The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the GW. Switch to the GW to read along with the audio.
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Bitter
23 Then Job answered:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;[a]
his[b] hand is heavy despite my groaning.(A)
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his dwelling!(B)
4 I would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.(C)
5 I would learn what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No, but he would give heed to me.
7 There the upright could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.(D)
8 “If I go forward, he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;(E)
9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn[c] to the right, but I cannot see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.(F)
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.(G)
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured his words in my bosom.[d](H)
13 But he stands alone, and who can dissuade him?
What he desires, that he does.(I)
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.(J)
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty[e] has terrified me.(K)
17 If only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face
Job Complains of Violence on the Earth
24 “Why are times not kept by the Almighty,[g]
and why do those who know him never see his days?(M)
2 The wicked[h] remove landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.(N)
3 They drive away the donkey of the orphan;
they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.(O)
4 They thrust the needy off the road;
the poor of the earth all hide themselves.(P)
5 Like wild asses in the desert
they go out to their toil,
scavenging in the wasteland
food for their young.(Q)
6 They reap in a field not their own,
and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They lie all night naked, without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.(R)
8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains
and cling to the rock for want of shelter.(S)
9 “There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast
and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.(T)
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
11 between their terraces[i] they press out oil;
they tread the winepresses but suffer thirst.
12 From the city the dying groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
yet God pays no attention to their prayer.(U)
13 “There are those who rebel against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways
and do not stay in its paths.(V)
14 The murderer rises at dusk
to kill the poor and needy
and in the night is like a thief.(W)
15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
saying, ‘No eye will see me,’
and he disguises his face.(X)
16 In the dark they dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.(Y)
17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.(Z)
18 “Swift are they on the face of the waters;
their portion in the land is cursed;
no treader turns toward their vineyards.(AA)
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
so does Sheol those who have sinned.(AB)
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered,
so wickedness is broken like a tree.(AC)
21 “They harm[j] the childless woman
and do no good to the widow.(AD)
22 Yet God[k] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
they rise up when they despair of life.(AE)
23 He gives them security, and they are supported;
his eyes are upon their ways.(AF)
24 They are exalted a little while and then are gone;
they wither and fade like the mallow;[l]
they are cut off like the heads of grain.(AG)
25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar
and show that there is nothing in what I say?”
Bildad Speaks: How Can a Mortal Be Righteous before God?
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “Dominion and fear are with God;[m]
he makes peace in his high heaven.(AH)
3 Is there any number to his armies?
Upon whom does his light not arise?(AI)
4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?(AJ)
5 If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his sight,(AK)
6 how much less a mortal, who is a maggot,
and a human being, who is a worm!”(AL)
Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable
26 Then Job answered:
2 “How you have helped one who has no power!
How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!(AM)
3 How you have counseled one who has no wisdom
and given much good advice!
4 With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose spirit has come forth from you?
5 The shades below tremble,
the waters and their inhabitants.
6 Sheol is naked before God,
and Abaddon has no covering.(AN)
7 He stretches out Zaphon[n] over the void
and hangs the earth upon nothing.(AO)
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not torn open by them.(AP)
9 He covers the face of the full moon
and spreads over it his cloud.(AQ)
10 He has described a circle on the face of the waters,
at the boundary between light and darkness.(AR)
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astounded at his rebuke.
12 By his power he stilled the Sea;
by his understanding he struck down Rahab.(AS)
13 By his wind the heavens were made fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.(AT)
14 These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways,
and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?”(AU)
Job Maintains His Integrity
27 Job again took up his discourse and said:(AV)
2 “As God lives, who has taken away my right,
and the Almighty,[o] who has made my soul bitter,(AW)
3 as long as my breath is in me
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.(AX)
5 Far be it from me to say that you are right;
until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.(AY)
6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
my heart will not reproach me as long as I live.(AZ)
7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,
and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off,
when God takes away their lives?(BA)
9 Will God hear their cry
when trouble comes upon them?(BB)
10 Will they take delight in the Almighty?[p]
Will they call upon God at all times?(BC)
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
that which is with the Almighty[q] I will not conceal.
12 All of you have seen it yourselves;
why then have you become altogether vain?
13 “This is the portion of the wicked with God
and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:[r](BD)
14 If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
and their offspring have not enough to eat.(BE)
15 Those who survive them the pestilence buries,
and their widows make no lamentation.(BF)
16 Though they heap up silver like dust
and pile up clothing like clay,(BG)
17 they may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
and the innocent will divide the silver.(BH)
18 They build their houses like nests,
like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.
19 They go to bed with wealth but will do so no more;
they open their eyes, and it is gone.(BI)
20 Terrors overtake them like a flood;
in the night a whirlwind carries them off.(BJ)
21 The east wind lifts them up, and they are gone;
it sweeps them out of their place.(BK)
22 It[s] hurls at them without pity;
they flee from its[t] power in headlong flight.(BL)
23 It[u] claps its[v] hands at them
and hisses at them from its[w] place.(BM)
The Postponement of Paul’s Visit
12 Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with holiness[a] and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God—and all the more toward you.(A) 13 For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end— 14 as you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.(B)
15 Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor;[b](C) 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.(D) 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards,[c] ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you is not[d] “Yes and No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not “Yes and No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”(E) 20 For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.(F) 21 But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us,(G) 22 who has put his seal on us and given[e] us his Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.(H)
23 But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.(I) 24 I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy because you stand firm in faith.(J) 2 1
Forgiveness for the Offender
5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has caused it not to me but to some extent—not to exaggerate it—to all of you. 6 This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person;(M) 7 so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by even worse grief. 8 So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in everything.(N) 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. In fact, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ. 11 And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.
Psalm 41
Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;[a]
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.(A)
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.(B)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[b](C)
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”(D)
5 My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die and my name perish.(E)
6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.(F)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.(G)
8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.(H)
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.(I)
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.(J)
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me:
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.(K)
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity
and set me in your presence forever.(L)
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.(M)
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.