Job 27:6

Hebrew Bible

4 my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will whisper no deceit. 5 I will never declare that you three are in the right; until I die, I will not set aside my integrity! 6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let it go; my conscience will not reproach me for as long as I live. 7 “May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unrighteous. 8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? 9 Does God listen to his cry when distress overtakes him?

1 Corinthians 4:4

New Testament

1 One should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful. 3 So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord. 5 So then, do not judge anything before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition from God.

 Notes and References

"... The above-mentioned connection between suffering and salvation, and specifically the claim that “only through the former that the latter is achieved,” is an idea rooted in the Old Testament:611 it may be viewed as cultural, that is, as known to ‘insiders’ of the Jewish culture. Paul is aware of the long-developing tradition of the Old Testament’s suffering righteous (such as Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Elijah), and the Deutero-canonical accounts of the martyrdom of Eleazar and the Maccabeean mother and her seven sons) ..."

Mortell, Philip B. A Socio-rhetorical Interpretation of Paul’s Theology of Christian Suffering in 1 Corinthians (pp. 167-168) University of Limerick, 2020

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