Job 22; Job 23; Job 24; Acts 11

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

2 "Can anyone be of real use to God? Can even a wise person do him good?

3 Does it help the Almighty for you to be good? Does he gain anything if you are innocent?

4 Does God punish you for respecting him? Does he bring you into court for this?

5 No! It is because your evil is without limits and your sins have no end.

6 You took your brothers' things for a debt they didn't owe; you took clothes from people and left them naked.

7 You did not give water to tired people, and you kept food from the hungry.

8 You were a powerful man who owned land; you were honored and lived in the land.

9 But you sent widows away empty-handed, and you mistreated orphans.

10 That is why traps are all around you and sudden danger frightens you.

11 That is why it is so dark you cannot see and a flood of water covers you.

12 "God is in the highest part of heaven. See how high the highest stars are!

13 But you ask, 'What does God know? Can he judge us through the dark clouds?

14 Thick clouds cover him so he cannot see us as he walks around high up in the sky.'

15 Are you going to stay on the old path where evil people walk?

16 They were carried away before their time was up, and their foundations were washed away by a flood.

17 They said to God, 'Leave us alone! The Almighty can do nothing to us.'

18 But it was God who filled their houses with good things. Their way of thinking is different from mine.

19 "Good people can watch and be glad; the innocent can laugh at them and say,

20 'Surely our enemies are destroyed, and fire burns up their wealth.'

21 "Obey God and be at peace with him; this is the way to happiness.

22 Accept teaching from his mouth, and keep his words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be blessed again. So remove evil from your house.

24 Throw your gold nuggets into the dust and your fine gold among the rocks in the ravines.

25 Then the Almighty will be your gold and the best silver for you.

26 You will find pleasure in the Almighty, and you will look up to him.

27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will keep your promises to him.

28 Anything you decide will be done, and light will shine on your ways.

29 When people are made humble and you say, 'Have courage,' then the humble will be saved.

30 Even a guilty person will escape and be saved because your hands are clean."

1 Then Job answered:

2 "My complaint is still bitter today. I groan because God's heavy hand is on me.

3 I wish I knew where to find God so I could go to where he lives.

4 I would present my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments

5 I would learn how he would answer me and would think about what he would say.

6 Would he not argue strongly against me? No, he would really listen to me.

7 Then an honest person could present his case to God, and I would be saved forever by my judge.

8 "If I go to the east, God is not there; if I go to the west, I do not see him.

9 When he is at work in the north, I catch no sight of him; when he turns to the south, I cannot see him.

10 But God knows the way that I take, and when he has tested me, I will come out like gold.

11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have stayed in his way; I did not turn aside.

12 I have never left the commands he has spoken; I have treasured his words more than my own.

13 "But he is the only God. Who can come against him? He does anything he wants.

14 He will do to me what he said he would do, and he has many plans like this

15 That is why I am frightened of him; when I think of this, I am afraid of him.

16 God has made me afraid; the Almighty terrifies me.

17 But I am not hidden by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

1 "I wish the Almighty would set a time for judging. Those who know God do not see such a day.

2 Wicked people take other people's land; they steal flocks and take them to new pastures.

3 They chase away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox when she has no money.

4 They push needy people off the path; all the poor of the land hide from them.

5 The poor become like wild donkeys in the desert who go about their job of finding food. The desert gives them food for their children.

6 They gather hay and straw in the fields and pick up leftover grapes from the vineyard of the wicked.

7 They spend the night naked, because they have no clothes, nothing to cover themselves in the cold.

8 They are soaked from mountain rains and stay near the large rocks because they have no shelter.

9 The fatherless child is grabbed from its mother's breast; they take a poor mother's baby to pay for what she owes.

10 So the poor go around naked without any clothes; they carry bundles of grain but still go hungry;

11 they crush olives to get oil and grapes to get wine, but they still go thirsty.

12 Dying people groan in the city, and the injured cry out for help, but God accuses no one of doing wrong.

13 "Those who fight against the light do not know God's ways or stay in his paths.

14 When the day is over, the murderers get up to kill the poor and needy. At night they go about like thieves.

15 Those who are guilty of adultery watch for the night, thinking, 'No one will see us,' and they keep their faces covered.

16 In the dark, evil people break into houses. In the daytime they shut themselves up in their own houses, because they want nothing to do with the light.

17 Darkness is like morning to all these evil people who make friends with the terrors of darkness.

18 "They are like foam floating on the water. Their part of the land is cursed; no one uses the road that goes by their vineyards.

19 As heat and dryness quickly melt the snow, so the grave quickly takes away the sinners.

20 Their mothers forget them, and worms will eat their bodies. They will not be remembered, so wickedness is broken in pieces like a stick.

21 These evil people abuse women who cannot have children and show no kindness to widows.

22 But God drags away the strong by his power. Even though they seem strong, they do not know how long they will live.

23 God may let these evil people feel safe, but he is watching their ways.

24 For a little while they are important, and then they die; they are laid low and buried like everyone else; they are cut off like the heads of grain.

25 If this is not true, who can prove I am wrong? Who can show that my words are worth nothing?"

1 The apostles and the believers in Judea heard that some who were not Jewish had accepted God's teaching too.

2 But when Peter came to Jerusalem, some Jewish believers argued with him.

3 They said, "You went into the homes of people who are not circumcised and ate with them!"

4 So Peter explained the whole story to them.

5 He said, "I was in the city of Joppa, and while I was praying, I had a vision. I saw something that looked like a big sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came very close to me.

6 I looked inside it and saw animals, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds.

7 I heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'

8 But I said, 'No, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is unholy or unclean.'

9 But the voice from heaven spoke again, 'God has made these things clean, so don't call them unholy.'

10 This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back to heaven.

11 Right then three men who were sent to me from Caesarea came to the house where I was staying.

12 The Spirit told me to go with them without doubting. These six believers here also went with me, and we entered the house of Cornelius.

13 He told us about the angel he saw standing in his house. The angel said to him, 'Send some men to Joppa and invite Simon Peter to come.

14 By the words he will say to you, you and all your family will be saved.'

15 When I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning.

16 Then I remembered the words of the Lord. He said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'

17 Since God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stop the work of God?"

18 When the Jewish believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, "So God is allowing even those who are not Jewish to turn to him and live."

19 Many of the believers were scattered when they were persecuted after Stephen was killed. Some of them went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch telling the message to others, but only to Jews.

20 Some of these believers were people from Cyprus and Cyrene. When they came to Antioch, they spoke also to Greeks, telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus.

21 The Lord was helping the believers, and a large group of people believed and turned to the Lord.

22 The church in Jerusalem heard about all of this, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

23

24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. When he reached Antioch and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad. He encouraged all the believers in Antioch always to obey the Lord with all their hearts, and many people became followers of the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas went to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul,

26 and when he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year Saul and Barnabas met with the church and taught many people there. In Antioch the followers were called Christians for the first time.

27 About that time some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.

28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and spoke with the help of the Holy Spirit. He said, "A very hard time is coming to the whole world. There will be no food to eat." (This happened when Claudius ruled.)

29 The believers all decided to help the followers who lived in Judea, as much as each one could.

30 They gathered the money and gave it to Barnabas and Saul, who brought it to the elders in Judea.