361 And Elihu went on to say, 2 Give me a little more time, and I will make it clear to you; for I have still something to say for God. 3 I will get my knowledge from far, and I will give righteousness to my Maker. 4 For truly my words are not false; one who has all knowledge is talking with you.
5 Truly, God gives up the hard-hearted, and will not give life to the sinner. 6 His eyes are ever on the upright, and he gives to the crushed their right; 7 Lifting them up to the seat of kings, and making them safe for ever. 8 And if they have been prisoned in chains, and taken in cords of trouble, 9 Then he makes clear to them what they have done, even their evil works in which they have taken pride. 10 Their ear is open to his teaching, and he gives them orders so that their hearts may be turned from evil. 11 If they give ear to his voice, and do his word, then he gives them long life, and years full of pleasure. 12 But if not, they come to their end, and give up their breath without knowledge. 13 Those who have no fear of God keep wrath stored up in their hearts; they give no cry for help when they are made prisoners. 14 They come to their end while they are still young, their life is short like that of those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of their gods.
15 He makes the wrong done to the poor the way of their salvation, opening their ears by their trouble. 16 ... 17 ... 18 ... 19 ... 20 ... 21 Take care not to be turned to sin, for you have taken evil for your part in place of sorrow. 22 Truly God is lifted up in strength; who is a ruler like him? 23 Who ever gave orders to him, or said to him, You have done wrong?
24 See that you give praise to his work, about which men make songs. 25 All people are looking on it; man sees it from far. 26 Truly, God is great, greater than all our knowledge; the number of his years may not be searched out. 27 For he takes up the drops from the sea; he sends them through his mist as rain, 28 Flowing down from the sky, and dropping on the peoples. 29 And who has knowledge of how the clouds are stretched out, or of the thunders of his tent? 30 See, he is stretching out his mist, covering the tops of the mountains with it. 31 For by these he gives food to the peoples, and bread in full measure. 32 He takes the light in his hands, sending it against the mark. 33 The thunder makes clear his passion, and the storm gives news of his wrath.
371 At this my heart is shaking; it is moved out of its place. 2 Give ear to the rolling noise of his voice; to the hollow sound which goes out of his mouth. 3 He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth. 4 After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power; he does not keep back his thunder-flames; from his mouth his voice is sounding. 5 He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;
6 For he says to the snow, Make the earth wet; and to the rain-storm, Come down. 7 He puts an end to the work of every man, so that all may see his work. 8 Then the beasts go into their holes, and take their rest. 9 Out of its place comes the storm-wind, and the cold out of its store-houses. 10 By the breath of God ice is made, and the wide waters are shut in. 11 The thick cloud is weighted with thunder-flame, and the cloud sends out its light; 12 And it goes this way and that, round about, turning itself by his guiding, to do whatever he gives orders to be done, on the face of his world of men, 13 For a rod, or for a curse, or for mercy, causing it to come on the mark.
14 Give ear to this, O Job, and keep quiet in your place; and take note of the wonders worked by God. 15 Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen? 16 Have you knowledge of the balancings of the clouds, the wonders of him who has all wisdom? 17 You, whose clothing is warm, when the earth is quiet because of the south wind, 18 Will you, with him, make the skies smooth, and strong as a polished looking-glass? 19 Make clear to me what we are to say to him; we are unable to put our cause before him, because of the dark. 20 How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me?
21 And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds; but a wind comes, clearing them away. 22 A bright light comes out of the north; God's glory is greatly to be feared. 23 There is no searching out of the Ruler of all: his strength and his judging are great; he is full of righteousness, doing no wrong. 24 For this cause men go in fear of him; he has no respect for any who are wise in heart.
22 Then it seemed good to the Apostles and the rulers and all the church, to send men from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; Judas, named Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers: 23 And they sent a letter by them, saying, The Apostles and the older brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, may joy be with you: 24 Because we have knowledge that some who went from us have been troubling you with their words, putting your souls in doubt; to whom we gave no such order; 25 It seemed good to us, having come to an agreement together, to send these men to you, with our well loved Barnabas and Paul, 26 Men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 And so we have sent Judas and Silas, who will say the same things to you themselves, by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to put on you nothing more than these necessary things; 29 To keep from things offered to false gods, and from blood, and from things put to death in ways which are against the law, and from the evil desires of the body; if you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. May you be happy. 30 So they, being sent away, came down to Antioch, and having got the people together, they gave them the letter. 31 And after reading it, they were glad of its comfort. 32 And Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, gave teaching to the brothers and made them strong in the faith. 33 And when they had been there for some time, they were sent back in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 34 [] 35 But Paul and Barnabas kept on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of God, with a number of others.
36 And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, Let us go back and see the brothers in every town where we have given the word of God, and see how they are. 37 And Barnabas had a desire to take with them John, named Mark. 38 But Paul was of the opinion that it was not right to take with them one who had gone away from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone on with the work. 39 And there was a sharp argument between them, so that they were parted from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and went by ship to Cyprus; 40 But Paul took Silas and went away with the blessing of the brothers. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, making the churches stronger in the faith.
(Read Acts 15:22-35)
Being warranted to declare themselves directed by the immediate influence of the Holy Ghost, the apostles and disciples were assured that it seemed good unto God the Holy Spirit, as well as to them, to lay upon the converts no other burden than the things before mentioned, which were necessary, either on their own account, or from present circumstances. It was a comfort to hear that carnal ordinances were no longer imposed on them, which perplexed the conscience, but could not purify or pacify it; and that those who troubled their minds were silenced, so that the peace of the church was restored, and that which threatened division was removed. All this was consolation for which they blessed God. Many others were at Antioch. Where many labour in the word and doctrine, yet there may be opportunity for us: the zeal and usefulness of others should stir us up, not lay us asleep.
(Read Acts 15:36-41)
Here we have a private quarrel between two ministers, no less than Paul and Barnabas, yet made to end well. Barnabas wished his nephew John Mark to go with them. We should suspect ourselves of being partial, and guard against this in putting our relations forward. Paul did not think him worthy of the honour, nor fit for the service, who had departed from them without their knowledge, or without their consent: see 13. Neither would yield, therefore there was no remedy but they must part. We see that the best of men are but men, subject to like passions as we are. Perhaps there were faults on both sides, as usual in such contentions. Christ's example alone, is a copy without a blot. Yet we are not to think it strange, if there are differences among wise and good men. It will be so while we are in this imperfect state; we shall never be all of one mind till we come to heaven. But what mischief the remainders of pride and passion which are found even in good men, do in the world, and do in the church! Many who dwelt at Antioch, who had heard but little of the devotedness and piety of Paul and Barnabas, heard of their dispute and separation; and thus it will be with ourselves, if we give way to contention. Believers must be constant in prayer, that they may never be led by the allowance of unholy tempers, to hurt the cause they really desire to serve. Paul speaks with esteem and affection both of Barnabas and Mark, in his epistles, written after this event. May all who profess thy name, O loving Saviour, be thoroughly reconciled by that love derived from thee which is not easily provoked, and which soon forgets and buries injuries.
