Old/New Testament

11 Zophar the Naamathite replies to Job:

² “Shouldn’t someone stem this torrent of words? Is a man proved right by all this talk? ³ Should I remain silent while you boast? When you mock God, shouldn’t someone make you ashamed? ⁴ You claim you are pure in the eyes of God! ⁵ Oh, that God would speak and tell you what he thinks! ⁶ Oh, that he would make you truly see yourself, for he knows everything you’ve done. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!

⁷ “Do you know the mind and purposes of God? Will long searching make them known to you? Are you qualified to judge the Almighty? ⁸ He is as faultless as heaven is high—but who are you? His mind is fathomless—what can you know in comparison? ⁹ His Spirit is broader than the earth and wider than the sea. ¹⁰ If he rushes in and makes an arrest, and calls the court to order, who is going to stop him? ¹¹ For he knows perfectly all the faults and sins of mankind; he sees all sin without searching.

¹² “Mere man is as likely to be wise as a wild donkey’s colt is likely to be born a man!

^13-14 “Before you turn to God and stretch out your hands to him, get rid of your sins and leave all iniquity behind you. ¹⁵ Only then, without the spots of sin to defile you, can you walk steadily forward to God without fear. ¹⁶ Only then can you forget your misery. It will all be in the past. ¹⁷ And your life will be cloudless; any darkness will be as bright as morning!

¹⁸ “You will have courage because you will have hope. You will take your time and rest in safety. ¹⁹ You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help. ²⁰ But the wicked shall find no way to escape; their only hope is death.”

12 Job’s reply:

² “Yes, I realize you know everything! All wisdom will die with you! ³ Well, I know a few things myself—you are no better than I am. And who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying? ⁴ I, the man who begged God for help, and God answered him, have become a laughingstock to my neighbors. Yes, I, a righteous man, am now the man they scoff at. ⁵ Meanwhile, the rich mock those in trouble and are quick to despise all those in need. ⁶ For robbers prosper. Go ahead and provoke God—it makes no difference! He will supply your every need anyway!

^7-9 “Who doesn’t know that the Lord does things like that? Ask the dumbest beast—he knows that it is so; ask the birds—they will tell you; or let the earth teach you, or the fish of the sea. ¹⁰ For the soul of every living thing is in the hand of God, and the breath of all mankind. ¹¹ Just as my mouth can taste good food, so my mind tastes truth when I hear it. ¹² And as you say, older men like me^[a] are wise. They understand. ¹³ But true wisdom and power are God’s. He alone knows what we should do; he understands.

¹⁴ “And how great is his might! What he destroys can’t be rebuilt. When he closes in on a man, there is no escape. ¹⁵ He withholds the rain, and the earth becomes a desert; he sends the storms and floods the ground. ¹⁶ Yes, with him is strength and wisdom. Deceivers and deceived are both his slaves.

¹⁷ “He makes fools of counselors and judges. ¹⁸ He reduces kings to slaves and frees their servants. ¹⁹ Priests are led away as slaves. He overthrows the mighty. ²⁰ He takes away the voice of orators and the insight of the elders. ²¹ He pours contempt upon princes and weakens the strong. ²² He floods the darkness with light, even the dark shadow of death. ²³ He raises up a nation and then destroys it. He makes it great, and then reduces it to nothing. ^24-25 He takes away the understanding of presidents and kings, and leaves them wandering, lost and groping, without a guiding light.

13 “Look, I have seen many instances such as you describe. I understand what you are saying. ² I know as much as you do. I’m not stupid. ³ Oh, how I long to speak directly to the Almighty. I want to talk this over with God himself. ⁴ For you are misinterpreting the whole thing. You are doctors who don’t know what they are doing. ⁵ Oh, please be quiet! That would be your highest wisdom.

⁶ “Listen to me now, to my reasons for what I think and to my pleadings.

⁷ “Must you go on ‘speaking for God’ when he never once has said the things that you are putting in his mouth? ⁸ Does God want your help if you are going to twist the truth for him? ⁹ Be careful that he doesn’t find out what you are doing! Or do you think you can fool God as well as men? ¹⁰ No, you will be in serious trouble with him if you use lies to try to help him out. ¹¹ Doesn’t his majesty strike terror to your heart? How can you do this thing? ¹² These tremendous statements you have made have about as much value as ashes. Your defense of God is as fragile as a clay vase!

¹³ “Be silent now and leave me alone, that I may speak—and I am willing to face the consequences. ¹⁴ Yes, I will take my life in my hand and say what I really think. ¹⁵ God may kill me for saying this—in fact, I expect him to. Nevertheless, I am going to argue my case with him.^{[b] 16} This at least will be in my favor, that I am not godless, to be rejected instantly from his presence. ¹⁷ Listen closely to what I am about to say. Hear me out.

¹⁸ “This is my case: I know that I am righteous. ¹⁹ Who can argue with me over this? If you could prove me wrong, I would stop defending myself and die.

²⁰ “O God, there are two things I beg you not to do to me; only then will I be able to face you. ²¹ Don’t abandon me. And don’t terrify me with your awesome presence. ²² Call to me to come—how quickly I will answer! Or let me speak to you, and you reply. ²³ Tell me, what have I done wrong? Help me! Point out my sin to me. ²⁴ Why do you turn away from me? Why hand me over to my enemy? ²⁵ Would you blame a leaf that is blown about by the wind? Will you chase dry, useless straws?

²⁶ “You write bitter things against me and bring up all the follies of my youth. ^27-28 You send me to prison and shut me in on every side. I am like a fallen, rotten tree, like a moth-eaten coat.

9 But Paul, threatening with every breath and eager to destroy every Christian, went to the High Priest in Jerusalem. ² He requested a letter addressed to synagogues in Damascus, requiring their cooperation in the persecution of any believers he found there, both men and women, so that he could bring them in chains to Jerusalem.

³ As he was nearing Damascus on this mission, suddenly a brilliant light from heaven spotted down upon him! ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Paul! Paul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁵ “Who is speaking, sir?” Paul asked.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! ⁶ Now get up and go into the city and await my further instructions.”

⁷ The men with Paul stood speechless with surprise, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! ^8-9 As Paul picked himself up off the ground, he found that he was blind. He had to be led into Damascus and was there three days, blind, going without food and water all that time.

¹⁰ Now there was in Damascus a believer named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord!” he replied.

¹¹ And the Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street and find the house of a man named Judas and ask there for Paul of Tarsus. He is praying to me right now, for ¹² I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him so that he can see again!”

¹³ “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I have heard about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! ¹⁴ And we hear that he has arrest warrants with him from the chief priests, authorizing him to arrest every believer in Damascus!”

¹⁵ But the Lord said, “Go and do what I say. For Paul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the nations and before kings, as well as to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ And I will show him how much he must suffer for me.”

¹⁷ So Ananias went over and found Paul and laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Paul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you may be filled with the Holy Spirit and get your sight back.”

¹⁸ Instantly (it was as though scales fell from his eyes) Paul could see and was immediately baptized. ¹⁹ Then he ate and was strengthened.

He stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days ²⁰ and went at once to the synagogue to tell everyone there the Good News about Jesus—that he is indeed the Son of God!

²¹ All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who persecuted Jesus’ followers so bitterly in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And we understand that he came here to arrest them all and take them in chains to the chief priests.”