The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the EHV. Switch to the EHV to read along with the audio.
Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you say these things
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty[a] pervert the right?(A)
4 If your children sinned against him,
he delivered them into the power of their transgression.(B)
5 If you will seek God
and make supplication to the Almighty,[b](C)
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore to you your rightful place.(D)
7 Though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.(E)
8 “For inquire now of bygone generations
and consider what their ancestors have found,(F)
9 for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing,
for our days on earth are but a shadow.(G)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.(H)
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless shall perish.(I)
14 Their confidence is gossamer,
a spider’s house their trust.
15 If one leans against its house, it will not stand;
if one lays hold of it, it will not endure.(J)
16 The wicked thrive[c] before the sun,
and their shoots spread over the garden.(K)
17 Their roots twine around the stoneheap;
they live among the rocks.[d]
18 If they are destroyed from their place,
then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’(L)
19 See, these are their happy ways,[e]
and out of the earth still others will spring.
20 “See, God will not reject the blameless,
nor take the hand of evildoers.(M)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.(N)
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”(O)
Job Replies: There Is No Mediator
9 Then Job answered:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is so,
but how can a mortal be just before God?(P)
3 If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand.(Q)
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?(R)
5 He removes mountains, and they do not know it
when he overturns them in his anger;
6 he shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;(S)
7 he commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals up the stars;
8 he alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the Sea;[f](T)
9 he made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;(U)
10 he does great things beyond understanding
and marvelous things without number.(V)
11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.(W)
12 He snatches away; who can stop him?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’(X)
13 “God will not turn back his anger;
the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.(Y)
14 How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
15 Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal to my accuser for my right.(Z)
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;(AA)
18 he will not let me get my breath
but fills me with bitterness.(AB)
19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?[g]
20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am blameless; I do not know myself;
I loathe my life.(AC)
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(AD)
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity[h] of the innocent.(AE)
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the eyes of its judges—
if it is not he, who then is it?(AF)
25 “My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like skiffs of reed,
like an eagle swooping on the prey.(AG)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’
28 I become afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?(AH)
30 If I wash myself with soap
and cleanse my hands with lye,(AI)
31 yet you will plunge me into filth,
and my own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.(AJ)
33 There is no mediator[i] between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.(AK)
34 If he would take his rod away from me
and not let dread of him terrify me,(AL)
35 then I would speak without fear of him,
for I know I am not what I am thought to be.[j]
Job: I Loathe My Life
10 “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.(AM)
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.(AN)
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the schemes of the wicked?(AO)
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as humans see?(AP)
5 Are your days like the days of mortals
or your years like human years,(AQ)
6 that you seek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
7 although you know that I am not guilty,
and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?(AR)
8 Your hands fashioned and made me,
and now you turn and destroy me.[k](AS)
9 Remember that you fashioned me like clay,
and will you turn me to dust again?(AT)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?(AU)
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.(AV)
13 Yet these things you hid in your heart;
I know that this was your purpose.
14 If I sin, you watch me
and do not acquit me of my iniquity.(AW)
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and look upon my affliction.(AX)
16 Bold as a lion you hunt me;
you repeat your exploits against me.(AY)
17 You renew your witnesses against me
and increase your vexation toward me;
you bring fresh troops against me.[l](AZ)
18 “ ‘Why did you bring me forth from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me(BA)
19 and were as though I had not been,
carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not the days of my life few?[m]
Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort[n](BB)
21 before I go, never to return,
to the land of gloom and deep darkness,
22 the land of gloom[o] and chaos,
where light is like darkness.’ ”
Zophar Speaks: Job’s Guilt Deserves Punishment
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
and should one full of talk be vindicated?(BC)
3 Should your babble put others to silence,
and when you mock, shall no one shame you?(BD)
4 For you say, ‘My conduct[p] is pure,
and I am clean in God’s[q] sight.’(BE)
5 But O that God would speak
and open his lips to you
6 and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
For wisdom is many-sided.[r]
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.(BF)
7 “Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?[s](BG)
8 It is higher than heaven[t]—what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?(BH)
9 Its measure is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 If he passes through and imprisons
and assembles for judgment, who can hinder him?(BI)
11 For he knows those who are worthless;
when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?(BJ)
12 But the stupid will get understanding
when a wild ass is born human.[u]
13 “If you direct your heart rightly,
you will stretch out your hands toward him.(BK)
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.(BL)
15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
you will be secure and will not fear.(BM)
16 You will forget your misery;
you will remember it as waters that have passed away.(BN)
17 And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
its darkness will be like the morning.(BO)
18 And you will have confidence because there is hope;
you will be protected[v] and take your rest in safety.(BP)
19 You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;
many will entreat your favor.
20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
all way of escape will be lost to them,
and their hope is to breathe their last.”(BQ)
The Resurrection of Christ
15 Now I want you to understand, brothers and sisters, the good news[a] that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,(A) 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.(B)
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures(C) 4 and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures(D) 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.(E) 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.[b] 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.(F) 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.(G) 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.(H) 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me.(I) 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.(J) 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died[c] in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.[d](K) 21 For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human,(L) 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power.(M) 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.(N) 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.(O) 27 For “God[e] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him.(P) 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.(Q)
Psalm 38
A Penitent Sufferer’s Plea for Healing
A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.(A)
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.(B)
3 There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.(C)
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.(D)
5 My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness;(E)
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all day long I go around mourning.(F)
7 For my loins are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.(G)
8 I am utterly spent and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.(H)
9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.(I)
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me;
as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and my neighbors stand far off.(J)
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin
and meditate on treachery all day long.(K)
13 But I am like the deaf; I do not hear;
like the mute, who cannot speak.(L)
14 Truly, I am like one who does not hear
and in whose mouth is no retort.
15 But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.(M)
16 For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me,
those who boast against me when my foot slips.”(N)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.