Old/New Testament

32 The three men refused to reply further to Job because he kept insisting on his innocence.

² Then Elihu (son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the clan of Ram) became angry because Job refused to admit he had sinned and to acknowledge that God had just cause for punishing him. ³ But he was also angry with Job’s three friends because they had been unable to answer Job’s arguments and yet had condemned him. ⁴ Elihu had waited until now to speak because the others were older than he.

⁵ But when he saw that they had no further reply, he spoke out angrily, ⁶ and said, “I am young and you are old, so I held back and did not dare to tell you what I think, ⁷ for those who are older are said to be wiser; ^8-9 but it is not mere age that makes men wise. Rather, it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty that makes him intelligent. ¹⁰ So listen to me awhile and let me express my opinion.

^11-12 “I have waited all this time, listening very carefully to your arguments, but not one of them has convinced Job that he is a sinner or has proved that he is. ¹³ And don’t give me that line about ‘only God can convince the sinner of his sin.’ ¹⁴ If Job had been arguing with me, I would not answer with that kind of logic!

¹⁵ “You sit there baffled, with no further replies. ¹⁶ Shall I then continue to wait when you are silent? ¹⁷ No, I will give my answer too. ¹⁸ For I am pent up and full of words, and the spirit within me urges me on. ¹⁹ I am like a wine cask without a vent! My words are ready to burst out! ²⁰ I must speak to find relief, so let me give my answers. ^21-22 Don’t insist that I be cautious lest I insult someone, and don’t make me flatter anyone. Let me be frank lest God should strike me dead.

33 “Please listen, Job, to what I have to say. ² I have begun to speak; now let me continue. ³ I will speak the truth with all sincerity. ⁴ For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. ⁵ Don’t hesitate to answer me if you can.

⁶ “Look, I am the one you were wishing for, someone to stand between you and God and to be both his representative and yours. ⁷ You need not be frightened of me. I am not some person of renown to make you nervous and afraid. I, too, am made of common clay.

⁸ “You have said it in my hearing, yes, you’ve said it again and again— ⁹ ‘I am pure, I am innocent; I have not sinned.’ ¹⁰ You say God is using a fine-tooth comb to try to find a single fault, and so to count you as his enemy. ¹¹ ‘And he puts my feet in the stocks,’ you say, ‘and watches every move I make.’

¹² “All right, here is my reply: In this very thing, you have sinned by speaking of God that way. For God is greater than man. ¹³ Why should you fight against him just because he does not give account to you of what he does?

¹⁴ “For God speaks again and again, ¹⁵ in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on men as they lie on their beds. ¹⁶ He opens their ears in times like that and gives them wisdom and instruction, ^17-18 causing them to change their minds, and keeping them from pride, and warning them of the penalties of sin, and keeping them from falling into some trap.

¹⁹ “Or God sends sickness and pain, even though no bone is broken, ²⁰ so that a man loses all taste and appetite for food and doesn’t care for even the daintiest dessert. ²¹ He becomes thin, mere skin and bones, ²² and draws near to death.

^23-24 “But if a messenger from heaven is there to intercede for him as a friend, to show him what is right, then God pities him and says,^[a] ‘Set him free. Do not make him die, for I have found a substitute.’ ²⁵ Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s, firm and youthful again. ²⁶ And when he prays to God, God will hear and answer and receive him with joy, and return him to his duties. ²⁷ And he will declare to his friends, ‘I sinned, but God let me go. ²⁸ He did not let me die. I will go on living in the realm of light.’

²⁹ “Yes, God often does these things for man— ³⁰ brings back his soul from the pit, so that he may live in the light of the living. ³¹ Mark this well, O Job. Listen to me, and let me say more. ³² But if you have anything to say at this point, go ahead. I want to hear it, for I am anxious to justify you. ³³ But if not, then listen to me. Keep silence and I will teach you wisdom!”

14 At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went together to the synagogue and preached with such power that many—both Jews and Gentiles—believed.

² But the Jews who spurned God’s message stirred up distrust among the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas, saying all sorts of evil things about them. ³ Nevertheless, they stayed there a long time, preaching boldly, and the Lord proved their message was from him by giving them power to do great miracles. ⁴ But the people of the city were divided in their opinion about them. Some agreed with the Jewish leaders, and some backed the apostles.

^5-6 When Paul and Barnabas learned of a plot to incite a mob of Gentiles, Jews, and Jewish leaders to attack and stone them, they fled for their lives, going to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding area, ⁷ and preaching the Good News there.

⁸ While they were at Lystra, they came upon a man with crippled feet who had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. ⁹ He was listening as Paul preached, and Paul noticed him and realized he had faith to be healed. ¹⁰ So Paul called to him, “Stand up!” and the man leaped to his feet and started walking!

¹¹ When the listening crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted (in their local dialect, of course), “These men are gods in human bodies!” ¹² They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Jupiter, and that Paul, because he was the chief speaker, was Mercury! ¹³ The local priest of the Temple of Jupiter, located on the outskirts of the city, brought them cartloads of flowers and prepared to sacrifice oxen to them at the city gates before the crowds.

¹⁴ But when Barnabas and Paul saw what was happening, they ripped at their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, ¹⁵ “Men! What are you doing? We are merely human beings like yourselves! We have come to bring you the Good News that you are invited to turn from the worship of these foolish things and to pray instead to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. ¹⁶ In bygone days he permitted the nations to go their own ways, ¹⁷ but he never left himself without a witness; there were always his reminders—the kind things he did such as sending you rain and good crops and giving you food and gladness.”

¹⁸ But even so, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them!

¹⁹ Yet only a few days later, some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the crowds into a murderous mob that stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, apparently dead. ²⁰ But as the believers stood around him, he got up and went back into the city!

The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. ²¹ After preaching the Good News there and making many disciples, they returned again to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, ²² where they helped the believers to grow in love for God and each other. They encouraged them to continue in the faith in spite of all the persecution, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations. ²³ Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, turning them over to the care of the Lord in whom they trusted.

²⁴ Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia, ²⁵ preached again in Perga, and went on to Attalia.

²⁶ Finally they returned by ship to Antioch, where their journey had begun and where they had been committed to God for the work now completed.

²⁷ Upon arrival they called together the believers and reported on their trip, telling how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles too. ²⁸ And they stayed there with the believers at Antioch for a long while.