopping sprees. At day’s end I’m ready for sound sleep, For you, God, have put my life back together.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.4.1.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭3:1‭-‬8‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] God! Look! Enemies past counting! Enemies sprouting like mushrooms, Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery: “Hah! No help for him from God!” [3-4] But you, God, shield me on all sides; You ground my feet, you lift my head high; With all my might I shout up to God, His answers thunder from the holy mountain. [5-6] I stretch myself out. I sleep. Then I’m up again—rested, tall and steady, Fearless before the enemy mobs Coming at me from all sides. [7] Up, God! My God, help me! Slap their faces, First this cheek, then the other, Your fist hard in their teeth! [8] Real help comes from God. Your blessing clothes your people!

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.3.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2:1‭-‬12‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-6] Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples? Earth-leaders push for position, Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks, The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers: “Let’s get free of God! Cast loose from Messiah!” Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing. At first he’s amused at their presumption; Then he gets good and angry. Furiously, he shuts them up: “Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion? A coronation banquet Is spread for him on the holy summit.” [7-9] Let me tell you what God said next. He said, “You’re my son, And today is your birthday. What do you want? Name it: Nations as a present? continents as a prize? You can command them all to dance for you, Or throw them out with tomorrow’s trash.” [10-12] So, rebel-kings, use your heads; Upstart-judges, learn your lesson: Worship God in adoring embrace, Celebrate in trembling awe. Kiss Messiah! Your very lives are in danger, you know; His anger is about to explode, But if you make a run for God—you won’t regret it!

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.2.1-6.MSG

‭‭This is the beginning of Psalms.

Psalms‬ ‭1:1‭-‬6‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1] How well God must like you— you don’t walk in the ruts of those blind-as-bats, you don’t stand with the good-for-nothings, you don’t take your seat among the know-it-alls. [2-3] Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom. [4-5] You’re not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust— Without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people. [6] God charts the road you take. The road they take leads to nowhere.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.1.1.MSG

‭‭Job‬ ‭41:1‭-‬34‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-11] “Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with a fly rod and stuff him in your creel? Can you lasso him with a rope, or snag him with an anchor? Will he beg you over and over for mercy, or flatter you with flowery speech? Will he apply for a job with you to run errands and serve you the rest of your life? Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish? Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children? Will you put him on display in the market and have shoppers haggle over the price? Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion, or drive harpoons into his huge head? If you so much as lay a hand on him, you won’t live to tell the story. What hope would you have with such a creature? Why, one look at him would do you in! If you can’t hold your own against his glowering visage, how, then, do you expect to stand up to me? Who could confront me and get by with it? I’m in charge of all this—I run this universe! [12-17] “But I’ve more to say about Leviathan, the sea beast, his enormous bulk, his beautiful shape. Who would even dream of piercing that tough skin or putting those jaws into bit and bridle? And who would dare knock at the door of his mouth filled with row upon row of fierce teeth? His pride is invincible; nothing can make a dent in that pride. Nothing can get through that proud skin— impervious to weapons and weather, The thickest and toughest of hides, impenetrable! [18-34] “He snorts and the world lights up with fire, he blinks and the dawn breaks. Comets pour out of his mouth, fireworks arc and branch. Smoke erupts from his nostrils like steam from a boiling pot. He blows and fires blaze; flames of fire stream from his mouth. All muscle he is—sheer and seamless muscle. To meet him is to dance with death. Sinewy and lithe, there’s not a soft spot in his entire body— As tough inside as out, rock-hard, invulnerable. Even angels run for cover when he surfaces, cowering before his tail-thrashing turbulence. Javelins bounce harmlessly off his hide, harpoons ricochet wildly. Iron bars are so much straw to him, bronze weapons beneath notice. Arrows don’t even make him blink; bullets make no more impression than raindrops. A battle ax is nothing but a splinter of kindling; he treats a brandished harpoon as a joke. His belly is armor-plated, inexorable— unstoppable as a barge. He roils deep ocean the way you’d boil water, he whips the sea like you’d whip an egg into batter. With a luminous trail stretching out behind him, you might think Ocean had grown a gray beard! There’s nothing on this earth quite like him, not an ounce of fear in that creature! He surveys all the high and mighty— king of the ocean, king of the deep!”

