Old/New Testament
Where Can Wisdom be Found?
28 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness;
he searches to the farthest reaches
for ore in gloom and blackest darkness.
4 He cuts open a shaft far from dwellings,
in places forgotten by feet.
Far from other people,
they dangle back and forth.
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed as by fire;
6 a place whose rocks are sapphires,
its dust contains gold.
7 No bird of prey knows the path;
nor falcon’s eye has seen it.
8 Proud beasts have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed there.
9 Man sets his hand against the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
10 He carves out tunnels through the rocks;
his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up streams from flowing.
And brings hidden things to light.
12 “But where can wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me’—
The sea says, ‘It’s not with me.’
15 Pure gold cannot be given for it,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.
16 It cannot be weighed in gold from Ophir,
in precious onyx, or sapphire.
17 Neither gold or crystal can compare with it,
nor vessels of fine gold exchanged for it.
18 No mention will be made of coral or jasper;
the price of wisdom is more than pearls.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare to it;
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
21 It has been hidden from the eyes of all living things,
concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor of it.’
23 “God understands its way
and He knows its place.
24 He looks to the ends of the earth,
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When He made the force of the wind,
and measured out the waters,
26 when He set a limit for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then He looked at it and assessed it
established it and examined it.
28 And He said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.”’
Job Remembers Better Days
29 Again Job took up his discourse saying:
2 “O that I could be as in the months gone by,
as in the days when God watched over me,
3 when His lamp shone above my head,
when by His light I walked through darkness;
4 as I was in the days of my prime,
when God’s intimate friendship was upon my tent,
5 when Shaddai was still with me,
and my children surrounded me;
6 when my steps were bathed with butter,
and the rock poured out for me streams of oil.
7 When I went out to the city gate,
and secured my seat in the public square,
8 young men would see me and hide,
old men would rise and stand;
9 princes refrained from talking
and put their hand over their mouths;
10 the voice of the nobles was hushed
and their tongue stuck to their palate.
11 “When the ear heard,
it called me blessed,
and when the eye saw me,
it commended me;
12 for I saved the poor who cried for help,
and the orphan who had no one to help him;
13 the blessing of the dying man came on me,
and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness as my clothing;
justice was as my robe and turban.
15 I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame;
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I investigated the case of one I did not know.
17 I broke the jaws of the unjust,
and snatched the prey out of his teeth.
18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my nest,
and multiply my days like the sand.
19 My roots reach the water,
and dew lies on my branches all night.
20 My glory is fresh within me,
and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 “People listened to me and waited,
and kept silent for my advice.
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
my words fell on them drop by drop.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
and opened their mouths as for spring rain.
24 When I joked with them, they hardly believed it;
they did not cause the light of my face to fall.
25 I chose their way and sat as their chief;
I lived as a king among the troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.
Sent Out from Antioch
13 Now in the Antioch community, there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (brought up since childhood with Herod the Tetrarch), and Saul. 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Ruach ha-Kodesh said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting, praying, and laying hands on them, they sent them off.
4 So, sent out by the Ruach ha-Kodesh, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John[a] as a helper.
6 When they had gone throughout the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a man who was a magician—a Jewish false prophet, whose name was Bar-Yeshua. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh, fixed his gaze on him 10 and said, “O you, full of all deceit and trickery, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness—will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? [b] 11 Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you,[c] and you shall be blind and not see the sun for awhile.” Immediately, cloudiness and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 When he saw what had happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Paul’s Message in Diaspora Synagogues
13 Setting sail from Paphos, Paul’s company came to Perga in Pamphylia. John left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But they passed on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia. Entering the synagogue on the Shabbat, they sat down. 15 After the reading of the Torah and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, speak.”
16 So Paul, standing up and motioning with his hand, said, “Men of Israel and God-fearers, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt,[d] and with an outstretched arm He led them out of there. 18 For about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. [e] 19 And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land as an inheritance[f]— 20 all of this took about 450 years. After that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 After removing him, He raised up David to be their king. He also testified about him and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do My will.’[g]
23 “From this man’s seed, in keeping with His promise, God brought to Israel a Savior[h]—Yeshua. 24 Before His coming, John had proclaimed an immersion of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his service, he said, ‘What do you suppose me to be? I am not He. But behold, One is coming after me, whose sandal I’m not worthy to untie.’
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.