The Daily Audio Bible
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Job Says He Longs for God
23 Then Job answered and said,
2
“Even today my complaint is contentious;
His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3
“Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might [even] come to His seat!
4
“I would present my cause before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.
5
“I would learn the words which He would answer,
And understand what He would say to me.
6
“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me.(A)
7
“There the righteous and upright could reason with Him;
So I would be acquitted forever by my Judge.
8
“Behold, I go forward (to the east), but He is not there;
I go backward (to the west), but I cannot perceive Him;
9
To the left (north) He turns, but I cannot behold Him;
He turns to the right hand (south), but I cannot see Him.
10
“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].(B)
11
“My feet have carefully followed His steps;
I have kept His ways and not turned aside.
12
“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have kept the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
13
“But He is unique and unchangeable, and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.
14
“For He performs what is planned (appointed) for me,
And He is mindful of many such things.
15
“Therefore I would be terrified at His presence;
When I consider [all of this], I tremble in dread of Him.
16
“For God has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty has terrified me,
17
But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me],
Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.
Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs
24 “Why does the Almighty not set seasons for judgment?
Why do those who know Him not see His days [for punishment of the wicked]?(C)
2
“Some remove the landmarks;
They [violently] seize and pasture flocks [appropriating land and flocks openly].
3
“They drive away the donkeys of the orphans;
They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
4
“They crowd the needy off the road;
The poor of the land all hide themselves.
5
“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,
The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;
As bread for their children in the desert.
6
“They harvest their fodder in a field [that is not their own],
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7
“They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
8
“They are wet from the rain of the mountains
And cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
9
“Others snatch the fatherless [infants] from the breast [to sell or make them slaves],
And against the poor they take a pledge [of clothing].
10
“They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,
And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.
11
“Within the walls [of the wicked] the poor make [olive] oil;
They tread [the grapes in] the wine presses, but thirst.
12
“From the [populous and crowded] city men groan,
And the souls of the wounded cry out for help;
Yet God [seemingly] does not pay attention to the wrong [done to them].
13
“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor stay in its paths.
14
“The murderer rises at dawn;
He kills the poor and the needy,
And at night he becomes a thief.
15
“The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me,’
And he covers his face.
16
“In the dark they dig into [the penetrable walls of] houses;
They shut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light [of day].
17
“For the morning is the same to him as the thick darkness [of midnight];
For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.
18
“They are insignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is cursed on the earth;
They do not turn toward the vineyards.
19
“Drought and heat consume the snow waters;
So does Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) [consume] those who have sinned.
20
“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].(D)
21
“He preys on the barren (childless) woman
And does no good for the widow.
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“Yet God draws away the mighty by His power;
He rises, but no one has assurance of life.
23
“God gives them security, and they are supported;
And His eyes are on their ways.
24
“They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone;
Moreover, they are brought low and like everything [they are] gathered up and taken out of the way;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.
25
“And if this is not so, who can prove me a liar
And make my speech worthless?”
Bildad Says Man Is Inferior
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2
“Dominion and awe belong to God;
He establishes peace and order in His high places.
3
“Is there any number to His [vast celestial] armies?
And upon whom does His light not rise?
4
“How then can man be justified and righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?(E)
5
“Behold, even the moon has no brightness [compared to God’s majesty and glory]
And the stars are not pure in His sight,
6
How much less man, that maggot,
And the son of man, that worm!”
Job Rebukes Bildad
26 But Job answered and said,
2
“What a help you are to the weak (powerless)!
How you have saved the arm that is without strength!
3
“How you have counseled the one who has no wisdom!
And how abundantly you have provided sound wisdom and helpful insight!
4
“To whom have you uttered [these] words?
And whose spirit [inspired what] came forth from you?
The Greatness of God
5
“The spirits of the dead tremble
Underneath the waters and their inhabitants.
6
“Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) is naked before God,
And Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering [from His eyes].
7
“It is He who spreads out the north over emptiness
And [a]hangs the earth on nothing.
8
“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once],
And the cloud does not burst under them.
9
“He covers the face of the [b]full moon
And spreads His cloud over it.
10
“He has inscribed a circular limit (the horizon) on the face of the waters
At the boundary between light and darkness.
11
“The pillars of the heavens tremble
And are terrified at His rebuke.
12
“He stirred up the sea by His power,
And by His understanding He smashed [proud] [c]Rahab.
13
“By His breath the heavens are cleared;
His hand has pierced the [swiftly] fleeing serpent.(F)
14
“Yet these are just the fringes of His ways [mere samples of His power],
The faintest whisper of His voice!
Who can contemplate the thunder of His [full] mighty power?”
Job Affirms His Righteousness
27 Job continued his discourse and said,
2
“As God lives, who has taken away my right and denied me justice,
And the Almighty, who has caused bitterness and grief for my soul,
3
As long as my life is within me,
And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils,
4
My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue utter deceit.
5
“Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me];
Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.
