Old/New Testament
III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)
No Known Road to Wisdom[a]
28 “Surely[b] there is a mine[c] for silver,
and a place where gold is refined.[d]
2 Iron is taken from the ground,[e]
and rock is poured out[f] as copper.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness;[g]
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness.[h]
4 Far from where people live[i] he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten,[j]
far from other people he dangles and sways.[k]
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire;[l]
6 a place whose stones are sapphires[m]
that contain dust of gold;[n]
7 a hidden path[o] no bird of prey knows—
no falcon’s[p] eye has spotted it.
8 Proud beasts[q] have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
9 On the flinty rock man has set to work[r] with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases.[s]
10 He has cut out channels[t] through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted[u] every precious thing.
11 He has searched[v] the sources[w] of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
No Price Can Buy Wisdom
12 “But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Mankind does not know its place;[x]
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep[y] says, ‘It is not with[z] me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be measured out for purchase[aa] with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx[ab] or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal[ac] can be compared with it,
nor can a vase[ad] of gold match its worth.
18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price[ae] of wisdom is more than pearls.[af]
19 The topaz of Cush[ag] cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
God Alone Has Wisdom
20 “But wisdom—where does it come from?[ah]
Where is the place of understanding?
21 For[ai] it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
22 Destruction[aj] and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’[ak]
23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
25 When he made[al] the force of the wind
and measured[am] the waters with a gauge,
26 when he imposed a limit[an] for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,[ao]
27 then he looked at wisdom[ap] and assessed its value;[aq]
he established[ar] it and examined it closely.[as]
28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord[at]—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”[au]
IV. Job’s Concluding Soliloquy (29:1-31:40)
Job Recalls His Former Condition[av]
29 Then Job continued[aw] his speech:
2 “O that I could be[ax] as[ay] I was
in the months now gone,[az]
in the days[ba] when God watched over[bb] me,
3 when[bc] he caused[bd] his lamp[be]
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked[bf] through darkness;[bg]
4 just as I was in my most productive time,[bh]
when God’s intimate friendship[bi] was experienced in my tent,
5 when the Almighty[bj] was still with me
and my children were[bk] around me;
6 when my steps[bl] were bathed[bm] with butter[bn]
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil![bo]
7 When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square,[bp]
8 the young men would see me and step aside,[bq]
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
9 the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,[br]
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
Job’s Benevolence
11 “As soon as the ear heard these things,[bs] it blessed me,[bt]
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,
12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the orphan who[bu] had no one to assist him;
13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me,[bv]
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;[bw]
14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me,[bx]
my just dealing[by] was like a robe and a turban;
15 I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame;
16 I was a father[bz] to the needy,
and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
17 I broke the fangs[ca] of the wicked,
and made him drop[cb] his prey from his teeth.
Job’s Confidence
18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home,[cc]
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.[cd]
19 My roots reach the water,
and the dew lies on my branches all night long.
20 My glory[ce] will always be fresh[cf] in me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.’
Job’s Reputation
21 “People[cg] listened to me and waited silently;[ch]
they kept silent for my advice.
22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;
my words fell on them drop by drop.[ci]
23 They waited for me as people wait for[cj] the rain,
and they opened their mouths[ck] as for[cl] the spring rains.
24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it;[cm]
and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.[cn]
25 I chose[co] the way for them[cp]
and sat as their chief;[cq]
I lived like a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.[cr]
The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul
13 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch:[a] Barnabas, Simeon called Niger,[b] Lucius the Cyrenian,[c] Manaen (a close friend of Herod[d] the tetrarch[e] from childhood[f]) and Saul. 2 While they were serving[g] the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart[h] for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after they had fasted[i] and[j] prayed and placed their hands[k] on them, they sent them off.
Paul and Barnabas Preach in Cyprus
4 So Barnabas and Saul,[l] sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia,[m] and from there they sailed to Cyprus.[n] 5 When[o] they arrived[p] in Salamis,[q] they began to proclaim[r] the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.[s] (Now they also had John[t] as their assistant.)[u] 6 When they had crossed over[v] the whole island as far as Paphos,[w] they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,[x] 7 who was with the proconsul[y] Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul[z] summoned[aa] Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear[ab] the word of God. 8 But the magician Elymas[ac] (for that is the way his name is translated)[ad] opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul[ae] away from the faith. 9 But Saul (also known as Paul),[af] filled with the Holy Spirit,[ag] stared straight[ah] at him 10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing,[ai] you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness—will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?[aj] 11 Now[ak] look, the hand of the Lord is against[al] you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness[am] and darkness came over[an] him, and he went around seeking people[ao] to lead him by the hand. 12 Then when the proconsul[ap] saw what had happened, he believed,[aq] because he was greatly astounded[ar] at the teaching about[as] the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch
13 Then Paul and his companions put out to sea[at] from Paphos[au] and came to Perga[av] in Pamphylia,[aw] but John[ax] left them and returned to Jerusalem.[ay] 14 Moving on from[az] Perga,[ba] they arrived at Pisidian Antioch,[bb] and on the Sabbath day they went into[bc] the synagogue[bd] and sat down. 15 After the reading from the law and the prophets,[be] the leaders of the synagogue[bf] sent them a message,[bg] saying, “Brothers,[bh] if you have any message[bi] of exhortation[bj] for the people, speak it.”[bk] 16 So Paul stood up,[bl] gestured[bm] with his hand and said,
“Men of Israel,[bn] and you Gentiles who fear God,[bo] listen: 17 The God of this people Israel[bp] chose our ancestors[bq] and made the people great[br] during their stay as foreigners[bs] in the country[bt] of Egypt, and with uplifted arm[bu] he led them out of it. 18 For[bv] a period of about forty years he put up with[bw] them in the wilderness.[bx] 19 After[by] he had destroyed[bz] seven nations[ca] in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance.[cb] 20 All this took[cc] about 450 years. After this[cd] he gave them judges until the time of[ce] Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled[cf] forty years. 22 After removing him, God[cg] raised up[ch] David their king. He testified about him:[ci] ‘I have found David[cj] the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart,[ck] who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’[cl] 23 From the descendants[cm] of this man[cn] God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.[co] 24 Before[cp] Jesus[cq] arrived, John[cr] had proclaimed a baptism for repentance[cs] to all the people of Israel. 25 But while John was completing his mission,[ct] he said repeatedly,[cu] ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’[cv]
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