Acts 9:1-25; Joshua 3; Joshua 4; Joshua 5:1; Job 22

Acts 9:1-25

1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.

4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

5 "Who are You, Lord?" he said. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied.

6 "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one.

8 Then Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.

9 He was unable to see for three days, and did not eat or drink.

10 Now in Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Here I am, Lord!" he said.

11 "Get up and go to the street called Straight," the Lord said to him, "to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.

12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so he may regain his sight."

13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

14 And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name."

15 But the Lord said to him, "Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel.

16 I will certainly show him how much he must suffer for My name!"

17 So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

18 At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

19 And after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some days.

20 Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: "He is the Son of God."

21 But all who heard him were astounded and said, "Isn't this the man who, in Jerusalem, was destroying those who called on this name, and then came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?"

22 But Saul grew more capable, and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this One is the Messiah.

23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,

24 but their plot became known to Saul. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him,

25 but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through [an opening in] the wall.

Joshua 3

1 Joshua started early the next morning and left Acacia Grove with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing.

2 After three days the officers went through the camp

3 and commanded the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the Levitical priests, you must break camp and follow it.

4 But keep a distance of about 1,000 yards between yourselves and the ark. Don't go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven't traveled this way before."

5 Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, because the Lord will do wonders among you tomorrow."

6 Then he said to the priests, "Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people." So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

7 The Lord spoke to Joshua: "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses.

8 Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.' "

9 Then Joshua told the Israelites, "Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God."

10 He said, "You will know that the living God is among you and that He will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites

11 when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth goes ahead of you into the Jordan.

12 Now choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

13 When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the Jordan's waters, its waters will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up [in] a mass."

14 When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people.

15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge

16 and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up [in] a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho.

17 The priests carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Joshua 4

1 After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua,

2 "Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe,

3 and command them, 'Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.' "

4 So Joshua summoned the 12 men selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe,

5 and said to them, "Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes,

6 so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

7 you should tell them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord's covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan's waters were cut off.' Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites."

8 The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The 12 men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.

9 Joshua also set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing. The stones are there to this day.

10 The priests carrying the ark continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in keeping with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried across,

11 and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the Lord crossed in the sight of the people.

12 The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh went in battle formation in front of the Israelites, as Moses had instructed them.

13 About 40,000 equipped for war crossed to the plains of Jericho in the Lord's presence.

14 On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him throughout his life, as they had revered Moses.

15 The Lord told Joshua,

16 "Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony to come up from the Jordan."

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up from the Jordan."

18 When the priests carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan, and their feet stepped out on solid ground, the waters of the Jordan resumed their course, flowing over all the banks as before.

19 The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and camped at Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho.

20 Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan,

21 and he said to the Israelites, "When your children ask their fathers in the future, 'What is the meaning of these stones?'

22 you should tell your children, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.'

23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.

24 This is so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord's hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God."

Joshua 5:1

1 When all the Amorite kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, they lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.

Job 22

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 Can a man be of [any] use to God? Can even a wise man be of use to Him?

3 Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous? Does He profit if you perfect your behavior?

4 Does He correct you and take you to court because of your piety?

5 Isn't your wickedness abundant and aren't your iniquities endless?

6 For you took collateral from your brothers without cause, stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.

7 You gave no water to the thirsty and withheld food from the famished,

8 while the land belonged to a powerful man and an influential man lived on it.

9 You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

10 Therefore snares surround you, and sudden dread terrifies you,

11 or darkness, so you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

12 Isn't God as high as the heavens? And look at the highest stars-how lofty they are!

13 Yet you say: "What does God know? Can He judge through thick darkness?

14 Clouds veil Him so that He cannot see, as He walks on the circle of the sky."

15 Will you continue on the ancient path that wicked men have walked?

16 They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were washed away by a river.

17 They were the ones who said to God, "Leave us alone!" and "What can the Almighty do to us?"

18 But it was He who filled their houses with good things. The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

19 The righteous see [this] and rejoice; the innocent mock them, [saying],

20 "Surely our opponents are destroyed, and fire has consumed what they left behind."

21 Come to terms with God and be at peace; in this way good will come to you.

22 Receive instruction from His mouth, and place His sayings in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be renewed. If you banish injustice from your tent

24 and consign your gold to the dust, [the gold of] Ophir to the stones in the wadis,

25 the Almighty will be your gold and your finest silver.

26 Then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

27 You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

28 When you make a decision, it will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.

29 When others are humiliated and you say, "Lift [them] up," God will save the humble.

30 He will [even] rescue the guilty one, who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.