6
“I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
The State of the Godless
7
“May my enemy be as the wicked,
And he who rises up against me be as the unrighteous (unjust).
8
“For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world],
When God takes his life?
9
“Will God hear his cry
When trouble and distress come upon him?
10
“Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11
“I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God;
I will not conceal what is with the Almighty [God’s actual treatment of the wicked].
12
“Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?
13
“This [which I am about to explain] is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which tyrants and oppressors receive from the Almighty:
14
“Though his children are many, they are destined for the sword;
And his descendants will not have sufficient bread.
15
“Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,
And [their] widows will not be able to weep.
16
“Though he heaps up silver like dust
And piles up clothing like clay,
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He may prepare it, but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18
“He builds his house like a spider’s web,
Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.
19
“He lies down rich, but never will again;
He opens his eyes, and it is gone.
20
“Terrors overtake him like a [suddenly rising] flood;
A windstorm steals him away in the night.
21
“The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
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“For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God’s wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion;
He flees in haste from its power.
23
“People will clap their hands at him [to mock and ridicule him]
And hiss him out of his place.
Paul’s Integrity
12 This is our [reason for] proud confidence: our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world [in general], and especially toward you, with pure motives and godly sincerity, not in human wisdom, but in the grace of God [that is, His gracious lovingkindness that leads people to Christ and spiritual maturity]. 13 For we write you nothing other than what you read and understand [there is no double meaning in what we say]. And I hope you will [accurately] understand [divine things] until the end; 14 just as you have [already] partially understood us, [and one day will recognize] that you can be proud of us just as we are of you, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
15 It was with this confidence that I planned at first to visit you, so that you might receive twice a token of grace; 16 that is, [I wanted] to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and [then] to come back to you [on my return] from Macedonia, and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 So then, was I indecisive or capricious when I was [originally] planning this? Or the things I plan, do I plan [a]in a self-serving way like a worldly man, ready to say, “Yes, yes” and “No, no” [at the same time]? 18 But [as surely as] God is faithful and means what He says, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No” [at the same time]. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but has proved to be “Yes” in Him [true and faithful, the divine “Yes” affirming God’s promises]. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” So through Him we say our “Amen” to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who establishes and confirms us [in joint fellowship] with you in Christ, and who has anointed us [empowering us with the gifts of the Spirit]; 22 it is He who has also put His seal on us [that is, He has appropriated us and certified us as His] and has given us the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as a pledge [like a security deposit to guarantee the fulfillment of His promise of eternal life].
23 But I call on God as my soul’s witness, that it was to spare you [pain and discouragement] that I did not come again to Corinth— 24 not that we rule [like dictators] over your faith, but rather we work with you for [the increase of] your joy; for in your faith you stand firm [in your strong conviction that Jesus of Nazareth—the Messiah—is the Son of God, through whom we obtain eternal salvation].
Reaffirm Your Love
2 But I made up my mind not to grieve you with another painful visit. 2 For if I cause you grief [by a well-deserved rebuke], who then provides me enjoyment but the very one whom I have made sad? 3 And I [b]wrote this same thing to you, so that when I came, I would not be filled with sorrow by those who ought to make me glad, for I trusted in you and felt confident that my joy would be shared by all of you. 4 For I wrote to you out of great distress and with an anguished heart, and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow but to make you realize the [overflowing] love which I have especially for you.
5 But if [c]someone has caused [all this] sorrow, he has caused it not to me, but in some degree—not to put it too severely—[he has distressed and grieved] all of you. 6 For such a one this punishment by the majority is sufficient, 7 so instead [of further rebuke, now] you should rather [graciously] forgive and comfort and encourage him, to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reinstate him in your affections and reaffirm your [d]love for him. 9 For this was my purpose in writing, to see if you would stand the test, whether you are obedient and committed to following my instruction in all things. 10 If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive [that one]; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of [and with the approval of] Christ, 11 to keep Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
41 Blessed [by God’s grace and compassion] is he who considers the helpless;
The Lord will save him in the day of trouble.
2
The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;
And he will be called blessed in the land;
You do not hand him over to the desire of his enemies.
3
The Lord will sustain and strengthen him on his sickbed;
In his illness, You will restore him to health.
4
As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
5
My enemies speak evil of me, saying,
“When will he die and his name perish?”
6
And when one comes to see me, he speaks empty words,
While his heart gathers malicious gossip [against me];
When he goes away, he tells it [everywhere].
7
All who hate me whisper together about me;
Against me they devise my hurt [imagining the worst for me], saying,
8
“A wicked thing is poured out upon him and holds him;
And when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
9
Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].(A)
10
But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and [a]restore me [to health],
So that I may repay them.
11
By this I know that You favor and delight in me,
Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12
As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me in Your presence forever.
13
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting [from this age to the next, and forever].
Amen and Amen (so be it).
5
Thorns and snares are in the way of the obstinate [for their lack of honor and their wrong-doing traps them];
He who guards himself [with godly wisdom] will be far from them and avoid the consequences they suffer.
6
Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents],
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.(A)
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.