Job 6-8
English Standard Version
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
6 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Oh that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 For then it would be heavier than (A)the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
4 For (B)the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
or the ox low over his fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?[a]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.[b]
8 “Oh that I might have my request,
and that God would fulfill my hope,
9 that it would (C)please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my comfort;
I would even exult[c] in pain (D)unsparing,
for I have not denied the words of (E)the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
13 Have I any help in me,
when resource is driven from me?
14 “He who (F)withholds[d] kindness from a (G)friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My (H)brothers are (I)treacherous as a torrent-bed,
as torrential (J)streams that pass away,
16 which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
17 When they melt, they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into (K)the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of (L)Tema look,
the travelers of (M)Sheba hope.
20 They are (N)ashamed because they were confident;
they come there and are (O)disappointed.
21 For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of (P)the ruthless’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray.
25 How forceful are upright words!
But what does reproof from you reprove?
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
when the speech of a despairing man is (Q)wind?
27 You would even (R)cast lots over the fatherless,
and bargain over your friend.
28 “But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.
29 (S)Please turn; let no injustice be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?
Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope
7 “Has not man (T)a hard service on earth,
and are not his (U)days like the days of a hired hand?
2 Like a slave who longs for (V)the shadow,
and like (W)a hired hand who looks for his (X)wages,
3 so I am allotted months of (Y)emptiness,
(Z)and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 (AA)When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with (AB)worms and (AC)dirt;
my skin hardens, then (AD)breaks out afresh.
6 My days are (AE)swifter than (AF)a weaver's shuttle
and come to their end without hope.
7 “Remember that my life is a (AG)breath;
my eye will never again see good.
8 (AH)The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
while your eyes are on me, (AI)I shall be gone.
9 As (AJ)the cloud fades and vanishes,
so he who (AK)goes down to Sheol does not come up;
10 he (AL)returns no more to his house,
nor does his (AM)place know him anymore.
11 “Therefore I will not (AN)restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will (AO)complain in (AP)the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or (AQ)a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
13 (AR)When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than my (AS)bones.
16 I (AT)loathe my life; I would not live forever.
(AU)Leave me alone, for my days are (AV)a breath.
17 (AW)What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
18 (AX)visit him every morning
and (AY)test him every moment?
19 How long will you not (AZ)look away from me,
nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me (BA)your mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in (BB)the earth;
you will (BC)seek me, (BD)but I shall not be.”
Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent
8 Then (BE)Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a (BF)great wind?
3 (BG)Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
4 If your (BH)children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
5 If you will seek God
and (BI)plead with the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will (BJ)rouse himself for you
and (BK)restore your rightful habitation.
7 And though your beginning was small,
(BL)your latter days will be very great.
8 “For (BM)inquire, please, of bygone ages,
and consider what (BN)the fathers have searched out.
9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
for our days on earth are (BO)a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they (BP)wither before any other plant.
13 Such are the paths of all who (BQ)forget God;
(BR)the hope of (BS)the godless shall perish.
14 His confidence is severed,
and his trust is (BT)a spider's web.[e]
15 He leans against his (BU)house, but it does not stand;
he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
16 He is a lush plant before the sun,
and his (BV)shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots entwine the stone heap;
he looks upon a house of stones.
18 If he is destroyed from his (BW)place,
then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never (BX)seen you.’
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way,
and out of (BY)the soil others will spring.
Acts 12
English Standard Version
James Killed and Peter Imprisoned
12 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed (A)James the brother of John (B)with the sword, 3 and when he saw (C)that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during (D)the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him (E)in prison, delivering him over to four (F)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest (G)prayer for him was made to God by the church.
Peter Is Rescued
6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, (H)bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, (I)an angel of the Lord (J)stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. (K)He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And (L)the chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and (M)put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but (N)thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. (O)It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 11 When Peter (P)came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that (Q)the Lord has sent his angel and (R)rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of (S)John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and (T)were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, (U)a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, (V)in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is (W)his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 17 But (X)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to (Y)James and to (Z)the brothers.”[a] Then he departed and went to another place.
18 Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and (AA)ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.
The Death of Herod
20 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and (AB)having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain,[b] they asked for peace, because (AC)their country depended on the king's country for food. 21 On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. 22 And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” 23 Immediately (AD)an angel of the Lord struck him down, because (AE)he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
24 But (AF)the word of God increased and multiplied.
25 (AG)And Barnabas and Saul returned from[c] Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them (AH)John, whose other name was Mark.
Footnotes
- Acts 12:17 Or brothers and sisters
- Acts 12:20 That is, trusted personal attendant
- Acts 12:25 Some manuscripts to
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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