³⁴ And Peter opened his mouth and said: Most certainly and thoroughly I now perceive and understand that God shows no partiality and is no respecter of persons,

³⁵ But in every nation he who venerates and has a reverential fear for God, treating Him with worshipful obedience and living uprightly, is acceptable to Him and ^[a]sure of being received and welcomed [by Him].

³⁶ You know the contents of the message which He sent to Israel, announcing the good news (Gospel) of peace by Jesus Christ, Who is Lord of all—

³⁷ The [same] message which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism preached by John—

³⁸ How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, ^[b]in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.

³⁹ And we are [eye and ear] witnesses of everything that He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And [yet] they put Him out of the way (murdered Him) by hanging Him on a tree;

⁴⁰ But God raised Him to life on the third day and caused Him to be manifest (to be plainly seen),

⁴¹ Not by all the people but to us who were chosen (designated) beforehand by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

⁴² And He charged us to preach to the people and to bear solemn testimony that He is the God-appointed and God-ordained Judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³ To Him all the prophets testify (bear witness) that everyone who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him, giving himself up to Him] receives forgiveness of sins through His name.

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11 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied,

² Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk [and making such great professions] be pronounced free from guilt or blame?

³ Should your boastings and babble make men keep silent? And when you mock and scoff, shall no man make you ashamed?

⁴ For you have said, My doctrine [that God afflicts the righteous knowingly] is pure, and I am clean in [God’s] eyes.^(A)

⁵ But oh, that God would speak, and open His lips against you,

⁶ And that He would show you the secrets of wisdom! For He is manifold in understanding! Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your guilt and iniquity [deserve].

⁷ Can you find out the deep things of God, or can you by searching find out the limits of the Almighty [explore His depths, ascend to His heights, extend to His breadths, and comprehend His infinite perfection]?

⁸ His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven! What can you do? It is deeper than Sheol (the place of the dead)! What can you know?

⁹ Longer in measure [and scope] is it than the earth, and broader than the sea.

¹⁰ If [God] sweeps in and arrests and calls into judgment, who can hinder Him? [If He is against a man, who shall call Him to account for it?]

¹¹ For He recognizes and knows hollow, wicked, and useless men (men of falsehood); when He sees iniquity, will He not consider it?

¹² But a stupid man will get wisdom [only] when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man [as when he thinks himself free because he is lifted up in pride].

¹³ If you set your heart aright and stretch out your hands to [God],

¹⁴ If you put sin out of your hand and far away from you and let not evil dwell in your tents;

¹⁵ Then can you lift up your face to Him without stain [of sin, and unashamed]; yes, you shall be steadfast and secure; you shall not fear.

¹⁶ For you shall forget your misery; you shall remember it as waters that pass away.

¹⁷ And [your] life shall be clearer than the noonday and rise above it; though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.

¹⁸ And you shall be secure and feel confident because there is hope; yes, you shall search about you, and you shall take your rest in safety.

¹⁹ You shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; yes, many shall sue for your favor.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked shall look [for relief] in vain, and they shall not escape [the justice of God]; and their hope shall be to give up the ghost.

12 Then Job answered,

² No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world], and wisdom will die with you!

³ But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these [of God’s wisdom and might]?

⁴ I am become one who is a laughingstock to his friend; I, one whom God answered when he called upon Him—a just, upright (blameless) man—laughed to scorn!

⁵ In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune—but it is ready for those whose feet slip.

⁶ The dwellings of robbers prosper; those who provoke God are [apparently] secure; God supplies them abundantly [who have no god but their own hands and power].

⁷ For ask now the animals, and they will teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character]; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸ Or speak to the earth [with its other forms of life], and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare [this truth] to you.

⁹ Who [is so blind as] not to recognize in all these [that good and evil are promiscuously scattered throughout nature and human life] that it is God’s hand which does it [and God’s way]?

¹⁰ In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹ Is it not the task of the ear to discriminate between [wise and unwise] words, just as the mouth distinguishes [between desirable and undesirable] food?

¹² With the aged [you say] is wisdom, and with length of days comes understanding.

¹³ But [only] with [God] are [perfect] wisdom and might; He [alone] has [true] counsel and understanding.

¹⁴ Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be built again; He shuts a man in, and none can open.

¹⁵ He withholds the waters, and the land dries up; again, He sends forth [rains], and they overwhelm the land or transform it.

¹⁶ With Him are might and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His [and in His power].

¹⁷ He leads [great and scheming] counselors away stripped and barefoot and makes the judges fools [in human estimation, by overthrowing their plans].

¹⁸ He looses the fetters [ordered] by kings and has [the] waistcloth [of a slave] bound about their [own] loins.

¹⁹ He leads away priests as spoil, and men firmly seated He overturns.

²⁰ He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged.

²¹ He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them, bringing low the pride of the learned].

²² He uncovers deep things out of darkness and brings into light black gloom and the shadow of death.

²³ He makes nations great, and He destroys them; He enlarges nations [and then straitens and shrinks them again], and leads them [away captive].

²⁴ He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the land and of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.

²⁵ They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them to stagger and wander like a drunken man.