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Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born.
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O God, put a curse on the day I was born; put a curse on the night when I was conceived!
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Turn that day into darkness, God. Never again remember that day; never again let light shine on it.
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Make it a day of gloom and thick darkness; cover it with clouds, and blot out the sun.
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Blot that night out of the year, and never let it be counted again;
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make it a barren, joyless night.
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Tell the sorcerers to curse that day, those who know how to control Leviathan.
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Keep the morning star from shining; give that night no hope of dawn.
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Curse that night for letting me be born, for exposing me to trouble and grief.
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I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born.
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Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did she feed me at her breast?
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If I had died then, I would be at rest now,
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sleeping like the kings and rulers who rebuilt ancient palaces.
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Then I would be sleeping like princes who filled their houses with gold and silver,
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or sleeping like a stillborn child.
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In the grave wicked people stop their evil, and tired workers find rest at last.
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Even prisoners enjoy peace, free from shouts and harsh commands.
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Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown, and slaves at last are free.
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Why let people go on living in misery? Why give light to those in grief ?
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They wait for death, but it never comes; they prefer a grave to any treasure.
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They are not happy till they are dead and buried;
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God keeps their future hidden and hems them in on every side.
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Instead of eating, I mourn, and I can never stop groaning.
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Everything I fear and dread comes true.
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I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never end.
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Job, will you be annoyed if I speak? I can't keep quiet any longer.
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You have taught many people and given strength to feeble hands.
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When someone stumbled, weak and tired, your words encouraged him to stand.
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Now it's your turn to be in trouble, and you are too stunned to face it.
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You worshiped God, and your life was blameless; and so you should have confidence and hope.
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Think back now. Name a single case where someone righteous met with disaster.
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I have seen people plow fields of evil and plant wickedness like seed; now they harvest wickedness and evil.
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Like a storm, God destroys them in his anger.
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The wicked roar and growl like lions, but God silences them and breaks their teeth.
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Like lions with nothing to kill and eat, they die, and all their children are scattered.
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Once a message came quietly, so quietly I could hardly hear it.
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Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.
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I trembled and shuddered; my whole body shook with fear.
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A light breeze touched my face, and my skin crawled with fright.
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I could see something standing there; I stared, but couldn't tell what it was. Then I heard a voice out of the silence:
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"Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator?
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God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels.
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Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?
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We may be alive in the morning, but die unnoticed before evening comes.
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All that we have is taken away; we die, still lacking wisdom."
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And Saul approved of his murder. That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria.
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Some devout men buried Stephen, mourning for him with loud cries.
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But Saul tried to destroy the church; going from house to house, he dragged out the believers, both men and women, and threw them into jail.
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The believers who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the message.
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Philip went to the principal city in Samaria and preached the Messiah to the people there.
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The crowds paid close attention to what Philip said, as they listened to him and saw the miracles that he performed.
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Evil spirits came out from many people with a loud cry, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.
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So there was great joy in that city.
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A man named Simon lived there, who for some time had astounded the Samaritans with his magic. He claimed that he was someone great,
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and everyone in the city, from all classes of society, paid close attention to him. "He is that power of God known as 'The Great Power,' " they said.
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They paid this attention to him because for such a long time he had astonished them with his magic.
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But when they believed Philip's message about the good news of the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
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Simon himself also believed; and after being baptized, he stayed close to Philip and was astounded when he saw the great wonders and miracles that were being performed.
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The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them.
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When they arrived, they prayed for the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
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For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
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Simon saw that the Spirit had been given to the believers when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered money to Peter and John,
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and said, "Give this power to me too, so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit."
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But Peter answered him, "May you and your money go to hell, for thinking that you can buy God's gift with money!
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You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right in God's sight.
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Repent, then, of this evil plan of yours, and pray to the Lord that he will forgive you for thinking such a thing as this.
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For I see that you are full of bitter envy and are a prisoner of sin."
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Simon said to Peter and John, "Please pray to the Lord for me, so that none of these things you spoke of will happen to me."
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After they had given their testimony and proclaimed the Lord's message, Peter and John went back to Jerusalem. On their way they preached the Good News in many villages of Samaria.
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An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This road is not used nowadays.)
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So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
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The Holy Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to that carriage and stay close to it."
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Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
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The official replied, "How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?" And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him.
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The passage of scripture which he was reading was this: "He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered, like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off. He did not say a word.
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He was humiliated, and justice was denied him. No one will be able to tell about his descendants, because his life on earth has come to an end."
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The official asked Philip, "Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?"
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Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus.
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As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, "Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?"
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The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
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When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy.
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Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.
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In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest
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and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.
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As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him.
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He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?"
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"Who are you, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you persecute," the voice said.
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"But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do."
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The men who were traveling with Saul had stopped, not saying a word; they heard the voice but could not see anyone.
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Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, but could not see a thing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.
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For three days he was not able to see, and during that time he did not eat or drink anything.
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There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. He had a vision, in which the Lord said to him, "Ananias!" "Here I am, Lord," he answered.
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The Lord said to him, "Get ready and go to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying,
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and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he might see again."
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Ananias answered, "Lord, many people have told me about this man and about all the terrible things he has done to your people in Jerusalem.
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And he has come to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who worship you."
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The Lord said to him, "Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel.
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And I myself will show him all that he must suffer for my sake."
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So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. "Brother Saul," he said, "the Lord has sent me---Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
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At once something like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized;
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and after he had eaten, his strength came back. Saul stayed for a few days with the believers in Damascus.
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He went straight to the synagogues and began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God.
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All who heard him were amazed and asked, "Isn't he the one who in Jerusalem was killing those who worship that man Jesus? And didn't he come here for the very purpose of arresting those people and taking them back to the chief priests?"
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But Saul's preaching became even more powerful, and his proofs that Jesus was the Messiah were so convincing that the Jews who lived in Damascus could not answer him.
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After many days had gone by, the Jews met together and made plans to kill Saul,
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but he was told of their plan. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
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But one night Saul's followers took him and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
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Saul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples. But they would not believe that he was a disciple, and they were all afraid of him.
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Then Barnabas came to his help and took him to the apostles. He explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had spoken to him. He also told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
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And so Saul stayed with them and went all over Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
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He also talked and disputed with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to kill him.
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When the believers found out about this, they took Saul to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
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And so it was that the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord.
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Peter traveled everywhere, and on one occasion he went to visit God's people who lived in Lydda.
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There he met a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had not been able to get out of bed for eight years.
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"Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ makes you well. Get up and make your bed." At once Aeneas got up.
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All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
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In Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, who was a believer. (Her name in Greek is Dorcas, meaning "a deer.") She spent all her time doing good and helping the poor.
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At that time she got sick and died. Her body was washed and laid in a room upstairs.
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Joppa was not very far from Lydda, and when the believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him with the message, "Please hurry and come to us."
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So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, he was taken to the room upstairs, where all the widows crowded around him, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was alive.
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Peter put them all out of the room, and knelt down and prayed; then he turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up!" She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
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Peter reached over and helped her get up. Then he called all the believers, including the widows, and presented her alive to them.
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The news about this spread all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
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Peter stayed on in Joppa for many days with a tanner of leather named Simon.
