221 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded e , 2 "Can a vigorous man be of use to God , Or a wise man be useful to himself? 3 "Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous , Or profit if you make your ways perfect ? 4 "Is it because of your reverence that He reproves you, That He enters into judgment against you?
5 "Is not your wickedness great , And your iniquities without end ? 6 "For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause , And stripped men naked . 7 "To the weary you have given no water to drink , And from the hungry you have withheld bread . 8 "But the earth belongs to the mighty man , And the honorable e man dwells in it. 9 "You have sent widows away empty , And the strength of the orphans has been crushed . 10 "Therefore e snares surround you, And sudden dread terrifies you, 11 Or darkness , so that you cannot see , And an abundance of water covers you. 12 "Is not God in the height of heaven ? Look also at the distant stars , how high they are! 13 "You say , ' What does God know ? Can He judge through the thick darkness ? 14 ' Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see ; And He walks on the vault of heaven .'
15 "Will you keep to the ancient path Which wicked men have trod , 16 Who were snatched away before their time , Whose foundations were washed away by a river ? 17 "They said to God , 'Depart from us!' And 'What can the Almighty do to them?' 18 "Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 19 "The righteous see and are glad , And the innocent mock them, 20 Saying, 'Truly e our adversaries are cut off , And their abundance the fire has consumed .'
21 " Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you. 22 "Please receive instruction from His mouth And establish His words in your heart . 23 "If you return to the Almighty , you will be restored ; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent , 24 And place your gold in the dust , And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks , 25 Then the Almighty will be your gold And choice silver to you. 26 "For then you will delight in the Almighty And lift up your face to God . 27 "You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; And you will pay your vows . 28 "You will also decree a thing , and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways . 29 "When you are cast down , you will speak with confidence , And the humble e person e He will save . 30 "He will deliver one who is not innocent , And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands ."
231 Then Job replied e , 2 "Even today my complaint is rebellion ; His hand is heavy despite my groaning . 3 "Oh e that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat ! 4 "I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments 5 "I would learn the words which He would answer , And perceive what He would say to me. 6 "Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power ? No , surely He would pay attention to me. 7 "There the upright would reason with Him; And I would be delivered forever from my Judge .
8 "Behold , I go forward but He is not there, And backward , but I cannot perceive Him; 9 When He acts on the left , I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right , I cannot see Him. 10 "But He knows the way I take ; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold . 11 "My foot has held fast to His path ; I have kept His way and not turned aside . 12 "I have not departed from the command of His lips ; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food .
13 "But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires , that He does . 14 "For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such decrees are with Him 15 "Therefore e , I would be dismayed at His presence ; When I consider , I am terrified of Him. 16 "It is God who has made my heart faint , And the Almighty who has dismayed me, 17 But I am not silenced by the darkness , Nor deep gloom which covers me.
241 " Why are times not stored up by the Almighty , And why do those who know Him not see His days ? 2 "Some remove the landmarks ; They seize and devour flocks . 3 "They drive away the donkeys of the orphans ; They take the widow's ox for a pledge . 4 "They push the needy aside from the road ; The poor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether . 5 "Behold , as wild donkeys in the wilderness They go forth seeking food in their activity , As bread for their children in the desert . 6 "They harvest their fodder in the field And glean the vineyard of the wicked . 7 " They spend the night naked , without clothing , And have no covering against the cold . 8 "They are wet with the mountain rains And hug the rock for want of a shelter . 9 "Others snatch the orphan from the breast , And against the poor they take a pledge . 10 "They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing , And they take away the sheaves from the hungry . 11 "Within the walls they produce oil ; They tread wine presses but thirst . 12 "From the city men groan , And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not pay attention to folly .
13 "Others have been with those who rebel against the light ; They do not want to know its ways Nor abide in its paths . 14 "The murderer arises at dawn ; He kills the poor and the needy , And at night he is as a thief . 15 "The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight , Saying , 'No eye will see me.' And he disguises his face . 16 "In the dark they dig into houses , They shut themselves up by day ; They do not know the light . 17 "For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness , For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness .
18 "They are insignificant on the surface of the water ; Their portion is cursed on the earth . They do not turn toward the vineyards . 19 "Drought and heat consume the snow waters , So does Sheol those who have sinned . 20 "A mother will forget him; The worm feeds sweetly till he is no longer remembered . And wickedness will be broken like a tree . 21 "He wrongs the barren woman And does no good for the widow . 22 "But He drags off the valiant by His power ; He rises , but no one has assurance of life . 23 "He provides them with security , and they are supported ; And His eyes are on their ways . 24 "They are exalted a little while , then they are gone ; Moreover, they are brought low and like everything gathered up; Even like the heads of grain they are cut off . 25 "Now if it is not so , who can prove me a liar , And make my speech worthless ?"
111 Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God . 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem , those who were circumcised took issue with him, 3 saying , " You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them." 4 But Peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them in orderly sequence , saying , 5 " I was in the city of Joppa praying ; and in a trance I saw a vision , an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky ; and it came right down to me, 6 and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air . 7 "I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter ; kill and eat .' 8 "But I said , 'By no means , Lord , for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth .' 9 "But a voice from heaven answered a second time , ' What God has cleansed , no longer consider unholy .' 10 "This happened three times , and everything was drawn back up into the sky . 11 "And behold , at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from Caesarea . 12 " The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings . These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man's house . 13 "And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house , and saying , 'Send to Joppa and have Simon , who is also called Peter , brought here ; 14 and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved , you and all your household .' 15 "And as I began to speak , the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning . 16 "And I remembered the word of the Lord , how He used to say , ' John baptized with water , but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit .' 17 "Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ , who was I that I could stand in God's way ?" 18 When they heard this , they quieted down and glorified God , saying , "Well then , God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life ."
19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch , speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone . 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene , who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also , preaching the Lord Jesus . 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord . 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem , and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch . 23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God , he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord ; 24 for he was a good man , and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith . And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord . 25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul ; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch . And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers ; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch .
27 Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch . 28 One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world . And this took place in the reign of Claudius . 29 And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means , each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea . 30 And this they did , sending it in charge e of Barnabas and Saul to the elders .
