Old/New Testament
Job Regrets His Birth
3 Afterward[a] Job opened his mouth and cursed[b] his day. 2 Thus[c] Job spoke up[d] and said,
3 “Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’
4 Let that day become[e] darkness;
may God not seek it from above,
nor may daylight shine on it.
5 Let darkness and deep shadow claim it;
let clouds[f] settle on it;
let them[g] terrify it with the blackness[h] of day.
6 Let darkness seize that night;[i]
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months.
7 Look, let that night become[j] barren;
let a joyful song not enter it.
8 Let those who curse the day curse it,
those who are skilled at rousing Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but[k] there be none,
and let it not see the eyelids of dawn
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor[l] did it hide trouble from my eyes.
Job Wishes He Had Died
11 “Why did I not die at[m] birth?
Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why did the knees receive me
and the breasts, that I could suck?
13 For now I would lie down, and I would be at peace;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest[n]
14 with kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuild [o] ruins for themselves,
15 or with high officials who have gold,[p]
who fill up their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a miscarriage,
like infants who did not see the light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary[q] are at rest;
18 the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the oppressor’s voice.
19 The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his masters.[r]
Job Wishes He Might Die
20 “Why does he[s] give light to one in misery
and life to those bitter of soul,
21 who wait for death, but[t] it does not come,[u]
and search[v] for it more than for treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly,[w]
and they are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why does he[x] give light to a man whose way is hidden,
and God has fenced him in all around?
24 For[y] my sighing comes before[z] my bread,[aa]
and my groanings gush forth like water
25 because the dread that I feel[ab] has come upon me,
and what I feared befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, and I am not at peace,
and I do not have rest, thus[ac] turmoil has come.”
Eliphaz’s First Response to Job
4 Then[ad] Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “If someone would test a word with you, would you be offended?
But[ae] who can refrain from speaking?
3 Look, you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have raised up the one who stumbles,
and you have strengthened knees giving way.
5 But now it has come to you, and you are worn out;
it touches you, and you are horrified.
6 Is not your fear in God your confidence?
Is not your hope even[af] the integrity of your ways?
7 “Think[ag] now, who has perished who is innocent?
Or[ah] where are the upright destroyed?
8 Just as I have seen, plowers of mischief
and sowers of trouble will reap it.
9 By[ai] the breath of God they perish,
and by[aj] the blast of his anger they come to an end.
10 The roar of the lion and the voice of a lion in its prime,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The lion is perishing without[ak] prey,
and the lion’s whelps are scattered.
12 “And a word came stealing to me,
and my ear received the whisper from it.
13 Amid troubling thoughts from night visions,
at the falling of deep sleep on men,
14 dread met me, and trembling,
and it made many of my bones shake.
15 And a spirit glided before my face;
the hair of my flesh[al] bristled.
16 It stood still, but[am] I could not recognize its appearance;
a form was before[an] my eyes;
there was a hush, and I heard a voice:
17 ‘Can a human being be more righteous than God,
or can a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 Look, he does not trust in his servants
and he charges his angels with error.
19 How much more dwellers in clay houses,
whose foundation is in the dust?
They are crushed like a moth.
20 Between morning and evening[ao] they are destroyed;
without anyone regarding it they perish forever.
21 Is not their tent cord pulled up within them?
They die, but[ap] not in[aq] wisdom.’
44 The tabernacle of the testimony belonged[a] to our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him[b] to make it according to the design that he had seen, 45 and which, after[c] receiving it[d] in turn, our fathers brought in with Joshua when they dispossessed the[e] nations that God drove out from the presence of our fathers, until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.[f] 47 But Solomon built a house for him. 48 But the Most High does not live in houses[g] made by human hands, just as the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne
and earth is the footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’[h]
51 “You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your[i] ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, 53 you who received the law by directions of angels and have not observed it!”
Stephen’s Martyrdom
54 Now when they[j] heard these things, they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed their[k] teeth at him. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and[l] saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 But crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one purpose. 58 And after they[m] had driven him[n] out of the city, they began to stone[o] him,[p] and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they kept on stoning Stephen as he[q] was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 And falling to his[r] knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after he[s] said this, he fell asleep.[t]
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