301 "But now those younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock . 2 "Indeed , what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them. 3 "From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation , 4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes , And whose food is the root of the broom shrub . 5 "They are driven from the community ; They shout against them as against a thief , 6 So that they dwell in dreadful valleys , In holes of the earth and of the rocks . 7 "Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together . 8 "Fools e , even those without a name , They were scourged from the land . 9 "And now I have become their taunt , I have even become a byword to them. 10 "They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face . 11 "Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before e me. 12 "On the right hand their brood arises ; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction . 13 "They break up my path , They profit from my destruction ; No one restrains them. 14 "As through a wide breach they come , Amid the tempest they roll on.
15 " Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my honor as the wind , And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud . 16 "And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me. 17 "At night it pierces my bones within e me, And my gnawing pains take no rest . 18 "By a great force my garment is distorted ; It binds me about as the collar of my coat . 19 "He has cast me into the mire , And I have become like dust and ashes . 20 "I cry out to You for help , but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. 21 "You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me. 22 "You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride ; And You dissolve me in a storm . 23 "For I know that You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living . 24 "Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand , Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help ? 25 "Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard ? Was not my soul grieved for the needy ? 26 "When I expected good , then evil came ; When I waited for light , then darkness came . 27 "I am seething within and cannot relax ; Days of affliction confront me. 28 "I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help . 29 "I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches e . 30 "My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever . 31 "Therefore my harp is turned to mourning , And my flute to the sound of those who weep .
311 "I have made a covenant with my eyes ; How then could I gaze at a virgin ? 2 "And what is the portion of God from above Or the heritage of the Almighty from on high ? 3 "Is it not calamity to the unjust And disaster to those who work iniquity ? 4 "Does He not see my ways And number all my steps ? 5 "If I have walked with falsehood , And my foot has hastened after deceit , 6 Let Him weigh me with accurate scales , And let God know my integrity . 7 "If my step has turned from the way , Or my heart followed e my eyes , Or if any spot has stuck to my hands , 8 Let me sow and another eat , And let my crops be uprooted .
9 "If my heart has been enticed by a woman , Or I have lurked at my neighbor's doorway , 10 May my wife grind for another , And let others kneel down over her. 11 "For that would be a lustful crime ; Moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges . 12 "For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon , And would uproot all my increase . 13 "If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves e When they filed a complaint against me, 14 What then could I do when God arises ? And when He calls me to account , what will I answer Him? 15 "Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb ?
16 "If I have kept the poor from their desire , Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail , 17 Or have eaten my morsel alone , And the orphan has not shared e it 18 (But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father , And from infancy e I guided her), 19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing , Or that the needy had no covering , 20 If his loins have not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep , 21 If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan , Because I saw I had support in the gate , 22 Let my shoulder fall from the socket , And my arm be broken off at the elbow . 23 "For calamity from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing .
24 "If I have put my confidence in gold , And called fine gold my trust , 25 If I have gloated because my wealth was great , And because my hand had secured so much ; 26 If I have looked at the sun when it shone Or the moon going in splendor , 27 And my heart became secretly enticed , And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth , 28 That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment , For I would have denied God above e . 29 "Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy , Or exulted when evil befell him? 30 "No , I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking for his life in a curse . 31 "Have the men of my tent not said , 'Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat '? 32 "The alien has not lodged outside , For I have opened my doors to the traveler .
33 "Have I covered my transgressions like Adam , By hiding my iniquity in my bosom , 34 Because I feared the great multitude , And the contempt of families terrified me, And kept silent and did not go out of doors ? 35 "Oh e that I had one to hear me! Behold , here is my signature ; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written , 36 Surely e I would carry it on my shoulder , I would bind it to myself like a crown . 37 "I would declare to Him the number of my steps ; Like a prince I would approach Him. 38 "If my land cries out against me, And its furrows weep together ; 39 If I have eaten its fruit without money , Or have caused its owners to lose their lives , 40 Let briars grow instead of wheat , And stinkweed instead of barley ." The words of Job are ended .
