The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NLT. Switch to the NLT to read along with the audio.
Grant me a trial
23 Job answered:
2 Today my complaint is again bitter;[a]
my strength is weighed down because of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I could know how to find him—
come to his dwelling place;
4 I would lay out my case before him,
fill my mouth with arguments,
5 know the words with which he would answer,
understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me through brute force?
No, he would surely listen to me.
7 There those who do the right thing can argue with him;
I could escape from my judge forever.
God’s hiddenness
8 Look, I go east; he’s not there,
west, and don’t discover him;
9 north in his activity, and I don’t grasp him;
he turns south, and I don’t see.
10 Surely he knows my way;
when he tests me,
I will emerge as gold.
11 My feet have stayed right in his tracks.
I have kept his way and not left it,
12 kept the commandments from his lips and not departed,
valued the words from his mouth more than my food.
Dread
13 He is of one mind; who can reverse it?
What he desires, he does.
14 He carries out what is decreed for me
and can do many similar things with me.
15 Therefore, I am scared by his presence;
I think and become afraid of him.
16 God has weakened my mind;
the Almighty has frightened me.
17 Still I’m not annihilated by darkness;
he has hidden deep darkness from me.
Absence of justice
24 Why doesn’t the Almighty establish times for punishment?[b]
Why can’t those who know him see his days?
2 People move boundary stones,
herd flocks they’ve stolen,
3 drive off an orphan’s donkey,
take a widow’s ox as collateral,
4 thrust the poor out of the way,
make the land’s needy hide together.
5 They are like the wild donkeys in the desert;
they go forth at dawn searching for prey;
the wasteland is food for their young.
6 They gather their food in the field,
glean in unproductive vineyards,
7 spend the night naked, unclothed,
in the cold without a cover,
8 wet from mountain rains,
with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
9 The orphan is stolen from the breast;
the infant[c] of the poor is taken as collateral.
10 The poor go around naked, without clothes,
carry bundles of grain while hungry,
11 crush olives between millstones,[d]
tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
12 From the city, the dying cry out;
the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame.
Sinners’ conduct
13 They rebel against light,
don’t acknowledge its direction,
don’t dwell in its paths.
14 The murderer rises at twilight,
kills the poor and needy;
at night, they are like a thief.
15 The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
thinking, No eye can see me,
and puts a mask over his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses;
they shut themselves in by day;
they don’t know the light.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them
because they recognize the horror of darkness.
18 They are scum on the water’s surface;
their portion of the land is cursed;
no one walks down a path in the vineyards.
19 Drought and heat steal melted snow,
just as the underworld[e] steals sinners.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm consumes them;
they aren’t remembered,
and so wickedness is shattered like a tree.
21 They prey on the barren, the childless,
do nothing good for the widow.
22 They drag away the strong by force;
they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
23 They make themselves secure;
they are at ease.
His[f] eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a short time, but no longer.
They are humbled then gathered in like everyone else;
cut off like heads of grain.
25 If this isn’t so, who can prove me a liar
and make my words disappear?
Inferior humans
25 Bildad from Shuah replied:
2 Supreme power and awe belong to God;
he establishes peace on his heights.
3 Can his troops be counted?
On whom does his light not rise?
4 How can a person be innocent before God;
one born of a woman be pure?
5 If even the moon is not bright
and the stars not pure in his eyes,
6 how much less a human, a worm,
a person’s child, a grub.
Sarcasm
26 Then Job said:
2 How well you have helped the weak,
saved those with frail arms,
3 advised one lacking wisdom,
informed many with insight!
4 With whom have you spoken;[g]
whose breath was expelled from you?
Truth about God
5 The dead writhe,
the inhabitants beneath the waters as well.
6 The grave[h] is naked before God;
the underworld[i] lacks covering.
7 He stretched the North[j] over chaos,
hung earth over nothing;
8 wrapped up water in his clouds,
yet they didn’t burst out below;
9 hid the face of the full moon,[k]
spreading his cloud over it;
10 traced a circle on the water’s surface,
at the limit of light and darkness.
11 Heaven’s pillars shook,
terrified by his blast.
12 By his power he stilled the Sea;
split Rahab with his cleverness.
13 Due to his wind, heaven became clear;
his hand split the fleeing serpent.
14 Look, these are only the outer fringe of his ways;
we hear only a whispered word about him.
Who can understand his thunderous power?
Job rejects Bildad’s argument
27 Then Job took up his topic again:
2 As God lives, who rejected my legal claim,
the Almighty, who made me bitter,
3 as long as breath is in me
and God’s breath is in my nostrils—
4 my lips will utter no wickedness;
my tongue will mumble no deceit.
5 I will not agree that you are right.
Until my dying day, I won’t give up my integrity.
