Old/New Testament
Job Says He Has Become a Byword
17 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The [a](A)grave is ready for me.
2 “(B)Surely mockers are with me,
And my eye [b]gazes on their provocation.
3 “Lay down, now, a pledge (C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will [c]be my guarantor?
4 “For You have [d](D)kept their heart from understanding,
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 “He who (E)informs against friends for a share of the spoil,
The (F)eyes of his children also will languish.
6 “But He has made me a (G)byword of the people,
And I am [e]one at whom men (H)spit.
7 “My eye has also grown (I)dim because of grief,
And all my (J)members are as a shadow.
8 “The upright will be appalled at this,
And the (K)innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
9 “Nevertheless (L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And (M)he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 “But come again all of [f]you now,
For I (N)do not find a wise man among you.
11 “My (O)days are past, my plans are torn apart,
Even the wishes of my heart.
12 “They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 “If I look for (P)Sheol as my home,
I [g]make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the (Q)pit, ‘You are my father’;
To the (R)worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where now is (S)my hope?
And who regards my hope?
16 “[h]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together (T)go down into the dust?”
Bildad Speaks of the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite [i]responded,
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding and then we can talk.
3 “Why are we (U)regarded as beasts,
As stupid in your eyes?
4 “O [j]you who tear yourself in your anger—
For your sake is the earth to be abandoned,
Or the rock to be moved from its place?
5 “Indeed, the (V)light of the wicked goes out,
And the [k]flame of his fire gives no light.
6 “The light in his tent is (W)darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
7 “His [l]vigorous stride is shortened,
And his (X)own scheme brings him down.
8 “For he is (Y)thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.
9 “A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
10 “A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.
11 “All around (Z)terrors frighten him,
And (AA)harry him at every step.
12 “His strength is (AB)famished,
And calamity is ready at his side.
13 “[m]His skin is devoured by disease,
The firstborn of death (AC)devours his [n]limbs.
14 “He is (AD)torn from [o]the security of his tent,
And [p]they march him before the king of (AE)terrors.
15 “[q]There dwells in his tent nothing of his;
(AF)Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.
16 “His (AG)roots are dried below,
And his (AH)branch is cut off above.
17 “(AI)Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 “[r]He is driven from light (AJ)into darkness,
And (AK)chased from the inhabited world.
19 “He has no (AL)offspring or posterity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
20 “Those [s]in the west are appalled at (AM)his [t]fate,
And those [u]in the east are seized with horror.
21 “Surely such are the (AN)dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”
Job Feels Insulted
19 Then Job [v]responded,
2 “How long will you torment [w]me
And crush me with words?
3 “These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
4 “Even if I have truly erred,
My error lodges with me.
5 “If indeed you (AO)vaunt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that (AP)God has wronged me
And has closed (AQ)His net around me.
Everything Is against Him
7 “Behold, (AR)I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 “He has (AS)walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put (AT)darkness on my paths.
9 “He has (AU)stripped my honor from me
And removed the (AV)crown from my head.
10 “He (AW)breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my (AX)hope (AY)like a tree.
11 “He has also (AZ)kindled His anger against me
And (BA)considered me as His enemy.
12 “His (BB)troops come together,
And (BC)build up their [x]way against me
And camp around my tent.
13 “He has (BD)removed my brothers far from me,
And my (BE)acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 “My relatives have failed,
And my (BF)intimate friends have forgotten me.
15 “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 “I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.
17 “My breath is [y]offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 “Even young children despise me;
I rise up and they speak against me.
19 “All [z]my (BG)associates abhor me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 “My (BH)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
For the (BI)hand of God has struck me.
22 “Why do you (BJ)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job Says, “My Redeemer Lives”
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (BK)inscribed in a book!
24 “That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 “As for me, I know that (BL)my [aa]Redeemer lives,
And [ab]at the last He will take His stand on the [ac]earth.
26 “Even after my skin [ad]is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall (BM)see God;
27 Whom I [ae]myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My [af]heart (BN)faints [ag]within me!
28 “If you say, ‘How shall we (BO)persecute him?’
And ‘[ah]What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 “Then be afraid of (BP)the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know (BQ)there is judgment.”
Cornelius’s Vision
10 Now there was a man at (A)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was (B)called the Italian [a]cohort, 2 a devout man and (C)one who feared God with all his household, and (D)gave many [b]alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. 3 About (E)the [c]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw (F)in a vision (G)an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” 4 And (H)fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and [d]alms (I)have ascended (J)as a memorial before God. 5 Now dispatch some men to (K)Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; 6 he is staying with a tanner named (L)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his [e]servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, 8 and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to (M)Joppa.
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, (N)Peter went up on (O)the housetop about (P)the [f]sixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he (Q)fell into a trance; 11 and he *saw (R)the [g]sky opened up, and an [h]object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and [i]crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the [j]air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, [k]kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, (S)Lord, for (T)I have never eaten anything [l]unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “(U)What God has cleansed, no longer consider [m]unholy.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the [n]object was taken up into the [o]sky.
17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in [p]mind as to what (V)the vision which he had seen might be, behold, (W)the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; 18 and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. 19 While Peter was reflecting on (X)the vision, (Y)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, [q]three men are looking for you. 20 But get up, go downstairs and (Z)accompany them [r]without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” 21 Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” 22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and (AA)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, (AB)was divinely directed by a (AC)holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear [s](AD)a message from you.” 23 So he invited them in and gave them lodging.
Peter at Caesarea
And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and (AE)some of (AF)the brethren from (AG)Joppa accompanied him.
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