Through the Bible – Day 185

Bible text(s)

Job 38

The LORD speaks

From out of a storm

1From out of a storm,

the LORD said to Job:

2Why do you talk so much

when you know so little?

3Now get ready to face me!

Can you answer

the questions I ask?

4How did I lay the foundation

for the earth?

Were you there?

5Doubtless you know who decided

its length and width.

6What supports the foundation?

Who placed the cornerstone,

7while morning stars sang,

and angels rejoiced?

8When the ocean was born,

I set its boundaries

9and wrapped it in blankets

of thickest fog.

10Then I built a wall around it,

locked the gates, 11and said,

“Your powerful waves stop here!

They can go no further.”

Did you ever tell the sun to rise?

12Did you ever tell the sun to rise?

And did it obey?

13Did it take hold of the earth

and shake out the wicked

like dust from a rug?

14Early dawn outlines the hills

like stitches on clothing

or sketches on clay.

15But its light is too much

for those who are evil,

and their power is broken.

16Job, have you ever walked

on the ocean floor?

17Have you seen the gate

to the world of the dead?

18And how large is the earth?

Tell me, if you know!

19Where is the home of light,

and where does darkness live?

20Can you lead them home?

21I'm certain you must be able to,

since you were already born

when I created everything.

22Have you been to the places

where I keep snow and hail,

23until I use them to punish

and conquer nations?

24From where does lightning leap,

or the east wind blow?

25Who carves out a path

for thunderstorms?

Who sends torrents of rain

26on empty deserts

where no one lives?

27Rain that changes barren land

to meadows green with grass.

28Who is the father of the dew

and of the rain?

29Who gives birth to the sleet

and the frost

30that fall in winter,

when streams and lakes

freeze solid as a rock?

Can you arrange stars?

31Can you arrange stars in groups

such as Orion

and the Pleiades?

32Do you control the stars

or set in place the Great Bear

and the Little Bear?

33Do you know the laws

that govern the heavens,

and can you make them rule

the earth?

34Can you order the clouds

to send a downpour,

35or will lightning flash

at your command?

36Did you teach birds to know

that rain or floods

are on their way?

37Can you count the clouds

or pour out their water

38on the dry, lumpy soil?

39When lions are hungry,

do you help them hunt?

40Do you send an animal

into their den?

41And when starving young ravens

cry out to me for food,

do you satisfy their hunger?

Job 39

The LORD continues

When do mountain goats give birth?

1When do mountain goats

and deer give birth?

Have you been there

when their young are born?

2-3How long are they pregnant

before they deliver?

4Soon their young grow strong

and then leave

to be on their own.

5Who set wild donkeys free?

6I alone help them survive

in salty desert sand.

7They stay far from crowded cities

and refuse to be tamed.

8Instead, they roam the hills,

searching for pasture land.

9Would a wild ox agree

to live in your barn

and labour for you?

10Could you force him to plough

or to drag a heavy log

to smooth out the soil?

11Can you depend on him

to use his great strength

and do your heavy work?

12Can you trust him

to harvest your grain

or take it to your barn

from the threshing place?

An ostrich proudly flaps her wings

13An ostrich proudly

flaps her wings,

but not because

she loves her young.

14She abandons her eggs

and lets the dusty ground

keep them warm.

15And she doesn't seem to worry

that the feet of an animal

could crush them all.

16She treats her eggs as though

they were not her own,

unconcerned that her work

might be for nothing.

17I myself made her foolish

and without common sense.

18But once she starts running,

she laughs at a rider

on the fastest horse.

Did you give horses their strength?

19Did you give horses their strength

and the flowing hair

along their necks?

20Did you make them able

to jump like grasshoppers

or to frighten people

with their snorting?

21Before horses are ridden

into battle,

they paw at the ground,

proud of their strength.

22Laughing at fear, they rush

towards the fighting,

23while the weapons of their riders

rattle and flash in the sun.