26 "Brethren e , sons of Abraham's family , and those among you who fear God , to us the message of this salvation has been sent . 27 "For those who live in Jerusalem , and their rulers , recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath , fulfilled these by condemning Him. 28 "And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed . 29 "When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb . 30 "But God raised Him from the dead ; 31 and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem , the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people . 32 "And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers , 33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus , as it is also written in the second Psalm , ' YOU ARE MY SON ; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.' 34 "As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead , no longer to return to decay , He has spoken in this way : ' I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID .' 35 "Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ' YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY .' 36 "For David , after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation , fell asleep , and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay ; 37 but He whom God raised did not undergo decay . 38 "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren e , that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things , from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses . 40 "Therefore take heed , so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: 41 ' BEHOLD , YOU SCOFFERS , AND MARVEL , AND PERISH ; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS , A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER e BELIEVE , THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.' "
42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath . 43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas , who , speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God . 44 The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord . 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds , they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul , and were blaspheming . 46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said , "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first ; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy e of eternal life , behold , we are turning to the Gentiles . 47 "For so the Lord has commanded us, ' I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES , THAT YOU MAY BRING e SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH .' " 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord ; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed . 49 And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region . 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city , and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas , and drove them out of their district . 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium . 52 And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit .
(Read Acts 13:14-31)
When we come together to worship God, we must do it, not only by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of God. The bare reading of the Scriptures in public assemblies is not enough; they should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is helping people in doing that which is necessary to make the word profitable, to apply it to themselves. Every thing is touched upon in this sermon, which might best prevail with Jews to receive and embrace Christ as the promised Messiah. And every view, however short or faint, of the Lord's dealings with his church, reminds us of his mercy and long-suffering, and of man's ingratitude and perverseness. Paul passes from David to the Son of David, and shows that this Jesus is his promised Seed; a Saviour to do that for them, which the judges of old could not do, to save them from their sins, their worst enemies. When the apostles preached Christ as the Saviour, they were so far from concealing his death, that they always preached Christ crucified. Our complete separation from sin, is represented by our being buried with Christ. But he rose again from the dead, and saw no corruption: this was the great truth to be preached.
(Read Acts 13:32-37)
The resurrection of Christ was the great proof of his being the Son of God. It was not possible he should be held by death, because he was the Son of God, and therefore had life in himself, which he could not lay down but with a design to take it again. The sure mercies of David are that everlasting life, of which the resurrection was a sure pledge; and the blessings of redemption in Christ are a certain earnest, even in this world. David was a great blessing to the age wherein he lived. We were not born for ourselves, but there are those living around us, to whom we must study to be serviceable. Yet here is the difference; Christ was to serve all generations. May we look to Him who is declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead, that by faith in him we may walk with God, and serve our generation according to his will; and when death comes, may we fall asleep in him, with a joyful hope of a blessed resurrection.
(Read Acts 13:38-41)
Let all that hear the gospel of Christ, know these two things: 1. That through this Man, who died and rose again, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Your sins, though many and great, may be forgiven, and they may be so without any injury to God's honour. 2. It is by Christ only that those who believe in him, and none else, are justified from all things; from all the guilt and stain of sin, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. The great concern of convinced sinners is, to be justified, to be acquitted from all their guilt, and accepted as righteous in God's sight, for if any is left charged upon the sinner, he is undone. By Jesus Christ we obtain a complete justification; for by him a complete atonement was made for sin. We are justified, not only by him as our Judge but by him as the Lord our Righteousness. What the law could not do for us, in that it was weak, the gospel of Christ does. This is the most needful blessing, bringing in every other. The threatenings are warnings; what we are told will come upon impenitent sinners, is designed to awaken us to beware lest it come upon us. It ruins many, that they despise religion. Those that will not wonder and be saved, shall wonder and perish.
(Read Acts 13:42-52)
The Jews opposed the doctrine the apostles preached; and when they could find no objection, they blasphemed Christ and his gospel. Commonly those who begin with contradicting, end with blaspheming. But when adversaries of Christ's cause are daring, its advocates should be the bolder. And while many judge themselves unworthy of eternal life, others, who appear less likely, desire to hear more of the glad tidings of salvation. This is according to what was foretold in the Old Testament. What light, what power, what a treasure does this gospel bring with it! How excellent are its truths, its precepts, its promises! Those came to Christ whom the Father drew, and to whom the Spirit made the gospel call effectual, Romans 8:30. As many as were disposed to eternal life, as many as had concern about their eternal state, and aimed to make sure of eternal life, believed in Christ, in whom God has treasured up that life, and who is the only Way to it; and it was the grace of God that wrought it in them. It is good to see honourable women devout; the less they have to do in the world, the more they should do for their own souls, and the souls of others: but it is sad, when, under colour of devotion to God, they try to show hatred to Christ. And the more we relish the comforts and encouragements we meet with in the power of godliness, and the fuller our hearts are of them, the better prepared we are to face difficulties in the profession of godliness.
