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Psalm 36

1  Sin whispers to the wicked, in the depths of their heart; ♦︎
   there is no fear of God before their eyes.
2  They flatter themselves in their own eyes ♦︎
   that their abominable sin will not be found out.
3  The words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit; ♦︎
   they have ceased to act wisely and to do good.
4  They think out mischief upon their beds
      and have set themselves in no good way; ♦︎
   nor do they abhor that which is evil.
5  Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens ♦︎
   and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6  Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains,
      your justice like the great deep; ♦︎
   you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.
7  How precious is your loving mercy, O God! ♦︎
   All mortal flesh shall take refuge
      under the shadow of your wings.
8  They shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house; ♦︎
   they shall drink from the river of your delights.
9  For with you is the well of life ♦︎
   and in your light shall we see light.
10  O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you ♦︎
   and your righteousness to those who are true of heart.
11  Let not the foot of pride come against me, ♦︎
   nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away.
12  There are they fallen, all who work wickedness. ♦︎
   They are cast down and shall not be able to stand.

Job

Job and His Family

1There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. ²There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. ³He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. ⁴His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.’ This is what Job always did.

Attack on Job’s Character

6 One day the heavenly beings^* came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^* also came among them. ⁷The Lord said to Satan,^* ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan^* answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ ⁸The Lord said to Satan,^* ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.’ ⁹Then Satan^* answered the Lord, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.’ ¹²The Lord said to Satan,^* ‘Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’ So Satan^* went out from the presence of the Lord.

Job Loses Property and Children

13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, ¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, ¹⁵and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ ¹⁶While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ ¹⁷While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ ¹⁸While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, ¹⁹and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.’

20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshipped. ²¹He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’

22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

Attack on Job’s Health

2One day the heavenly beings^* came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^* also came among them to present himself before the Lord. ²The Lord said to Satan,^* ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan^* answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ ³The Lord said to Satan,^* ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.’ ⁴Then Satan^* answered the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives.^{* 5}But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.’ ⁶The Lord said to Satan,^* ‘Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.’

7 So Satan^* went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ⁸Job^* took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse^* God, and die.’ ¹⁰But he said to her, ‘You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south^* to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) ²⁷So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ ³⁰So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ³¹He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. ³²Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
   and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
     so he does not open his mouth.
³³ In his humiliation justice was denied him.
   Who can describe his generation?
     For his life is taken away from the earth.’
³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ ³⁵Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’^{* 38}He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip^* baptized him. ³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.