Job 1; Job 2; Acts 7:22-43

1 Job, the Good Man A man named Job lived in the land of Uz. He was an honest and innocent man; he honored God and stayed away from evil.

2 Job had seven sons and three daughters.

3 He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

4 Job's sons took turns holding feasts in their homes and invited their sisters to eat and drink with them.

5 After a feast was over, Job would send and have them made clean. Early in the morning Job would offer a burnt offering for each of them, because he thought, "My children may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Job did this every time.

6 One day the angels came to show themselves before the Lord, and Satan was with them.

7 The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "I have been wandering around the earth, going back and forth in it."

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest and innocent man, honoring God and staying away from evil."

9 But Satan answered the Lord, "Job honors God for a good reason.

10 You have put a wall around him, his family, and everything he owns. You have blessed the things he has done. His flocks and herds are so large they almost cover the land.

11 But reach out your hand and destroy everything he has, and he will curse you to your face."

12 The Lord said to Satan, "All right, then. Everything Job has is in your power, but you must not touch Job himself." Then Satan left the Lord's presence.

13 One day Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine together at the oldest brother's house.

14 A messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were eating grass nearby,

15 when the Sabeans attacked and carried them away. They killed the servants with swords, and I am the only one who escaped to tell you!"

16 The messenger was still speaking when another messenger arrived and said, "Lightning from God fell from the sky. It burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who escaped to tell you!"

17 The second messenger was still speaking when another messenger arrived and said, "The Babylonians sent three groups of attackers that swept down and stole your camels and killed the servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you!"

18 The third messenger was still speaking when another messenger arrived and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine together at the oldest brother's house.

19 Suddenly a great wind came from the desert, hitting all four corners of the house at once. The house fell in on the young people, and they are all dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you!"

20 When Job heard this, he got up and tore his robe and shaved his head to show how sad he was. Then he bowed down to the ground to worship God.

21 He said: "I was naked when I was born, and I will be naked when I die. The Lord gave these things to me, and he has taken them away. Praise the name of the Lord."

22 In all this Job did not sin or blame God.

1 On another day the angels came to show themselves before the Lord, and Satan was with them again.

2 The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "I have been wandering around the earth, going back and forth in it."

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest and innocent man, honoring God and staying away from evil. You caused me to ruin him for no good reason, but he continues to be without blame."

4 "One skin for another!" Satan answered. "A man will give all he has to save his own life.

5 But reach out your hand and destroy his flesh and bones, and he will curse you to your face."

6 The Lord said to Satan, "All right, then. Job is in your power, but you may not take his life."

7 So Satan left the Lord's presence. He put painful sores on Job's body, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

8 Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, and he sat in ashes in misery.

9 Job's wife said to him, "Why are you trying to stay innocent? Curse God and die!"

10 Job answered, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Should we take only good things from God and not trouble?" In spite of all this Job did not sin in what he said.

11 Now Job had three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When these friends heard about Job's troubles, they agreed to meet and visit him. They wanted to show their concern and to comfort him.

12 They saw Job from far away, but he looked so different they almost didn't recognize him. They began to cry loudly and tore their robes and put dirt on their heads to show how sad they were.

13 Then they sat on the ground with Job seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw how much he was suffering.

22 The Egyptians taught Moses everything they knew, and he was a powerful man in what he said and did.

23 "When Moses was about forty years old, he thought it would be good to visit his own people, the people of Israel.

24 Moses saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite, so he defended the Israelite and punished the Egyptian by killing him.

25 Moses thought his own people would understand that God was using him to save them, but they did not.

26 The next day when Moses saw two men of Israel fighting, he tried to make peace between them. He said, 'Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?'

27 The man who was hurting the other pushed Moses away and said, 'Who made you our ruler and judge?

28 Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

29 When Moses heard him say this, he left Egypt and went to live in the land of Midian where he was a stranger. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons.

30 "Forty years later an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush as he was in the desert near Mount Sinai.

31 When Moses saw this, he was amazed and went near to look closer. Moses heard the Lord's voice say,

32 'I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses began to shake with fear and was afraid to look.

33 The Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.

34 I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. I have heard their cries and have come down to save them. And now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt.'

35 "This Moses was the same man the two men of Israel rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and judge?' Moses is the same man God sent to be a ruler and savior, with the help of the angel that Moses saw in the burning bush.

36 So Moses led the people out of Egypt. He worked miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for forty years.

37 This is the same Moses that said to the people of Israel, 'God will give you a prophet like me, who is one of your own people.'

38 This is the Moses who was with the gathering of the Israelites in the desert. He was with the angel that spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our ancestors. He received commands from God that give life, and he gave those commands to us.

39 "But our ancestors did not want to obey Moses. They rejected him and wanted to go back to Egypt.

40 They said to Aaron, 'Make us gods who will lead us. Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what has happened to him.'

41 So the people made an idol that looked like a calf. Then they brought sacrifices to it and were proud of what they had made with their own hands.

42 But God turned against them and did not try to stop them from worshiping the sun, moon, and stars. This is what is written in the book of the prophets: God says, 'People of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings while you traveled in the desert for forty years.

43 You have carried with you the tent to worship Molech and the idols of the star god Rephan that you made to worship. So I will send you away beyond Babylon.'