Job 38; Job 39; Job 40; Acts 16:1-21

Job 38

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2 "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone

7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?—

9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,

11 and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?

12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.

15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.

19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,

20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25 "Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,

26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?

28 "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?

32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?

35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, "Here we are'?

36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?

37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?

39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?

41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?

Job 39

1 "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?

2 Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth,

3 when they crouch to give birth to their offspring, and are delivered of their young?

4 Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open; they go forth, and do not return to them.

5 "Who has let the wild ass go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,

6 to which I have given the steppe for its home, the salt land for its dwelling place?

7 It scorns the tumult of the city; it does not hear the shouts of the driver.

8 It ranges the mountains as its pasture, and it searches after every green thing.

9 "Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your crib?

10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes, or will it harrow the valleys after you?

11 Will you depend on it because its strength is great, and will you hand over your labor to it?

12 Do you have faith in it that it will return, and bring your grain to your threshing floor?

13 "The ostrich's wings flap wildly, though its pinions lack plumage.

14 For it leaves its eggs to the earth, and lets them be warmed on the ground,

15 forgetting that a foot may crush them, and that a wild animal may trample them.

16 It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own; though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;

17 because God has made it forget wisdom, and given it no share in understanding.

18 When it spreads its plumes aloft, it laughs at the horse and its rider.

19 "Do you give the horse its might? Do you clothe its neck with mane?

20 Do you make it leap like the locust? Its majestic snorting is terrible.

21 It paws violently, exults mightily; it goes out to meet the weapons.

22 It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed; it does not turn back from the sword.

23 Upon it rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin.

24 With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground; it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

25 When the trumpet sounds, it says "Aha!' From a distance it smells the battle, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26 "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south?

27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?

28 It lives on the rock and makes its home in the fastness of the rocky crag.

29 From there it spies the prey; its eyes see it from far away.

30 Its young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there it is."

Job 40

1 And the Lord said to Job:

2 "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Anyone who argues with God must respond."

3 Then Job answered the Lord:

4 "See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but will proceed no further."

6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

7 "Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me.

8 Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified?

9 Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?

10 "Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on all who are proud, and abase them.

12 Look on all who are proud, and bring them low; tread down the wicked where they stand.

13 Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.

14 Then I will also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can give you victory.

15 "Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox.

16 Its strength is in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly.

17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are knit together.

18 Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron.

19 "It is the first of the great acts of God— only its Maker can approach it with the sword.

20 For the mountains yield food for it where all the wild animals play.

21 Under the lotus plants it lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

22 The lotus trees cover it for shade; the willows of the wadi surround it.

23 Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.

24 Can one take it with hooks or pierce its nose with a snare?

Acts 16:1-21

1 Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek.

2 He was well spoken of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium.

3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4 As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,

12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.

13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

16 One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.

17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation."

18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.

20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews

21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe."