The Daily Audio Bible
Job Reaffirms His Innocence
16 Then Job answered:
2 “I have heard many such things;
miserable comforters are you all.
3 Have windy words no limit?
Or what provokes you that you keep on talking?(A)
4 I also could talk as you do,
if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
and shake my head at you.(B)
5 I could encourage you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
6 “If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,
and if I refrain, how much of it leaves me?
7 Surely now God has worn me out;
he has[a] made desolate all my company.(C)
8 And he has[b] shriveled me up,
which is a witness against me;
my leanness has risen up against me,
and it testifies to my face.(D)
9 He has torn me in his wrath and hated me;
he has gnashed his teeth at me;
my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.(E)
10 They have gaped at me with their mouths;
they have struck me insolently on the cheek;
they mass themselves together against me.(F)
11 God gives me up to the evil
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.(G)
12 I was at ease, and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;(H)
13 his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys and shows no mercy;
he pours out my gall on the ground.(I)
14 He bursts upon me again and again;
he rushes at me like a warrior.(J)
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin
and have laid my strength in the dust.(K)
16 My face is red with weeping,
and deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 though there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.(L)
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood;
let my outcry find no resting place.(M)
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is on high.(N)
20 My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God,
as[c] one does for a neighbor.(O)
22 For when a few years have come,
I shall go the way from which I shall not return.(P)
Job Prays for Relief
17 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct;
the grave is ready for me.(Q)
2 Surely there are mockers around me,
and my eye dwells on their provocation.(R)
3 “Lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is there who will give surety for me?(S)
4 Since you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not let them triumph.(T)
5 Those who denounce friends for reward—
the eyes of their children will fail.(U)
6 “He has made me a byword of the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.(V)
7 My eye has grown dim from grief,
and all my members are like a shadow.(W)
8 The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent stir themselves up against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous hold to their way,
and they who have clean hands grow stronger and stronger.(X)
10 But you, come back now, all of you,
and I shall not find a sensible person among you.
11 My days are past; my plans are broken off,
the desires of my heart.(Y)
12 They make night into day;
‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’[d]
13 If I look for Sheol as my house,
if I spread my couch in darkness,(Z)
14 if I say to the Pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’(AA)
15 where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?(AB)
16 Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
Shall we descend together into the dust?”(AC)
Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Consider, and then we shall speak.
3 Why are we counted as cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?(AD)
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
shall the earth be forsaken because of you
or the rock be removed out of its place?(AE)
5 “Surely the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of their fire does not shine.(AF)
6 The light is dark in their tent,
and the lamp above them is put out.
7 Their strong steps are shortened,
and their own schemes throw them down.(AG)
8 For they are thrust into a net by their own feet,
and they walk into a pitfall.(AH)
9 A trap seizes them by the heel;
a snare lays hold of them.(AI)
10 A rope is hid for them in the ground,
a trap for them in the path.(AJ)
11 Terrors frighten them on every side
and chase them at their heels.(AK)
12 Their strength is consumed by hunger,[e]
and calamity is ready for their stumbling.(AL)
13 By disease their skin is consumed;[f]
the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.
14 They are torn from the tent in which they trusted
and are brought to the king of terrors.(AM)
15 In their tents nothing remains;
sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.(AN)
16 Their roots dry up beneath,
and their branches wither above.(AO)
17 Their memory perishes from the earth,
and they have no name in the street.(AP)
18 They are thrust from light into darkness
and driven out of the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendant among their people
and no survivor where they used to live.(AQ)
20 They of the west are appalled at their fate,
and horror seizes those of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly;
such is the place of those who do not know God.”(AR)
Job Replies: I Know That My Vindicator Lives
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
4 And even if it is true that I have erred,
my error remains with me.(AS)
5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
and make my humiliation an argument against me,(AT)
6 know then that God has put me in the wrong
and closed his net around me.(AU)
7 Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I am not answered;
I call aloud, but there is no justice.(AV)
8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.(AW)
9 He has stripped my glory from me
and taken the crown from my head.(AX)
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.(AY)
11 He has kindled his wrath against me
and counts me as his adversary.(AZ)
12 His troops come on together;
they have thrown up siegeworks[g] against me
and encamp around my tent.(BA)
13 “He has put my family far from me,
and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives and my close friends have failed me;
15 the guests in my house have forgotten me;
my female servants count me as a stranger;
I have become an alien in their eyes.(BB)
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
I must myself plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me;
when I rise, they talk against me.(BC)
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I love have turned against me.(BD)
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.(BE)
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!(BF)
22 Why do you, like God, pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?(BG)
23 “O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!(BH)
24 O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!(BI)
25 For I know that my vindicator[h] lives
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth;(BJ)
26 and after my skin has been destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,(BK)
27 whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!(BL)
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’(BM)
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment.”(BN)
The Collection for the Saints
16 Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia.(A) 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.(B) 3 And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
Plans for Travel
5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia—for I intend to pass through Macedonia(C)— 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go. 7 I do not want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
10 If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord just as I am;(D) 11 therefore let no one despise him. Send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers and sisters.(E)
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers and sisters, but he was not at all willing to come now. He will come when he has the opportunity.(F)
Final Messages and Greetings
13 Keep alert; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.(G) 14 Let all that you do be done in love.(H)
15 Now, brothers and sisters, you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first fruits in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints;(I) 16 I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people and of everyone who works and toils with them.(J) 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence,(K) 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such persons.(L)
19 The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.(M) 20 All the brothers and sisters send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.[b]
Psalm 40
Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.(A)
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,[a]
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.(B)
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.(C)
4 Happy are those who make
the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods.(D)
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.(E)
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.[b]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.(F)
7 Then I said, “Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.[c]
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”(G)
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.(H)
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.(I)
22 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.(A)
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.