Bible Reading
August 14-16
The World English Bible
Aug.
14
Esther
4-6
Est
4:1 Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his
clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst
of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.
Est
4:2 He came even before the king's gate, for no one is allowed
inside the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
Est
4:3 In every province, wherever the king's commandment and his
decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting,
and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Est
4:4 Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the
queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to
replace his sackcloth; but he didn't receive it.
Est
4:5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, whom
he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai,
to find out what this was, and why it was.
Est
4:6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to city square which was before
the king's gate.
Est
4:7 Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact
sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's
treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
Est
4:8 He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was
given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to
declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king, to make
supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her people.
Est
4:9 Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
Est
4:10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to
Mordecai:
Est
4:11 "All the king's servants, and the people of the king's
provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the
king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for
him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might
hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called
to come in to the king these thirty days."
Est
4:12 They told to Mordecai Esther's words.
Est
4:13 Then Mordecai asked them return answer to Esther, "Don't
think to yourself that you will escape in the king's house any more
than all the Jews.
Est
4:14 For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will
come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house
will perish. Who knows if you haven't come to the kingdom for such a
time as this?"
Est
4:15 Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,
Est
4:16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in
Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night
or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go
in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish."
Est
4:17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther
had commanded him.
Est
5:1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal
clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, next to
the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal
house, next to the entrance of the house.
Est
5:2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she
obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the
golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched
the top of the scepter.
Est
5:3 Then the king asked her, "What would you like, queen
Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half
of the kingdom."
Est
5:4 Esther said, "If it seems good to the king, let the king
and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."
Est
5:5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be
done as Esther has said." So the king and Haman came to the
banquet that Esther had prepared.
Est
5:6 The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, "What is
your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to
the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."
Est
5:7 Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request
is this.
Est
5:8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please
the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king
and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I
will do tomorrow as the king has said."
Est
5:9 Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when
Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he didn't stand up nor
move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
Est
5:10 Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he
sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.
Est
5:11 Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude
of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him,
and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the
king.
Est
5:12 Haman also said, "Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in
with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and
tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.
Est
5:13 Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the
Jew sitting at the king's gate."
Est
5:14 Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, "Let
a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the
king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king
to the banquet." This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
Est
6:1 On that night, the king couldn't sleep. He commanded the book of
records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the
king.
Est
6:2 It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and
Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had
tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
Est
6:3 The king said, "What honor and dignity has been bestowed on
Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him
said, "Nothing has been done for him."
Est
6:4 The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had
come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king
about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
Est
6:5 The king's servants said to him, "Behold, Haman stands in
the court." The king said, "Let him come in."
Est
6:6 So Haman came in. The king said to him, "What shall be done
to the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman said in
his heart, "Who would the king delight to honor more than
myself?"
Est
6:7 Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights
to honor,
Est
6:8 let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and
the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown
royal is set.
Est
6:9 Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one
of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom
the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback
through the city square, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be
done to the man whom the king delights to honor!' "
Est
6:10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and take the clothing
and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew,
who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have
spoken."
Est
6:11 Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed
Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed
before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king
delights to honor!"
Est
6:12 Mordecai came back to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his
house, mourning and having his head covered.
Est
6:13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends
everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his
wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to
fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you
will surely fall before him."
Est
6:14 While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs came,
and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Aug.
15
Esther
7-10
Est
7:1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
Est
7:2 The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet
of wine, "What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be
granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it
shall be performed."
Est
7:3 Then Esther the queen answered, "If I have found favor in
your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given
me at my petition, and my people at my request.
Est
7:4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain,
and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondservants and
bondmaids, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could
not have compensated for the king's loss."
Est
7:5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, "Who is he,
and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?"
Est
7:6 Esther said, "An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked
Haman!" Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
Est
7:7 The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went
into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life
to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined
against him by the king.
Est
7:8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place
of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where
Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he even assault the queen
in front of me in the house?" As the word went out of the king's
mouth, they covered Haman's face.
Est
7:9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said,
"Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for
Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house."
The king said, "Hang him on it!"
Est
7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for
Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
Est
8:1 On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews'
enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther
had told what he was to her.
