Old/New Testament
25 The further reply of Bildad the Shuhite:
2 “God is powerful and dreadful. He enforces peace in heaven. 3 Who is able to number his hosts of angels? And his light shines down on all the earth. 4 How can mere man stand before God and claim to be righteous? Who in all the earth can boast that he is clean? 5 God is so glorious that even the moon and stars are less than nothing as compared to him. 6 How much less is man, who is but a worm in his sight?”
26 Job’s reply:
2 “What wonderful helpers you all are! And how you have encouraged me in my great need! 3 How you have enlightened my stupidity! What wise things you have said! 4 How did you ever think of all these brilliant comments?
5-6 “The dead stand naked, trembling before God in the place where they go. 7 God stretches out heaven over empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing. 8 He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds are not split by the weight. 9 He shrouds his throne with his clouds. 10 He sets a boundary for the ocean, yes, and a boundary for the day and for the night. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble at his rebuke. 12 And by his power the sea grows calm; he is skilled at crushing its pride! 13 The heavens are made beautiful by his Spirit;[a] he pierces the swiftly gliding serpent.
14 “These are some of the minor things he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who then can withstand his thunder?”
27 Job’s final defense:
2 “I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, even the Almighty God who has embittered my soul, 3 that as long as I live, while I have breath from God, 4 my lips shall speak no evil, my tongue shall speak no lies. 5 I will never, never agree that you are right; until I die I will vow my innocence. 6 I am not a sinner—I repeat it again and again. My conscience is clear for as long as I live. 7 Those who declare otherwise are my wicked enemies. They are evil men.
8 “But what hope has the godless when God cuts him off and takes away his life? 9 Will God listen to his cry when trouble comes upon him? 10 For he does not delight himself in the Almighty or pay any attention to God except in times of crisis.
11 “I will teach you about God— 12 but really, I don’t need to, for you yourselves know as much about him as I do; yet you are saying all these useless things to me.
13 “This is the fate awaiting the wicked from the hand of the Almighty: 14 If he has a multitude of children, it is so that they will die in war or starve to death. 15 Those who survive shall be brought down to the grave by disease and plague, with no one to mourn them, not even their wives.
16 “The evil man may accumulate money like dust, with closets jammed full of clothing— 17 yes, he may order them made by his tailor, but the innocent shall wear that clothing and shall divide his silver among them. 18 Every house built by the wicked is as fragile as a spider web, as full of cracks as a leafy booth!
19 “He goes to bed rich but wakes up to find that all his wealth is gone. 20 Terror overwhelms him, and he is blown away in the storms of the night. 21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone. It sweeps him into eternity. 22 For God shall hurl at him unsparingly. He longs to flee from God. 23 Everyone will cheer at his death and boo him into eternity.
12 About that time King Herod moved against some of the believers 2 and killed the apostle[a] James (John’s brother). 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish leaders, he arrested Peter during the Passover celebration 4 and imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of sixteen soldiers. Herod’s intention was to deliver Peter to the Jews for execution after the Passover. 5 But earnest prayer was going up to God from the church for his safety all the time he was in prison.
6 The night before he was to be executed, he was asleep, double-chained between two soldiers with others standing guard before the prison gate, 7 when suddenly there was a light in the cell and an angel of the Lord stood beside Peter! The angel slapped him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists! 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your shoes.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me!” the angel ordered.
9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a dream or vision and didn’t believe it was really happening. 10 They passed the first and second cell blocks and came to the iron gate to the street, and this opened to them of its own accord! So they passed through and walked along together for a block, and then the angel left him.
11 Peter finally realized what had happened! “It’s really true!” he said to himself. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jews were hoping to do to me!”
12 After a little thought he went to the home of Mary, mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for a prayer meeting.
13 He knocked at the door in the gate, and a girl named Rhoda came to open it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she ran back inside to tell everyone that Peter was standing outside in the street. 15 They didn’t believe her. “You’re out of your mind,” they said. When she insisted they decided, “It must be his angel. They must have killed him.”[b]
16 Meanwhile Peter continued knocking. When they finally went out and opened the door, their surprise knew no bounds. 17 He motioned for them to quiet down and told them what had happened and how the Lord had brought him out of jail. “Tell James and the others what happened,” he said—and left for safer quarters.
18 At dawn, the jail was in great commotion. What had happened to Peter? 19 When Herod sent for him and found that he wasn’t there, he had the sixteen guards arrested, court-martialed and sentenced to death. Afterwards he left to live in Caesarea for a while.
20 While he was in Caesarea, a delegation from Tyre and Sidon arrived to see him. He was highly displeased with the people of those two cities, but the delegates made friends with Blastus, the royal secretary, and asked for peace, for their cities were economically dependent upon trade with Herod’s country. 21 An appointment with Herod was granted, and when the day arrived he put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. 22 At its conclusion the people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It is the voice of a god and not of a man!”
23 Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness so that he was filled with maggots and died—because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God.
24 God’s Good News was spreading rapidly and there were many new believers.
25 Barnabas and Paul now visited Jerusalem and as soon as they had finished their business, returned to Antioch,[c] taking John Mark with them.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.