Job 25–27
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “Dominion and fear are with Him;
He makes peace in His high places.
3 Is there any number to His armies?
And upon whom does His light not rise?
4 How then can man be righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean?
5 Behold, even the moon does not shine,
and the stars are not pure in His sight;
6 how much less man, who is a maggot?
And the son of man, who is a worm?”
Chapter 26
1 But Job answered:
2 “How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
3 How have you counseled him who has no wisdom?
And how have you plentifully declared sound knowledge?
4 To whom have you uttered words?
And whose breath came from you?
5 “The departed spirits tremble under the waters,
and their inhabitants.
6 The underworld is naked before Him,
and destruction has no covering.
7 He stretches out the north over empty space,
He hangs the earth upon nothing.
8 He binds up the waters in His thick clouds,
and the cloud is not broken under them.
9 He covers the face of the full moon
and spreads His cloud over it.
10 He has circled the waters with boundaries,
until the day and night come to an end.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astonished at His reproof.
12 He divides the sea with His power,
and by His understanding He strikes through the proud.
13 By His breath He has made fair the heavens;
His hand has formed the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed, these are but a part of His ways,
and how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
Chapter 27
1 Moreover Job continued his discourse:
2 “As God lives, who has taken away my judgment,
and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
3 all the while my spirit is in me,
and the breath of God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak wickedness,
nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 God forbid that I should justify you.
Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go;
my heart will not reproach me as long as I live.
7 “Let my enemy be like the wicked,
and he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
though he may gain much, when God takes away his soul?
9 Will God hear his cry
when trouble comes upon him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call upon God?
11 “I will teach you about the hand of God;
what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Look, all of you have seen it;
why then have you become altogether vain?
13 “This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
and the inheritance that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
and his offspring will not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those who survive him will be buried in death,
and their widows will not weep.
16 Though he heaps up silver like the dust
and piles up clothing like the clay—
17 he may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
and the innocent will divide the silver.
18 He builds his house like a moth,
and like a booth that the watchman makes.
19 The rich man will lie down, but he will not be gathered;
he opens his eyes, and he is not.
20 Terrors overtake him like floodwaters;
a tempest steals him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he departs;
it sweeps him out of his place.
22 For God will cast it upon him and not spare;
he would flee from its power.
23 Men will clap their hands at him
and will hiss him out of his place.”
Acts 12
1 About that time King Herod extended his hands to harm certain ones from the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 Seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to arrest Peter also. This happened during the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him before the people after the Passover.
5 So Peter was kept in prison. But the church prayed to God without ceasing for him.
6 The very night when Herod would have brought him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. And the guards before the door were securing the prison. 7 And suddenly an angel of the Lord approached him, and a light shone in the prison. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up, quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put your sandals on.” And he did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 He went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guards, they came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened to them by itself. And they went out and went forward one street. And immediately the angel left him.
11 When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I certainly know that the Lord has sent His angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
12 Realizing this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 As Peter knocked at the door of the porch, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, from joy she did not open the door, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the door.
15 They said to her, “You are insane.” But she insisted that it was really so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
16 But Peter continued knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Motioning to them with his hand to be quiet, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.
18 Now when day came, there was a great disturbance among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. 19 When Herod had searched for him and did not find him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.
Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But they came to him in unity, and having made Blastus, the king’s personal servant, their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country.
21 On an appointed day, Herod, dressed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave a public speech to them. 22 The mob shouted, “It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!” 23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory. And he was eaten by worms and died.
24 But the word of God spread and increased.
25 When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their ministry, they returned from Jerusalem and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.