Old/New Testament
Eliphaz: God is Correcting You
5 “Cry out now! Will anyone answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 For resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.
3 I myself have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4 His sons are far from safety,
and crushed at the gate without a deliverer!
5 The hungry consumes his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pants after their wealth.
6 For evil does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born for trouble,
as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 But as for me, I would seek God;
I would lay my cause before God.
9 Who does great things beyond comprehension,
wonders without number.
10 Who gives rain to the earth
and sends water over the plains.
11 Who places the lowly on high
and lifts mourners to salvation.
12 Who frustrates the plans of the crafty,
so that their hands attain no success.
13 Who catches the clever in their craftiness,
and thwarts the plan of the cunning.
14 By day they encounter darkness
and grope at noon as if it were night.
15 But He saves the needy from the sword of their mouth,
and from the clutches of the mighty.
16 So the helpless have hope
and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 Behold, happy is the one whom God corrects,
so do not despise the discipline of Shaddai.
18 For He inflicts pain, but He also binds up;
He injures, yet His hands also heal.
19 From six calamities He will deliver you,
even in seven, no harm will touch you.
20 In famine, He will redeem you from death,
and in war, from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and not fear when violence comes.
22 You will laugh at violence and famine,
and will not fear the beasts of the earth.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
24 You will know shalom in your tent,
and you will take stock of your home
and find nothing missing.
25 “You will know that
your descendants will be numerous
your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in vigor,
like sheaves of grain in its season.
27 Behold, we have investigated this—it is true.
Hear it, and apply it to yourself!”
Job Cries For Justice
6 Job responded and said:
2 “If only my grief could be weighed
and my calamity placed on the scales.
3 For it outweighs the sands of the sea;
that is why my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of Shaddai are in me,
my spirit drinks in their poison;
God’s terrors line up against me.
5 Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass
or an ox bellow over his fodder?
6 Is something bland eaten without salt,
is there taste in the white of an egg?
7 My soul refuses to touch them;
they are like sickening food to me.
8 Oh that my request would be realized,
that God would grant my hope;
9 that God would be willing to crush me,
to release His hand, and cut me off!
10 Then I would still be comforted,
even rejoice in spite of unrelenting pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 “What is my strength,
that I should hope?
What is my end,
that I should endure?
12 Is my strength the strength of rock?
Is my flesh bronze?
13 Is there no help within me;
has not success been banished from me?
14 “A despairing person should have the kindness of his friend,
even if he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.
15 My brothers have acted deceptively,
as a seasonal stream,
as a torrential stream that overflows
16 when darkened by thawing ice,
and obscured by snow,
17 but when they are scorched, they dry up,
and in the heat, they vanish from their place.
18 Caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked intently,
the travelers of Sheba hoped for them.
20 They were distressed because they had been confident;
they came so far and were disappointed.
21 “Indeed, now you have become nothing;
you see a terror and are afraid.
22 Have I ever said, ‘Give to me’
or ‘Pay a bribe for me from your wealth’
23 or ‘Save me from the enemy’s hand’
or ‘Redeem me from a ruthless hand’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
explain to me how I have been wrong.
25 Honest words are painful,
but what does your arguing prove?
26 Do you intend to correct my words,
and treat the words of
a despairing man as wind?
27 Would you cast lots for an orphan,
and barter over your friend?
28 “Now be so kind as to look at me;
I will not lie to your face.
29 Relent, do not be unjust;
reconsider, for my righteousness is in it.
30 Is injustice on my tongue?
Can my palate not discern evil?”
Futility of Days
7 “Does not man have hard labor on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired laborer?
2 Like a slave longing for the shadow,
or a hired man waiting for his pay,
3 so I have inherited months of futility,
and nights of distress have been appointed to me.
4 When I lay down I say, “When will I rise?”
The night drags on, and I toss until the day dawns.
5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and clods of dirt;
My skin is broken and festering.
6 My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to an end without hope.
7 Remember, my life is but a breath;
my eyes will not see goodness again!
8 The eye that sees me now will see me no more;
your eyes will be on me, but I will be no more.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so one descending into Sheol does not come up;
10 he will never return to his house,
his place does not know him.
11 “So I will not keep silent;
I will speak in the distress of my spirit,
I will complain in bitterness of soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a monster of the deep
that You have set a watch over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then You frighten me with dreams,
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that my soul prefers strangulation,
and my bones death.
16 I despise it; I would not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a vapor.
17 “What is mankind,
that You magnify him,
that You set Your heart on him,
18 that You visit him every morning,
and test him in every moment?
19 Will You never look away from me,
or let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
20 Have I sinned—
what have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target?
Have I become a burden to You?
21 Why do You not pardon my transgression,
and take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
and You will search for me,
but I will be gone.”
Saul Persecutes Messiah’s Community
8 Now Saul was in agreement with Stephen’s execution. On that day a great persecution arose against Messiah’s community in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the emissaries. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
3 But Saul was destroying Messiah’s community, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he was throwing them into prison.
The Good News Spreads to Samaria
4 Now those who had been scattered went around proclaiming the Word. 5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. 6 The crowds were paying close attention to what Philip was saying—as they both heard and saw the signs that he was doing. 7 For unclean spirits were coming out of many who were plagued, shrieking with a loud voice. Many paralyzed and crippled were healed also. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
9 Now a man named Simon had been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, saying he was someone great. 10 They all were paying special attention to him, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.’” 11 And they kept paying attention to him, because for a long time he had astonished them with his magical arts. 12 But when they believed Philip proclaiming the Good News about the kingdom of God and the name of Messiah Yeshua, both men and women were immersed. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being immersed, he continued with Philip. And when he saw signs and great miracles happening, he was continually amazed.
14 Now when the emissaries in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the message of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 They came down and prayed for them to receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh. 16 For He had not yet come upon them; they had only been immersed in the name of the Lord Yeshua. 17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Ruach ha-Kodesh.
18 Now when Simon saw that the Ruach ha-Kodesh was given through the laying on of hands by the emissaries, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this power to me, too—so that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh.”
20 Peter said to him, “May your silver go to ruin, and you with it—because you thought you could buy God’s gift with money! [a] 21 You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be pardoned. 23 For I see in you the poison of bitterness and the bondage of unrighteousness!”
24 Simon replied, “Pray for me, so that none of what you have said may come upon me.”
25 So when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the Good News to many Samaritan villages.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.