Acts 7:1-22; Deuteronomy 29; Deuteronomy 30; Job 18

Acts 7:1-22

1 "Is this true?" the high priest asked.

2 "Brothers and fathers," he said, "listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

3 and said to him: Get out of your country and away from your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.

4 "Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you now live.

5 He didn't give him an inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, but He promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.

6 God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for 400 years.

7 I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship Me in this place.

8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision. This being so, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the 12 patriarchs.

9 "The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him

10 and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor over Egypt and over his whole household.

11 Then a famine came over all of Egypt and Canaan, with great suffering, and our forefathers could find no food.

12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers the first time.

13 The second time, Joseph was revealed to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.

14 Joseph then invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, 75 people in all,

15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our forefathers died there,

16 were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 "As the time was drawing near to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt

18 until a different king ruled over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

19 He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our forefathers by making them leave their infants outside so they wouldn't survive.

20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. He was nursed in his father's home three months,

21 and when he was left outside, Pharaoh's daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.

22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in his speech and actions.

Deuteronomy 29

1 These are the words of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb.

2 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "You have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his entire land.

3 You saw with your own eyes the great trials and those great signs and wonders.

4 Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

5 I led you 40 years in the wilderness; your clothes and the sandals on your feet did not wear out;

6 you did not eat bread or drink wine or beer-so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.

7 When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.

8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

9 Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and follow them, so that you will succeed in everything you do.

10 "All of you are standing today before the Lord your God-your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel,

11 your children, your wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water-

12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which He is making with you today, so that you may enter into His oath

13 and so that He may establish you today as His people and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14 I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you,

15 but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not here today.

16 "Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled.

17 You saw their detestable images and idols [made] of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them.

18 Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

19 When someone hears the words of this oath, he may bless himself in his mind, thinking, 'I will have peace even though I follow my [own] stubborn heart.' This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered [land] as well as the dry [land].

20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven,

21 and single him out for harm from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

22 "Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the Lord has inflicted on it.

23 All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord demolished in His fierce anger.

24 All the nations will ask, 'Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?'

25 Then people will answer, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He had made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

26 They began to worship other gods, bowing down to gods they had not known-gods that the Lord had not permitted them [to worship].

27 Therefore the Lord's anger burned against this land, and He brought every curse written in this book on it.

28 The Lord uprooted them from their land in [His] anger, fury, and great wrath, and threw them into another land where they are today.'

29 The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 30

1 "When all these things happen to you-the blessings and curses I have set before you-and you come to your senses [while you are] in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you,

2 and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am giving you today,

3 then He will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.

4 Even if your exiles are at the ends of the earth, He will gather you and bring you back from there.

5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than [He did] your fathers.

6 The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul, so that you will live.

7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.

8 Then you will again obey Him and follow all His commands I am giving you today.

9 The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands with children, the offspring of your livestock, and your soil's produce. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers,

10 when you obey the Lord your God by keeping His commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to Him with all your heart and all your soul.

11 "This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach.

12 It is not in heaven, so that you have to ask, 'Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?'

13 And it is not across the sea, so that you have to ask, 'Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?'

14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.

15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.

16 For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow down to other gods and worship them,

18 I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not live long in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan.

19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,

20 love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Job 18

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 How long until you stop talking? Show some sense, and then we can talk.

3 Why are we regarded as cattle, as stupid in your sight?

4 You who tear yourself in anger- should the earth be abandoned on your account, or a rock be removed from its place?

5 Yes, the light of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

6 The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him is put out.

7 His powerful stride is shortened, and his own schemes trip him up.

8 For his own feet lead him into a net, and he strays into its mesh.

9 A trap catches [him] by the heel; a noose seizes him.

10 A rope lies hidden for him on the ground, and a snare [waits] for him along the path.

11 Terrors frighten him on every side and harass him at every step.

12 His strength is depleted; disaster lies ready for him to stumble.

13 Parts of his skin are eaten away; death's firstborn consumes his limbs.

14 He is ripped from the security of his tent and marched away to the king of terrors.

15 Nothing he owned remains in his tent. Burning sulfur is scattered over his home.

16 His roots below dry up, and his branches above wither away.

17 [All] memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name abroad.

18 He is driven from light to darkness and chased from the inhabited world.

19 He has no children or descendants among his people, no survivor where he used to live.

20 Those in the west are appalled at his fate, while those in the east tremble in horror.

21 Indeed, such is the dwelling of the wicked, and this is the place of the one who does not know God.