171 "My spirit is broken , my days are extinguished , The grave is ready for me. 2 " Surely e mockers are with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation . 3 "Lay down , now , a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor e ? 4 "For You have kept their heart from understanding , Therefore e You will not exalt them. 5 "He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil, The eyes of his children also will languish . 6 "But He has made me a byword of the people , And I am one at whom men spit . 7 "My eye has also grown dim because of grief , And all my members are as a shadow . 8 "The upright will be appalled at this , And the innocent will stir up himself against the godless . 9 "Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way , And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 "But come again all of you now , For I do not find a wise man among you. 11 "My days are past , my plans are torn apart , Even the wishes of my heart . 12 "They make night into day , saying, 'The light is near ,' in the presence of darkness . 13 "If I look for Sheol as my home , I make my bed in the darkness ; 14 If I call to the pit , 'You are my father '; To the worm , 'my mother and my sister '; 15 Where now is my hope ? And who regards my hope ? 16 "Will it go down with me to Sheol ? Shall we together go down into the dust ?"
181 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded e , 2 "How long will you hunt e for words ? Show understanding and then we can talk . 3 "Why are we regarded as beasts , As stupid in your eyes ? 4 "O you who tear yourself in your anger - For your sake is the earth to be abandoned , Or the rock to be moved from its place ?
5 "Indeed , the light of the wicked goes out, And the flame of his fire gives no light . 6 "The light in his tent is darkened , And his lamp goes out above him. 7 "His vigorous stride is shortened , And his own scheme brings him down . 8 "For he is thrown into the net by his own feet , And he steps on the webbing . 9 "A snare seizes him by the heel , And a trap snaps shut on him. 10 "A noose for him is hidden in the ground , And a trap for him on the path .
11 "All around terrors frighten him, And harry him at every step . 12 "His strength is famished , And calamity is ready at his side . 13 "His skin is devoured by disease , The firstborn of death devours his limbs . 14 "He is torn from the security of his tent , And they march him before the king of terrors . 15 "There dwells in his tent nothing of his; Brimstone is scattered on his habitation . 16 "His roots are dried below e , And his branch is cut off above e . 17 " Memory of him perishes from the earth , And he has no name abroad e . 18 "He is driven from light into darkness , And chased from the inhabited world . 19 "He has no offspring or posterity among his people , Nor any survivor where he sojourned . 20 "Those in the west are appalled at his fate , And those in the east are seized with horror . 21 "Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked , And this is the place of him who does not know God ."
191 Then Job responded e , 2 "How long will you torment me And crush me with words ? 3 "These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me. 4 "Even if I have truly erred , My error lodges with me. 5 "If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me, 6 Know then that God has wronged me And has closed His net around me. 7 "Behold , I cry , 'Violence !' but I get no answer ; I shout for help , but there is no justice .
8 "He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass , And He has put darkness on my paths . 9 "He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head . 10 "He breaks me down on every side , and I am gone ; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree . 11 "He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy . 12 "His troops come together , And build up their way against me And camp around my tent . 13 "He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. 14 "My relatives have failed , And my intimate friends have forgotten me. 15 "Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger . I am a foreigner in their sight . 16 "I call to my servant , but he does not answer ; I have to implore him with my mouth . 17 "My breath is offensive to my wife , And I am loathsome to my own brothers e . 18 "Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me. 19 "All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me. 20 "My bone clings to my skin and my flesh , And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth . 21 "Pity me, pity me, O you my friends , For the hand of God has struck me. 22 "Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh ?
23 "Oh e that my words were written ! Oh e that they were inscribed in a book ! 24 "That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever ! 25 "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives , And at the last He will take His stand on the earth . 26 "Even after my skin is destroyed , Yet from my flesh I shall see God ; 27 Whom I myself shall behold , And whom my eyes will see and not another . My heart faints within me! 28 "If you say , 'How shall we persecute him?' And 'What pretext for a case against him can we find ?' 29 "Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword , So that you may know there is judgment ."
101 Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius , a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort , 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household , and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually e . 3 About e the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, "Cornelius !" 4 And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed , he said , "What is it, Lord ?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God . 5 "Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon , who is also called Peter ; 6 he is staying with a tanner named Simon , whose house is by the sea ." 7 When the angel who was speaking to him had left , he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants , 8 and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa .
9 On the next day , as they were on their way and approaching the city , Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray . 10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat ; but while they were making preparations , he fell into a trance ; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down , lowered by four corners to the ground , 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air . 13 A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter , kill and eat !" 14 But Peter said , "By no means , Lord , for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean ." 15 Again a voice came to him a second time , " What God has cleansed , no longer consider unholy ." 16 This happened three times , and immediately the object was taken up into the sky . 17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold , the men who had been sent by Cornelius , having asked directions for Simon's house , appeared at the gate ; 18 and calling out, they were asking whether Simon , who was also called Peter , was staying there .
19 While Peter was reflecting on the vision , the Spirit said to him, "Behold , three men are looking for you. 20 "But get up, go downstairs and accompany e them without misgivings , for I have sent them Myself ." 21 Peter went down to the men and said , "Behold , I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come ?" 22 They said , "Cornelius , a centurion , a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews , was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you." 23 So he invited them in and gave them lodging . And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
(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.
(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.
(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.
