Bible Reading
August 18
The World English Bible
Aug.
18
Job
9-12
Job
9:1 Then Job answered,
Job
9:2 "Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with
God?
Job
9:3 If he is pleased to contend with him, he can't answer him one
time in a thousand.
Job
9:4 God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has
hardened himself against him, and prospered?
Job
9:5 He removes the mountains, and they don't know it, when he
overturns them in his anger.
Job
9:6 He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.
Job
9:7 He commands the sun, and it doesn't rise, and seals up the
stars.
Job
9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of
the sea.
Job
9:9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of
the south.
Job
9:10 He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things
without number.
Job
9:11 Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him. He passes on also,
but I don't perceive him.
Job
9:12 Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him,
'What are you doing?'
Job
9:13 "God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab
stoop under him.
Job
9:14 How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue
with him?
Job
9:15 Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn't answer him. I would
make supplication to my judge.
Job
9:16 If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I wouldn't believe
that he listened to my voice.
Job
9:17 For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without
cause.
Job
9:18 He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with
bitterness.
Job
9:19 If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of
justice, 'Who,' says he, 'will summon me?'
Job
9:20 Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I
am blameless, it shall prove me perverse.
Job
9:21 I am blameless. I don't regard myself. I despise my life.
Job
9:22 "It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the
blameless and the wicked.
Job
9:23 If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the
innocent.
Job
9:24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the
faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it?
Job
9:25 "Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away,
they see no good,
Job
9:26 They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that
swoops on the prey.
Job
9:27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad
face, and cheer up;'
Job
9:28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not hold me
innocent.
Job
9:29 I shall be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain?
Job
9:30 If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye,
Job
9:31 yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor
me.
Job
9:32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we
should come together in judgment.
Job
9:33 There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us
both.
Job
9:34 Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me
afraid;
Job
9:35 then I would speak, and not fear him, for I am not so in
myself.
Job
10:1 "My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to
my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
Job
10:2 I will tell God, 'Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend
with me.
Job
10:3 Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should
despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the
wicked?
Job
10:4 Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?
Job
10:5 Are your days as the days of mortals, or your years as man's
years,
Job
10:6 that you inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin?
Job
10:7 Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can
deliver out of your hand.
Job
10:8 " 'Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether,
yet you destroy me.
Job
10:9 Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will
you bring me into dust again?
Job
10:10 Haven't you poured me out like milk, and curdled me like
cheese?
Job
10:11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together
with bones and sinews.
Job
10:12 You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation
has preserved my spirit.
Job
10:13 Yet you hid these things in your heart. I know that this is
with you:
Job
10:14 if I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my
iniquity.
Job
10:15 If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall
not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace, and conscious of my
affliction.
Job
10:16 If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you
show yourself powerful to me.
Job
10:17 You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your
indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me.
Job
10:18 " 'Why, then, have you brought me forth out of the womb?
I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.
Job
10:19 I should have been as though I had not been. I should have
been carried from the womb to the grave.
Job
10:20 Aren't my days few? Cease then. Leave me alone, that I may
find a little comfort,
Job
10:21 before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of
darkness and of the shadow of death;
Job
10:22 the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any
order, where the light is as midnight.' "
Job
11:1 Then Zophar, the Naamathite, answered,
Job
11:2 "Shouldn't the multitude of words be answered? Should a
man full of talk be justified?
Job
11:3 Should your boastings make men hold their peace? When you mock,
shall no man make you ashamed?
Job
11:4 For you say, 'My doctrine is pure. I am clean in your eyes.'
Job
11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against you,
Job
11:6 that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom
has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your
iniquity deserves.
Job
11:7 "Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the
limits of the Almighty?
Job
11:8 They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than
Sheol. What can you know?
Job
11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
Job
11:10 If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who
can oppose him?
Job
11:11 For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he
doesn't consider it.
Job
11:12 An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild
donkey's colt.
Job
11:13 "If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands
toward him.
Job
11:14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. Don't let
unrighteousness dwell in your tents.
Job
11:15 Surely then you shall lift up your face without spot; Yes, you
shall be steadfast, and shall not fear:
Job
11:16 for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it as
waters that are passed away.
