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Psalm 91

1  Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High ♦︎
   and abides under the shadow of the Almighty,
2  Shall say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my stronghold, ♦︎
   my God, in whom I put my trust.’
3  For he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler ♦︎
   and from the deadly pestilence.
4  He shall cover you with his wings
      and you shall be safe under his feathers; ♦︎
   his faithfulness shall be your shield and buckler.
5  You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, ♦︎
   nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6  Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, ♦︎
   nor of the sickness that destroys at noonday.
7  Though a thousand fall at your side
      and ten thousand at your right hand, ♦︎
   yet it shall not come near you.
8  Your eyes have only to behold ♦︎
   to see the reward of the wicked.
9  Because you have made the Lord your refuge ♦︎
   and the Most High your stronghold,
10  There shall no evil happen to you, ♦︎
   neither shall any plague come near your tent.
11  For he shall give his angels charge over you, ♦︎
   to keep you in all your ways.
12  They shall bear you in their hands, ♦︎
   lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  You shall tread upon the lion and adder; ♦︎
   the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14  Because they have set their love upon me,
      therefore will I deliver them; ♦︎
   I will lift them up, because they know my name.
15  They will call upon me and I will answer them; ♦︎
   I am with them in trouble,
      I will deliver them and bring them to honour.
16  With long life will I satisfy them ♦︎
   and show them my salvation.

Psalm 92

1  It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord ♦︎
   and to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2  To tell of your love early in the morning ♦︎
   and of your faithfulness in the night-time,
3  Upon the ten-stringed instrument, upon the harp, ♦︎
   and to the melody of the lyre.
4  For you, Lord, have made me glad by your acts, ♦︎
   and I sing aloud at the works of your hands.
5  O Lord, how glorious are your works! ♦︎
   Your thoughts are very deep.
6  The senseless do not know, ♦︎
   nor do fools understand,
7  That though the wicked sprout like grass ♦︎
   and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
8  It is only to be destroyed for ever; ♦︎
   but you, O Lord, shall be exalted for evermore.
9  For lo, your enemies, O Lord,
      lo, your enemies shall perish, ♦︎
   and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10  But my horn you have exalted
      like the horns of wild oxen; ♦︎
   I am anointed with fresh oil.
11  My eyes will look down on my foes; ♦︎
   my ears shall hear the ruin of the evildoers
      who rise up against me.
12  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, ♦︎
   and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
13  Such as are planted in the house of the Lord ♦︎
   shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14  They shall still bear fruit in old age; ♦︎
   they shall be vigorous and in full leaf;
15  That they may show that the Lord is true; ♦︎
   he is my rock,
      and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Elihu Rebukes Job’s Friends

32So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ²Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God; ³he was angry also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong.^{* 4}Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. ⁵But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.

6 Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered:
‘I am young in years,
   and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
   to declare my opinion to you.
⁷ I said, “Let days speak,
   and many years teach wisdom.”
⁸ But truly it is the spirit in a mortal,
   the breath of the Almighty,^* that makes for understanding.
⁹ It is not the old^* that are wise,
   nor the aged that understand what is right.
¹⁰ Therefore I say, “Listen to me;
   let me also declare my opinion.”

¹⁹ My heart is indeed like wine that has no vent;
   like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.
²⁰ I must speak, so that I may find relief;
   I must open my lips and answer.
²¹ I will not show partiality to any person
   or use flattery towards anyone.
²² For I do not know how to flatter—
   or my Maker would soon put an end to me!

Elihu Rebukes Job

33‘But now, hear my speech, O Job,
   and listen to all my words.
¹⁹ They are also chastened with pain upon their beds,
   and with continual strife in their bones,
²⁰ so that their lives loathe bread,
   and their appetites dainty food.
²¹ Their flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen;
   and their bones, once invisible, now stick out.
²² Their souls draw near the Pit,
   and their lives to those who bring death.
²³ Then, if there should be for one of them an angel,
   a mediator, one of a thousand,
   one who declares a person upright,
²⁴ and he is gracious to that person, and says,
   “Deliver him from going down into the Pit;
   I have found a ransom;
²⁵ let his flesh become fresh with youth;
   let him return to the days of his youthful vigour”;
²⁶ then he prays to God, and is accepted by him,
   he comes into his presence with joy,
and God^* repays him for his righteousness.
²⁷   That person sings to others and says,
“I sinned, and perverted what was right,
   and it was not paid back to me.
²⁸ He has redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
   and my life shall see the light.”

12 The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³After they finished speaking, James replied, ‘My brothers,^* listen to me. ¹⁴Simeon has related how God first looked favourably on the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. ¹⁵This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,
¹⁶ “After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;
   from its ruins I will rebuild it,
     and I will set it up,
¹⁷ so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—
   even all the Gentiles over whom my name has been called.
     Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things ¹⁸known from long ago.”^*
19Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, ²⁰but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled^* and from blood. ²¹For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.’