The Daily Audio Bible
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Job’s Reply to Eliphaz
16 Then Job answered:
2 I have heard many things like these.
You are all miserable comforters.(A)
3 Is there no end to your empty[a](B) words?
What provokes you that you continue testifying?
4 If you were in my place I could also talk like you.
I could string words together against you
and shake my head at you.
5 Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth,
and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.(C)
6 Even if I speak, my suffering is not relieved,
and if I hold back, what have I lost?
7 Surely He[b] has now exhausted me.
You have devastated my entire family.
8 You have shriveled me up[c]—it has become a witness;
My frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face.
9 His anger tears at me, and He harasses(D) me.
He gnashes His teeth at me.
My enemy pierces me with His eyes.
10 They open their mouths against me
and strike my cheeks with contempt;(E)
they join themselves together against me.
11 God hands me over to unjust men;[d]
He throws me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, but He shattered me;
He seized me by the scruff of the neck
and smashed me to pieces.
He set me up as His target;(F)
13 His archers[e] surround me.
He pierces my kidneys without mercy
and pours my bile on the ground.
14 He breaks through my defenses again and again;[f]
He charges at me like a warrior.(G)
15 I have sewn sackcloth over my skin;
I have buried my strength[g] in the dust.(H)
16 My face has grown red with weeping,
and darkness(I) covers my eyes,
17 although my hands are free from violence(J)
and my prayer is pure.
18 Earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry for help find no resting place.(K)
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is in the heights!(L)
20 My friends scoff at me
as I weep before God.
21 I wish that someone might arbitrate
between a man and God(M)
just as a man pleads for his friend.
22 For only a few years will pass
before I go the way of no return.
17 My spirit is broken.
My days are extinguished.
A graveyard(N) awaits me.
2 Surely mockers surround[h] me
and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.(O)
3 Make arrangements! Put up security for me.[i](P)
Who else will be my sponsor?[j]
4 You have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore You will not honor them.
5 If a man informs on his friends for a price,
the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He has made me an object of scorn to the people;
I have become a man people spit at.[k](Q)
7 My eyes have grown dim from grief,
and my whole body has become but a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled(R) at this,
and the innocent are roused against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,
and the one whose hands are clean(S) will grow stronger.
10 But come back and try again, all of you.[l]
I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have slipped by;
my plans have been ruined,
even the things dear to my heart.
12 They turned night into day
and made light seem near in the face of darkness.(T)
13 If I await Sheol as my home,
spread out my bed in darkness,
14 and say to corruption: You are my father,
and to the maggot: My mother or my sister,(U)
15 where then is my hope?(V)
Who can see any hope for me?
16 Will it go down to the gates of Sheol,(W)
or will we descend together to the dust?
Bildad Speaks
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite(X) replied:
2 How long until you stop talking?
Show some sense, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we regarded as cattle,
as stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in anger[m]—
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?
5 Yes, the light(Y) of the wicked(Z) is extinguished;
the flame of his fire does not glow.
6 The light in his tent grows dark,(AA)
and the lamp beside him is put out.
7 His powerful stride is shortened,
and his own schemes trip him up.(AB)
8 For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.
9 A trap catches him by the heel;
a noose seizes him.
10 A rope lies hidden for him on the ground,
and a snare waits for him along the path.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side(AC)
and harass him at every step.
12 His strength is depleted;
disaster lies ready for him to stumble.[n]
13 Parts of his skin are eaten away;
death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.
14 He is ripped from the security of his tent
and marched away to the king of terrors.
15 Nothing he owned remains in his tent.
Burning sulfur(AD) is scattered over his home.
16 His roots below dry up,
and his branches above wither away.(AE)
17 All memory(AF) of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name anywhere.[o]
18 He is driven from light to darkness
and chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has no children or descendants among his people,
no survivor where he used to live.(AG)
20 Those in the west are appalled(AH) at his fate,
while those in the east tremble in horror.
21 Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,
and this is the place of the one who does not know God.(AI)
Job’s Reply to Bildad
19 Then Job answered:
2 How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat[p] me without shame.(AJ)
4 Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only[q] me.
5 If you really want to appear superior(AK) to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.(AL)
7 I cry out: “Violence!” but get no response;(AM)
I call for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked(AN) my way so that I cannot pass through;
He has veiled my paths with darkness.(AO)
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined.[r]
He uproots my hope like a tree.(AP)
11 His anger(AQ) burns against me,
and He regards me as one of His enemies.(AR)
12 His troops advance together;
they construct a ramp[s] against me
and camp(AS) around my tent.
13 He has removed my brothers from me;
my acquaintances have abandoned me.(AT)
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My house guests[t] and female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.(AU)
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
and my own family[u] finds me repulsive.
18 Even young boys scorn me.
When I stand up, they mock me.(AV)
19 All of my best friends[v] despise me,(AW)
and those I love have turned against me.(AX)
20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, my friends,(AY) have mercy,
for God’s hand(AZ) has struck me.(BA)
22 Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
24 or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
25 But I know my living Redeemer,[w](BB)
and He will stand on the dust[x] at last.[y](BC)
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,[z]
yet I will see God in[aa] my flesh.(BD)
27 I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.[ab]
My heart longs[ac] within me.(BE)
Collection for the Jerusalem Church
16 Now about the collection(A) for the saints: You should do the same as I instructed the Galatian(B) churches. 2 On the first day of the week,[a](C) each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he prospers, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.(D) 3 When I arrive, I will send with letters(E) those you recommend to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem.(F) 4 If it is suitable for me to go as well, they can travel with me.
Paul’s Travel Plans
5 I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia(G)—for I will be traveling through Macedonia— 6 and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go. 7 I don’t want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows.(H) 8 But I will stay in Ephesus(I) until Pentecost,(J) 9 because a wide door(K) for effective ministry has opened for me[b]—yet many oppose me. 10 If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear from you, because he is doing the Lord’s work,(L) just as I am. 11 Therefore, no one should look down(M) on him. Send him on his way in peace so he can come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.[c]
12 About our brother Apollos:(N) I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.
Final Exhortation
13 Be alert, stand firm in the faith,(O) act like a man, be strong. 14 Your every action must be done with love.(P)
15 Brothers, you know the household of Stephanas: They are the firstfruits(Q) of Achaia(R) and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you 16 also to submit to such people, and to everyone who works and labors with them. 17 I am pleased to have Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus present, because these men have made up for your absence. 18 For they have refreshed my spirit(S) and yours. Therefore recognize(T) such people.
Conclusion
19 The churches of Asia(U) greet you.(V) Aquila and Priscilla(W) greet you warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home.(X) 20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.(Y)
21 This greeting is in my own hand[d](Z)—Paul. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him. Marana tha that is, Lord, come![e] 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.(AA) 24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 40
Thanksgiving and a Cry for Help
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.(A)
2 He brought me up from a desolate[a] pit,
out of the muddy clay,(B)
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.(C)
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.(D)
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.(E)
4 How happy is the man
who has put his trust in the Lord
and has not turned to the proud
or to those who run after lies!(F)
5 Lord my God, You have done many things—
Your wonderful works and Your plans for us;
none can compare with You.
If I were to report and speak of them,
they are more than can be told.(G)
6 You do not delight in sacrifice and offering;
You open my ears to listen.[b]
You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering.(H)
7 Then I said, “See, I have come;
it is written about me in the volume of the scroll.(I)
8 I delight to do Your will, my God;(J)
Your instruction lives within me.”[c](K)
22 A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold.(A)
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