Est
8:2 The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and
gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Est
8:3 Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his
feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the
Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
Est
8:4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther
arose, and stood before the king.
Est
8:5 She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found
favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to the king, and I am
pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters
devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote
to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.
Est
8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my
people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?"
Est
8:7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the
Jew, "See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they
have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews.
Est
8:8 Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king's name,
and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in
the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may not be reversed
by any man."
Est
8:9 Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third
month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written
according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the
satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are
from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every
province according to its writing, and to every people in their
language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language.
Est
8:10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the
king's ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on
royal horses that were bread from swift steeds.
Est
8:11 In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every
city to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to
destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people
and province that would assault them, their little ones and women,
and to plunder their possessions,
Est
8:12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
Est
8:13 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in
every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews
should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
Est
8:14 So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and
pressed on by the king's commandment. The decree was given out in the
citadel of Susa.
Est
8:15 Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing
of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of
fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad.
Est
8:16 The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.
Est
8:17 In every province, and in every city, wherever the king's
commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast,
and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews;
for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.
Est
9:1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the
thirteenth day of the month, when the king's commandment and his
decree drew near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies
of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the
opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them),
Est
9:2 the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout
all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who
wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of
them had fallen on all the people.
Est
9:3 All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors,
and those who did the king's business helped the Jews, because the
fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.
Est
9:4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went
out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater
and greater.
Est
9:5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword,
and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those
who hated them.
Est
9:6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five
hundred men.
Est
9:7 They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
Est
9:8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
Est
9:9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,
Est
9:10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy,
but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.
Est
9:11 On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel
of Susa was brought before the king.
Est
9:12 The king said to Esther the queen, "The Jews have slain
and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the
ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's
provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What
is your further request? It shall be done."
Est
9:13 Then Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let it be
granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according
to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the
gallows."
Est
9:14 The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in
Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.
Est
9:15 The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on
the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred
men in Shushan; but they didn't lay their hand on the spoil.
Est
9:16 The other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered
themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their
enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them;
but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.
Est
9:17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on
the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of
feasting and gladness.
Est
9:18 But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the
thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the
fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of
feasting and gladness.
Est
9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled
towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness
and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to
one another.
Est
9:20 Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews
who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and
far,
Est
9:21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and
fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly,
Est
9:22 as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and
the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from
mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting
and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and
gifts to the needy.
Est
9:23 The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai
had written to them;
Est
9:24 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of
all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had
cast "Pur," that is the lot, to consume them, and to
destroy them;
Est
9:25 but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters
that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should
return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on
the gallows.
Est
9:26 Therefore they called these days "Purim," from the
word "Pur." Therefore because of all the words of this
letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and
that which had come to them,
Est
9:27 the Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their
descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that
it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to
what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;
Est
9:28 and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout
every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and
that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the
memory of them perish from their seed.
Est
9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai
the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of
Purim.
Est
9:30 He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven
provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,
Est
9:31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as
Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had
imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the
fastings and their cry.
Est
9:32 The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and
it was written in the book.
Est
10:1 King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the islands
of the sea.
Est
10:2 All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full
account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him,
aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Media and Persia?
Est
10:3 For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great
among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers,
seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his
descendants.
Aug.
16
Job
1-4
Job
1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man
was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away
from evil.
Job
1:2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
Job
1:3 His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand
camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a
very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the
children of the east.
Job
1:4 His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his
birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and
to drink with them.
Job
1:5 It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course,
that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning,
and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For
Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God
in their hearts." Job did so continually.
Job
1:6 Now it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present
themselves before Yahweh, that Satan also came among them.
Job
1:7 Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then
Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in
the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
Job
1:8 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job?
For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright
man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."
Job
1:9 Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Does Job fear God
for nothing?
Job
1:10 Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and
around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job
1:11 But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he
will renounce you to your face."
Job
1:12 Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your
power. Only on himself don't put forth your hand." So Satan went
forth from the presence of Yahweh.
Job
1:13 It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating
and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,
Job
1:14 that there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen
were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,
Job
1:15 and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have
killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have
escaped to tell you."
