Old/New Testament
Job Says He Has Become a Proverb
17 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The [a](A)grave is ready for me.
2 (B)Mockers are certainly with me,
And my eye [b]gazes on their provocation.
3 “Make a pledge (C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will [c]be my guarantor?
4 For You have [d](D)kept their hearts away from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who (E)informs against friends for a share of the spoils,
The (F)eyes of his children also will perish.
6 “But He has made me a (G)proverb among the people,
And I am [e]one at whom people (H)spit.
7 My eye has also become (I)inexpressive because of grief,
And all my (J)body parts are like a shadow.
8 The upright will be appalled at this,
And the (K)innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
9 Nevertheless (L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And (M)the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But come again all of [f]you now,
For I (N)do not find a wise man among you.
11 My (O)days are past, my plans are torn apart,
The wishes of my heart.
12 They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 If I hope for [g](P)Sheol as my home,
I [h]make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the (Q)grave, ‘You are my father’;
To the (R)maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where then is (S)my hope?
And who looks at my hope?
16 [i]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together (T)go down into the dust?”
Bildad Speaks of the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we (U)regarded as animals,
As stupid in your eyes?
4 [j]You who tear yourself in your anger—
Should the earth be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock moved from its place?
5 “Indeed, the (V)light of the wicked goes out,
And the spark from his fire does not shine.
6 The light in his tent is (W)darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
7 His [k]vigorous stride is shortened,
And his (X)own plan brings him down.
8 For he is (Y)thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.
9 A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
10 A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the pathway.
11 All around (Z)sudden terrors frighten him,
And (AA)harass him at every step.
12 His strength is (AB)famished,
And disaster is ready at his side.
13 [l]It devours parts of his skin,
The firstborn of death (AC)devours his [m]limbs.
14 He is (AD)torn from [n]the security of his tent,
And [o]they march him before the king of (AE)terrors.
15 [p]Nothing of his dwells in his tent;
(AF)Brimstone is scattered on his home.
16 His (AG)roots are dried below,
And his (AH)branch withers above.
17 (AI)The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 [q]He is driven from light (AJ)into darkness,
And (AK)chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has no (AL)offspring or descendants among his people,
Nor any survivor where he resided.
20 Those in the west are appalled at (AM)his [r]fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.
21 Certainly these are the (AN)dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”
Job Feels Insulted
19 Then Job responded,
2 “How long will you torment [s]me
And crush me with words?
3 These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
4 Even if I have truly done wrong,
My error stays with me.
5 If indeed you (AO)exalt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that (AP)God has wronged me
And has surrounded me with (AQ)His net.
Everything Is Against Him
7 “Behold, (AR)I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has (AS)blocked my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put (AT)darkness on my paths.
9 He has (AU)stripped my honor from me
And removed the (AV)crown from my head.
10 He (AW)breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my (AX)hope (AY)like a tree.
11 He has also (AZ)kindled His anger against me
And (BA)considered me as His enemy.
12 His (BB)troops come together
And (BC)build up their [t]way against me
And camp around my tent.
13 “He has (BD)removed my brothers far from me,
And my (BE)acquaintances have completely turned away from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my (BF)close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore his favor with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children despise me;
I stand up and they speak against me.
19 All [u]my (BG)associates loathe me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My (BH)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine,
For the (BI)hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you (BJ)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job Says My Redeemer Lives
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (BK)recorded in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 Yet as for me, I know that (BL)my Redeemer lives,
And at the last, He will take His stand on the [v]earth.
26 Even after my skin [w]is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I will (BM)see God,
27 Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself,
And whom my eyes will see, and not another.
My [x]heart (BN)faints [y]within me!
28 If you say, ‘How shall we (BO)persecute him?’
And ‘[z]What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 Then be afraid of (BP)the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know (BQ)there is judgment.”
Cornelius’ Vision
10 Now there was a man in (A)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was (B)called the Italian [a]cohort, 2 a devout man and (C)one who feared God with all his household, and (D)made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. 3 About (E)the [b]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw (F)in a vision (G)an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” 4 And he (H)looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts (I)have ascended (J)as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now dispatch some men to (K)Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; 6 he is staying with a tanner named (L)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his [c]servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants, 8 and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to (M)Joppa.
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, (N)Peter went up on (O)the [d]housetop about [e](P)the sixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he (Q)fell into a trance; 11 and he *saw (R)the sky opened up, and an [f]object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and [g]crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, [h]kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, (S)Lord, for (T)I have never eaten anything [i]unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “(U)What God has cleansed, no longer [j]consider unholy.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the [k]object was taken up into the sky.
17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in [l]mind as to what (V)the vision which he had seen might [m]mean, behold, (W)the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate; 18 and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. 19 While Peter was reflecting on (X)the vision, (Y)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, [n]three men are looking for you. 20 But get up, go downstairs and (Z)accompany them [o]without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” 21 Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” 22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and (AA)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, (AB)was divinely directed by a (AC)holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear [p](AD)a message from you.” 23 So he invited them in and gave them lodging.
Peter in Caesarea
Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and (AE)some of (AF)the brothers from (AG)Joppa accompanied him.
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