Job 26-28

New International Version

Job

26 Then Job replied:

²“How you have helped the powerless!^(A)
    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!^(B)
³What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
    And what great insight^(C) you have displayed!
⁴Who has helped you utter these words?
    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?^(D)

⁵“The dead are in deep anguish,^(E)
    those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
⁶The realm of the dead^(F) is naked before God;
    Destruction^[a]^(G) lies uncovered.^(H)
⁷He spreads out the northern skies^(I) over empty space;
    he suspends the earth over nothing.^(J)
⁸He wraps up the waters^(K) in his clouds,^(L)
    yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
⁹He covers the face of the full moon,
    spreading his clouds^(M) over it.
¹⁰He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters^(N)
    for a boundary between light and darkness.^(O)
¹¹The pillars of the heavens quake,^(P)
    aghast at his rebuke.
¹²By his power he churned up the sea;^(Q)
    by his wisdom^(R) he cut Rahab^(S) to pieces.
¹³By his breath the skies^(T) became fair;
    his hand pierced the gliding serpent.^(U)
¹⁴And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
    how faint the whisper^(V) we hear of him!^(W)
    Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”^(X)

Job’s Final Word to His Friends

27 And Job continued his discourse:^(Y)

²“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,^(Z)
    the Almighty,^(AA) who has made my life bitter,^(AB)
³as long as I have life within me,
    the breath of God^(AC) in my nostrils,
⁴my lips will not say anything wicked,
    and my tongue will not utter lies.^(AD)
⁵I will never admit you are in the right;
    till I die, I will not deny my integrity.^(AE)
⁶I will maintain my innocence^(AF) and never let go of it;
    my conscience^(AG) will not reproach me as long as I live.^(AH)

⁷“May my enemy be like the wicked,^(AI)
    my adversary^(AJ) like the unjust!
⁸For what hope have the godless^(AK) when they are cut off,
    when God takes away their life?^(AL)
⁹Does God listen to their cry
    when distress comes upon them?^(AM)
¹⁰Will they find delight in the Almighty?^(AN)
    Will they call on God at all times?

¹¹“I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways^(AO) of the Almighty I will not conceal.^(AP)
¹²You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:^(AQ)
¹⁴However many his children,^(AR) their fate is the sword;^(AS)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.^(AT)
¹⁵The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.^(AU)
¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust^(AV)
    and clothes like piles of clay,^(AW)
¹⁷what he lays up^(AX) the righteous will wear,^(AY)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.^(AZ)
¹⁸The house^(BA) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,^(BB)
    like a hut^(BC) made by a watchman.
¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;^(BD)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.^(BE)
²⁰Terrors^(BF) overtake him like a flood;^(BG)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.^(BH)
²¹The east wind^(BI) carries him off, and he is gone;^(BJ)
    it sweeps him out of his place.^(BK)
²²It hurls itself against him without mercy^(BL)
    as he flees headlong^(BM) from its power.^(BN)
²³It claps its hands^(BO) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”^(BP)

Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found

28 There is a mine for silver
    and a place where gold is refined.^(BQ)
²Iron is taken from the earth,
    and copper is smelted from ore.^(BR)
³Mortals put an end to the darkness;^(BS)
    they search out the farthest recesses
    for ore in the blackest darkness.^(BT)
⁴Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,^(BU)
    in places untouched by human feet;
    far from other people they dangle and sway.
⁵The earth, from which food comes,^(BV)
    is transformed below as by fire;
⁶lapis lazuli^(BW) comes from its rocks,
    and its dust contains nuggets of gold.^(BX)
⁷No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
    no falcon’s eye has seen it.^(BY)
⁸Proud beasts^(BZ) do not set foot on it,
    and no lion prowls there.^(CA)
⁹People assault the flinty rock^(CB) with their hands
    and lay bare the roots of the mountains.^(CC)
¹⁰They tunnel through the rock;^(CD)
    their eyes see all its treasures.^(CE)
¹¹They search^[b] the sources of the rivers^(CF)
    and bring hidden things^(CG) to light.

¹²But where can wisdom be found?^(CH)
    Where does understanding dwell?^(CI)
¹³No mortal comprehends its worth;^(CJ)
    it cannot be found in the land of the living.^(CK)
¹⁴The deep^(CL) says, “It is not in me”;
    the sea^(CM) says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
    nor can its price be weighed out in silver.^(CN)
¹⁶It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,^(CO)
    with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^(CP)
¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,^(CQ)
    nor can it be had for jewels of gold.^(CR)
¹⁸Coral^(CS) and jasper^(CT) are not worthy of mention;
    the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.^(CU)
¹⁹The topaz^(CV) of Cush^(CW) cannot compare with it;
    it cannot be bought with pure gold.^(CX)

²⁰Where then does wisdom come from?
    Where does understanding dwell?^(CY)
²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
    concealed even from the birds in the sky.^(CZ)
²²Destruction^[c]^(DA) and Death^(DB) say,
    “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
²³God understands the way to it
    and he alone^(DC) knows where it dwells,^(DD)
²⁴for he views the ends of the earth^(DE)
    and sees everything under the heavens.^(DF)
²⁵When he established the force of the wind
    and measured out the waters,^(DG)
²⁶when he made a decree for the rain^(DH)
    and a path for the thunderstorm,^(DI)
²⁷then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
    he confirmed it and tested it.^(DJ)
²⁸And he said to the human race,
    “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
    and to shun evil^(DK) is understanding.”^(DL)

Footnotes

Job 26:6 Hebrew Abaddon
Job 28:11 Septuagint, Aquila and Vulgate; Hebrew They dam up
Job 28:22 Hebrew Abaddon

Acts 11

New International Version

Peter Explains His Actions

11 The apostles and the believers^(A) throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.^(B) ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers^(C) criticized him ³and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”^(D)

⁴Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: ⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision.^(E) I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. ⁷Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’^(F) ¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea^(G) stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹²The Spirit told^(H) me to have no hesitation about going with them.^(I) These six brothers^(J) also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³He told us how he had seen an angel^(K) appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴He will bring you a message^(L) through which you and all your household^(M) will be saved.’

¹⁵“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on^(N) them as he had come on us at the beginning.^(O) ¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with^[a] water,^(P) but you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.’^(Q) ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift^(R) he gave us^(S) who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”^(T)

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed^(U) traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,^(V) spreading the word only among Jews. ²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus^(W) and Cyrene,^(X) went to Antioch^(Y) and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news^(Z) about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The Lord’s hand was with them,^(AA) and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.^(AB)

²²News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas^(AC) to Antioch. ²³When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done,^(AD) he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.^(AE) ²⁴He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit^(AF) and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.^(AG)

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus^(AH) to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples^(AI) were called Christians first^(AJ) at Antioch.

²⁷During this time some prophets^(AK) came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸One of them, named Agabus,^(AL) stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.^(AM) (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)^(AN) ²⁹The disciples,^(AO) as each one was able, decided to provide help^(AP) for the brothers and sisters^(AQ) living in Judea. ³⁰This they did, sending their gift to the elders^(AR) by Barnabas^(AS) and Saul.^(AT)