Job
1:16 While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said,
"The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the
sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped
to tell you."
Job
1:17 While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said,
"The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels,
and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge
of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Job
1:18 While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said,
"Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in
their eldest brother's house,
Job
1:19 and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and
struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men,
and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you."
Job
1:20 Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and
fell down on the ground, and worshiped.
Job
1:21 He said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked
shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed
be the name of Yahweh."
Job
1:22 In all this, Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.
Job
2:1 Again it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present
themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present
himself before Yahweh.
Job
2:2 Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in
the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
Job
2:3 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?
For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright
man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains
his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him
without cause."
Job
2:4 Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all
that a man has he will give for his life.
Job
2:5 But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh,
and he will renounce you to your face."
Job
2:6 Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only
spare his life."
Job
2:7 So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job
with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.
Job
2:8 He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he
sat among the ashes.
Job
2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your
integrity? Renounce God, and die."
Job
2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women
would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and
shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job didn't sin with his
lips.
Job
2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had
come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite,
Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an
appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort
him.
Job
2:12 When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn't
recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore
his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.
Job
2:13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven
nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was
very great.
Job
3:1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his
birth.
Job
3:2 Job answered:
Job
3:3 "Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which
said, 'There is a boy conceived.'
Job
3:4 Let that day be darkness. Don't let God from above seek for it,
neither let the light shine on it.
Job
3:5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let
a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.
Job
3:6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not
rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number
of the months.
Job
3:7 Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come
therein.
Job
3:8 Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up
leviathan.
Job
3:9 Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light,
but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,
Job
3:10 because it didn't shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor
did it hide trouble from my eyes.
Job
3:11 "Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the
spirit when my mother bore me?
Job
3:12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should
suck?
Job
3:13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have
slept, then I would have been at rest,
Job
3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste
places for themselves;
Job
3:15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with
silver:
Job
3:16 or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who
never saw light.
Job
3:17 There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at
rest.
Job
3:18 There the prisoners are at ease together. They don't hear the
voice of the taskmaster.
Job
3:19 The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his
master.
Job
3:20 "Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the
bitter in soul,
Job
3:21 Who long for death, but it doesn't come; and dig for it more
than for hidden treasures,
Job
3:22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the
grave?
Job
3:23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has
hedged in?
Job
3:24 For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out
like water.
Job
3:25 For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid
of comes to me.
Job
3:26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but
trouble comes."
Job
4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
Job
4:2 "If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
Job
4:3 Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak
hands.
Job
4:4 Your words have supported him who was falling, You have made
firm the feeble knees.
Job
4:5 But now it is come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and
you are troubled.
Job
4:6 Isn't your piety your confidence? Isn't the integrity of your
ways your hope?
Job
4:7 "Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where
were the upright cut off?
Job
4:8 According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow
trouble, reap the same.
Job
4:9 By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are
they consumed.
Job
4:10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the
teeth of the young lions, are broken.
Job
4:11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness
are scattered abroad.
Job
4:12 "Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a
whisper of it.
Job
4:13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep
falls on men,
Job
4:14 fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
Job
4:15 Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood
up.
Job
4:16 It stood still, but I couldn't discern its appearance. A form
was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,
Job
4:17 'Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more
pure than his Maker?
Job
4:18 Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels
with error.
Job
4:19 How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose
foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
Job
4:20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish
forever without any regarding it.
Job
4:21 Isn't their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and
that without wisdom.'
Aug.
13, 14
Acts
25
Act
25:1 Festus therefore, having come into the province, after three
days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
Act
25:2 Then the high priest and the principal men of the Jews informed
him against Paul, and they begged him,
Act
25:3 asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to
Jerusalem; plotting to kill him on the way.
Act
25:4 However Festus answered that Paul should be kept in custody at
Caesarea, and that he himself was about to depart shortly.
Act
25:5 "Let them therefore," said he, "that are in
power among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong in
the man, let them accuse him."
Act
25:6 When he had stayed among them more than ten days, he went down
to Caesarea, and on the next day he sat on the judgment seat, and
commanded Paul to be brought.
