Previous Prev Day Next DayNext

Old/New Testament

Each day includes a passage from both the Old Testament and New Testament.
Duration: 365 days
New International Version (NIV)
Version
Job 22-24

Eliphaz

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:

“Can a man be of benefit to God?(B)
    Can even a wise person benefit him?(C)
What pleasure(D) would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?(E)
    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?(F)

“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
    and brings charges against you?(G)
Is not your wickedness great?
    Are not your sins(H) endless?(I)
You demanded security(J) from your relatives for no reason;(K)
    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.(L)
You gave no water(M) to the weary
    and you withheld food from the hungry,(N)
though you were a powerful man, owning land(O)
    an honored man,(P) living on it.(Q)
And you sent widows(R) away empty-handed(S)
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.(T)
10 That is why snares(U) are all around you,(V)
    why sudden peril terrifies you,(W)
11 why it is so dark(X) you cannot see,
    and why a flood of water covers you.(Y)

12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?(Z)
    And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?(AA)
    Does he judge through such darkness?(AB)
14 Thick clouds(AC) veil him, so he does not see us(AD)
    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’(AE)
15 Will you keep to the old path
    that the wicked(AF) have trod?(AG)
16 They were carried off before their time,(AH)
    their foundations(AI) washed away by a flood.(AJ)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    What can the Almighty do to us?’(AK)
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,(AL)
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.(AM)
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;(AN)
    the innocent mock(AO) them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,(AP)
    and fire(AQ) devours their wealth.’

21 “Submit to God and be at peace(AR) with him;(AS)
    in this way prosperity will come to you.(AT)
22 Accept instruction from his mouth(AU)
    and lay up his words(AV) in your heart.(AW)
23 If you return(AX) to the Almighty, you will be restored:(AY)
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent(AZ)
24 and assign your nuggets(BA) to the dust,
    your gold(BB) of Ophir(BC) to the rocks in the ravines,(BD)
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,(BE)
    the choicest silver for you.(BF)
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty(BG)
    and will lift up your face(BH) to God.(BI)
27 You will pray to him,(BJ) and he will hear you,(BK)
    and you will fulfill your vows.(BL)
28 What you decide on will be done,(BM)
    and light(BN) will shine on your ways.(BO)
29 When people are brought low(BP) and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.(BQ)
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,(BR)
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”(BS)

Job

23 Then Job replied:

“Even today my complaint(BT) is bitter;(BU)
    his hand[a] is heavy in spite of[b] my groaning.(BV)
If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!(BW)
I would state my case(BX) before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.(BY)
I would find out what he would answer me,(BZ)
    and consider what he would say to me.
Would he vigorously oppose me?(CA)
    No, he would not press charges against me.(CB)
There the upright(CC) can establish their innocence before him,(CD)
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.(CE)

“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.(CF)
10 But he knows the way that I take;(CG)
    when he has tested me,(CH) I will come forth as gold.(CI)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;(CJ)
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.(CK)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;(CL)
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.(CM)

13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?(CN)
    He does whatever he pleases.(CO)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
    and many such plans he still has in store.(CP)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;(CQ)
    when I think of all this, I fear him.(CR)
16 God has made my heart faint;(CS)
    the Almighty(CT) has terrified me.(CU)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,(CV)
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times(CW) for judgment?(CX)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?(CY)
There are those who move boundary stones;(CZ)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.(DA)
They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.(DB)
They thrust the needy(DC) from the path
    and force all the poor(DD) of the land into hiding.(DE)
Like wild donkeys(DF) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor(DG) of foraging food;
    the wasteland(DH) provides food for their children.
They gather fodder(DI) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards(DJ) of the wicked.(DK)
Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.(DL)
They are drenched(DM) by mountain rains
    and hug(DN) the rocks for lack of shelter.(DO)
The fatherless(DP) child is snatched(DQ) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized(DR) for a debt.(DS)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;(DT)
    they carry the sheaves,(DU) but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[c];
    they tread the winepresses,(DV) yet suffer thirst.(DW)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.(DX)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.(DY)

13 “There are those who rebel against the light,(DZ)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.(EA)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills(EB) the poor and needy,(EC)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.(ED)
15 The eye of the adulterer(EE) watches for dusk;(EF)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’(EG)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,(EH)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.(EI)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors(EJ) of darkness.(EK)

18 “Yet they are foam(EL) on the surface of the water;(EM)
    their portion of the land is cursed,(EN)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.(EO)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,(EP)
    so the grave(EQ) snatches away those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them,
    the worm(ER) feasts on them;(ES)
the wicked are no longer remembered(ET)
    but are broken like a tree.(EU)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.(EV)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;(EW)
    though they become established,(EX) they have no assurance of life.(EY)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,(EZ)
    but his eyes(FA) are on their ways.(FB)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;(FC)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;(FD)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.(FE)

25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”(FF)

Acts 11

Peter Explains His Actions

11 The apostles and the believers(A) throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.(B) So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers(C) criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”(D)

Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision.(E) I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’(F) 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea(G) stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told(H) me to have no hesitation about going with them.(I) These six brothers(J) also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel(K) appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message(L) through which you and all your household(M) will be saved.’

15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on(N) them as he had come on us at the beginning.(O) 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with[a] water,(P) but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.’(Q) 17 So if God gave them the same gift(R) he gave us(S) who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”(T)

The Church in Antioch

19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed(U) traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,(V) spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus(W) and Cyrene,(X) went to Antioch(Y) and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news(Z) about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them,(AA) and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.(AB)

22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas(AC) to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done,(AD) he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.(AE) 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit(AF) and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.(AG)

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus(AH) to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples(AI) were called Christians first(AJ) at Antioch.

27 During this time some prophets(AK) came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus,(AL) stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.(AM) (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)(AN) 29 The disciples,(AO) as each one was able, decided to provide help(AP) for the brothers and sisters(AQ) living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders(AR) by Barnabas(AS) and Saul.(AT)

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.