Job 28–29; Acts 13:1–25

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Job 28–29

Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place for gold that they yrefine.

Iron is taken out of the earth,

and copper is smelted from the ore.

Man puts an end to darkness

and searches out to the farthest limit

the ore in zgloom and adeep darkness.

He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;

they are forgotten by travelers;

they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.

As for the earth, bout of it comes bread,

but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

Its stones are the place of csapphires,1

and it has dust of gold.

That path no bird of prey knows,

and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

dThe proud beasts have not trodden it;

ethe lion has not passed over it.

Man puts his hand to fthe flinty rock

and overturns mountains by the roots.

10  He cuts out channels in the rocks,

and his eye sees every precious thing.

11  He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,

and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

12  gBut where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13  Man does not know its worth,

and it is not found in hthe land of the living.

14  iThe deep says, It is not in me,

and the sea says, It is not with me.

15  It jcannot be bought for gold,

and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

16  It cannot be valued in kthe gold of lOphir,

in precious monyx or nsapphire.

17  Gold and glass cannot equal it,

nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

18  No mention shall be made of ocoral or of crystal;

the price of wisdom is above oppearls.

19  qThe topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20  From where, then, does wisdom come?

And where is the place of understanding?

21  It is hidden from the eyes of rall living

and concealed from the birds of the air.

22  sAbaddon and Death say,

We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.

23  tGod understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

24  For he ulooks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25  When he vgave to the wind its weight

and apportioned the waters by measure,

26  when he made a decree for the rain

and wa way for the lightning of the thunder,

27  then he saw it and declared it;

he established it, and searched it out.

28  And he said to man,

Behold, xthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to yturn away from evil is understanding.

Job’s Summary Defense

And Job again ztook up his discourse, and said:

Oh, that I were as in the months of old,

as in the days when God watched over me,

when his alamp shone upon my head,

and by his light I walked through darkness,

as I was in my prime,2

when the bfriendship of God was upon my tent,

when the Almighty was yet with me,

when my cchildren were all around me,

when my steps were dwashed with ebutter,

and fthe rock poured out for me streams of goil!

When I went out to hthe gate of the city,

when I prepared my seat in the square,

the young men saw me and withdrew,

and the aged rose and stood;

the princes refrained from talking

and ilaid their hand on their mouth;

10  the voice of the nobles was hushed,

and their jtongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

11  When the ear heard, it called me blessed,

and when the eye saw, it approved,

12  because I kdelivered the poor who cried for help,

and the fatherless who had none to help him.

13  lThe blessing of him who was mabout to perish came upon me,

and I caused nthe widow’s heart to sing for joy.

14  I oput on righteousness, and it clothed me;

my justice was like a robe and pa turban.

15  I was qeyes to the blind

and feet to the lame.

16  I was a father to the needy,

and I searched out rthe cause of him whom I did not know.

17  I sbroke tthe fangs of the unrighteous

and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

18  uThen I thought, I shall die in my vnest,

and I shall multiply my days as wthe sand,

19  my xroots spread out to ythe waters,

with the dew all night on my zbranches,

20  my glory fresh with me,

and my abow ever bnew in my hand.

21  Men listened to me and waited

and kept silence for my counsel.

22  After I spoke they did not speak again,

and my word cdropped upon them.

23  They waited for me as for the rain,

and they dopened their mouths as for the espring rain.

24  I smiled on them when they had no confidence,

and fthe light of my gface they did not cast down.

25  I chose their way and sat as chief,

and I lived like ha king among his troops,

like one who comforts mourners.


Acts 13:1–25

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

Now there were in the church at Antioch nprophets and nteachers, oBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,1 Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of pHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, qthe Holy Spirit said, rSet apart for me Barnabas and Saul sfor the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and tpraying they laid their hands on them and usent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

So, being sent out vby the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God win the synagogues of the Jews. And they had xJohn to yassist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain zmagician, aa Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with bthe proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the zmagician (for that is the meaning of his name) copposed them, seeking to turn dthe proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, efilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, You fson of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and gvillainy, will you not stop hmaking crooked ithe straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, jthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time. Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking kpeople to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at lthe teaching of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And mJohn left them and returned nto Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And oon the Sabbath day pthey went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After qthe reading from rthe Law and the Prophets, sthe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, Brothers, if you have any tword of encouragement for the people, say it. 16 So Paul stood up, and umotioning with his hand said:

Men of Israel and vyou who fear God, listen. 17 wThe God of this people Israel xchose our fathers and ymade the people great zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about bforty years che put up with2 them in the wilderness. 19 And dafter destroying eseven nations in the land of Canaan, fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ghe gave them judges until hSamuel the prophet. 21 Then ithey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And kwhen he had removed him, lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, mI have found in David the son of Jesse na man after my heart, owho will do all my will. 23 pOf this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel qa Savior, Jesus, ras he promised. 24 Before his coming, sJohn had proclaimed ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, uhe said, What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.