Job 28; Job 29; Acts 13:1-25

1 "There are mines where people dig silver and places where gold is made pure.

2 Iron is taken from the ground, and copper is melted out of rocks.

3 Miners bring lights and search deep into the mines for ore in thick darkness.

4 Miners dig a tunnel far from where people live, where no one has ever walked; they work far from people, swinging and swaying from ropes.

5 Food grows on top of the earth, but below ground things are changed as if by fire.

6 Sapphires are found in rocks, and gold dust is also found there.

7 No hawk knows that path; the falcon has not seen it.

8 Proud animals have not walked there, and no lions cross over it.

9 Miners hit the rocks of flint and dig away at the bottom of the mountains.

10 They cut tunnels through the rock and see all the treasures there.

11 They search for places where rivers begin and bring things hidden out into the light.

12 "But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding live?

13 People do not understand the value of wisdom; it cannot be found among those who are alive.

14 The deep ocean says, 'It's not in me;' the sea says, 'It's not in me.'

15 Wisdom cannot be bought with gold, and its cost cannot be weighed in silver.

16 Wisdom cannot be bought with fine gold or with valuable onyx or sapphire gems.

17 Gold and crystal are not as valuable as wisdom, and you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.

18 Coral and jasper are not worth talking about, and the price of wisdom is much greater than rubies.

19 The topaz from Cush cannot compare to wisdom; it cannot be bought with the purest gold.

20 "So where does wisdom come from, and where does understanding live?

21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, even from the birds of the air.

22 The places of destruction and death say, 'We have heard reports about it.'

23 Only God understands the way to wisdom, and he alone knows where it lives,

24 because he looks to the farthest parts of the earth and sees everything under the sky.

25 When God gave power to the wind and measured the water,

26 when he made rules for the rain and set a path for a thunderstorm to follow,

27 then he looked at wisdom and decided its worth; he set wisdom up and tested it.

28 Then he said to humans, 'The fear of the Lord is wisdom; to stay away from evil is understanding.'"

1 Job continued to speak:

2 "How I wish for the months that have passed and the days when God watched over me.

3 God's lamp shined on my head, and I walked through darkness by his light.

4 I wish for the days when I was strong, when God's close friendship blessed my house.

5 The Almighty was still with me, and my children were all around me.

6 It was as if my path were covered with cream and the rocks poured out olive oil for me.

7 I would go to the city gate and sit in the public square.

8 When the young men saw me, they would step aside, and the old men would stand up in respect.

9 The leading men stopped speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

10 The voices of the important men were quiet, as if their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

11 Anyone who heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me praised me,

12 because I saved the poor who called out and the orphan who had no one to help.

13 The dying person blessed me, and I made the widow's heart sing.

14 I put on right living as if it were clothing; I wore fairness like a robe and a turban.

15 I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame.

16 I was like a father to needy people, and I took the side of strangers who were in trouble.

17 I broke the fangs of evil people and snatched the captives from their teeth.

18 "I thought, 'I will live for as many days as there are grains of sand, and I will die in my own house.

19 My roots will reach down to the water. The dew will lie on the branches all night.

20 New honors will come to me continually, and I will always have great strength.'

21 "People listened to me carefully and waited quietly for my advice.

22 After I finished speaking, they spoke no more. My words fell very gently on their ears.

23 They waited for me as they would for rain and drank in my words like spring rain.

24 I smiled at them when they doubted, and my approval was important to them.

25 I chose the way for them and was their leader. I lived like a king among his army, like a person who comforts sad people.

1 In the church at Antioch there were these prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (also called Niger), Lucius (from the city of Cyrene), Manaen (who had grown up with Herod, the ruler), and Saul.

2 They were all worshiping the Lord and giving up eating for a certain time. During this time the Holy Spirit said to them, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to do a special work for which I have chosen them."

3 So after they gave up eating and prayed, they laid their hands onn Barnabas and Saul and sent them out.

4 Barnabas and Saul, sent out by the Holy Spirit, went to the city of Seleucia. From there they sailed to the island of Cyprus.

5 When they came to Salamis, they preached the Good News of God in the Jewish synagogues. John Mark was with them to help.

6 They went across the whole island to Paphos where they met a Jewish magician named Bar-Jesus. He was a false prophet

7 who always stayed close to Sergius Paulus, the governor and a smart man. He asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him, because he wanted to hear the message of God.

8 But Elymas, the magician, was against them. (Elymas is the name for Bar-Jesus in the Greek language.) He tried to stop the governor from believing in Jesus.

9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked straight at Elymas

10 and said, "You son of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of evil tricks and lies, always trying to change the Lord's truths into lies.

11 Now the Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything -- not even the light from the sun." Then everything became dark for Elymas, and he walked around, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

12 When the governor saw this, he believed because he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

13 Paul and those with him sailed from Paphos and came to Perga, in Pamphylia. There John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem.

14 They continued their trip from Perga and went to Antioch, a city in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

15 After the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were read, the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas: "Brothers, if you have any message that will encourage the people, please speak."

16 Paul stood up, raised his hand, and said, "You Israelites and you who worship God, please listen!

17 The God of the Israelites chose our ancestors. He made the people great during the time they lived in Egypt, and he brought them out of that country with great power.

18 And he was patient with them for forty years in the desert.

19 God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to his people.

20 All this happened in about four hundred fifty years. "After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

21 Then the people asked for a king, so God gave them Saul son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and was king for forty years.

22 After God took him away, God made David their king. God said about him: 'I have found in David son of Jesse the kind of man I want. He will do all I want him to do.'

23 So God has brought Jesus, one of David's descendants, to Israel to be its Savior, as he promised.

24 Before Jesus came, Johnn preached to all the people of Israel about a baptism of changed hearts and lives.

25 When he was finishing his work, he said, 'Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. He is coming later, and I am not worthy to untie his sandals.'