https://bible.com/bible/97/job.41.1-11.MSG

‭‭Job‬ ‭39:1‭-‬30‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-4] “Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth? Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn? Do you know how many months she is pregnant? Do you know the season of her delivery, when she crouches down and drops her offspring? Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own; they leave and don’t come back. [5-8] “Who do you think set the wild donkey free, opened the corral gates and let him go? I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in, the rolling plains and wide-open places. He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried. He’s oblivious to the cries of teamsters. He grazes freely through the hills, nibbling anything that’s green. [9-12] “Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you, volunteer to spend the night in your barn? Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo and getting him to till your fields? He’s hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him, would you dare turn the job over to him? You wouldn’t for a minute depend on him, would you, to do what you said when you said it? [13-18] “The ostrich flaps her wings futilely— all those beautiful feathers, but useless! She lays her eggs on the hard ground, leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather, Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked or trampled by some wild animal. She’s negligent with her young, as if they weren’t even hers. She cares nothing about anything. She wasn’t created very smart, that’s for sure, wasn’t given her share of good sense. But when she runs, oh, how she runs, laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust. [19-25] “Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess and adorned him with a shimmering mane? Did you create him to prance proudly and strike terror with his royal snorts? He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited, then charges into the fray. He laughs at danger, fearless, doesn’t shy away from the sword. The banging and clanging of quiver and lance don’t faze him. He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast races off at a gallop. At the sound of the trumpet he neighs mightily, smelling the excitement of battle from a long way off, catching the rolling thunder of the war cries. [26-30] “Was it through your know-how that the hawk learned to fly, soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts? Did you command the eagle’s flight, and teach her to build her nest in the heights, Perfectly at home on the high cliff face, invulnerable on pinnacle and crag? From her perch she searches for prey, spies it at a great distance. Her young gorge themselves on carrion; wherever there’s a roadkill, you’ll see her circling.”

https://bible.com/bible/97/job.39.1-4.MSG

‭‭Job‬ ‭38:1‭-‬41‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-11] And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said: “Why do you confuse the issue? Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about? Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall! I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers. Where were you when I created the earth? Tell me, since you know so much! Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that! Who came up with the blueprints and measurements? How was its foundation poured, and who set the cornerstone, While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the angels shouted praise? And who took charge of the ocean when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb? That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds, and tucked it in safely at night. Then I made a playpen for it, a strong playpen so it couldn’t run loose, And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place. Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.’ [12-15] “And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’ told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’ So you could seize Earth like a blanket and shake out the wicked like cockroaches? As the sun brings everything to light, brings out all the colors and shapes, The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked— they’re caught in the very act! [16-18] “Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things, explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean? Do you know the first thing about death? Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries? And do you have any idea how large this earth is? Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer. [19-21] “Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives So you can take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost? Why, of course you know that. You’ve known them all your life, grown up in the same neighborhood with them! [22-30] “Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, seen the vault where hail is stockpiled, The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness for times of trouble and battle and war? Can you find your way to where lightning is launched, or to the place from which the wind blows? Who do you suppose carves canyons for the downpours of rain, and charts the route of thunderstorms That bring water to unvisited fields, deserts no one ever lays eyes on, Drenching the useless wastelands so they’re carpeted with wildflowers and grass? And who do you think is the father of rain and dew, the mother of ice and frost? You don’t for a minute imagine these marvels of weather just happen, do you? [31-33] “Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters, or distract Orion from his hunt? Can you get Venus to look your way, or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play? Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations and how they affect things on Earth? [34-35] “Can you get the attention of the clouds, and commission a shower of rain? Can you take charge of the lightning bolts and have them report to you for orders? [36-38] “Who do you think gave weather-wisdom to the ibis, and storm-savvy to the rooster? Does anyone know enough to number all the clouds or tip over the rain barrels of heaven When the earth is cracked and dry, the ground baked hard as a brick? [39-41] “Can you teach the lioness to stalk her prey and satisfy the appetite of her cubs As they crouch in their den, waiting hungrily in their cave? And who sets out food for the ravens when their young cry to God, fluttering about because they have no food?”

