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Job 34; Job 35; Acts 15:1-21

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Job 34

1 Elihu continued to speak [to Job and his friends],
2 "Listen to my words, you wise men. Open your ears to me, you intelligent men.
3 The ear tests words like the tongue tastes food.
4 Let's decide for ourselves what is right and agree among ourselves as to what is good,
5 because Job has said, 'I'm righteous, but God has taken away my rights.
6 I'm considered a liar in spite of my rights. I've been wounded by a deadly arrow, though I haven't been disobedient.'
7 What person is like Job, who drinks scorn like water,
8 who travels with troublemakers and associates with evil people?
9 He says, 'It doesn't do any good to try to please God.'
10 "You people who have understanding, listen to me. It is unthinkable that God would ever do evil or that the Almighty would ever do wicked things.
11 God will repay humanity for what it has done and will give each person what he deserves.
12 Certainly, God will never do anything evil, and the Almighty will never pervert justice.
13 Who put him in charge of the earth? Who appointed him to be over the whole world?
14 If he thought only of himself and withdrew his Spirit and his breath,
15 all living beings would die together, and humanity would return to dust.
16 "If you understand, listen to this. Open your ears to my words!
17 Should anyone who hates justice be allowed to govern? Will you condemn the one who is righteous and mighty?
18 Should anyone [even] say to a king, 'You good-for-nothing scoundrel!' or to nobles, 'You wicked people!'
19 The one who is righteous and mighty does not grant special favors to princes or prefer important people over poor people because his hands made them all.
20 They die suddenly in the middle of the night. People have seizures and pass away. Mighty people are taken away but not by human hands.
21 God's eyes are on a person's ways. He sees all his steps.
22 There's no darkness or deep shadow where troublemakers can hide.
23 He doesn't have to set a time for a person in order to bring him to divine judgment.
24 He breaks mighty people into pieces without examining them and puts others in their places.
25 He knows what they do, so he overthrows them at night, and they're crushed.
26 In return for their evil, he strikes them in public,
27 because they turned away from following him and didn't consider any of his ways.
28 They forced the poor to cry out to him, and he hears the cry of those who suffer.
29 If he keeps quiet, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can see him whether it is a nation or a single person?
30 [He does this] so that godless people cannot rule and so that they cannot trap people.
31 "But suppose such a person says to God, 'I am guilty, I will stop my immoral behavior.
32 Teach me what I cannot see. If I've done wrong, I won't do it again.'
33 Should God reward you on your own terms since you have rejected his? You must choose, not I. Tell me what you know. Speak!
34 "People of understanding, the wise people who listen to me, will say,
35 'Job speaks without knowledge. His words show no insight.'
36 "My Father, let Job be thoroughly tested for giving answers like wicked people do.
37 He adds disobedience to his sin. He claps his hands to insult us. He multiplies his words against God."
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Job 35

1 Elihu continued to speak [to Job and his friends],
2 "Do you think this is right when you say, 'My case is more just than God's,'
3 when you ask, 'What benefit is it to you?' and, 'What would I gain by sinning?'
4 I will answer you and your friends.
5 "Look at the heavens and see. Observe the clouds high above you.
6 If you've sinned, what effect can you have on God? If you've done many wrongs, what can you do to him?
7 If you're righteous, what can you give him, or what can he get from you?
8 Your wickedness affects only someone like yourself. Your righteousness affects only the descendants of Adam.
9 The weight of oppression makes them cry out. The power of mighty people makes them call for help.
10 But no one asks, 'Where is God, my Creator, who inspires songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than he teaches the animals of the earth, who makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?'
12 Then they cry out, but he doesn't answer them because of the arrogance of [those] evil people.
13 "Surely, God doesn't listen to idle complaints. The Almighty doesn't even pay attention to them.
14 Although you say that you pay attention to him, your case is in front of him, but you'll have to wait for him.
15 And now [you say] that his anger doesn't punish [anyone] and he isn't too concerned about evil.
16 Job opens his mouth for no good reason and talks a lot without having any knowledge."
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Acts 15:1-21

1 Some men came from Judea and started to teach believers that people can't be saved unless they are circumcised as Moses' Teachings require.
2 Paul and Barnabas had a fierce dispute with these men. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were sent to Jerusalem to see the apostles and spiritual leaders about this claim.
3 The church sent Paul and Barnabas [to Jerusalem]. As they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told the whole story of how non-Jewish people were turning to God. This story brought great joy to all the believers.
4 The church in Jerusalem, the apostles, and the spiritual leaders welcomed Paul and Barnabas when they arrived. Paul and Barnabas reported everything that God had done through them.
5 But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "People who are not Jewish must be circumcised and ordered to follow Moses' Teachings."
6 The apostles and spiritual leaders met to consider this statement.
7 After a lot of debating, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know what happened some time ago. God chose me so that people who aren't Jewish could hear the Good News and believe.
8 God, who knows everyone's thoughts, showed that he approved of people who aren't Jewish by giving them the Holy Spirit as he gave the Holy Spirit to us.
9 God doesn't discriminate between Jewish and non-Jewish people. He has cleansed non-Jewish people through faith as he has cleansed us Jews.
10 So why are you testing God? You're putting a burden on the disciples, a burden neither our ancestors nor we can carry.
11 We certainly believe that the Lord Jesus saves us the same way that he saves them--through his kindness."
12 The whole crowd was silent. They listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the miracles and amazing things that God had done through them among non-Jewish people.
13 After they finished speaking, James responded, "Brothers, listen to me.
14 Simon has explained how God first showed his concern by taking from non-Jewish people those who would honor his name.
15 This agrees with what the prophets said. Scripture says,
16 'Afterwards, I will return. I will set up David's fallen tent again. I will restore its ruined places again. I will set it up again
17 so that the survivors and all the people who aren't Jewish over whom my name is spoken, may search for the Lord, declares the Lord.
18 He is the one who will do these things that have always been known!'
19 "So I've decided that we shouldn't trouble non-Jewish people who are turning to God.
20 Instead, we should write a letter telling them to keep away from things polluted by false gods, from sexual sins, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from eating bloody meat.
21 After all, Moses' words have been spread to every city for generations. His teachings are read in synagogues on every day of worship."
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.