Old/New Testament
Chapter 41
1 “Any hope you have in this regard would be futile;
just the mere sight of it would convince you to retreat.
2 How ferocious it is when aroused!
No one could ever stand up to confront it.[a]
3 Who has attacked it and remained unscathed?
There has never been anyone under the heavens.
4 “Nor will I keep silence about its limbs,
or its strength, or its magnificent frame.
5 Who can strip off its outer garment
or pierce the reinforced armor of its breastplate?
6 Who has ever managed to force open the doors of its mouth
and beheld the teeth that leave one in terror?
7 “Rows of shields adorn its back
and are tightly sealed together.
8 One presses so close to the next
that no air can pass between them.
9 Each is so joined, one to another,
that they hold fast and cannot be separated.
10 “When it sneezes, sprays of light[b] flash forth,
and its eyes are like the rays of the dawn.
11 Fiery torches emerge from its mouth
and sparks come flying out.
12 Smoke issues forth from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot on the fire.
13 Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames pour forth from its mouth.
14 “Strength resides in its neck,
causing terror to all who behold it.
15 The folds of its flesh are joined together,
firmly set in place and immovable.
16 Its heart is as hard as stone,
as unyielding as the lower millstone.
17 When it rears up, strong men become terrified,
and the waves of the sea retreat.
18 “Even though the sword reaches it, there is no penetration,
nor is there with the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
19 It regards iron as straw
and bronze as rotting wood.
20 No arrow can force it to flee;
slingstones it regards as nothing but chaff.
21 To it a club is like a splinter,
and it laughs at the javelins that are hurled at it.
22 “Its lower parts are protected with jagged potsherds,
and it moves across the mire like a threshing sledge.
23 It causes the depths to boil like a cauldron;
it churns the sea like a pot of ointment.
24 Behind it there is left a shining trail,
and in its wake the deep appears to be white-haired.
25 It has no equal upon the earth;
it is a creature that is utterly fearless.
26 It looks down upon all, even the highest;
it is king over all wild beasts.”
Chapter 42
Job’s Final Response[c]
Now I Have Seen You with My Own Eyes. 1 Job then answered the Lord in these words:
2 “I know that you can do all things
and that no plan you conceive can be thwarted.
3 Because of my ignorance
I have spoken of things that I have not understood,
of things too wondrous for me to know.
4 “You had said, ‘Listen and let me speak.
I intend to put questions to you,
and you must give me your answers.’
5 I had heard of you only by hearsay,
but now that I have seen you with my own eyes,
6 I retract what I have said,
repenting in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue: Job’s Honor and Goods Are Restored[d]
You Have Not Spoken About Me As You Should Have Done.[e] 7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken about me as you should, as my servant Job has. 8 Therefore, now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. Then my servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer not to punish you severely, for you have not spoken about me as you should, as my servant Job has.”
9 Therefore, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went forth and did what the Lord had commanded them. And the Lord accepted the intercession of Job.
10 God Restores the Prosperity of Job.[f] Thereupon the Lord restored the prosperity of Job after he had prayed for his friends, and he enriched him with twice as much as he had possessed before. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, as well as all his friends from former days. As they feasted with him in his house, they sympathized with him about his previous troubles, and they comforted him for all the misfortunes that the Lord had permitted to be inflicted upon him. Moreover, each of them gave him some money and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the end of Job’s life more than the beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13 He also fathered seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the eldest daughter Jemimah,[g] the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In the entire land there were no women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.[h]
16 After this, Job lived for another one hundred and forty years, and he saw his children and his children’s children to the fourth generation. 17 Then Job died at a very great age.
22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten. 23 After they had inflicted a severe beating on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them closely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and locked their feet in the stocks.
25 Paul Set Free. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly, there was such a huge earthquake that the very foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the doors flew open, and everyone’s chains were loosened.
27 When the jailer awakened and saw all the doors of the prison wide open, he drew his sword, intending to kill himself, since he assumed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 However, Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
29 The jailer called for lights and, rushing in, he threw himself before Paul and Silas, trembling with fear. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and so too will your household.” 32 After this, they preached the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
33 At that late hour of the night, the jailer took them and bathed their wounds. Then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 Afterward, he brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced over their belief in God.
35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent police officers with the order, “Let those men go.” 36 The jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go. Now you can come out and depart in peace.” 37 But Paul said to the officers, “We are Roman citizens. They gave us a public beating and threw us into prison without a trial. And now they are going to release us secretly. Absolutely not! Let them come in person and escort us out themselves.”
38 The officers reported Paul’s words, and the magistrates became alarmed when they learned that those men were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them, then escorted them out and begged them to leave the city. 40 After emerging from the prison, they went to Lydia’s home, where they met the brethren and spoke words of encouragement to them. Then they departed.
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