https://bible.com/bible/97/job.38.1-11.MSG

‭‭Job‬ ‭37:1‭-‬24‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-13] “Whenever this happens, my heart stops— I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath. Listen to it! Listen to his thunder, the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice. He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon, lighting up the earth from pole to pole. In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice, powerful and majestic. He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back. No one can mistake that voice— His word thundering so wondrously, his mighty acts staggering our understanding. He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth!’ and the rain, ‘Soak the whole countryside!’ No one can escape the weather—it’s there. And no one can escape from God. Wild animals take shelter, crawling into their dens, When blizzards roar out of the north and freezing rain crusts the land. It’s God’s breath that forms the ice, it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid. And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater and hurls lightning from them every which way. He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that— commands them to do what he says all over the world. Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love, he makes sure they make their mark. [14-18] “Job, are you listening? Have you noticed all this? Stop in your tracks! Take in God’s miracle-wonders! Do you have any idea how God does it all, how he makes bright lightning from dark storms, How he piles up the cumulus clouds— all these miracle-wonders of a perfect Mind? Why, you don’t even know how to keep cool on a sweltering hot day, So how could you even dream of making a dent in that hot-tin-roof sky? [19-22] “If you’re so smart, give us a lesson in how to address God. We’re in the dark and can’t figure it out. Do you think I’m dumb enough to challenge God? Wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble? No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun on a clear and cloudless day. As gold comes from the northern mountains, so a terrible beauty streams from God. [23-24] “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach! Unsurpassable in power and justice! It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly. So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all! If you’re wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.”

https://bible.com/bible/97/job.37.1-13.MSG

‭‭Job‬ ‭36:1‭-‬33‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-4] Here Elihu took a deep breath, but kept going: “Stay with me a little longer. I’ll convince you. There’s still more to be said on God’s side. I learned all this firsthand from the Source; everything I know about justice I owe to my Maker himself. Trust me, I’m giving you undiluted truth; believe me, I know these things inside and out. [5-15] “It’s true that God is all-powerful, but he doesn’t bully innocent people. For the wicked, though, it’s a different story— he doesn’t give them the time of day, but champions the rights of their victims. He never takes his eyes off the righteous; he honors them lavishly, promotes them endlessly. When things go badly, when affliction and suffering descend, God tells them where they’ve gone wrong, shows them how their pride has caused their trouble. He forces them to heed his warning, tells them they must repent of their bad life. If they obey and serve him, they’ll have a good, long life on easy street. But if they disobey, they’ll be cut down in their prime and never know the first thing about life. Angry people without God pile grievance upon grievance, always blaming others for their troubles. Living it up in sexual excesses, virility wasted, they die young. But those who learn from their suffering, God delivers from their suffering. [16-21] “Oh, Job, don’t you see how God’s wooing you from the jaws of danger? How he’s drawing you into wide-open places— inviting you to feast at a table laden with blessings? And here you are laden with the guilt of the wicked, obsessed with putting the blame on God! Don’t let your great riches mislead you; don’t think you can bribe your way out of this. Did you plan to buy your way out of this? Not on your life! And don’t think that night, when people sleep off their troubles, will bring you any relief. Above all, don’t make things worse with more evil— that’s what’s behind your suffering as it is! [22-25] “Do you have any idea how powerful God is? Have you ever heard of a teacher like him? Has anyone ever had to tell him what to do, or correct him, saying, ‘You did that all wrong!’? Remember, then, to praise his workmanship, which is so often celebrated in song. Everybody sees it; nobody is too far away to see it. [26] “Take a long, hard look. See how great he is—infinite, greater than anything you could ever imagine or figure out! [27-33] “He pulls water up out of the sea, distills it, and fills up his rain-cloud cisterns. Then the skies open up and pour out soaking showers on everyone. Does anyone have the slightest idea how this happens? How he arranges the clouds, how he speaks in thunder? Just look at that lightning, his sky-filling light show illumining the dark depths of the sea! These are the symbols of his sovereignty, his generosity, his loving care. He hurls arrows of light, taking sure and accurate aim. The High God roars in the thunder, angry against evil.”

https://bible.com/bible/97/job.36.1-4.MSG