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Job 28

 ¹ "There is a mine for silver
       and a place where gold is refined.

 ² Iron is taken from the earth,
       and copper is smelted from ore.

 ³ Man puts an end to the darkness;
       he searches the farthest recesses
       for ore in the blackest darkness.

 ⁴ Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft,
       in places forgotten by the foot of man;
       far from men he dangles and sways.

 ⁵ The earth, from which food comes,
       is transformed below as by fire;

 ⁶ sapphires ^[a] come from its rocks,
       and its dust contains nuggets of gold.

 ⁷ No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
       no falcon's eye has seen it.

 ⁸ Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
       and no lion prowls there.

 ⁹ Man's hand assaults the flinty rock
       and lays bare the roots of the mountains.

 ¹⁰ He tunnels through the rock;
       his eyes see all its treasures.

 ¹¹ He searches ^[b] the sources of the rivers
       and brings hidden things to light.

 ¹² "But where can wisdom be found?
       Where does understanding dwell?

 ¹³ Man does not comprehend its worth;
       it cannot be found in the land of the living.

 ¹⁴ The deep says, 'It is not in me';
       the sea says, 'It is not with me.'

 ¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
       nor can its price be weighed in silver.

 ¹⁶ It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
       with precious onyx or sapphires.

 ¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
       nor can it be had for jewels of gold.

 ¹⁸ Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
       the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

 ¹⁹ The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
       it cannot be bought with pure gold.

 ²⁰ "Where then does wisdom come from?
       Where does understanding dwell?

 ²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
       concealed even from the birds of the air.

 ²² Destruction ^[c] and Death say,
       'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'

 ²³ God understands the way to it
       and he alone knows where it dwells,

 ²⁴ for he views the ends of the earth
       and sees everything under the heavens.

 ²⁵ When he established the force of the wind
       and measured out the waters,

 ²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
       and a path for the thunderstorm,

 ²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
       he confirmed it and tested it.

 ²⁸ And he said to man,
       'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
       and to shun evil is understanding.' "

Job 29

 ¹ Job continued his discourse:

 ² "How I long for the months gone by,
       for the days when God watched over me,

 ³ when his lamp shone upon my head
       and by his light I walked through darkness!

 ⁴ Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
       when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,

 ⁵ when the Almighty was still with me
       and my children were around me,

 ⁶ when my path was drenched with cream
       and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

 ⁷ "When I went to the gate of the city
       and took my seat in the public square,

 ⁸ the young men saw me and stepped aside
       and the old men rose to their feet;

 ⁹ the chief men refrained from speaking
       and covered their mouths with their hands;

 ¹⁰ the voices of the nobles were hushed,
       and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

 ¹¹ Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
       and those who saw me commended me,

 ¹² because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
       and the fatherless who had none to assist him.

 ¹³ The man who was dying blessed me;
       I made the widow's heart sing.

 ¹⁴ I put on righteousness as my clothing;
       justice was my robe and my turban.

 ¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind
       and feet to the lame.

 ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy;
       I took up the case of the stranger.

 ¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked
       and snatched the victims from their teeth.

 ¹⁸ "I thought, 'I will die in my own house,
       my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

 ¹⁹ My roots will reach to the water,
       and the dew will lie all night on my branches.

 ²⁰ My glory will remain fresh in me,
       the bow ever new in my hand.'

 ²¹ "Men listened to me expectantly,
       waiting in silence for my counsel.

 ²² After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
       my words fell gently on their ears.

 ²³ They waited for me as for showers
       and drank in my words as the spring rain.

 ²⁴ When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
       the light of my face was precious to them. ^[d]

 ²⁵ I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;
       I dwelt as a king among his troops;
       I was like one who comforts mourners.

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Acts 13

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

On Cyprus

 ⁶They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. ⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰"You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun."

   Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

 ¹⁶Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! ¹⁷The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, ¹⁸he endured their conduct^[a] for about forty years in the desert, ¹⁹he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance. ²⁰All this took about 450 years.

   "After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. ²²After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'

 ²³"From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. ²⁴Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. ²⁵As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.'