Old/New Testament
14 “·All of us [L Human beings; T Man] born ·to women [T of woman]
·live only a few [L are short of] days and ·have lots [full] of trouble.
2 ·We [L They] grow up like flowers and then ·dry up and die [L wither].
·We are like a passing [L …and flee like a] shadow that does not last.
3 Lord, do you need to watch me like this?
Must you bring me before you to be judged?
4 No one can bring something clean [C in a ritual sense] from something unclean.
5 ·Our [L If their] time is limited.
You have given ·us [L them] only so many months to live
and have set limits ·we [L they] cannot go beyond.
6 So look away from us and ·leave us alone [stop; desist]
until we put in our time like a laborer [C until death].
7 “If a tree is cut down,
there is hope that it will grow again
and will send out new ·branches [shoots].
8 Even if its roots grow old in the ground,
and its stump dies in the ·dirt [dust],
9 at the ·smell [scent] of water it will bud
and put out new ·shoots [boughs] like a plant.
10 But ·we [L mortals] die, and ·our bodies are laid in the ground [L dwindle away];
·we take our last breath [L humans expire] and are ·gone [L no more; C unlike trees, humans do not come back to life].
11 Water disappears from a ·lake [sea],
and a river ·loses its water and dries up [L dries up and withers away].
12 In the same way, ·we [L humans] lie down and do not rise again;
·we [L they] will not get up or be awakened
until the heavens disappear [C that is, never].
13 “I wish you would hide me in ·the grave [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld];
·hide [conceal] me until your anger is gone.
I wish you would set a ·time [limit]
and then remember me!
14 Will the dead live again [C the implied answer is no]?
All my days are ·a struggle [L hard service];
I will wait until my ·change [L release] comes.
15 You ·will call [L would summon me], and I ·will [or would] answer you;
you ·will [or would] desire the ·creature your hands have made [L work of your hands].
16 ·Then [or Now] you ·will count [count] my steps [C meaning God would focus negatively on Job’s sin],
but you ·will [or would] not keep track of my sin [C in a hypothetical future].
17 My wrongs ·will [or would] be closed up in a bag,
and you ·will [or would] cover up my sin.
18 “A mountain ·washes [L falls] away and crumbles;
and a rock can be moved from its place.
19 Water ·washes over stones and wears them down [L grinds down the stones],
and ·rushing waters [or violent storms] wash away the ·dirt [dust].
In the same way, you destroy hope.
20 You ·defeat [overpower] people forever, and they are gone;
you change their appearance [C from joy to despair] and send them away.
21 Their children are honored, but they do not know it [C because they, the parents, are dead or dying];
their children are ·disgraced [lowered], but they [C the parents] do not see it.
22 They [C the parents] only feel the pain of their ·body [L flesh]
and ·feel sorry [mourn] for themselves.”
Eliphaz Answers Job
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “·A wise person would not [L Should a wise person…?] answer with ·empty [L windy] words
or fill his stomach with the hot east wind.
3 ·He would not [L Should he…?] ·argue [reprimand; reprove] with useless words
or make speeches that have no value.
4 But you even ·destroy [invalidate] ·respect for God [L fear]
and limit the worship of him.
5 Your ·sin [iniquity] teaches your mouth what to say;
you ·use words to trick others [L choose the tongue of the crafty].
6 It is your own mouth, not mine, that ·shows you are wicked [condemns];
your own lips testify against you.
7 “·You are not [L Are you…?] the first man ever born [C perhaps a reference to Adam; Ezek. 28:12–13];
·you are not [L are you…?] older than the hills [C either a reference to the wisdom of the elders or to wisdom personified as a woman; Prov. 8:22–25].
8 ·You did not [L Did you…?] listen in on God’s secret council [C like a prophet].
But you limit wisdom to yourself.
9 ·You don’t [L Do you…?] know any more than we know.
·You don’t [L Do you…?] understand any more than we understand.
10 Old people with gray hair are on our side;
they are even older than your father.
11 Is the ·comfort [consolation] God gives you not enough for you,
even when words are spoken gently to you?
12 Has your heart ·carried you away from God [L taken you away; C perhaps suggesting that Job has lost control of his emotions]?
Why do your eyes ·flash with anger [or wink]?
13 Why do you ·speak out your anger [L turn your spirit] against God?
Why do these words pour out of your mouth?
14 “How can anyone be pure?
How can someone born to a woman be ·good [righteous]?
15 God places no trust in his holy ones [C angels],
and even the heavens are not pure in his eyes.
16 How much less pure is one who is ·terrible [abominable] and ·rotten [corrupt]
and drinks up ·evil [injustice] as if it were water [Prov. 4:17–19]!
