Job 9-10
Christian Standard Bible
Job’s Reply to Bildad
9 Then Job answered:
2 Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?(A)
3 If one wanted to take(B) him to court,
he could not answer God[a] once in a thousand times.(C)
4 God is wise(D) and all-powerful.
Who has opposed him and come out unharmed?
5 He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overturning them in his anger.(E)
6 He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.(F)
8 He alone stretches out the heavens(G)
and treads on the waves of the sea.[b]
9 He makes the stars: the Bear,[c] Orion,
the Pleiades,(H) and the constellations[d] of the southern sky.
10 He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.(I)
11 If he passed by me, I wouldn’t see him;(J)
if he went by, I wouldn’t recognize him.
12 If he snatches something, who can stop[e] him?
Who can ask him, “What are you doing?” (K)
13 God does not hold back his anger;
Rahab’s(L) assistants cringe in fear beneath him!
14 How then can I answer him
or choose my arguments against him?
15 Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.(M)
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I do not believe he would pay attention to what I said.
17 He batters me with a whirlwind(N)
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He doesn’t let me catch my breath
but fills me with bitter experiences.
19 If it is a matter of strength, look, he is the powerful one!(O)
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon(P) him?[f]
20 Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;(Q)
if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.
21 Though I am blameless,
I no longer care about myself;
I renounce my life.(R)
22 It is all the same. Therefore I say,
“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”(S)
23 When catastrophe[g] brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth[h] is handed over to the wicked;
he blindfolds[i] its judges.(T)
If it isn’t he, then who is it?
25 My days fly by faster than a runner;[j](U)
they flee without seeing any good.(V)
26 They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.(W)
27 If I said, “I will forget my complaint,
change my expression, and smile,”
28 I would still live in terror of all my pains.(X)
I know you will not acquit me.(Y)
29 Since I will be found guilty,(Z)
why should I struggle in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you dip me in a pit of mud,
and my own clothes despise me!
32 For he is not a man like me, that I can answer him,(AA)
that we can take each other to court.
33 There is no mediator between us,
to lay his hand on both of us.
34 Let him take his rod away from me
so his terror will no longer frighten me.(AB)
35 Then I would speak and not fear him.
But that is not the case; I am on my own.
10 I am disgusted with my life.(AC)
I will give vent to my complaint
and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God,
“Do not declare me guilty!
Let me know why you prosecute me.
3 Is it good for you to oppress,
to reject the work of your hands,(AD)
and favor[k] the plans of the wicked?(AE)
4 Do you have eyes of flesh,
or do you see as a human sees?
5 Are your days like those of a human,
or your years like those of a man,(AF)
6 that you look for my iniquity(AG)
and search for my sin,
7 even though you know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can rescue from your power?(AH)
8 “Your hands shaped me and formed me.(AI)
Will you now turn and destroy me?
9 Please remember that you formed me like clay.
Will you now return me to dust?(AJ)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and wove me together with bones and tendons.(AK)
12 You gave me life and faithful love,
and your care has guarded my life.
13 “Yet you concealed these thoughts in your heart;
I know that this was your hidden plan:[l]
14 if I sin, you would notice,[m]
and would not acquit me of my iniquity.(AL)
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am filled with shame(AM)
and have drunk deeply of[n] my affliction.(AN)
16 If I am proud,[o] you hunt me like a lion
and again display your miraculous power against me.(AO)
17 You produce new witnesses[p] against me
and multiply your anger toward me.
Hardships assault me, wave after wave.[q]
18 “Why did you bring me out of the womb?(AP)
I should have died and never been seen.
19 I wish[r] I had never existed
but had been carried from the womb to the grave.(AQ)
20 Are my days not few? Stop it![s]
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little
21 before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,(AR)
never to return.
22 It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like[t] the darkness.”
Footnotes
- 9:3 Or court, God would not answer him
- 9:8 Or and walks on the back of the sea god
- 9:9 Or Aldebaran
- 9:9 Or chambers
- 9:12 Or dissuade
- 9:19 LXX; MT reads me
- 9:23 Or whip; Hb obscure
- 9:24 Or land
- 9:24 Lit covers the faces of
- 9:25 = a royal messenger
- 10:3 Lit shine on
- 10:13 Lit was with you
- 10:14 Lit notice me
- 10:15 Or and look at
- 10:16 Lit If he lifts up
- 10:17 Or You bring fresh troops
- 10:17 Lit Changes and a host are with me
- 10:19 Lit As if
- 10:20 Alt Hb tradition reads Will he not leave my few days alone?
- 10:22 Lit chaotic, and shines as
Acts 22:22-23:11
Christian Standard Bible
Paul’s Roman Protection
22 They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!” (A)
23 As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air,(B) 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this. 25 As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?” (C)
26 When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”
27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes,” he said.
28 The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.
29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.(D)
Paul before the Sanhedrin
30 The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him[a] and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene.(E) He brought Paul down and placed him before them.
23 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience(F) to this day.” 2 The high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth.(G) 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?” (H)
4 Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare revile God’s high priest?”
5 “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”[b](I) 6 When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.(J) I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!” (K) 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection,(L) and neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.
9 The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’(M) party got up and argued vehemently, “We find nothing evil in this man.(N) What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” [c](O)
10 When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, take him away from them, and bring him into the barracks.(P) 11 The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”(Q)
Psalm 89:14-20
Christian Standard Bible
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation
of your throne;(A)
faithful love and truth go before you.(B)
15 Happy are the people who know the joyful shout;(C)
Lord, they walk in the light from your face.(D)
16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and they are exalted by your righteousness.(E)
17 For you are their magnificent strength;(F)
by your favor our horn is exalted.(G)
18 Surely our shield[a] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.(H)
19 You once spoke in a vision to your faithful ones
and said, “I have granted help to a warrior;
I have exalted one chosen[b] from the people.(I)
20 I have found David my servant;
I have anointed him with my sacred oil.(J)
Proverbs 19:3-4
Christian Standard Bible
3 A person’s own foolishness leads him astray,
yet his heart rages against the Lord.(A)
4 Wealth attracts many friends,(B)
but a poor person is separated from his friend.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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