Job 25-27

New International Version

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite^(A) replied:

²“Dominion and awe belong to God;^(B)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.^(C)
³Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?^(D)
⁴How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(E)
⁵If even the moon^(F) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,^(G)
⁶how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,^(H) who is only a worm!”^(I)

Job

26 Then Job replied:

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

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

Job’s Final Word to His Friends

27 And Job continued his discourse:^(AH)

²“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,^(AI)
    the Almighty,^(AJ) who has made my life bitter,^(AK)
³as long as I have life within me,
    the breath of God^(AL) in my nostrils,
⁴my lips will not say anything wicked,
    and my tongue will not utter lies.^(AM)
⁵I will never admit you are in the right;
    till I die, I will not deny my integrity.^(AN)
⁶I will maintain my innocence^(AO) and never let go of it;
    my conscience^(AP) will not reproach me as long as I live.^(AQ)

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

¹¹“I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways^(AX) of the Almighty I will not conceal.^(AY)
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:^(AZ)
¹⁴However many his children,^(BA) their fate is the sword;^(BB)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.^(BC)
¹⁵The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.^(BD)
¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust^(BE)
    and clothes like piles of clay,^(BF)
¹⁷what he lays up^(BG) the righteous will wear,^(BH)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.^(BI)
¹⁸The house^(BJ) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,^(BK)
    like a hut^(BL) made by a watchman.
¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;^(BM)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.^(BN)
²⁰Terrors^(BO) overtake him like a flood;^(BP)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.^(BQ)
²¹The east wind^(BR) carries him off, and he is gone;^(BS)
    it sweeps him out of his place.^(BT)
²²It hurls itself against him without mercy^(BU)
    as he flees headlong^(BV) from its power.^(BW)
²³It claps its hands^(BX) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”^(BY)

Footnotes

Job 26:6 Hebrew Abaddon

Acts 12

New International Version

Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison

12 It was about this time that King Herod^(A) arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. ²He had James, the brother of John,^(B) put to death with the sword.^(C) ³When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews,^(D) he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.^(E) ⁴After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.^(F)

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.^(G)

⁶The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,^(H) and sentries stood guard at the entrance. ⁷Suddenly an angel^(I) of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.^(J)

⁸Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. ⁹Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.^(K) ¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself,^(L) and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself^(M) and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me^(N) from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

¹²When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark,^(O) where many people had gathered and were praying.^(P) ¹³Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door.^(Q) ¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed^(R) she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”^(S)

¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand^(T) for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James^(U) and the other brothers and sisters^(V) about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

¹⁸In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.^(W)

Herod’s Death

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea^(X) and stayed there. ²⁰He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon;^(Y) they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.^(Z)

²¹On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. ²²They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” ²³Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel^(AA) of the Lord struck him down,^(AB) and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God^(AC) continued to spread and flourish.^(AD)