Job 38; Job 39; Job 40; Acts 16:1-21

Job 38

1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

3 Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.

5 Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?

6 What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone

7 as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,

9 and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?

10 For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.

11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?

14 As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.

15 The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?

17 Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

18 Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

19 “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?

20 Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?

21 But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?

23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)

24 Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?

25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?

26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?

27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?

28 “Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?

29 Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?

30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.

31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?

32 Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?

33 Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34 “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?

35 Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?

36 Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?

37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven

38 when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?

39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites

40 as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?

41 Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?

Job 39

1 “Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?

2 Do you know how many months they carry their young? Are you aware of the time of their delivery?

3 They crouch down to give birth to their young and deliver their offspring.

4 Their young grow up in the open fields, then leave home and never return.

5 “Who gives the wild donkey its freedom? Who untied its ropes?

6 I have placed it in the wilderness; its home is the wasteland.

7 It hates the noise of the city and has no driver to shout at it.

8 The mountains are its pastureland, where it searches for every blade of grass.

9 “Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?

10 Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow? Will it plow a field for you?

11 Given its strength, can you trust it? Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?

12 Can you rely on it to bring home your grain and deliver it to your threshing floor?

13 “The ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.

14 She lays her eggs on top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust.

15 She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them or a wild animal might destroy them.

16 She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own. She doesn’t care if they die.

17 For God has deprived her of wisdom. He has given her no understanding.

18 But whenever she jumps up to run, she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.

19 “Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?

20 Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is terrifying!

21 It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength when it charges out to battle.

22 It laughs at fear and is unafraid. It does not run from the sword.

23 The arrows rattle against it, and the spear and javelin flash.

24 It paws the ground fiercely and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.

25 It snorts at the sound of the horn. It senses the battle in the distance. It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle.

26 “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings toward the south?

27 Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest?

28 It lives on the cliffs, making its home on a distant, rocky crag.

29 From there it hunts its prey, keeping watch with piercing eyes.

30 Its young gulp down blood. Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.”

Job 40

1 Then the LORD said to Job,

2 “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

3 Then Job replied to the LORD,

4 “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand.

5 I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”

6 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:

7 “Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

8 “Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right?

9 Are you as strong as God? Can you thunder with a voice like his?

10 All right, put on your glory and splendor, your honor and majesty.

11 Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud.

12 Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand.

13 Bury them in the dust. Imprison them in the world of the dead.

14 Then even I would praise you, for your own strength would save you.

15 “Take a look at Behemoth, which I made, just as I made you. It eats grass like an ox.

16 See its powerful loins and the muscles of its belly.

17 Its tail is as strong as a cedar. The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.

18 Its bones are tubes of bronze. Its limbs are bars of iron.

19 It is a prime example of God’s handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it.

20 The mountains offer it their best food, where all the wild animals play.

21 It lies under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds in the marsh.

22 The lotus plants give it shade among the willows beside the stream.

23 It is not disturbed by the raging river, not concerned when the swelling Jordan rushes around it.

24 No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.

Acts 16:1-21

1 Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek.

2 Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium,

3 so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.

4 Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

5 So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day.

6 Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.

7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.

8 So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.

9 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”

10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.

11 We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis.

12 From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.

14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying.

15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.

16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes.

17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.

19 Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.

20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials.

21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”