Old/New Testament
Bildad Speaks
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 Dominion and dread(A) belong to him,
the one who establishes harmony in his heights.
3 Can his troops be numbered?
Does his light not shine on everyone?
4 How can a human be justified before God?(B)
How can one born of woman be pure?(C)
5 If even the moon does not shine
and the stars are not pure in his sight,(D)
6 how much less a human, who is a maggot,
a son of man,[a] who is a worm!(E)
Job’s Reply to Bildad
26 Then Job answered:
2 How you have helped(F) the powerless
and delivered the arm that is weak!
3 How you have counseled the unwise(G)
and abundantly provided insight!
4 With whom did you speak these words?
Whose breath came out of your mouth?
5 The departed spirits tremble
beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.(H)
6 Sheol(I) is naked before God,
and Abaddon(J) has no covering.(K)
7 He stretches the northern skies over empty space;
he hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He wraps up the water in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath its weight.(L)
9 He obscures the view of his throne,
spreading his cloud over it.
10 He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters(M)
at the boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,
astounded at his rebuke.(N)
12 By his power he stirred(O) the sea,
and by his understanding he crushed Rahab.(P)
13 By his breath the heavens gained their beauty;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.[b](Q)
14 These are but the fringes of his ways;
how faint is the word we hear of him!
Who can understand his mighty thunder?
27 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,(R)
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,(S)
3 as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,(T)
4 my lips will not speak unjustly,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 I will never affirm that you are right.
I will maintain my integrity[c](U) until I die.
6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience(V) will not accuse me as long as I live!
7 May my enemy be like the wicked
and my opponent like the unjust.
8 For what hope does the godless person(W) have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?(X)
9 Will God hear his cry
when distress comes on him?
10 Will he delight(Y) in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11 I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.[d]
12 All of you have seen this for yourselves,
why do you keep up this empty talk?(Z)
13 This is a wicked man’s lot(AA) from God,
the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
14 Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword;
his descendants will never have enough food.
15 Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
yet their widows will not weep for them.(AB)
16 Though he piles up silver like dust
and heaps up fine clothing like clay—
17 he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,
and the innocent will divide up his silver.(AC)
18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon
or a shelter set up by a watchman.(AD)
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, it is gone.
20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;(AE)
a storm(AF) wind sweeps him away at night.
21 An east wind picks him up, and he is gone;
it carries him away from his place.
22 It blasts at him without mercy,
while he flees desperately from its force.
23 It claps(AG) its hands at him
and scoffs at him from its place.
James Martyred and Peter Jailed
12 About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church, 2 and he executed James,(A) John’s brother, with the sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.(B) 4 After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying fervently to God for him.
Peter Rescued
6 When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord(C) appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.(D) 8 “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision.(E) 10 After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him.(F)
11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”(G) 12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark,(H) where many had assembled and were praying. 13 He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate.
15 “You’re out of your mind!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, “It’s his angel.”(I) 16 Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.
17 Motioning to them with his hand(J) to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James(K) and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place.
18 At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.(L)
Herod’s Death
20 Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.(M) 21 On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them. 22 The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 At once an angel of the Lord(N) struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.(O)
24 But the word of God spread and multiplied.(P) 25 After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to[a] Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.(Q)
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