Acts 15:22-41

New King James Version

The Jerusalem Decree

²²Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named ^(A)Barsabas,^[a] and Silas, leading men among the brethren.

²³They wrote this letter by them:

The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,

To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

²⁴Since we have heard that ^(B)some who went out from us have troubled you with words, ^(C)unsettling your souls, ^[b]saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— ²⁵it seemed good to us, being assembled with one ^[c]accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶^(D)men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: ²⁹^(E)that you abstain from things offered to idols, ^(F)from blood, from things strangled, and from ^(G)sexual^[d] immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Farewell.

Continuing Ministry in Syria

³⁰So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. ³¹When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. ³²Now Judas and Silas, themselves being ^(H)prophets also, ^(I)exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. ³³And after they had stayed there for a time, they were ^(J)sent back with greetings from the brethren to ^[e]the apostles.

³⁴^[f]However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. ³⁵^(K)Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Division over John Mark

³⁶Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” ³⁷Now Barnabas ^[g]was determined to take with them ^(L)John called Mark. ³⁸But Paul insisted that they should not take with them ^(M)the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to ^(N)Cyprus; ⁴⁰but Paul chose Silas and departed, ^(O)being ^[h]commended by the brethren to the grace of God. ⁴¹And he went through Syria and Cilicia, ^(P)strengthening the churches.

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Footnotes

Acts 15:22 NU, M Barsabbas
Acts 15:24 NU omits saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”
Acts 15:25 purpose or mind
Acts 15:29 Or fornication
Acts 15:33 NU those who had sent them
Acts 15:34 NU, M omit v. 34.
Acts 15:37 resolved
Acts 15:40 committed

Judges 1

New King James Version

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan^(A)

1 Now after the ^(B)death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel ^(C)asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the ^(D)Canaanites to fight against them?”

²And the Lord said, ^(E)“Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

³So Judah said to ^(F)Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and ^(G)I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. ⁴Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at ^(H)Bezek. ⁵And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. ⁷And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; ^(I)as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

⁸Now ^(J)the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. ⁹^(K)And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the ^[a]South, and in the lowland. ¹⁰Then Judah ^[b]went against the Canaanites who dwelt in ^(L)Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly ^(M)Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

¹¹^(N)From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)

¹²^(O)Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” ¹³And Othniel the son of Kenaz, ^(P)Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. ¹⁴^(Q)Now it happened, when she came to him, that ^[c]she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” ¹⁵So she said to him, ^(R)“Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.”

And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶^(S)Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up ^(T)from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near ^(U)Arad; ^(V)and they went and dwelt among the people. ¹⁷^(W)And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called ^(X)Hormah. ¹⁸Also Judah took ^(Y)Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. ¹⁹So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had ^(Z)chariots of iron. ²⁰^(AA)And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he ^[d]expelled from there the ^(AB)three sons of Anak. ²¹^(AC)But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²²And the ^[e]house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, ^(AD)and the Lord was with them. ²³So the ^[f]house of Joseph ^(AE)sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly ^(AF)Luz.) ²⁴And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and ^(AG)we will show you mercy.” ²⁵So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. ²⁶And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

Incomplete Conquest of the Land

²⁷^(AH)However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or ^(AI)Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of ^(AJ)Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. ²⁸And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites ^[g]under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

²⁹^(AK)Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

³⁰Nor did ^(AL)Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and ^[h]were put under tribute.

³¹^(AM)Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. ³²So the Asherites ^(AN)dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

³³^(AO)Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.

³⁴And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; ³⁵and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, ^(AP)in Aijalon, and in ^[i]Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they ^[j]were put under tribute.

³⁶Now the boundary of the Amorites was ^(AQ)from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

Footnotes

Judges 1:9 Heb. Negev, and so throughout the book
Judges 1:10 attacked
Judges 1:14 LXX, Vg. he urged her
Judges 1:20 drove out from there
Judges 1:22 family
Judges 1:23 family
Judges 1:28 to forced labor
Judges 1:30 became forced laborers
Judges 1:35 Shaalabbin, Josh. 19:42
Judges 1:35 became forced laborers

Job 33

New King James Version

Elihu Contradicts Job

33 “But please, Job, hear my speech,
And listen to all my words.
²Now, I open my mouth;
My tongue speaks in my mouth.
³My words come from my upright heart;
My lips utter pure knowledge.
⁴^(A)The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
⁵If you can answer me,
Set your words in order before me;
Take your stand.
⁶^(B)Truly I am ^[a]as your spokesman before God;
I also have been formed out of clay.
⁷^(C)Surely no fear of me will terrify you,
Nor will my hand be heavy on you.

⁸“Surely you have spoken ^[b]in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
⁹‘I^(D) am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
¹⁰Yet He finds occasions against me,
^(E)He counts me as His enemy;
¹¹^(F)He puts my feet in the stocks,
He watches all my paths.’

¹²“Look, in this you are not righteous.
I will answer you,
For God is greater than man.
¹³Why do you ^(G)contend with Him?
For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
¹⁴^(H)For God may speak in one way, or in another,
Yet man does not perceive it.
¹⁵^(I)In a dream, in a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds,
¹⁶^(J)Then He opens the ears of men,
And seals their instruction.
¹⁷In order to turn man from his deed,
And conceal pride from man,
¹⁸He keeps back his soul from the Pit,
And his life from ^[c]perishing by the sword.

¹⁹“Man is also chastened with pain on his ^(K)bed,
And with strong pain in many of his bones,
²⁰^(L)So that his life abhors ^(M)bread,
And his soul ^[d]succulent food.
²¹His flesh wastes away from sight,
And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
²²Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
And his life to the executioners.

²³“If there is a messenger for him,
A mediator, one among a thousand,
To show man His uprightness,
²⁴Then He is gracious to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found ^[e]a ransom’;
²⁵His flesh shall be young like a child’s,
He shall return to the days of his youth.
²⁶He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness.
²⁷Then he looks at men and ^(N)says,
‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
And it ^(O)did not profit me.’
²⁸He will ^(P)redeem ^[f]his soul from going down to the Pit,
And his life shall see the light.

²⁹“Behold, God works all these things,
Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
³⁰^(Q)To bring back his soul from the Pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹“Give ear, Job, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will speak.
³²If you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.
³³If not, ^(R)listen to me;
^[g]Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”