17 “Listen to me, and I will tell you about it;
I will ·tell [recount to] you what I have seen.
18 These are things wise men have told;
their ancestors told them, and they have hidden nothing.
19 (The land was given to their fathers only,
and no ·foreigner [stranger] lived among them [C suggesting wisdom untainted by foreign influence].)
20 The wicked suffer pain all their lives;
the cruel suffer during all the years saved up for them.
21 Terrible sounds ·fill [reach; L are in] their ears,
and when things ·seem to be going well [are at peace], ·robbers [or destroyers] attack them.
22 Evil people ·give up trying [L cannot hope] to ·escape [L return] from the darkness;
it has been decided that they will die by the sword.
23 They wander around ·and will become food for vultures [or for food, saying “Where is it?”].
They know [L a day of] darkness ·will soon come [L is prepared for them].
24 ·Worry [Distress] and ·suffering [hardship] terrify them;
they overwhelm them, like a king ready to attack,
25 because they ·shake their fists at [L stretched their hands against; Ex. 6:6; Deut. 4:34] God
and ·try to get their own way against [defy] ·the Almighty [Shaddai].
26 They ·stubbornly [defiantly] charge at God
with ·thick, strong [L thick-bossed; C the boss is the convex centerpiece] shields.
27 “Although the faces of the wicked are thick with fat [C a sign of prosperity, but here the result of ill-gotten gain],
and their ·bellies [or loins] are fat with ·flesh [blubber],
28 they will live in towns that are ruined,
in houses where no one lives,
·which are crumbling into ruins [L destined to become a ruin heap].
29 The wicked will no longer ·get [or be] rich,
and the riches they have will not last [Ps. 73; Prov. 11:18; 13:11; 21:6; 22:16]
the things they own will no longer spread over the land.
30 They will not ·escape [L turn aside from] the darkness.
A flame will dry up their ·branches [shoots];
God’s breath will carry the wicked away.[a]
31 The wicked should not fool themselves by trusting what is useless.
If they do, they will get nothing in return [C “useless” and “nothing” are the same Hebrew word].
32 Their branches will dry up ·before they finish growing [L out of season]
and will never turn green.
33 They will be like a vine whose grapes ·are pulled [shake] off before they are ripe,
like an olive tree that ·loses [throws off] its blossoms.
34 ·People without God [L The assembly of the godless] ·can produce nothing [L are barren].
Fire will ·destroy [consume] the tents of those who take ·money to do evil [L bribes],
35 who ·plan [L conceive] trouble and give birth to evil,
whose ·hearts [L womb] plan ways to ·trick [L defraud; Ps. 7:14; Is. 59:4] others.”
Job Answers Eliphaz
16 Then Job answered:
2 “I have heard many things like these.
You are all ·painful [or troublesome] comforters!
3 Will your ·long-winded speeches [L windy words] never end?
What ·makes [L provokes] you keep on ·arguing [L responding]?
4 I also could speak as you do
if you were in my place.
I could ·make great speeches [L join words] against you
and shake my head at you [C like wagging a finger at someone].
5 But, instead, I would ·encourage you [L strengthen you with my mouth],
and ·my words [L the words of my lips] would bring you ·relief [comfort].
6 “Even if I speak, my pain is not less,
and if I don’t speak, it still does not go away.
7 ·God, you have [L He has] surely ·taken away my strength [worn me out]
and ·destroyed [or stunned] ·my whole family [or everyone around me; L my assembly].
8 You have ·made me thin and weak [shriveled me up; or bound me],
·and this shows I have done wrong [L as a witness against me].
9 God ·attacks me and tears me with anger [L preys on me and hates me];
he ·grinds [gnashes] his teeth at me;
my enemy ·stares at me with his angry eyes [L sharpens his eyes at me].
10 People open their mouths ·to make fun of [L wide at] me
and hit my cheeks to ·insult [or reproach] me.
They ·join [congregate; assemble] together against me.
11 God has turned me over to evil people
and has ·handed [thrown] me over to the wicked.
12 ·Everything was fine with me [L I was at ease],
but God ·broke me into pieces [shattered me];
he ·held [grabbed; seized] me by the neck and ·crushed [mauled] me.
He has ·made me [set me up as] his target;
13 his archers surround me.
He ·stabs [L splits open] my kidneys without mercy;
he spills my ·blood [L gall] on the ground.
14 ·Again and again God attacks me [L He breaches me, breach after breach];
he runs at me like a soldier.
