I am he – Day 8

₁₃One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their eldest brother, ₁₄a messenger came running to Job. “We were ploughing the fields with the oxen,” he said, “and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. ₁₅Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

₁₆Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

₁₇Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

₁₈Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Your children were having a feast at the home of your eldest son, ₁₉when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

₂₀Then Job stood up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downwards on the ground. ₂₁He said, “I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The LORD gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!”

₂₂In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

₁About this time King Hezekiah fell ill and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, “The LORD tells you that you are to put everything in order, because you will not recover. Get ready to die.”

₂Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: ₃“Remember, LORD, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to.” And he began to cry bitterly.

₃₄When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittite women, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon. ₃₅They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.

₁₃The next day he went back and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you beating up a fellow-Hebrew?”

₁₄The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, “People have found out what I have done.” _15-16When the king heard about what had happened, he tried to have Moses killed, but Moses fled and went to live in the land of Midian.

One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to draw water and fill the troughs for their father's sheep and goats.

₇But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan's messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud. ₈Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away. ₉But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ's power over me. ₁₀I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

₁₂“It was for this purpose that I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests. ₁₃It was on the road at midday, Your Majesty, that I saw a light much brighter than the sun, coming from the sky and shining round me and the men travelling with me. ₁₄All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by hitting back, like an ox kicking against its owner's stick.’ ₁₅‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute. ₁₆But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant. You are to tell others what you have seen of me today and what I will show you in the future. ₁₇I will rescue you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles to whom I will send you. ₁₈You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.’

₁₉“And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision I had from heaven.

₁₉Joseph's master was furious ₂₀and had Joseph arrested and put in the prison where the king's prisoners were kept, and there he stayed. ₂₁But the LORD was with Joseph and blessed him, so that the jailer was pleased with him. ₂₂He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and made him responsible for everything that was done in the prison. ₂₃The jailer did not have to look after anything for which Joseph was responsible, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him succeed in everything he did.

₃Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But when his brothers heard this, they were so terrified that they could not answer. ₄Then Joseph said to them, “Please come closer.” They did, and he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ₅Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people's lives. ₆This is only the second year of famine in the land; there will be five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor reaping. ₇God sent me ahead of you to rescue you in this amazing way and to make sure that you and your descendants survive. ₈So it was not really you who sent me here, but God. He has made me the king's highest official. I am in charge of his whole country; I am the ruler of all Egypt.

₂₂And the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas.

Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be whipped. ₂₃After a severe beating, they were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to lock them up tight. ₂₄Upon receiving this order, the jailer threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet between heavy blocks of wood.

₂₅About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.