6 I will insist on my innocence, never surrendering it;
my conscience will never blame me for what I have done.[l]
Job curses his enemies
7 Let my enemy be like the wicked,
my opposition like the vicious.
8 For what hope has the godless when God cuts them off,
when he takes them away.
9 Will God hear their cries
when distress comes to them;
10 will they delight in the Almighty,
call God at any time?
Job’s view of his enemies’ fate
11 I will teach you God’s power,
not hide what pertains to the Almighty.
12 Look, those of you who recognize this—
why then this empty talk?
13 This is the wicked’s portion with God,
the inheritance that the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
14 If their children increase, they belong to the sword;
their offspring won’t have enough bread.
15 Their survivors will be buried with the dead;
their widows won’t weep.
16 If they store up silver like dust,
amass clothing like clay,
17 they may amass, but the righteous will wear it;
the innocent will divide the silver.
18 They built their houses like nests,
like a hut made by a watchman.
19 They lie down rich, but no longer;
open their eyes, but it’s missing.
20 Terrors overtake them like waters;
a tempest snatches them by night;
21 an east wind lifts them, and they are gone,
removes them from their places,
22 throws itself on them without mercy;
they flee desperately from its force.
23 It claps its hands over them,
hisses at them from their place.
Paul explains his change of plans
12 We have conducted ourselves with godly sincerity and pure motives in the world, and especially toward you. This is why we are confident, and our conscience confirms this. We didn’t act with human wisdom but we relied on the grace of God. 13 We don’t write anything to you except what you can read and also understand. I hope that you will understand totally 14 since you have already understood us partly. Understand that in the day of our Lord Jesus, we will make you proud as you will also make us proud.
15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you could have a second opportunity to see me. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then come to you again on my way back from Macedonia, at which point I was hoping you would help me on my way to Judea.
17 So I wasn’t unreliable when I planned to do this, was I? Or do I make decisions with a substandard human process so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 But as God is faithful, our message to you isn’t both yes and no. 19 God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the one who was preached among you by us—through me, Silvanus, and Timothy—he wasn’t yes and no. In him it is always yes. 20 All of God’s promises have their yes in him. That is why we say Amen through him to the glory of God.
21 God is the one who establishes us with you in Christ and who anointed us. 22 God also sealed us and gave the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts. 23 I call on God as my witness—I didn’t come again to Corinth because I wanted to spare you. 24 It isn’t that we are trying to control your faith, but we are working with you for your happiness, because you stand firm in your faith. 2 1 So I decided that, for my own sake, I wouldn’t visit you again while I was upset. 2 If I make you sad, who will be there to make me glad when you are sad because of me?
Paul’s former letter
3 That’s why I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I wouldn’t be made sad by the ones who ought to make me happy. I have confidence in you, that my happiness means your happiness. 4 I wrote to you in tears, with a very troubled and anxious heart. I didn’t write to make you sad but so you would know the overwhelming love that I have for you.
5 But if someone has made anyone sad, that person hasn’t hurt me but all of you to some degree (not to exaggerate). 6 The punishment handed out by the majority is enough for this person. 7 This is why you should try your best to forgive and to comfort this person now instead, so that this person isn’t overwhelmed by too much sorrow. 8 So I encourage you to show your love for this person.
9 This is another reason why I wrote you. I wanted to test you and see if you are obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I do too. And whatever I’ve forgiven (if I’ve forgiven anything), I did it for you in the presence of Christ. 11 This is so that we won’t be taken advantage of by Satan, because we are well aware of his schemes.
Psalm 41
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
41 Those who pay close attention to the poor are truly happy!
The Lord rescues them during troubling times.
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are widely regarded throughout the land as happy people.
You[a] won’t hand them over to the will of their enemies.
3 The Lord will strengthen them when they are lying in bed, sick.
You will completely transform the place where they lie ill.
4 But me? I said, “Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies speak maliciously about me:
“When will he die and his name disappear?”
6 Whenever they come to visit, they say nothing of value.
Their hearts collect evil gossip;
once they leave, they tell it to everybody.
7 All of those who hate me talk about me, whispering to each other,
plotting evil against me:
8 “Some horrible thing has been poured into him;
the next time he lies down, he won’t get up.”
9 Even my good friend,
the one I trusted,
who shared my food,
has kicked me with his heel—a betrayer!
10 But you, Lord, please have mercy on me and lift me up
so I can pay them back!
11 Then I’ll know you are pleased with me
because my enemy won’t be shouting in triumph over me.
12 You support me in my integrity;
you put me in your presence forever.
13 Bless the Lord, the God of Israel,
from forever to forever!
Amen and Amen!
5 Thorns and nets are in the path of the crooked;
those who guard their lives keep their distance.
6 Train children in the way they should go;
when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible