The Daily Audio Bible
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Job’s Morality
31 I have made a covenant with my eyes.
How then could I stare at a virgin with desire?
2 If I did, what reward would I receive from God above?
What inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not ruin the reward for the wicked,
and misfortune the reward for evildoers?
4 But doesn’t God see my ways?
Doesn’t he count my every step?
5 Have I walked with deceit and lies?
Has my foot hurried to pursue fraud?
6 If God weighs me on an honest scale,
he will know my integrity.
7 If my footsteps have slipped off the path,
if my heart has pursued things desired by my eyes,
if anything corrupt has stuck to my palms,
8 then let someone else eat what I have sown.
Let my crops be uprooted.
9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
if I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,
10 let my wife grind for another,
and let other men crouch down over her.
11 For that would have been shameful behavior,
a guilty deed worthy of judgment.
12 There is a fire that consumes all the way to hell,[a]
that would completely burn up all my harvest.
13 If I have denied justice to my male servants
or to my female servants in their disputes with me,
14 then what would I do when God arises,
when he comes to call me to account?
How could I respond to him?
15 Didn’t he who made me in the womb also make my servant?
Didn’t the same God fashion us both in the womb?
16 If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,
if I have darkened the eyes of the widow,
17 if I have eaten my food all by myself
and have not shared it with the fatherless—
18 no, from the time of my youth, the fatherless child grew up with me,
and I was like a father to him.
From the womb of my mother I guided the widow.
19 If I saw anyone perishing from lack of clothing,
if the needy had nothing to wear,
20 his very body blessed me,
as he was warmed by the wool from my sheep.
21 If I raised my hand against the fatherless child,
because I had influence in the court at the city gate,
22 then let my shoulder be knocked out of its socket,
and let my upper arm be broken.
23 Now doom from God terrifies me,
and I cannot endure his majesty.
24 If I placed my confidence in gold,
and if I said to pure gold, “You are my security,”
25 if I rejoiced because I was so rich
and because my hand had obtained so much,
26 if I saw the shining sun and the moon moving in its splendor,
27 if my heart was gullible enough to worship them in secret,
and I kissed my hand to honor them,
28 that would have made me guilty and deserving of judgment,
for I would have denied God above.
29 If I rejoiced at the misfortune of someone who hates me,
or I was thrilled because trouble caught up with him—
30 but no, I have not savored sin by asking for a curse on his life.
31 Did the men in my tent ever have to say
that there was someone who had not been filled with meat from Job?[b]
32 No stranger ever had to spend the night outside.
I have opened my door to the traveler.
33 If I had covered up my sin like Adam,[c]
and I had hidden my guilt in my heart,
34 because I was frightened of the crowd,
and the contempt of the clans filled me with terror,
so that I was silent and I did not go out of a door—
35 Oh how I wish I had someone to listen to me!
Look, here is my seal on my testimony.
Let the Almighty answer me!
Let me see the written indictment from my accuser.
36 I would lift it up on my shoulder.
I would place it on my head as a crown.
37 I would account to him for every single step.
I would approach him like the chief of a tribe.
38 If my soil cries out against me,
and its furrows weep because of me,
39 if I have consumed its wealth without paying for it,
if I have caused the death of its owners,
40 then let a thorn bush grow up instead of wheat,
and stinkweeds instead of barley.
The words of Job are concluded.
Elihu’s Monologues
32 These three men gave up trying to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 So Elihu son of Barakel, the Buzite from the clan of Ram, burned with anger. His anger burned against Job because Job had justified himself rather than God. 3 His anger also burned against his three companions, because they had no answer for Job, but they nevertheless had condemned him.
4 Up to this point, Elihu had held back, and he had not spoken to Job, because the others were older and more experienced than he was.
5 When Elihu saw that the three men had no ready answer, his anger burned. 6 So Elihu son of Barakel, the Buzite, responded. He said:
I am young and inexperienced, and you are aged.
That is why I held back,
and I was afraid to tell you what I know.
7 I thought that experience should speak.
Many years should give a man wisdom.
8 However, it is the spirit[d] in a man
and the breath of the Almighty that give a man understanding.
9 It is not just the important men who are wise.
The elderly are not the only ones who know how to judge cases.
10 That is why I now say, “Listen to me.”
I will declare what I know—yes, I will.
11 Notice that I waited for you to finish your words.
I have listened carefully to your conclusions.
The whole time you were searching for the right words,
12 I paid attention to you.
But look, not one of you showed Job that he was wrong
or came up with an answer for Job.
13 So do not say, “We have found wisdom,
but it is God, not a man, who will have to refute him.”
14 Job has not drawn up his speeches against me,
so I will not respond to him with arguments like yours.
15 Those three are shattered. They no longer respond.
They have run out of words.
16 I have waited patiently,
but since they no longer speak,
and they just stand there and do not answer anymore,
17 I will now respond with my contribution.
I will now declare what I know,
18 for I am full of words.
A wind[e] in my belly is building up pressure.
19 My belly is like unvented wine.
I am like a new wineskin ready to burst.
20 I intend to speak, so that I can find relief for myself.
Let me open my lips and answer.
21 I will certainly not show favoritism to any man.
I will not address any man with flattering titles,
22 because I do not know how to pass out flattering titles.
If I did so, my Maker would quickly carry me away.
33 But now, Job, listen to my speech.
Pay close attention to all my words.
2 Listen, because I have opened my mouth.
See how my tongue shapes words in my mouth.
3 My speech will reveal my upright heart.
My lips express my knowledge plainly.[f]
4 The spirit[g] of God made me.
The breath of the Almighty gave me life.
5 Refute me if you are able.
Lay out your case before me! Take your stand!
6 Look, my mouth belongs to God, just as your mouth does.
Like you I was snipped off from a lump of clay.
7 Look, you should not be terrified by how awesome I am.
Pressure from me should not intimidate you.
8 However, you said this in my hearing,
and I did hear the sound of these words:
9 “I am pure, without any sinful rebellion.
I am clean. I have no guilt.
10 But look how God finds pretexts to oppose me.
He treats me like his enemy.
11 He has put my feet in stocks.
He patrols all my paths.”
12 Job, listen to this!
You are not right.
I must refute you!
Certainly, God is greater than a man.
13 Why do you bring charges against him,
just because he does not answer all of a man’s questions?
14 God does speak, sometimes one way, sometimes another,
but people do not pay attention to it.
15 In a dream, in a vision in the night,
when people are falling into a deep sleep,
while they slumber on their beds,
16 he whispers a revelation into people’s ears,
and he confirms his warnings to them,
17 in order to turn a man from his course of action
and to suppress a person’s pride.
18 He spares his life from the pit.
He spares his life from crossing the stream of death.[h]
19 Or a person may be disciplined on his bed by pain
and by continual agony in his bones,
20 so that his life makes food disgusting to him,
and he has no appetite for delicious food.
21 His flesh wastes away and disappears,
and his bones, which were hidden, now stick out.
22 Then his soul draws near to destruction,
and his life to those who bring death.
23 If there is a messenger at his side to mediate,
one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
24 if he is gracious to him,
if he says, “Spare him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom for him,”
25 then his flesh would become more vigorous than it was in his youth.
He would return to days of youthful vitality.
26 Then he would pray to God,
and God would be pleased with him.
With a joyful cry he would see God’s face,
and God would restore his righteousness to the man.
27 Then the man would turn to people and say,[i]
“I have sinned, and I have perverted what is right,
yet I was not punished as much as I deserved.
28 God has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit,
and my life will see the light.”
29 Look, God does all these things with a man—
two times, or even three times—
30 to bring back his soul from the pit,
so that light shines on him among the living.
31 Pay attention, Job. Listen to me.
Be silent, so that I may speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me.
Speak up, for I would be delighted to declare you innocent.
33 If you have nothing to say, listen to me
Be silent, so I may teach you wisdom.
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent by ourselves to claim that anything comes from us; rather, our competence is from God. 6 He also made us competent as ministers of a new testament[a] (not of letter, but of spirit).[b] For the letter kills, but the spirit[c] gives life.
The Ministry of the Spirit
7 If the ministry that brought death (which was engraved in letters on stone) came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look directly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (though it was fading), 8 how will the ministry of the spirit[d] not be much more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, the ministry that brought righteousness has even more glory. 10 In fact, in this case, what was glorious is no longer very glorious, because of the greater glory of that which surpasses it. 11 Indeed, if what is fading away was glorious, how much more glorious is that which is permanent!
12 Therefore, since we have this kind of hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the Israelites could not continue to look at the end of the radiance, as it was fading away. 14 In spite of this, their minds were hardened. Yes, up to the present day, the same veil remains when the Old Testament is read. It has not been removed because it is taken away only in Christ. 15 Instead, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 But all of us who reflect the Lord’s glory with an unveiled face are being transformed into his own image, from one degree of glory to another. This too is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Psalm 43
A Plea for Vindication
1 Judge me justly, O God,
and plead my case against an ungodly nation.
Rescue me from the deceitful, wicked man.
2 I know you are God, my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go around mourning
because of oppression by the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth.
Let them guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and gladness.
Then I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Refrain
5 Why are you so depressed, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I will again praise him
for my salvation from the face of my God.[a]
8 Whoever sows injustice reaps trouble,
and the rod that inflicts his fury will be destroyed.
9 A generous person will be blessed,
because he gives some of his food to the poor.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.