In Corinth

18 After this, Paul left Athens(A) and went to Corinth.(B) There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla,(C) because Claudius(D) had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.(E) Every Sabbath(F) he reasoned in the synagogue,(G) trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

When Silas(H) and Timothy(I) came from Macedonia,(J) Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.(K) But when they opposed Paul and became abusive,(L) he shook out his clothes in protest(M) and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads!(N) I am innocent of it.(O) From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”(P)

Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.(Q) Crispus,(R) the synagogue leader,(S) and his entire household(T) believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision:(U) “Do not be afraid;(V) keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you,(W) and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.(X)

12 While Gallio was proconsul(Y) of Achaia,(Z) the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13 “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law(AA)—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” 16 So he drove them off. 17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes(AB) the synagogue leader(AC) and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.

Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos

18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters(AD) and sailed for Syria,(AE) accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.(AF) Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae(AG) because of a vow he had taken.(AH) 19 They arrived at Ephesus,(AI) where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.”(AJ) Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he landed at Caesarea,(AK) he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.(AL)

23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia(AM) and Phrygia,(AN) strengthening all the disciples.(AO)

24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos,(AP) a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.(AQ) He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor[a](AR) and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.(AS) 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila(AT) heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia,(AU) the brothers and sisters(AV) encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures(AW) that Jesus was the Messiah.(AX)

Footnotes

  1. Acts 18:25 Or with fervor in the Spirit

18 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.

And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:

10 For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12 And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,

13 Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

14 And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:

15 But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.

16 And he drave them from the judgment seat.

17 Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.

23 And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

28 For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

Job Speaks

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.(A) He said:

“May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’(B)
That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
May gloom and utter darkness(C) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
That night—may thick darkness(D) seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy(E) be heard in it.
May those who curse days[a] curse that day,(F)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.(G)
May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,(H)
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?(I)
12 Why were there knees to receive me(J)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down(K) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest(L)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,(M)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,(N)
15 with princes(O) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.(P)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,(Q)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?(R)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,(S)
    and there the weary are at rest.(T)
18 Captives(U) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s(V) shout.(W)
19 The small and the great are there,(X)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,(Y)
21 to those who long for death that does not come,(Z)
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,(AA)
22 who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?(AB)
23 Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,(AC)
    whom God has hedged in?(AD)
24 For sighing(AE) has become my daily food;(AF)
    my groans(AG) pour out like water.(AH)
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded(AI) has happened to me.(AJ)
26 I have no peace,(AK) no quietness;
    I have no rest,(AL) but only turmoil.”(AM)

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite(AN) replied:

“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?(AO)
Think how you have instructed many,(AP)
    how you have strengthened feeble hands.(AQ)
Your words have supported those who stumbled;(AR)
    you have strengthened faltering knees.(AS)
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;(AT)
    it strikes(AU) you, and you are dismayed.(AV)
Should not your piety be your confidence(AW)
    and your blameless(AX) ways your hope?

“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?(AY)
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?(AZ)
As I have observed,(BA) those who plow evil(BB)
    and those who sow trouble reap it.(BC)
At the breath of God(BD) they perish;
    at the blast of his anger they are no more.(BE)
10 The lions may roar(BF) and growl,
    yet the teeth of the great lions(BG) are broken.(BH)
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey,(BI)
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.(BJ)

12 “A word(BK) was secretly brought to me,
    my ears caught a whisper(BL) of it.(BM)
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
    when deep sleep falls on people,(BN)
14 fear and trembling(BO) seized me
    and made all my bones shake.(BP)
15 A spirit glided past my face,
    and the hair on my body stood on end.(BQ)
16 It stopped,
    but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
    and I heard a hushed voice:(BR)
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?(BS)
    Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?(BT)
18 If God places no trust in his servants,(BU)
    if he charges his angels with error,(BV)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,(BW)
    whose foundations(BX) are in the dust,(BY)
    who are crushed(BZ) more readily than a moth!(CA)
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
    unnoticed, they perish forever.(CB)
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,(CC)
    so that they die(CD) without wisdom?’(CE)

“Call if you will, but who will answer you?(CF)
    To which of the holy ones(CG) will you turn?
Resentment(CH) kills a fool,
    and envy slays the simple.(CI)
I myself have seen(CJ) a fool taking root,(CK)
    but suddenly(CL) his house was cursed.(CM)
His children(CN) are far from safety,(CO)
    crushed in court(CP) without a defender.(CQ)
The hungry consume his harvest,(CR)
    taking it even from among thorns,
    and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
For hardship does not spring from the soil,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground.(CS)
Yet man is born to trouble(CT)
    as surely as sparks fly upward.

“But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
    I would lay my cause before him.(CU)
He performs wonders(CV) that cannot be fathomed,(CW)
    miracles that cannot be counted.(CX)
10 He provides rain for the earth;(CY)
    he sends water on the countryside.(CZ)
11 The lowly he sets on high,(DA)
    and those who mourn(DB) are lifted(DC) to safety.
12 He thwarts the plans(DD) of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.(DE)
13 He catches the wise(DF) in their craftiness,(DG)
    and the schemes of the wily are swept away.(DH)
14 Darkness(DI) comes upon them in the daytime;
    at noon they grope as in the night.(DJ)
15 He saves the needy(DK) from the sword in their mouth;
    he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.(DL)
16 So the poor(DM) have hope,
    and injustice shuts its mouth.(DN)

17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects;(DO)
    so do not despise the discipline(DP) of the Almighty.[b](DQ)
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;(DR)
    he injures, but his hands also heal.(DS)
19 From six calamities he will rescue(DT) you;
    in seven no harm will touch you.(DU)
20 In famine(DV) he will deliver you from death,
    and in battle from the stroke of the sword.(DW)
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,(DX)
    and need not fear(DY) when destruction comes.(DZ)
22 You will laugh(EA) at destruction and famine,(EB)
    and need not fear the wild animals.(EC)
23 For you will have a covenant(ED) with the stones(EE) of the field,
    and the wild animals will be at peace with you.(EF)
24 You will know that your tent is secure;(EG)
    you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.(EH)
25 You will know that your children will be many,(EI)
    and your descendants like the grass of the earth.(EJ)
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,(EK)
    like sheaves gathered in season.(EL)

27 “We have examined this, and it is true.
    So hear it(EM) and apply it to yourself.”(EN)

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:8 Or curse the sea
  2. Job 5:17 Hebrew Shaddai; here and throughout Job

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

And Job spake, and said,

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.

13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,

14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:

16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.

21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:

Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:

10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:

11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.

12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

14 They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.

16 So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.

21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.