Act
25:7 When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem
stood around him, bringing against him many and grievous charges
which they could not prove,
Act
25:8 while he said in his defense, "Neither against the law of
the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned
at all."
Act
25:9 But Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews, answered Paul
and said, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem, and be judged
by me there concerning these things?"
Act
25:10 But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's judgment
seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as
you also know very well.
Act
25:11 For if I have done wrong, and have committed anything worthy
of death, I don't refuse to die; but if none of those things is true
that they accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to
Caesar!"
Act
25:12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered,
"You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go."
Act
25:13 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the King and Bernice
arrived at Caesarea, and greeted Festus.
Act
25:14 As he stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before
the king, saying, "There is a certain man left a prisoner by
Felix;
Act
25:15 about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the
elders of the Jews informed me, asking for a sentence against him.
Act
25:16 To whom I answered that it is not the custom of the Romans to
give up any man to destruction, before the accused has met the
accusers face to face, and has had opportunity to make his defense
concerning the matter laid against him.
Act
25:17 When therefore they had come together here, I didn't delay,
but on the next day sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man
to be brought.
Act
25:18 Concerning whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought no
charge of such things as I supposed;
Act
25:19 but had certain questions against him about their own
religion, and about one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be
alive.
Act
25:20 Being perplexed how to inquire concerning these things, I
asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged
concerning these matters.
Act
25:21 But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the
emperor, I commanded him to be kept until I could send him to
Caesar."
Act
25:22 Agrippa said to Festus, "I also would like to hear the
man myself." "Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear
him."
Act
25:23 So on the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with
great pomp, and they had entered into the place of hearing with the
commanding officers and principal men of the city, at the command of
Festus, Paul was brought in.
Act
25:24 Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all men who are here
present with us, you see this man, about whom all the multitude of
the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying that he
ought not to live any longer.
Act
25:25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of
death, and as he himself appealed to the emperor I determined to send
him.
Act
25:26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write to my lord. Therefore
I have brought him forth before you, and especially before you, King
Agrippa, that, after examination, I may have something to write.
Act
25:27 For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to
also specify the charges against him."
Aug.
15, 16
Acts
26
Act
26:1 Agrippa said to Paul, "You may speak for yourself."
Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense.
Act
26:2 "I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my
defense before you this day concerning all the things that I am
accused by the Jews,
Act
26:3 especially because you are expert in all customs and questions
which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
Act
26:4 "Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth
up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at
Jerusalem;
Act
26:5 having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify,
that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Act
26:6 Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made
by God to our fathers,
Act
26:7 which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope
to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King
Agrippa!
Act
26:8 Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the
dead?
Act
26:9 "I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many
things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Act
26:10 This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the
saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests,
and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
Act
26:11 Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make
them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted
them even to foreign cities.
Act
26:12 "Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority
and commission from the chief priests,
Act
26:13 at noon, O King, I saw on the way a light from the sky,
brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with
me.
Act
26:14 When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to
me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
Act
26:15 "I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He said, 'I am Jesus,
whom you are persecuting.
Act
26:16 But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you
for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the
things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to
you;
Act
26:17 delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom
I send you,
Act
26:18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission
of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in
me.'
Act
26:19 "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the
heavenly vision,
Act
26:20 but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and
throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that
they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
Act
26:21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple, and tried to
kill me.
Act
26:22 Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand
to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but
what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
Act
26:23 how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of
the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people
and to the Gentiles."
Act
26:24 As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice,
"Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you
insane!"
Act
26:25 But he said, "I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but
boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness.
Act
26:26 For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak
freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from
him, for this has not been done in a corner.
Act
26:27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you
believe."
Act
26:28 Agrippa said to Paul, "With a little persuasion are you
trying to make me a Christian?"
Act
26:29 Paul said, "I pray to God, that whether with little or
with much, not only you, but also all that hear me this day, might
become such as I am, except for these bonds."
Act
26:30 The king rose up with the governor, and Bernice, and those who
sat with them.
Act
26:31 When they had withdrawn, they spoke one to another, saying,
"This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds."
Act
26:32 Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set
free if he had not appealed to Caesar."
