Job 30; Job 31; Acts 13:26-52

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Job 30

1 "But now those who are younger than I am laugh at me. I didn't think their fathers were fit to sit with the dogs of my flock.

2 Of what use to me was the strength of their hands? Their strength is gone.

3 Shriveled up from need and hunger, they gnaw at the dry and barren ground during the night.

4 They pick saltwort from the underbrush, and the roots of the broom plant are their food.

5 They are driven from the community. People shout at them in the same way they shout at thieves.

6 They have to live in dry riverbeds, in holes in the ground, and among rocks.

7 They howl in bushes and huddle together under thornbushes.

8 Godless fools and worthless people are forced out of the land with whips.

9 "And now they make fun of me with songs. I have become a joke to them.

10 Since they consider me disgusting, they keep their distance from me and don't hesitate to spit in my face.

11 Because God has untied my cord and has made me suffer, they are no longer restrained in my presence.

12 They have attacked me on my right side like a mob. They trip my feet and then prepare ways to destroy me.

13 Yes, they remove all traces of my path in order to destroy me. No one is there to help me against them.

14 They come through a wide hole [in the wall]. They crawl through the ruins.

15 Terrors are directed toward me. They blow away my dignity like the wind. My prosperity vanishes like a cloud.

16 "Now my life is pouring out of me. Days of suffering seize me.

17 At night God pierces my bones. My body doesn't rest.

18 With great strength he grabs my clothes. He seizes me by the collar of my robe.

19 He throws me into the dirt so that I become like dust and ashes.

20 "I call to you for help, but you don't answer me. I stand up, but you just look at me.

21 You have begun to treat me cruelly. With your mighty hand you assault me.

22 You pick me up and let the wind carry me away. You toss me around with a storm.

23 I know you will lead me to death, to the dwelling place appointed for all living beings.

24 "But God doesn't stretch out his hand against one who is ruined when that person calls for help in his disaster.

25 Didn't I cry for the person whose days were difficult? Didn't my soul grieve for the poor?

26 When I waited for good, evil came. When I looked for light, darkness came.

27 My insides are churning and won't calm down. Days of misery are ahead of me.

28 I walk in the dark without the sun. I stand up in public and call for help.

29 I'm a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin turns dark and peels. My body burns with fever.

31 So my lyre is used for mourning and my flute for loud weeping.

Job 31

1 "I have made an agreement with my eyes. Then how can I look with lust at a virgin?

2 What would God above do [to me]? What would be my inheritance from the Almighty on high?

3 Aren't there catastrophes for wicked people and disasters for those who do wrong?

4 Doesn't he see my ways and count all my steps?

5 "If I have walked with lies or my feet have run after deception,

6 [then] let God weigh me on honest scales, and he will know I have integrity.

7 "If my steps have left the [proper] path, or my heart has followed [the desire of] my eyes, or my hands are stained [with sin],

8 [then] let someone else eat what I have planted, and let my crops be uprooted.

9 "If I have been seduced by a woman or I have secretly waited near my neighbor's door,

10 [then] let my wife grind for another [man], and let other [men] kneel over her.

11 That would be a scandal, and that would be a criminal offense.

12 It would be a fire that burns even in Abaddon. It would uproot my entire harvest.

13 "If I have abused the rights of my servants, male or female, when they have disagreed with me,

14 then what could I do if God rises up? If he examines me, how could I answer him?

15 Didn't he who made me in my mother's belly make them? Didn't the same God form us in the womb?

16 "If I have refused the requests of the poor or made a widow's eyes stop [looking for help],

17 or have eaten my food alone without letting the orphan eat any of it....

18 (From my youth the orphan grew up with me as though I were his father, and from my birth I treated the widow kindly.)

19 If I have seen anyone die because he had no clothes or a poor person going naked....

20 (If his body didn't bless me, or the wool from my sheep didn't keep him warm....)

21 If I have shaken my fist at an orphan because I knew that others would back me up in court,

22 [then] let my shoulder fall out of its socket, and let my arm be broken at the elbow.

23 "A disaster from God terrifies me. In the presence of his majesty I can do nothing.

24 "If I put my confidence in gold or said to fine gold, 'I trust you'....

25 If I enjoyed being very rich because my hand had found great [wealth]....

26 If I saw the light shine or the moon move along in its splendor

27 so that my heart was secretly tempted, and I threw them a kiss with my hand,

28 then that, too, would be a criminal offense, and I would have denied God above.

29 "If I enjoyed the ruin of my enemy or celebrated when harm came to him

30 (even though I didn't speak sinfully by calling down a curse on his life)....

31 "If the people who were in my tent had said, 'We wish we had never filled [our stomachs] with his food'....

32 (The visitor never spent the night outside, because I opened my door to the traveler.)

33 "If I have covered my disobedience like Adam and kept my sin to myself,

34 because I dreaded the large, noisy crowd and because the contempt of the [local] mobs terrified me so that I kept quiet and didn't go outside....

35 "If only I had someone who would listen to me! Look, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me. Let the prosecutor write [his complaint] on a scroll.

36 I would certainly carry it on my shoulder and place it on my head like a crown.

37 I would tell him the number of my steps and approach him like a prince.

38 "If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept ....

39 If I have eaten its produce without paying for it and made its owners breathe their last,

40 [then] let it grow thistles instead of wheat, and foul-smelling weeds instead of barley." This is the end of Job's words.

Acts 13:26-52

26 "Brothers--descendants of Abraham and converts to Judaism--the message that God saves people was sent to us.

27 The people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers didn't know who Jesus was. They didn't understand the prophets' messages, which are read every day of worship. So they condemned Jesus and fulfilled what the prophets had said.

28 Although they couldn't find any good reason to kill him, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

29 When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.

30 But God brought him back to life,

31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These people are now witnesses and are testifying to the Jewish people about him.

32 We are telling you the Good News: What God promised our ancestors has happened.

33 God has fulfilled the promise for us, their descendants, by bringing Jesus back to life. This is what Scripture says in the second psalm: 'You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.'

34 "God stated that he brought Jesus back to life and that Jesus' body never decayed. He said, 'I will give you the enduring love promised to David.'

35 Another psalm says, 'You will not allow your holy one to decay.'

36 After doing God's will by serving the people of his time, David died. He was laid to rest with his ancestors, but his body decayed.

37 However, the man God brought back to life had a body that didn't decay.

38 "So, brothers, I'm telling you that through Jesus your sins can be forgiven. Sins kept you from receiving God's approval through Moses' Teachings.

39 However, everyone who believes in Jesus receives God's approval.

40 "Be careful, or what the prophets said may happen to you.

41 'Look, you mockers! Be amazed and die! I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were reported to you!'"

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak on the same subject the next day of worship.

43 When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas talked with them and were persuading them to continue trusting God's good will.

44 On the next day of worship, almost the whole city gathered to hear the Lord's word.

45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they became very jealous. They used insulting language to contradict whatever Paul said.

46 Paul and Barnabas told them boldly, "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject the word and consider yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we are now going to turn to people of other nations.

47 The Lord gave us the following order: 'I have made you a light for the nations so that you would save people all over the world.'"

48 The people who were not Jews were pleased with what they heard and praised the Lord's word. Everyone who had been prepared for everlasting life believed.

49 The word of the Lord spread throughout the whole region.

50 But Jews stirred up devout women of high social standing and the officials of the city. These people started to persecute Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their territory.

51 In protest against these people, Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet and went to the city of Iconium.

52 Meanwhile, the disciples [in Antioch] continued to be full of joy and the Holy Spirit.

Job 30; Job 31; Acts 13:26-52

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Job 30

Job 31

Acts 13:26-52