Job 30–31; Acts 13:26–52

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Job 30–31

But now they ilaugh at me,

men who are jyounger than I,

whose fathers I would have disdained

to set with the dogs of my flock.

What could I gain from the strength of their hands,

kmen whose lvigor is gone?

Through want and hard hunger

they mgnaw nthe dry ground by night in owaste and desolation;

they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,

and the roots of the broom tree for their food.1

pThey are driven out from human company;

they shout after them as after a thief.

In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,

in holes of the earth and of qthe rocks.

Among the bushes they rbray;

under sthe nettles they huddle together.

A senseless, a nameless brood,

they have been whipped out of the land.

And now I have become their tsong;

I am ua byword to them.

10  They vabhor me; they keep aloof from me;

they do not hesitate to wspit at the sight of me.

11  Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,

they have cast off restraint2 in my presence.

12  On my xright hand the rabble rise;

they push away my feet;

they ycast up against me their ways of destruction.

13  They break up my path;

they promote my zcalamity;

they need no one to help them.

14  As through a wide abreach they come;

amid the crash they roll on.

15  bTerrors are turned upon me;

my honor is pursued as by the wind,

and my prosperity has passed away like ca cloud.

16  And now my soul is dpoured out within me;

days of affliction have taken hold of me.

17  eThe night fracks my bones,

and the pain that ggnaws me takes no rest.

18  With great force my garment is hdisfigured;

it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.

19  God3 has cast me into the mire,

and I have become like idust and ashes.

20  I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;

I stand, and you only look at me.

21  You have jturned cruel to me;

with the might of your hand you kpersecute me.

22  lYou lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,

and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

23  mFor I know that you will bring me to death

and to the house appointed for nall living.

24  Yet does not one in a oheap of ruins stretch out his hand,

and in his disaster cry for help?4

25  Did not I pweep for him whose day was hard?

Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26  But qwhen I hoped for good, evil came,

and when I waited for light, rdarkness came.

27  My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;

days of affliction scome to meet me.

28  I tgo about darkened, but not by the sun;

I stand up in uthe assembly and cry for help.

29  I am a brother of vjackals

and a companion of wostriches.

30  My xskin turns black and falls from me,

and my ybones burn with heat.

31  My zlyre is aturned to mourning,

and my zpipe to the voice of those who weep.

Job’s Final Appeal

I have made a covenant with my beyes;

how then could I gaze at a virgin?

What would be cmy portion from God above

and cmy heritage from the Almighty on high?

Is not calamity for the unrighteous,

and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

dDoes not he see my ways

and enumber all my steps?

If I have walked with falsehood

and my foot has hastened to deceit;

(Let me be fweighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!)

if my step has turned aside from the way

and gmy heart has gone after my eyes,

and if any hspot has stuck to my hands,

then let me isow, and another eat,

and let what grows for me5 be rooted out.

If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

and I have jlain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10  then let my wife kgrind for another,

and let others lbow down on her.

11  For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be an iniquity mto be punished by the judges;

12  for that would be a fire nthat consumes as far as Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13  If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

when they brought a complaint against me,

14  what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he omakes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15  Did pnot he who made me in the womb make him?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16  If I have qwithheld anything that the poor desired,

or have rcaused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17  or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18  (for from my youth the fatherless6 grew up with me as with a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow7),

19  if I have seen anyone sperish for tlack of clothing,

or the needy without tcovering,

20  if his body has not ublessed me,8

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21  if I have raised my hand against vthe fatherless,

because I saw my help in wthe gate,

22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23  For I was xin terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his xmajesty.

24  yIf I have made gold my ztrust

or called afine gold my confidence,

25  if I have brejoiced because my wealth was abundant

or because cmy hand had found much,

26  dif I have looked at the sun9 when it shone,

or ethe moon moving in splendor,

27  and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

28  this also would be fan iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I would have been false to God above.

29  If I have grejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook him

30  (hI have not let my mouth sin

by asking for his life with a curse),

31  if the men of my tent have not said,

Who is there that has not been filled with his imeat?

32  (jthe sojourner has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the traveler),

33  if I khave concealed my transgressions las others do10

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34  because I stood in great fear of mthe multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors

35  Oh, that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty nanswer me!)

Oh, that I had othe indictment written by my adversary!

36  Surely I would carry it on my pshoulder;

I would qbind it on me as ra crown;

37  I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

38  If my land has cried out against me

and its furrows have wept together,

39  sif I have eaten its yield without payment

and made its owners tbreathe their last,

40  let uthorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.

The words of Job are ended.


Acts 13:26–52

26 Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you vwho fear God, to us has been sent wthe message of xthis salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ythey did not recognize him nor understand zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, afulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ethey took him down from fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But gGod raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days hhe appeared to those iwho had come up with him jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, kwho are now lhis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news mthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 nthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

oYou are my Son,

today I have begotten you.

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

I will give you rthe holy and sure blessings of David.

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

sYou will not let your Holy One see corruption.

36 For David, after he had tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ufell asleep and vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom wGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, xthat through this man yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him zeveryone who believes is freed1 from everything afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41  bLook, you scoffers,

be astounded and perish;

for I am doing a work in your days,

a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.

42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and cdevout dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them eto continue in fthe grace of God.

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 gBut hwhen the Jews2 saw the crowds, they were filled with ijealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, jreviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, It was necessary that the word of God kbe spoken first to you. lSince you thrust it aside and judge yourselves munworthy of eternal life, behold, we nare turning to the Gentiles. 47 oFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

pI have made you qa light for the Gentiles,

that you may rbring salvation to the ends of the earth.

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and sglorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 tBut the Jews incited the devout uwomen of high standing and the leading men of the city, vstirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and wdrove them out of their district. 51 But they xshook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled ywith joy and zwith the Holy Spirit.