²⁰ Now [Herod] cherished bitter animosity and hostility for the people of Tyre and Sidon; and [their deputies] came to him in a united body, and having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was nourished by and depended on the king’s [country] for food.

²¹ On an appointed day Herod arrayed himself in his royal robes, took his seat upon [his] throne, and addressed an oration to them.

²² And the assembled people shouted, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!

²³ And at once an angel of the Lord smote him and cut him down, because he did not give God the glory (the preeminence and kingly majesty that belong to Him as the supreme Ruler); and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴ But the Word of the Lord [concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God] continued to grow and spread.

²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem when they had completed their mission, bringing with them John whose surname was Mark.^(A)

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22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered [Job],

² Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he that is wise is profitable to himself.^(A)

³ Is it any pleasure or advantage to the Almighty that you are righteous (upright and in right standing with Him)? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect?^(B)

⁴ Is it for your [reverential] fear of Him that He [thus] reproves you, that He enters with you into judgment?

⁵ Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities.

⁶ For you have taken pledges of your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷ You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.^(C)

⁸ But [you, Job] the man with power possessed the land, and the favored and accepted man dwelt in it.

⁹ You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

¹⁰ Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden fear troubles and overwhelms you;

¹¹ Your light is darkened, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

¹² Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

¹³ Therefore you say, How and what does God know [about me]? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

¹⁴ Thick clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see, and He walks on the vault of the heavens.

¹⁵ Will you pay attention and keep to the old way that wicked men trod [in Noah’s time],^(D)

¹⁶ Men who were snatched away before their time, whose foundations were poured out like a stream [during the flood]?

¹⁷ They said to God, Depart from us, and, What can the Almighty do for or to us?

¹⁸ Yet He filled their houses with good [things]. But the counsel of the ungodly is far from me.

¹⁹ The righteous see it and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn [saying],

²⁰ Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, and that which remained to them the fire has consumed.

²¹ Acquaint now yourself with Him [agree with God and show yourself to be conformed to His will] and be at peace; by that [you shall prosper and great] good shall come to you.

²² Receive, I pray you, the law and instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart.^(E)

²³ If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up; if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents,

²⁴ If you lay gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brook [considering them of little worth],

²⁵ And make the Almighty your gold and [the Lord] your precious silver treasure,

²⁶ Then you will have delight in the Almighty, and you will lift up your face to God.

²⁷ You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows.

²⁸ You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God’s favor] shall shine upon your ways.

²⁹ When they make [you] low, you will say, [There is] a lifting up; and the humble person He lifts up and saves.

³⁰ He will even deliver the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent; yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.^(F)

23 Then Job answered,

² Even today is my complaint rebellious and bitter; my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

³ Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat!

⁴ I would lay my cause before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵ I would learn what He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me.

⁶ Would He plead against me with His great power? No, He would give heed to me.^(G)

⁷ There the righteous [one who is upright and in right standing with God] could reason with Him; so I should be acquitted by my Judge forever.

⁸ Behold, I go forward [and to the east], but He is not there; I go backward [and to the west], but I cannot perceive Him;

⁹ On the left hand [and to the north] where He works [I seek Him], but I cannot behold Him; He turns Himself to the right hand [and to the south], but I cannot see Him.

¹⁰ But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates, and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].^(H)

¹¹ My foot has held fast to His steps; His ways have I kept and not turned aside.

¹² I have not gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed and treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

¹³ But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him? And what He wants to do, that He does.

¹⁴ For He performs [that which He has] planned for me, and of many such matters He is mindful.

¹⁵ Therefore am I troubled and terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread and afraid of Him.

¹⁶ For God has made my heart faint, timid, and broken, and the Almighty has terrified me,

¹⁷ Because I was not cut off before the darkness [of these woes befell me], neither has He covered the thick darkness from my face.