Job
11:17 Life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there is
darkness, it shall be as the morning.
Job
11:18 You shall be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you shall
search, and shall take your rest in safety.
Job
11:19 Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. Yes,
many shall court your favor.
Job
11:20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way
to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit."
Job
12:1 Then Job answered,
Job
12:2 "No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom shall die
with you.
Job
12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to
you. Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
Job
12:4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on
God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.
Job
12:5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for
misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.
Job
12:6 The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure,
who carry their God in their hands.
Job
12:7 "But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; the
birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.
Job
12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you. The fish of the
sea shall declare to you.
Job
12:9 Who doesn't know that in all these, the hand of Yahweh has done
this,
Job
12:10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the
breath of all mankind?
Job
12:11 Doesn't the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
Job
12:12 With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.
Job
12:13 "With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and
understanding.
Job
12:14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He
imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
Job
12:15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he
sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
Job
12:16 With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver
are his.
Job
12:17 He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
Job
12:18 He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a
belt.
Job
12:19 He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
Job
12:20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away
the understanding of the elders.
Job
12:21 He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the
strong.
Job
12:22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to
light the shadow of death.
Job
12:23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges
the nations, and he leads them captive.
Job
12:24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of
the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is
no way.
Job
12:25 They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger
like a drunken man.
Aug.
17, 18
Acts
27
Act
27:1 When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they
delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named
Julius, of the Augustan band.
Act
27:2 Embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to
places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea; Aristarchus, a Macedonian
of Thessalonica, being with us.
Act
27:3 The next day, we touched at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly,
and gave him permission to go to his friends and refresh himself.
Act
27:4 Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus,
because the winds were contrary.
Act
27:5 When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and
Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
Act
27:6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for
Italy, and he put us on board.
Act
27:7 When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with
difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we
sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
Act
27:8 With difficulty sailing along it we came to a certain place
called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
Act
27:9 When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous,
because the Fast had now already gone by, Paul admonished them,
Act
27:10 and said to them, "Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will
be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but
also of our lives."
Act
27:11 But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the
owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul.
Act
27:12 Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority
advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach
Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking
northeast and southeast.
Act
27:13 When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had
obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete,
close to shore.
Act
27:14 But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is
called Euroclydon.
Act
27:15 When the ship was caught, and couldn't face the wind, we gave
way to it, and were driven along.
Act
27:16 Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were
able, with difficulty, to secure the boat.
Act
27:17 After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help
reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis
sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along.
Act
27:18 As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they
began to throw things overboard.
Act
27:19 On the third day, they threw out the ship's tackle with their
own hands.
Act
27:20 When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no
small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now
taken away.
Act
27:21 When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the
middle of them, and said, "Sirs, you should have listened to me,
and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and
loss.
Act
27:22 Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of
life among you, but only of the ship.
Act
27:23 For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the
God whose I am and whom I serve,
Act
27:24 saying, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar.
Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.'
Act
27:25 Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be
just as it has been spoken to me.
Act
27:26 But we must run aground on a certain island."
Act
27:27 But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back
and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised
that they were drawing near to some land.
Act
27:28 They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little
while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.
Act
27:29 Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go
four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight.
Act
27:30 As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had
lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out
anchors from the bow,
Act
27:31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless
these stay in the ship, you can't be saved."
Act
27:32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it
fall off.
Act
27:33 While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some
food, saying, "This day is the fourteenth day that you wait and
continue fasting, having taken nothing.
Act
27:34 Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your
safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads."
Act
27:35 When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to
God in the presence of all, and he broke it, and began to eat.
Act
27:36 Then they all cheered up, and they also took food.
Act
27:37 In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship.
Act
27:38 When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing
out the wheat into the sea.
Act
27:39 When it was day, they didn't recognize the land, but they
noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive
the ship onto it.
Act
27:40 Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the
same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the
wind, they made for the beach.
Act
27:41 But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel
aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began
to break up by the violence of the waves.
Act
27:42 The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none
of them would swim out and escape.
Act
27:43 But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from
their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw
themselves overboard first to go toward the land;
Act
27:44 and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other
things from the ship. So it happened that they all escaped safely to
the land.