15 “I have sewed ·rough cloth over my skin to show my sadness [sackcloth over my skin; C traditional mourning clothes]
and have buried my ·face [L horn] in the dust [C a sign of grief; like an animal lowering its horn].
16 My face is red from crying;
I have ·dark circles [deep darkness] around my eyes.
17 Yet my hands have never done anything ·cruel [violent],
and my prayer is pure.
18 “Earth, please do not cover up my blood.
Don’t let my cry ever ·stop being heard [find a place of rest]!
19 Even now I have ·one who speaks for me [L a witness] in heaven;
the one who ·is on my side [L testifies for me] is high above.
20 ·The one who speaks for me is my friend [or My friends scorn me].
My eyes pour out tears to God.
21 He ·begs God [negotiates/arbitrates with God] on behalf of a human
as a person ·begs for [negotiates/arbitrates with] his friend.
22 “Only a few years will pass
before I go on the journey of no return [C at his death].
22 But Saul grew more ·powerful [capable; effective]. His proofs that Jesus is the Christ were so strong that ·his own people [L the Jews who lived] in Damascus ·could not argue with [were baffled/confounded by] him.
23 ·After many days [or Some time later], ·they [L the Jews] ·made plans [plotted] to kill Saul. 24 They were watching the city gates day and night [L in order to kill him], but Saul learned about their ·plan [plot]. 25 One night some ·followers [disciples] of Saul helped him leave the city by lowering him in a basket through an opening in the city wall [2 Cor. 11:32–33].
Saul Preaches in Jerusalem
26 When Saul went to Jerusalem [Gal. 1:18], he tried to ·join [associate with] the ·group of followers [disciples], but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he was really a ·follower [disciple]. 27 But Barnabas ·accepted [or took hold of] Saul and took him to the apostles. Barnabas explained to them that Saul had seen the Lord on the road and the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how ·boldly [fearlessly] Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28 And so Saul stayed with the ·followers [disciples], ·going everywhere [or going around openly with them; L going in and going out] in Jerusalem, preaching ·boldly [fearlessly] in the name of the Lord. 29 He would often talk and ·argue [debate] with the ·Jewish people who spoke Greek [L Hellenists; C Jews who spoke Greek and had returned to Israel after living abroad], but they were trying to kill him. 30 When the ·followers [L brothers] learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea [C city on the Mediterranean coast] and from there sent him to Tarsus [9:11].
31 [Then; or Therefore] The church everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria [C areas that comprise ancient Israel] had a time of peace and ·became stronger [L was built up/edified]. ·Respecting the Lord by the way they lived [L Walking in the fear of the Lord], and being ·encouraged [comforted; exhorted] by the Holy Spirit, ·the group of believers [L it] continued to grow.
Peter Heals Aeneas
32 As Peter was traveling through all the area, he ·visited [L came down also to] ·God’s people [the saints] who lived in Lydda [C OT Lod, 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem; 1 Chr. 8:12–13]. 33 There he ·met [L found] a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had not been able to leave his ·bed [cot; mat] for the past eight years. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus ·Christ [or the Messiah] heals you. Stand up and ·make your bed [roll up your mat; or prepare yourself a meal; C the idiom “spread for yourself” probably refers to his bed, but could refer to food].” Aeneas stood up immediately. 35 All the people living in Lydda and on ·the Plain of Sharon [L Sharon; C the coastal plain] saw him and turned to the Lord.
Peter Heals Tabitha
36 In the city of Joppa [C on the Mediterranean coast, 35 miles northwest of Jerusalem; present-day Jaffa] there was a ·follower [disciple] named Tabitha (whose Greek name was Dorcas [C both mean “gazelle”]). She was always doing good deeds and ·kind acts [acts of charity; L giving alms]. 37 ·While Peter was in Lydda [L In those days], Tabitha became sick and died. Her body was washed [C a custom of preparation for burial] and put in a room upstairs. 38 Since Lydda is near Joppa and the ·followers [disciples] in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two ·messengers [L men] to Peter. They begged him, “Hurry, please come to us!” 39 So Peter got ·ready [L up] and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room where all the widows stood around Peter, crying. They showed him the ·shirts [tunics] and coats [clothing; garments; robes] ·Tabitha [L Dorcas] had made when she was ·still alive [L with them]. 40 Peter sent everyone out of the room and kneeled and prayed. Then he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, stand up.” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called the believers and the widows into the room and showed them that Tabitha was alive. 42 People everywhere in Joppa learned about this, and many believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for many days with a man named Simon who was a tanner [or Simon Byrseus; C Byrseus means “tanner” (someone who works with animal skins), but could be a name or an occupation; the occupation was considered unclean by Jews since it involved the bodies of dead animals].
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