24Unable to stand still,

they gallop eagerly into battle

when trumpets blast.

25Stirred by the distant smells

and sounds of war, they snort

in reply to the trumpet.

26Did you teach hawks to fly south

for the winter?

27-28Did you train eagles to build

their nests on rocky cliffs,

29where they can look down

to spot their next meal?

30Then their young gather to feast

wherever the victim lies.

Job 40

The LORD continues

I am the LORD All-Powerful

1-2I am the LORD All-Powerful,

but you have argued

that I am wrong.

Now you must answer me.

3Job said to the LORD:

4Who am I to answer you?

5I did speak once or twice,

but never again.

6Then out of the storm

the LORD said to Job:

7Face me and answer

the questions I ask!

8Are you trying to prove

that you are innocent

by accusing me of injustice?

9Do you have a powerful arm

and a thundering voice

that compare with mine?

10If so, then surround yourself

with glory and majesty.

11-12Show your furious anger!

Throw down and crush

all who are proud and evil.

13Wrap them in grave clothes

and bury them together

in the dusty soil.

14Do this, and I will agree

that you have won

this argument.

I created you

15I created both you

and the hippopotamus.

It eats only grass like an ox,

16but look at the mighty muscles

in its body 17and legs.

Its tail is like a cedar tree,

and its thighs are thick.

18The bones in its legs

are like bronze or iron.

19I made it more powerful

than any other creature,

yet I am stronger still.

20Undisturbed, it eats grass

while the other animals

play nearby.

21-22It rests in the shade of trees

along the river bank

or hides among reeds

in the swamp.

23It remains calm and unafraid

with the River Jordan rushing

and splashing in its face.

24There is no way to capture

a hippopotamus—

not even by hooking its nose

or blinding its eyes.

Job 38:1-40:24CEVOpen in Bible reader

Acts 13

42As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the meeting, the people begged them to say more about these same things on the next Sabbath. 43After the service, many Jews and a lot of Gentiles who worshipped God went with them. Paul and Barnabas begged them all to remain faithful to God, who had been so kind to them.

44The next Sabbath almost everyone in town came to hear the message about the Lord. 45When the Jewish people saw the crowds, they were very jealous. They insulted Paul and spoke against everything he said.

46But Paul and Barnabas bravely said:

We had to tell God's message to you before we told it to anyone else. But you rejected the message! This proves that you don't deserve eternal life. Now we are going to the Gentiles. 47The Lord has given us this command,

“I have placed you here

as a light

for the Gentiles.

You are to take

the saving power of God

to people everywhere on earth.”

48This message made the Gentiles glad, and they praised what they had heard about the Lord. Everyone who had been chosen for eternal life then put their faith in the Lord.

49The message about the Lord spread all over that region. 50But the Jewish leaders went to some of the important men in the town and to some respected women who were religious. They turned them against Paul and Barnabas and started making trouble for them. They even chased them out of that part of the country.

51Paul and Barnabas shook the dust from that place off their feet and went on to the city of Iconium.

52But the Lord's followers in Antioch were very happy and were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 14

Paul and Barnabas in Iconium

1Paul and Barnabas spoke in the Jewish meeting place in Iconium, just as they had done at Antioch, and many Jews and Gentiles put their faith in the Lord. 2But the Jews who did not have faith in him made the other Gentiles angry and turned them against the Lord's followers.

3Paul and Barnabas stayed there for a while, having faith in the Lord and bravely speaking his message. The Lord gave them the power to perform miracles and wonders, and he showed that their message about his great kindness was true.

4The people of Iconium did not know what to think. Some of them believed the Jewish group, and others believed the apostles. 5Finally, some Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, decided to make trouble for Paul and Barnabas and to stone them to death.

6-7But when the two apostles found out what was happening, they escaped to the region of Lycaonia. They preached the good news there in the towns of Lystra and Derbe and in the nearby countryside.

Acts 13:42-14:7CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.23.1
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