Acts 15:22-31

New International Version

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

²²Then the apostles and elders,^(A) with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch^(B) with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas,^(C) men who were leaders among the believers. ²³With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch,^(D) Syria^(E) and Cilicia:^(F)

Greetings.^(G)

²⁴We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.^(H) ²⁵So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— ²⁶men who have risked their lives^(I) for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas^(J) to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. ²⁸It seemed good to the Holy Spirit^(K) and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.^(L) You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

³⁰So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.

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Job 42

New International Version

Job

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:

²“I know that you can do all things;^(A)
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.^(B)
³You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’^(C)
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.^(D)

⁴“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’^(E)
⁵My ears had heard of you^(F)
    but now my eyes have seen you.^(G)
⁶Therefore I despise myself^(H)
    and repent^(I) in dust and ashes.”^(J)

Epilogue

⁷After the Lord had said these things to Job^(K), he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends,^(L) because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.^(M) ⁸So now take seven bulls and seven rams^(N) and go to my servant Job^(O) and sacrifice a burnt offering^(P) for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer^(Q) and not deal with you according to your folly.^(R) You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”^(S) ⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite^(T) did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.^(U)

¹⁰After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes^(V) and gave him twice as much as he had before.^(W) ¹¹All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before^(X) came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him,^(Y) and each one gave him a piece of silver^[a] and a gold ring.

¹²The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. ¹³And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

¹⁶After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷And so Job died, an old man and full of years.^(Z)