(JOB 39-40) Who is this who darkens counsel with words of ignorance? Gird up your loins now, like a man; I will question you, and you tell me the answers! Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its size? Surely you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it? Into what were its pedestals sunk, and who laid its cornerstone? While the morning stars sang together and all the sons of Godshouted for joy? Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb, When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door And said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves stop? The earth is changed as clay by the seal, and dyed like a garment; But from the wicked their light is withheld, and the arm of pride is shattered. Can you lead Leviathan about with a hook, or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a ring into his nose, or pierce through his cheek with a gaff? Will he then plead with you, time after time, or address you with tender words? Will he make a covenant with you that you may have him as a slave forever? Can you play with him, as with a bird? Can you tie him up for your little girls? Will the traders bargain for him? Will the merchants divide him up? Can you fill his hide with barbs, or his head with fish spears? Once you but lay a hand upon him, no need to recall any other conflict! Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know it all. What is the way to the dwelling of light, and darkness—where is its place That you you may take it to its territory and know the paths to its home?

(PSALM 82) God takes a stand in the divine council gives judgment in the midst of the gods. “How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked? “Defend the lowly and fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and needy. Rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” The gods neither know nor understand, wandering about in darkness, and all the world’s foundations shake. I declare: “Gods though you be offspring of the Most High all of you, Yet like any mortal you shall die; like any prince you shall fall.” Arise, O God, judge the earth, for yours are all the nations.

O Lord, I have heard your renown, and am in awe, O Lord, of your work. In the course of years revive it,[b in the course of years make yourself known; in your wrath remember compassion! God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth; his splendor spread like the light. He raised his horns high, he rejoiced on the day of his strength. Before him went pestilence, and plague followed in his steps. He stood and shook the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. Ancient mountains were shattered, the age-old hills bowed low, age-old orbits collapsed. The tents of Cushan trembled, the pavilions of the land of Midian. Was your anger against the rivers, O Lord? your wrath against the rivers, your rage against the sea,[h] That you mounted your steeds, your victorious chariot? You readied your bow, you filled your bowstring with arrows. You split the earth with rivers; at the sight of you the mountains writhed. The clouds poured down water; the deep roared loudly. The sun forgot to rise, the moon left its lofty station, At the light of your flying arrows, at the gleam of your flashing spear. In wrath you marched on the earth, in fury you trampled the nations. You came forth to save your people, to save your anointed one.[j] You cushed the back of the wicked, you laid him bare, bottom to neck. You pierced his head with your shafts; hisprinces you scattered with your stormwind, as food for the poor in unknown places. You trampled the sea with your horses amid the churning of the deep waters. I hear, and my body trembles; at the sound, my lips quiver. Decay invades my bones, my legs tremble beneath me. I await the day of distress that will come upon the people who attack us. For though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit appears on the vine, Though the yield of the olive fails and the terraces produce no nourishment, Though the flocks disappear from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls Yet I will rejoice in the Lord and exult in my saving God. God, my Lord, is my strength!

[JAMES 2] You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.

[Colossians 2] And even when you were dead in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; Obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross! Despoiling the principalities and the powers, he made a public spectacle of them, leading them away in triumph by it! Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath. These are shadows of things to come; the reality belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, inflated without reason by his fleshly mind, and not holding closely to the head, from whom the whole body, Supported and held together by its ligaments and bonds, achieves the growth that comes from God inflated without reason by his fleshly mind, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world?

(Ephesisans 6) Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the powers, with the principalities, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, And your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all flaming arrows of the evil one! And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God!

(PSALM 104) Lord, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and splendor, robed in light as with a cloak. You spread out the heavens like a tent Setting the beams of your chambers upon the waters. You make the clouds your chariot; traveling on the wings of the wind. You make the winds your messengers; flaming fire, your ministers. You fixed the earth on its foundation, so it can never be shaken. The deeps covered it like a garment; above the mountains stood the waters. At your rebuke they took flight; at the sound of your thunder they fled. They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys to the place you had fixed for them. You set a limit they cannot pass; never again will they cover the earth. You made springs flow in wadies that wind among the mountains. They give drink to every beast of the field; here wild asses quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of heaven nest; among the branches they sing. You water the mountains from your chambers; from the fruit of your labor the earth abounds. You make the grass grow for the cattle and plants for people’s work to bring forth food from the earth, wine to gladden their hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread to sustain the human heart.