Acts 8:1; Deuteronomy 33; Deuteronomy 34; Job 20

Acts 8:1

1 Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.

Deuteronomy 33

1 This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave the Israelites before his death.

2 He said: The Lord came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; He shone [on them] from Mount Paran and came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from His right hand for them.

3 Indeed He loves the people. All Your holy ones are in Your hand, and they assemble at Your feet. Each receives Your words.

4 Moses gave us instruction, a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

5 So He became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered with the tribes of Israel.

6 Let Reuben live and not die though his people become few.

7 He said this about Judah: Lord, hear Judah's cry and bring him to his people. He fights for his cause with his own hands, but may You be a help against his foes.

8 He said about Levi: Your Thummim and Urim belong to Your faithful one; You tested him at Massah and contended with him at the waters of Meribah.

9 He said about his father and mother, "I do not regard them." He disregarded his brothers and didn't acknowledge his sons, for they kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.

10 They will teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your instruction to Israel; they will set incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.

11 Lord, bless his possessions, and accept the work of his hands. Smash the loins of his adversaries and enemies, so that they cannot rise again.

12 He said about Benjamin: The Lord's beloved rests securely on Him. He shields him all day long, and he rests on His shoulders.

13 He said about Joseph: May his land be blessed by the Lord with the dew of heaven's bounty and the watery depths that lie beneath;

14 with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons;

15 with the best products of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the eternal hills;

16 with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it; and with the favor of Him who appeared in the [burning] bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the prince of his brothers.

17 His firstborn bull has splendor, and horns like those of a wild ox; he gores all the peoples with them to the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.

18 He said about Zebulun: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your journeys, and Issachar, in your tents.

19 They summon the peoples to a mountain; there they offer acceptable sacrifices. For they draw from the wealth of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.

20 He said about Gad: The one who enlarges Gad's [territory] will be blessed. He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or even a head.

21 He chose the best [part] for himself, because a ruler's portion was assigned there for him. He came [with] the leaders of the people; he carried out the Lord's justice and His ordinances for Israel.

22 He said about Dan: Dan is a young lion, leaping out of Bashan.

23 He said about Naphtali: Naphtali, enjoying approval, full of the Lord's blessing, take possession to the west and the south.

24 He said about Asher: May Asher be the most blessed of the sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers and dip his foot in [olive] oil.

25 May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and your strength last as long as you live.

26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid on the clouds in His majesty.

27 The God of old is [your] dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, and commands, "Destroy!"

28 So Israel dwells securely; Jacob lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine; even his skies drip with dew.

29 How happy you are, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is the shield that protects you, the sword you boast in. Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread on their backs.

Deuteronomy 34

1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land: Gilead as far as Dan,

2 all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,

3 the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.

4 The Lord then said to him, "This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it."

5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said.

6 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is.

7 Moses was 120 years old when he died; his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not left [him].

8 The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

10 No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

11 [He was unparalleled] for all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do against the land of Egypt-to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land,

12 and for all the mighty [acts of] power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Job 20

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset!

3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply.

4 Don't you know that ever since antiquity, from [the time] man was placed on earth,

5 the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?

6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven, and his head touches the clouds,

7 he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, "Where is he?"

8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

9 The eye that saw him will see [him] no more, and his household will no longer see him.

10 His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth.

11 His bones may be full of youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in the grave.

12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth,

14 yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras' venom inside him.

15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach.

16 He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper's fangs will kill him.

17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming [it]; he doesn't enjoy the profits from his trading.

19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build.

20 Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not escape his desires.

21 Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last.

22 At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him.

23 When he fills his stomach, God will send His burning anger against him, raining [it] down on him while he is eating.

24 If he flees from an iron weapon, [an arrow from] a bronze bow will pierce him.

25 He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him.

26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned [by human hands] will consume him; it will feed on what is left in his tent.

27 The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

28 The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God's anger.

29 This is the wicked man's lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him.