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Job 32

Elihu

 ⁶ So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:
       "I am young in years,
       and you are old;
       that is why I was fearful,
       not daring to tell you what I know.

 ⁷ I thought, 'Age should speak;
       advanced years should teach wisdom.'

 ⁸ But it is the spirit ^[b] in a man,
       the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

 ⁹ It is not only the old ^[c] who are wise,
       not only the aged who understand what is right.

 ¹⁰ "Therefore I say: Listen to me;
       I too will tell you what I know.

 ¹¹ I waited while you spoke,
       I listened to your reasoning;
       while you were searching for words,

 ¹² I gave you my full attention.
       But not one of you has proved Job wrong;
       none of you has answered his arguments.

 ¹³ Do not say, 'We have found wisdom;
       let God refute him, not man.'

 ¹⁴ But Job has not marshaled his words against me,
       and I will not answer him with your arguments.

 ¹⁵ "They are dismayed and have no more to say;
       words have failed them.

 ¹⁶ Must I wait, now that they are silent,
       now that they stand there with no reply?

 ¹⁷ I too will have my say;
       I too will tell what I know.

 ¹⁸ For I am full of words,
       and the spirit within me compels me;

 ¹⁹ inside I am like bottled-up wine,
       like new wineskins ready to burst.

 ²⁰ I must speak and find relief;
       I must open my lips and reply.

 ²¹ I will show partiality to no one,
       nor will I flatter any man;

 ²² for if I were skilled in flattery,
       my Maker would soon take me away.

Job 33

 ¹ "But now, Job, listen to my words;
       pay attention to everything I say.

 ² I am about to open my mouth;
       my words are on the tip of my tongue.

 ³ My words come from an upright heart;
       my lips sincerely speak what I know.

 ⁴ The Spirit of God has made me;
       the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

 ⁵ Answer me then, if you can;
       prepare yourself and confront me.

 ⁶ I am just like you before God;
       I too have been taken from clay.

 ⁷ No fear of me should alarm you,
       nor should my hand be heavy upon you.

 ⁸ "But you have said in my hearing—
       I heard the very words-

 ⁹ 'I am pure and without sin;
       I am clean and free from guilt.

 ¹⁰ Yet God has found fault with me;
       he considers me his enemy.

 ¹¹ He fastens my feet in shackles;
       he keeps close watch on all my paths.'

 ¹² "But I tell you, in this you are not right,
       for God is greater than man.

 ¹³ Why do you complain to him
       that he answers none of man's words ^[d] ?

 ¹⁴ For God does speak—now one way, now another—
       though man may not perceive it.

 ¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,
       when deep sleep falls on men
       as they slumber in their beds,

 ¹⁶ he may speak in their ears
       and terrify them with warnings,

 ¹⁷ to turn man from wrongdoing
       and keep him from pride,

 ¹⁸ to preserve his soul from the pit, ^[e]
       his life from perishing by the sword. ^[f]

 ¹⁹ Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain
       with constant distress in his bones,

 ²⁰ so that his very being finds food repulsive
       and his soul loathes the choicest meal.

 ²¹ His flesh wastes away to nothing,
       and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.

 ²² His soul draws near to the pit, ^[g]
       and his life to the messengers of death. ^[h]

 ²³ "Yet if there is an angel on his side
       as a mediator, one out of a thousand,
       to tell a man what is right for him,

 ²⁴ to be gracious to him and say,
       'Spare him from going down to the pit ^[i] ;
       I have found a ransom for him'-

 ²⁵ then his flesh is renewed like a child's;
       it is restored as in the days of his youth.

 ²⁶ He prays to God and finds favor with him,
       he sees God's face and shouts for joy;
       he is restored by God to his righteous state.

 ²⁷ Then he comes to men and says,
       'I sinned, and perverted what was right,
       but I did not get what I deserved.

 ²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, ^[j]
       and I will live to enjoy the light.'

 ²⁹ "God does all these things to a man—
       twice, even three times-

 ³⁰ to turn back his soul from the pit, ^[k]
       that the light of life may shine on him.

 ³¹ "Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
       be silent, and I will speak.

 ³² If you have anything to say, answer me;
       speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

 ³³ But if not, then listen to me;
       be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

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Acts 14

In Iconium

In Lystra and Derbe

 ¹¹When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" ¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. ¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

 ¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ¹⁵"Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. ¹⁶In the past, he let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." ¹⁸Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

 ¹⁹Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. ²⁰But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

The Return to Antioch in Syria

 ²⁶From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. ²⁷On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.