Old/New Testament
17 My spirit is broken.
My days are snuffed out.
The tomb is waiting for me.
2 Surely mockery closes in on me.
My eyes must live with my enemies’ bitter contempt.
3 Please pay for me the deposit that you require from me.
Indeed, who else could guarantee this payment for me?
4 You have hidden understanding from their hearts.
Therefore, you will not let them win.
5 If someone denounces friends for a payoff,
his children’s eyes will fail.
6 He has made me a laughingstock among the people.
They spit in my face.
7 My vision is blurry from grief.
I am just a shadow of myself.
8 The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent are aroused against the godless.
9 In spite of it all, the righteous hold tight to their ways,
and everyone with clean hands grows stronger.
10 All right then—all of you, please come and try again,
but I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed.
All the things I planned to do are ripped apart,
including the deepest desires of my heart.
12 They turn night into day.
In the face of darkness, they claim light is near.
13 If I wait hopefully for the grave to become my house,
if I spread out my bed in the darkness,
14 if I cry out to the pit, “You are my father,”
and to the worm, “My mother” or “My sister,”
15 where then is my hope?
Who can find any hope for me?
16 Will it go down with me to the barred gates of the grave?
Will we rest in the dust together?
Round Two: Bildad’s Speech
18 Bildad the Shuhite responded:
2 How much longer are all of you going to keep hunting for words?[a]
Come to your senses! Then we can talk.
3 Why are we considered to be like cattle?
Why are we regarded as unreasoning animals in your eyes?
4 You, who tear yourself to pieces with your anger,
do you expect the earth to be made desolate for your sake?
Should rocks be moved from their place for you?
5 The light of the wicked has been extinguished,
and not a spark of his flame still shines.
6 In his tent, light becomes darkness
when the lamp beside him goes out.
7 His powerful strides are tangled up,
and his own plans bring him down.
8 Yes, his feet are caught in a net,
and he stumbles into its webbing.
9 A trap snaps at his heel,
and a snare catches him firmly.
10 A noose lies hidden on the ground for him.
A trap is set on his path.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side.
They harass him at every step.
12 His strength is eaten away by hunger,[b]
and disaster is waiting for him to stumble.
13 It eats away pieces of his skin.
Death’s firstborn child eats away pieces of him.
14 He is torn away from the safety of his tent.
He is marched off to the king of terrors.
15 Nothing that belonged to him remains in his tent.[c]
Sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.
16 His roots dry up below,
and his branches wither above.
17 All memory of him perishes from the earth.
No one on the street remembers his name.
18 He is pushed away from the light into the darkness.
He is chased out of the world.
19 He has no posterity or descendants among his people.
He leaves no survivor in his place, where he lived as an alien.
20 People in the west shudder at his fate.
People in the east are overcome with horror.
21 Certainly this is the dwelling place for an evil man.
This is the place for one who does not acknowledge God.
Round Two: Job’s Second Speech
19 Then Job responded:
2 How long will you torment my soul?
How long will you crush me with words?
3 Ten times now you have insulted me,
but you are not ashamed that you are treating me so badly.
4 But even if I actually were in the wrong,
my error would remain my own concern.
5 To be sure, when you lord it over me,
and you hurl my disgrace against me,
6 you should know that God has denied me justice,
and he has trapped me in his net.
7 Listen to me!
I cry out, “Injustice,” but I get no answer.
I call for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way, so I cannot get by.
He has brought darkness on my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my honor,
and he has taken the crown off my head.
10 He tears me down on every side, until I am gone.
He uproots my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me,
and he regards me as his enemy.
12 Together his troops advance against me.
They build a siege ramp against me.
They camp all around my tent.
13 He has distanced my brothers far from me,
and those who know me treat me like a stranger.
14 My relatives stay away.
Even my close friends have forgotten me.
15 Even my houseguests and my female servants treat me like a stranger.
They look upon me as a foreigner.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
even though I beg him to be gracious to me.
17 My breath keeps my wife away from me,
and I am repulsive to my mother’s children.
18 Even young boys reject me.
When I get up, they speak against me.
19 My closest confidants shun me,
and those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones.
I have escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me, you friends of mine,
because the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me the way God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 Oh how I wish that my words were written down.
Oh how I wish that they were inscribed in bronze,[d]
24 that they would be engraved in rock forever
with an iron tool and letters filled with lead.
25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer[e] lives,
and that at the end of time[f] he will stand over the dust.
26 Then, even after my skin has been destroyed,
nevertheless, in my own flesh I will see God.[g]
27 I myself will see him.
My own eyes will see him, and not as a stranger.
My emotions are in turmoil[h] within me.
28 If you say, “What can we do to pursue him?”
and “He is the root of his own problems,”
29 then you should fear the edge of the sword for yourselves!
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you will know that there is judgment.
Cornelius Sees a Vision
10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, who was a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. 2 He was devout and God-fearing, as was his entire family. He gave generous gifts to the poor and always prayed to God.
3 One day at about the ninth hour,[a] he clearly saw a vision in which an angel of God came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius stared at him in terror and replied, “What is it, Lord?”
The angel told him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have gone up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to get a man named Simon, who is called Peter. 6 He is staying as a guest with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
7 When the angel who spoke to him had left, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier who was one of his personal attendants. 8 After explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
Peter Sees a Vision
9 The next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray at about the sixth hour.[b] 10 He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and an object coming down. It was like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.[c] 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles[d] of the earth and birds of the sky.
13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
14 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 Yet the voice came to him a second time: “What God has made clean, you must not continue to call unclean.”
16 This happened three times, and then the object was immediately taken up to heaven.[e]
17 While Peter was inwardly perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, just then the men who were sent by Cornelius arrived. They had asked for directions to Simon’s house and were standing at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there as a guest.
19 While Peter was still deep in thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “See, three men are looking for you! 20 Now get up, go downstairs, and don’t hesitate to go with them, because I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. Why have you come?”
22 They replied, “Cornelius the centurion is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is highly respected by the whole Jewish nation. He was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to listen to what you have to say.” 23 So Peter invited them in and received them as guests.
Peter Goes to the Home of Cornelius
The next day, Peter got ready and left with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along with him.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.