⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,^(A) who fears God and turns away from evil.”^(B)

⁹ Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Haven’t you placed a hedge around^(C) him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But stretch out your hand and strike^(D) everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹² “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

¹³ One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and reported, “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, ¹⁵ the Sabeans^(E) swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶ He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “God’s fire fell from heaven.^(F) It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷ That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸ He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. ¹⁹ Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²⁰ Then Job stood up, tore^(G) his robe, and shaved^(H) his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, ²¹ saying:

²² Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.^[b](L)

The Sin of Favoritism

2 My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.^{(A) 2} For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, ³ if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” ⁴ haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world^(B) to be rich in faith^(C) and heirs^(D) of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ Yet you have dishonored the poor.^(E) Don’t the rich oppress you and drag^(F) you into court? ⁷ Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you?^(G)

⁸ Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself,^[a](H) you are doing well. ⁹ If, however, you show favoritism,^(I) you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.^{(J) 11} For he who said, Do not commit adultery,^[b] also said, Do not murder.^[c](K) So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.^(L)

John’s Vision of the Risen Lord

⁹ I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction,^(A) kingdom,^(B) and endurance^(C) that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.^{(D) 10} I was in the Spirit^[a](E) on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet^{(F) 11} saying, “Write^(G) on a scroll^[b] what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see whose voice^(H) it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,^{(I) 13} and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man,^[c](J) dressed in a robe^(K) and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.^{(L) 14} The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow^(M)—and his eyes like a fiery flame.^{(N) 15} His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace,^(O) and his voice like the sound of cascading^[d] waters.^{(P) 16} He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth,^(Q) and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.^(R)

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man.^(S) He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last,^{(T) 18} and the Living One.^(U) I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever,^(V) and I hold the keys^(W) of death and Hades. ¹⁹ Therefore write what you have seen,^(X) what is, and what will take place after this. ²⁰ The mystery^(Y) of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels^[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands^[f] are the seven churches.^(Z)