Old/New Testament
Job’s Fifth Speech, Continued
17 “My spirit is pulled down; my days are extinguished;
the graveyard is for me.
2 Surely[a] mockery is with me,
and my eye rests[b] on their provocation.
3 Please lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is he who will give security for my hand?[c]
4 Indeed,[d] you have closed their mind from understanding;
therefore, you will not let them triumph.
5 He denounces friends for reward,
so[e] his children’s eyes will fail.
6 “And he has made me a proverb for[f] the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.[g]
7 And my eye has grown dim from grief,
and the limbs of my body are all[h] like a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent excites himself over the godless.
9 But[i] the righteous holds on to his way,
and he who has clean hands[j] increases in strength.
10 But[k] all of you must return[l]—please come![m]
But[n] I shall not find a wise person among you.
11 “My days are past; my plans are broken down—
even the desires of my heart.
12 They make night into day,
saying, ‘Light is near to darkness.’[o]
13 If I hope for Sheol as my house,
if I spread my couch in the darkness,
14 if I call to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
to the maggot, ‘You are my mother or[p] my sister,’
15 where[q] then is my hope?
And who will see my hope?[r]
16 Will they go down to the bars of Sheol?
Or shall we descend together into the dust?”
Bildad’s Second Speech
18 Then[s] Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 “How long[t] will you[u] hunt for words?[v]
Consider,[w] and afterward we shall speak.
3 Why are we considered as animals?
Why are we taken as[x] stupid in your[y] eyes?
4 “You who are tearing yourself[z] in your[aa] anger,
will the earth be forsaken because of you?[ab]
Or[ac] will the rock be removed from its place?
5 Furthermore,[ad] the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of his fire will not shine.
6 The light becomes dark in his tent,
and his lamp above him is put out.
7 “His strong steps[ae] are shortened,
and his own schemes[af] throw him down,
8 for he is thrust into a net by his feet,
and he walks into a pitfall.
9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare takes hold of him.
10 His rope is hidden in the ground,
and his trap on the path.
11 “Sudden terrors terrify him all around,
and they chase him at his heels.
12 His wealth will become hunger,
and disaster is ready for his stumbling.
13 It consumes parts of his skin;
the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14 He is torn from his tent in which he trusted,[ag]
and it brought him to the king of terrors.
15 “Nothing[ah] remains for him in his tent;
sulfur is scattered upon his dwelling place.
16 His roots dry up below,[ai]
and its branches[aj] wither away above.[ak]
17 His remembrance perishes from the earth,
and there is not a name for him on the street.
18 “They thrust him from light into darkness,
and they drive him out from the world.
19 There is no offspring for him nor[al] a descendant among his people,
and there is not a survivor in his abode.
20 Those of the west are appalled over his fate,[am]
and those of the east are seized with horror.[an]
21 Surely these are the dwellings of the godless,
and this is the dwelling place of him who knows not God.”
Job’s Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad
19 Then[ao] Job answered and said,
2 “How long[ap] will you[aq] torment me[ar]
and crush me with words?
3 These ten times you[as] have disgraced me;
you[at] are not ashamed that you[au] have attacked[av] me.
4 And what is more, if I have truly erred,
my error remains with me.
5 If indeed you[aw] must magnify yourselves against me,
and you[ax] must let my disgrace argue against me,
6 know then that God has wronged me
and has surrounded me with his net.
7 “Look, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but[ay] I am not answered;
I cry out, but[az] there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so that[ba] I cannot pass;
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
9 He has taken my glory from me,
and he has removed the crown of[bb] my head.
10 He has broken me down all around, and I am gone.
And he has uprooted my hope like a tree,
11 and he has kindled his wrath against me,
and he has counted me as one of his foes.[bc]
12 His troops have come together
and have thrown up their rampart[bd] against me
and have encamped around my tent.
13 “He has removed my kinsfolk from me,
and my acquaintances have only[be] turned aside from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 The sojourners in[bf] my house and my slave women count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, but[bg] he does not answer;
I must personally[bh] plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife,
and I am loathsome to my own family.[bi]
18 Little boys also despise me;
when I rise, then[bj] they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends[bk] abhor me,
and these whom I have loved have turned against me.
20 My bones[bl] cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, pity me, you my friends,
for God’s hand has touched me.
22 Why do you[bm] pursue me like God?
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “O that[bn] my words could be written down!
O that they could be inscribed in a scroll![bo]
24 That with a pen of iron and with lead
they might be engraved on a rock forever!
25 But[bp] I myself[bq] know that my redeemer is alive,
and at the last he will stand up upon the earth.[br]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
but[bs] from[bt] my flesh I will see God,
27 whom I will see for myself,[bu]
and whom my eyes will see and not a stranger.[bv]
My heart faints within me.[bw]
28 “If you[bx] say, ‘How will we persecute him?’
And ‘The root of the trouble is found’ in me,[by]
29 be afraid for yourselves because of the sword,[bz]
for wrath brings punishment by[ca] the sword,
so that you may know that there is judgment.”
Cornelius Has a Vision
10 Now there was a certain man in Caesarea named[a] Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Cohort, 2 devout and fearing God together with all his household, doing many charitable deeds for the people and praying to God continually.[b] 3 About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him and became terrified and[c] said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your charitable deeds have gone up for a memorial offering before God. 5 And now, send men to Joppa and summon a certain Simon, who is also called Peter. 6 This man is staying as a guest with a certain Simon, a tanner,[d] whose house is by the sea.” 7 And when the angel who spoke to him departed, he summoned two of the household slaves and a devout soldier from those who attended him, 8 and after he[e] had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
Peter Has a Vision
9 And the next day, as[f] they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about the sixth hour. 10 And he became hungry and wanted to eat. But while[g] they were preparing the food,[h] a trance came over him. 11 And he saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet coming down, being let down to the earth by its four corners, 12 in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of the sky. 13 And a voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common and unclean!” 15 And the voice came again to him for the second time: “The things which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!” 16 And this happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven.
17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed within himself as to what the vision that he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having found the house of Simon by asking around, stood at the gate. 18 And they called out and[i] asked if Simon who was also called Peter was staying there as a guest. 19 And while[j] Peter was reflecting about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, men[k] are looking for you. 20 But get up, go down, and go with them—not hesitating at all, because I have sent them.” 21 So Peter went down to the men and[l] said, “Behold, I am he whom you are looking for! What is the reason for which you have come?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man—and well spoken of by the whole nation of the Jews—was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you.” 23 So he invited them in and[m] entertained them as guests, and on the next day he got up and[n] went away with them. And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.
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