Job 5; Job 6; Job 7; Acts 8:1-25

1 Call out. Will anyone answer you? To which holy one will you turn?

2 Surely anger can kill the foolish; fury can kill the simple.

3 I've seen the foolish take root and promptly curse their house.

4 Their children are far from safety, crushed in the gate without a deliverer.

5 The hungry devour their crops; it's taken even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after their yield.

6 Surely trouble doesn't come from dust, nor does distress sprout from the ground.

7 Surely humans are born to distress, just as sparks rise up.

8 But I would seek God, put my case to God,

9 who does great things beyond comprehension, wonderful things without number;

10 who provides rain over the earth's surface, sends water to the open country,

11 exalts the lowly, raises mourners to victory;

12 who frustrates the schemes of the clever so that their hands achieve no success,

13 trapping the wise in their cleverness so that the plans of the devious don't succeed.

14 They encounter darkness during the day, and at noon they fumble about as at night.

15 Yet he rescues the orphan from the sword of their mouth, the needy from the grip of the strong;

16 so the poor have hope and violence shuts its mouth.

17 Look, happy is the person whom God corrects; so don't reject the Almighty's instruction.

18 He injures, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal.

19 From six adversities he will deliver you; from seven harm won't touch you.

20 In famine he will ransom you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.

21 You will be hidden from the tongue's sting, and you won't fear destruction when it comes.

22 You will laugh at destruction and hunger; you won't be afraid of wild beasts;

23 for you will make an agreement with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

24 You will know that your tent is secure. You will examine your home and miss nothing.

25 You will know that you'll have many children. Your offspring will be like the grass of the earth.

26 You will come to your grave in old age as bundles of grain stacked up at harvesttime.

27 Look, we've searched this out, and so it is; listen and find out for yourself.

1 Job responded:

2 Oh, that my grief were actually weighed, all of it were lifted up in scales;

3 for now it's heavier than the sands of the sea; therefore, my words are rash.

4 The Almighty's arrows are in me; my spirit drinks their poison, and God's terrors are arrayed against me.

5 Does a donkey bray over grass or an ox bellow over its fodder?

6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or does egg white have taste?

7 I refuse to touch them; they resemble food for the sick.

8 Oh, that what I've requested would come and God grant my hope;

9 that God be willing to crush me, release his hand and cut me off.

10 I'd still take comfort, relieved even though in persistent pain; for I've not denied the words of the holy one.

11 What is my strength, that I should hope; my end, that my life should drag on?

12 Is my strength that of rocks, my flesh bronze?

13 I don't have a helper for myself; success has been taken from me.

14 Are friends loyal to the one who despairs, or do they stop fearing the Almighty?

15 My companions are treacherous like a stream in the desert, like channels that overrun their streambeds,

16 like those darkened by thawing ice, in which snow is obscured

17 but that stop flowing in dry times and vanish from their channels in heat.

18 Caravans turn aside from their paths; they go up into untamed areas and perish.

19 Caravans from Tema look; merchants from Sheba hope for it.

20 They are ashamed that they trusted; they arrive and are dismayed.

21 That's what you are like; you see something awful and are afraid.

22 Have I said, "Give me something? Offer a bribe from your wealth for me?

23 Rescue me from the hand of my enemy? Ransom me from the grip of the ruthless?"

24 Instruct me and I'll be quiet; inform me how I've erred.

25 How painful are truthful words, but what do your condemnations accomplish?

26 Do you intend to correct my words, to treat the words of a hopeless man as wind?

27 Would you even gamble over an orphan, barter away your friend?

28 Now look at me— would I lie to your face?

29 Turn! Don't be faithless. Turn now! I am righteous.

30 Is there wrong on my tongue, or can my mouth not recognize disaster?

1 Isn't slavery everyone's condition on earth, our days like those of a hired worker?

2 Like a slave we pant for a shadow, await our task like a hired worker. nights of toil have been measured out for me.

3 So I have inherited months of emptiness;

4 If I lie down and think—When will I get up?— night drags on, and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.

5 My flesh is covered with worms and crusted earth; my skin hardens and oozes.

6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; they reach their end without hope.

7 Remember that my life is wind; my eyes won't see pleasure again.

8 The eye that sees me now will no longer look on me; your eyes will be on me, and I won't exist.

9 A cloud breaks apart and moves on— like the one who descends to the grave and won't rise,

10 won't return home again, won't be recognized in town anymore.

11 But I won't keep quiet; I will speak in the adversity of my spirit, groan in the bitterness of my life.

12 Am I Sea or the Sea Monster that you place me under guard?

13 If I say, "My couch will comfort me," my bed will diminish my murmuring.

14 You scare me with dreams, frighten me with visions.

15 I would choose strangling and death instead of my bones.

16 I reject life; I don't want to live long; leave me alone, for my days are empty.

17 What are human beings, that you exalt them, that you take note of them,

18 visit them each morning, test them every moment?

19 Why not look away from me; let me alone until I swallow my spit?

20 If I sinned, what did I do to you, guardian of people? Why have you made me your target so that I'm a burden to myself?

21 Why not forgive my sin, overlook my iniquity? Then I would lie down in the dust; you would search hard for me, and I would not exist.

1 Saul was in full agreement with Stephen's murder. At that time, the church in Jerusalem began to be subjected to vicious harassment. Everyone except the apostles was scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.

2 Some pious men buried Stephen and deeply grieved over him.

3 Saul began to wreak havoc against the church. Entering one house after another, he would drag off both men and women and throw them into prison.

4 Those who had been scattered moved on, preaching the good news along the way.

5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and began to preach Christ to them.

6 The crowds were united by what they heard Philip say and the signs they saw him perform, and they gave him their undivided attention.

7 With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many people, and many who were paralyzed or crippled were healed.

8 There was great rejoicing in that city.

9 Before Philip's arrival, a certain man named Simon had practiced sorcery in that city and baffled the people of Samaria. He claimed to be a great person.

10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, gave him their undivided attention and referred to him as "the power of God called Great."

11 He had their attention because he had baffled them with sorcery for a long time.

12 After they came to believe Philip, who preached the good news about God's kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

13 Even Simon himself came to believe and was baptized. Afterward, he became one of Philip's supporters. As he saw firsthand the signs and great miracles that were happening, he was astonished.

14 When word reached the apostles in Jerusalem that Samaria had accepted God's word, they commissioned Peter and John to go to Samaria.

15 Peter and John went down to Samaria where they prayed that the new believers would receive the Holy Spirit. (

16 This was because the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17 So Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

18 When Simon perceived that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money.

19 He said, "Give me this authority too so that anyone on whom I lay my hands will receive the Holy Spirit."

20 Peter responded, "May your money be condemned to hell along with you because you believed you could buy God's gift with money!

21 You can have no part or share in God's word because your heart isn't right with God.

22 Therefore, change your heart and life! Turn from your wickedness! Plead with the Lord in the hope that your wicked intent can be forgiven,

23 for I see that your bitterness has poisoned you and evil has you in chains."

24 Simon replied, "All of you, please, plead to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said will happen to me!"

25 After the apostles had testified and proclaimed the Lord's word, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the good news to many Samaritan villages along the way.