Job and His Family

1 There was a man in the country of Uz^(A) named Job.^(B) He was a man of complete integrity,^(C) who feared God and turned away from evil.^{(D) 2} He had seven sons and three daughters.^{(E) 3} His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys,^(F) and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.^(G)

⁴ His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for^[a] all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.”^(H) This was Job’s regular practice.

Satan’s First Test of Job

⁶ One day the sons of God^(I) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^[b] also came with them. ⁷ The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,”^(J) Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,^(K) who fears God and turns away from evil.”^(L)

⁹ Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Haven’t you placed a hedge around^(M) him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But stretch out your hand and strike^(N) everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹² “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

¹³ One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and reported, “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, ¹⁵ the Sabeans^(O) swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶ He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “God’s fire fell from heaven.^(P) It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷ That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸ He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. ¹⁹ Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²⁰ Then Job stood up, tore^(Q) his robe, and shaved^(R) his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, ²¹ saying:

²² Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.^[d](V)

Satan’s Second Test of Job

2 One day the sons of God^(W) came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord. ² The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”

³ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,^(X) who fears God and turns away from evil.^(Y) He still retains his integrity, even though you incited me against him, to destroy him for no good reason.”

⁴ “Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. ⁵ But stretch out your hand and strike^(Z) his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶ “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.” ⁷ So Satan left the Lord’s presence and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.^{(AA) 8} Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.^(AB)

⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰ “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.^[e]

Job’s Three Friends

¹¹ Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite,^(AC) Bildad the Shuhite,^(AD) and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and sympathize with him and comfort^(AE) him. ¹² When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud,^(AF) and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.^{(AG) 13} Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights,^(AH) but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering^(AI) was very intense.

Paul in Macedonia

20 After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.^{(A) 2} And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece ³ and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.^{(B) 4} He was accompanied^[a] by Sopater son of Pyrrhus^[b] from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy,^(C) and Tychicus^(D) and Trophimus^(E) from the province of Asia. ⁵ These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,^{(F) 6} but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread.^(G) In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

Eutychus Revived at Troas

⁷ On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread.^(H) Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight. ⁸ There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled, ⁹ and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.”^{(I) 11} After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left. ¹² They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.

From Troas to Miletus

¹³ We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul on board, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land. ¹⁴ When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵ Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and^[c] the day after, we came to Miletus.^{(J) 16} For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.^(K)

Farewell Address to the Ephesian Elders

¹⁷ Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. ¹⁸ When they came to him, he said to them, “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,^{(L) 19} serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.^{(M) 20} You know that I did not hesitate to proclaim anything to you that was profitable and to teach you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God^(N) and faith in our Lord Jesus.^(O)

²² “And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit,^[d] not knowing what I will encounter there,^{(P) 23} except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.^{(Q) 24} But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course^[e] and the ministry^(R) I received from the Lord Jesus,^(S) to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent^[f] of the blood of all of you,^{(T) 27} because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.^{(U) 28} Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock^(V) of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers,^(W) to shepherd the church of God,^[g] which he purchased with his own blood.^{(X) 29} I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. ³⁰ Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.^{(Y) 31} Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.^(Z)

³² “And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace,^(AA) which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance^(AB) among all who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.^{(AC) 34} You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.^{(AD) 35} In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.^{(AE) 37} There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, ³⁸ grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.^(AF)