Job 30–31
1 “But now those who are younger than I mock me,
whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yes, how does the strength of their hands profit me?
Their vigor has perished.
3 For want and famine
they gnawed the parched land;
fleeing into the wilderness in former time, desolate and waste.
4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes,
and juniper roots for their food.
5 They were driven out from among men;
they shout after them as after a thief.
6 They had to dwell in the rocky riverbeds,
in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they brayed;
under the nettles they were gathered together.
8 They were children of fools, yes, children of vile men;
they were scourged from the earth.
9 “Now I am their taunting song;
yes, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me,
they have cast off the bridle before me.
12 At my right hand their brood arises;
they push away my feet,
and they raise against me their ways of destruction.
13 They tear apart my path,
they promote my calamity;
they have no helper.
14 They came upon me as a wide breach, with a crash they came;
in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned on me;
they pursue my dignity like the wind,
and my help passes away as a cloud.
16 “Now my soul is poured out within me;
the days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 My bones are pierced in me at night,
and my sinews have no rest.
18 By the great force of my disease my garment is changed;
it binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry unto You, but You do not hear me;
I stand up, and You do not regard me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
with Your strong hand You oppose me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You dissolve my success.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
24 “Surely He will not stretch out His hand to the grave,
though they cry when He destroys it.
25 Did I not weep for him who was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil disaster came upon me;
and when I waited for light, darkness came.
27 My insides boiled and did not rest;
the days of affliction have met me.
28 I went mourning without the sun;
I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am a brother of jackals
and a companion of owls.
30 My skin is black upon me,
and my bones are burned with fever.
31 My harp is turned to mourning,
and my flute to the voice of those who weep.
Chapter 31
1 “I made a covenant with my eyes;
why then should I look upon a young woman?
2 For what portion of God is there from above?
And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Does not destruction belong to the wicked,
and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
4 Does He not see my ways,
and count all my steps?
5 “If I have walked in vanity,
or if my foot has hurried after deceit,
6 let me be weighed in an even balance
that God may know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned out of the path,
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has clung to my hands,
8 then let me sow, but let another eat;
yes, let my offspring be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been deceived by a woman,
or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
10 then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down over her.
11 For this is a heinous crime;
yes, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumes to destruction
and would root out all my increase.
13 “If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant
when they complained against me,
14 what then will I do when God rises up?
And when He visits, what will I answer Him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb make him?
And did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel by myself,
so that the fatherless could not eat of it
18 (but from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father,
and I have guided the widow from my mother’s womb);
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or any poor without covering;
20 if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
when I saw I had help in the gate;
22 then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade,
and my arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God is a terror to me,
and because of His highness I cannot endure.
24 “If I have made gold my hope,
or have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;
25 if I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
and because my hand had gained much;
26 if I saw the sun when it shined,
or the moon moving in brightness;
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
or my mouth has kissed my hand;
28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judge,
for I would have denied the God who is above.
29 “If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
or lifted up myself when disaster found him
30 (nor have I allowed my mouth to sin
by wishing for a curse on his soul);
31 if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there who has not been satisfied with his meat?’
32 (the stranger has not lodged in the street,
but I opened my doors to the traveler);
33 if I covered my transgressions as any man,
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34 did I fear a great multitude,
or did the contempt of families terrify me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of the door?
35 “Oh, that one would hear me!
Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me,
and that the One who contends against me had written a book!
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder
and bind it on me like a crown.
37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
like a prince I would approach Him.
38 “If my land cries out against me,
and its furrows also weep together;
39 if I have eaten its fruit without money,
or have caused its owners to lose their life;
40 let thistles grow instead of wheat,
and weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Acts 13:26–52
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those of you who fear God, the word of this salvation has been sent to us. 27 Because those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, did not know Him, in condemning Him they have fulfilled the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found in Him no cause worthy of death, yet they asked Pilate to have Him killed. 29 When they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree and placed Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead, 31 and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.
32 “We preach to you good news: The promise which was made to the fathers, 33 God has fulfilled to us, their children, raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:
‘You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father.’
34 That He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way:
‘I will give You the holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 So He says in another Psalm:
‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’
36 “For after David had served by the counsel of God in his own generation, he fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw decay. 37 But He whom God raised up saw no decay.
38 “Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this Man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses. 40 Therefore beware, lest what is spoken of in the prophets come upon you:
41 ‘Look, you scoffers,
marvel and perish!
For I will perform a work in your days
which you will never believe,
even if someone declares it to you.’”
42 When Paul and Barnabas went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles asked that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, blaspheming and contradicting what Paul was saying.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But seeing you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For thus has the Lord commanded us:
‘I have established you to be a light of the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And all who were ordained to eternal life believed.
49 The word of the Lord was spread throughout the entire region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city, and raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them from their region. 51 So they shook off the dust of their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.