171 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, The grave is [ready] for me. 2 Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation. 3 Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me? 4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: Therefore shalt thou not exalt [them]. 5 He that denounceth his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail. 6 But he hath made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face. 7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow. 8 Upright men shall be astonished at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless. 9 Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.

10 But as for you all, come on now again; And I shall not find a wise man among you. 11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart. 12 They change the night into day: The light, [say they], is near unto the darkness. 13 If I look for Sheol as my house; If I have spread my couch in the darkness; 14 If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; To the worm, [Thou art] my mother, and my sister; 15 Where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it? 16 It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, When once there is rest in the dust.

Bildad Describes the Fate of the Wicked

181 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 2 How long will ye hunt for words? Consider, and afterwards we will speak. 3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, [And] are become unclean in your sight? 4 Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, Shall the earth be forsaken for thee? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?

5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, And the spark of his fire shall not shine. 6 The light shall be dark in his tent, And his lamp above him shall be put out. 7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, And his own counsel shall cast him down. 8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, And he walketh upon the toils. 9 A gin shall take [him] by the heel, [And] a snare shall lay hold on him. 10 A noose is hid for him in the ground, And a trap for him in the way.

11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, And shall chase him at his heels. 12 His strength shall be hunger-bitten, And calamity shall be ready at his side. 13 The members of his body shall be devoured, [Yea], the first-born of death shall devour his members. 14 He shall be rooted out of his tent where he trusteth; And he shall be brought to the king of terrors. 15 There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his: Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. 16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, And above shall his branch be cut off. 17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, And he shall have no name in the street. 18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, And chased out of the world. 19 He shall have neither son nor son's son among his people, Nor any remaining where he sojourned. 20 They that come after shall be astonished at his day, As they that went before were affrighted. 21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

Job's Faith That God Will Vindicate Him

191 Then Job answered and said, 2 How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words? 3 These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me. 4 And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself. 5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach; 6 Know now that God hath subverted me [in my cause], And hath compassed me with his net. 7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry for help, but there is no justice.

8 He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths. 9 He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head. 10 He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree. 11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, And he counteth me unto him as [one of] his adversaries. 12 His troops come on together, And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent. 13 He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me. 14 My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me. 15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. 16 I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, [Though] I entreat him with my mouth. 17 My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother. 18 Even young children despise me; If I arise, they speak against me. 19 All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me. 20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. 21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me. 22 Why do ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

23 Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! 24 That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever! 25 But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth: 26 And after my skin, [even] this [body], is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God; 27 Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me. 28 If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me; 29 Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath [bringeth] the punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment.

Peter and Cornelius

101 Now [there was] a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian [band], 2 a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 He saw in a vision openly, as it were about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in unto him, and saying to him, Cornelius. 4 And he, fastening his eyes upon him, and being affrighted, said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and fetch one Simon, who is surnamed Peter: 6 he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side. 7 And when the angel that spake unto him was departed, he called two of his household-servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8 and having rehearsed all things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

9 Now on the morrow, as they were on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour: 10 and he became hungry, and desired to eat: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance; 11 and he beholdeth the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth: 12 wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean. 15 And a voice [came] unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common. 16 And this was done thrice: and straightway the vessel was received up into heaven. 17 Now while Peter was much perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men that were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate, 18 and called and asked whether Simon, who was surnamed Peter, were lodging there.

19 And while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 But arise, and get thee down, and go with them, nothing doubting: for I have sent them. 21 And Peter went down to the men, and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? 22 And they said, Cornelius a centurion, a righteous man and one that feareth God, and well reported of by all the nation of the Jews, was warned [of God] by a holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words from thee. 23 So he called them in and lodged them. And on the morrow he arose and went forth with them, and certain of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 10:1-23

Commentary on Acts 10:1-8

(Read Acts 10:1-8)

Hitherto none had been baptized into the Christian church but Jews, Samaritans, and those converts who had been circumcised and observed the ceremonial law; but now the Gentiles were to be called to partake all the privileges of God's people, without first becoming Jews. Pure and undefiled religion is sometimes found where we least expect it. Wherever the fear of God rules in the heart, it will appear both in works of charity and of piety, neither will excuse from the other. Doubtless Cornelius had true faith in God's word, as far as he understood it, though not as yet clear faith in Christ. This was the work of the Spirit of God, through the mediation of Jesus, even before Cornelius knew him, as is the case with us all when we, who before were dead in sin, are made alive. Through Christ also his prayers and alms were accepted, which otherwise would have been rejected. Without dispute or delay Cornelius was obedient to the heavenly vision. In the affairs of our souls, let us not lose time.

Commentary on Acts 10:9-18

(Read Acts 10:9-18)

The prejudices of Peter against the Gentiles, would have prevented his going to Cornelius, unless the Lord had prepared him for this service. To tell a Jew that God had directed those animals to be reckoned clean which were hitherto deemed unclean, was in effect saying, that the law of Moses was done away. Peter was soon made to know the meaning of it. God knows what services are before us, and how to prepare us; and we know the meaning of what he has taught us, when we find what occasion we have to make use of it.

Commentary on Acts 10:19-33

(Read Acts 10:19-33)

When we see our call clear to any service, we should not be perplexed with doubts and scruples arising from prejudices or former ideas. Cornelius had called together his friends, to partake with him of the heavenly wisdom he expected from Peter. We should not covet to eat our spiritual morsels alone. It ought to be both given and taken as kindness and respect to our kindred and friends, to invite them to join us in religious exercises. Cornelius declared the direction God gave him to send for Peter. We are right in our aims in attending a gospel ministry, when we do it with regard to the Divine appointment requiring us to make use of that ordinance. How seldom ministers are called to speak to such companies, however small, in which it may be said that they are all present in the sight of God, to hear all things that are commanded of God! But these were ready to hear what Peter was commanded of God to say.