The Daily Audio Bible
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40 And the Lord said to Job:
Job’s Response to God
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.(B)
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer,
twice but will proceed no further.”(C)
God’s Challenge to Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:(D)
7 “Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you declare to me.(E)
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be justified?(F)
9 Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?(G)
10 “Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.(H)
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on all who are proud and humble them.(I)
12 Look on all who are proud and bring them low;
tread down the wicked where they stand.(J)
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.[b]
14 Then I will also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can give you victory.(K)
15 “Look at Behemoth,
which I made just as I made you;
it eats grass like an ox.(L)
16 Its strength is in its loins
and its power in the muscles of its belly.
17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are knit together.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like bars of iron.
19 “It is the first of the great acts of God;
only its Maker can approach it with the sword.(M)
20 For the mountains yield food for it
where all the wild animals play.(N)
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 The lotus trees cover it for shade;
the willows of the wadi surround it.(O)
23 Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;
it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.
24 Can one take it with hooks[c]
or pierce its nose with a snare?(P)
41 [d]“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down its tongue with a cord?(Q)
2 Can you put a rope in its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?(R)
3 Will it make many supplications to you?
Will it speak soft words to you?
4 Will it make a covenant with you
to be taken as your servant forever?
5 Will you play with it as with a bird
or put it on a leash for your young women?
6 Will traders bargain over it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its skin with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 Lay hands on it;
think of the battle; you will not do it again!
9 [e]Any hope of capturing it[f] will be disappointed;
one is overwhelmed even at the sight of it.
10 No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up.
Who can stand before it?[g](S)
11 Who can confront it[h] and be safe?[i]
—under the whole heaven, who?[j](T)
12 “I will not keep silent concerning its limbs
or its mighty strength or its splendid frame.
13 Who can strip off its outer garment?
Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?[k]
14 Who can open the doors of its face?
There is terror all around its teeth.
15 Its back[l] is made of shields in rows,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 Its sneezes flash forth light,
and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.(U)
19 From its mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of its nostrils comes smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 Its breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes out of its mouth.
22 In its neck abides strength,
and terror dances before it.
23 The folds of its flesh cling together;
it is firmly cast and immovable.
24 Its heart is as hard as stone,
as hard as the lower millstone.
25 When it raises itself up the gods are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail,
nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 It counts iron as straw
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make it flee;
slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
29 Clubs are counted as chaff;
it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;
it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 It makes the deep boil like a pot;
it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a shining wake behind it;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth it has no equal,
a creature without fear.(V)
34 It surveys everything that is lofty;
it is king over all that are proud.”
Job Is Humbled and Satisfied
42 Then Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.(W)
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me that I did not know.(X)
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.’(Y)
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;(Z)
6 therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”(AA)
Job’s Friends Are Humiliated
7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.(AB) 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done.”(AC) 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
Job’s Fortunes Are Restored Twofold
10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.(AD) 11 Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money[m] and a gold ring.(AE) 12 The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.(AF) 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.(AG) 14 He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and his children’s children, four generations.(AH) 17 And Job died, old and full of days.(AI)
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences.(A) 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart.(B) 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.(C) 14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.(D) 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for the one who for their sake died and was raised.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;[a] even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,[b] we no longer know him in that way.(E) 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there[c] is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;(G) 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,[e] not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.(H) 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God.(I) 21 For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.(J)
Psalm 45
Ode for a Royal Wedding
To the leader: according to Lilies. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. A love song.
1 My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.(A)
2 You are the most handsome of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.(B)
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your glory and majesty.(C)
4 In your majesty ride on victoriously
for the cause of truth and to defend[a] the right;
let your right hand teach you dread deeds.(D)
5 Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God,[b] endures forever and ever.
Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;(E)
7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;(F)
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;(G)
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.(H)
10 Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
forget your people and your father’s house,(I)
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him;(J)
12 Daughter Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
the richest of the people(K) 13 with all kinds of wealth.
14 The mouth of a loose woman[a] is a deep pit;
he with whom the Lord is angry falls into it.
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.