Job 28–29
1 “Surely there is a mine for the silver,
and a place where they refine gold.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness,
and searches every extremity
for ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from the inhabitants;
in places forgotten by feet
they hang far away from men; and they totter.
5 As for the earth, from it comes bread,
and underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the source of sapphires,
and it has dust of gold.
7 There is a path that no bird knows,
and that the vulture’s eye has not seen;
8 the lion cubs have not trodden it,
nor has the fierce lion passed by it.
9 He puts forth his hand upon the rock;
he overturns the mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out rivers among the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He prevents the floods from overflowing,
and the thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.
12 “But where will wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its price,
nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The depth says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It cannot be bought for gold,
nor can silver be weighed for its price.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx or the sapphire.
17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it,
and it cannot be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention will be made of coral or of pearls,
for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it,
nor will it be valued with pure gold.
20 “From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
22 Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard of its fame with our ears.’
23 God understands its way,
and He knows its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,
and sees under the whole heaven,
25 to make the weight of the wind,
and He weighs the waters by measure.
26 When He made a decree for the rain,
and a path for the lightning of the thunder,
27 then He saw it and declared it;
He prepared it, yes, and searched it out.
28 To man He said:
‘Look, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Chapter 29
1 Moreover Job continued his discourse:
2 “Oh, that I were as in months past,
as in the days when God watched over me;
3 when His lamp shone upon my head,
and when by His light I walked through darkness;
4 as I was in the days of my autumn youth,
when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;
5 when the Almighty was still with me,
when my children were around me;
6 when my steps were bathed in butter,
and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!
7 “When I went out to the gate of the city,
when I took my seat in the square,
8 the young men saw me and hid themselves,
and the aged arose and stood up.
9 The princes refrained from talking,
and put their hand on their mouth.
10 The nobles held their peace,
and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard, then it blessed me;
and when the eye saw, then it approved me,
12 because I delivered the poor who cried,
and the fatherless, and him who had none to help him.
13 The blessing of the perishing man came upon me,
and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my judgment was like a robe and a diadem.
15 I was eyes for the blind,
and I was feet for the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor,
and I searched out the case that I did not know.
17 I broke the jaws of the wicked
and plucked the victim from his teeth.
18 “Then I said, ‘I will die in my nest,
and I will multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root was spread out by the waters,
and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
20 My glory was fresh in me,
and my bow was renewed in my hand.’
21 “Men listened to me and waited,
and kept silence for my counsel.
22 After my words they did not speak again,
and my speech settled on them like dew.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.
24 If I mocked at them, they did not believe it,
and the light of my countenance they did not cast down.
25 I chose the way for them and sat as chief,
and lived as a king in the army,
as one who comforts mourners.”
Acts 13:1–25
1 In the church that was in Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they worshipped the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John as an assistant.
6 When they had gone through the whole island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet, whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (which is his name by interpretation) opposed them, trying to divert the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him and said, 10 “You son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, full of deceit and of all fraud, will you not cease perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now, look! The hand of the Lord is against you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”
Immediately mist and darkness fell on him, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed and was astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
13 Now when Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But they departed from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”
16 Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt, and with great power He led them out of it. 18 For about forty years He endured their conduct in the desert. 19 When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance by lot.
20 “After about four hundred and fifty years, God gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they requested a king. And God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 When He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, of whom He testified, saying, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will fulfill My entire will.’
23 “From this man’s descendants God has raised a Savior for Israel, Jesus, according to His promise. 24 Before His coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But look! He is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’”