The Daily Audio Bible
Chapter 4
Eliphaz’s First Speech. 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 If someone attempts a word with you, would you mind?
How can anyone refrain from speaking?
3 Look, you have instructed many,
and made firm their feeble hands.
4 Your words have upheld the stumbler;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
5 But now that it comes to you, you are impatient;
when it touches you, you are dismayed.
6 Is not your piety a source of confidence,
and your integrity of life your hope?
7 Reflect now, what innocent person perishes?(A)
Where are the upright destroyed?
8 As I see it, those who plow mischief
and sow trouble will reap them.
9 By the breath of God they perish,(B)
and by the blast of his wrath they are consumed.
10 Though the lion[a] roars, though the king of beasts cries out,
yet the teeth of the young lions are broken;
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 A word was stealthily brought to me,[b]
my ear caught a whisper of it.
13 In my thoughts during visions of the night,(C)
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 Fear came upon me, and shuddering,
that terrified me to the bone.
15 Then a spirit passed before me,
and the hair of my body stood on end.
16 It paused, but its likeness I could not recognize;
a figure was before my eyes,
in silence I heard a voice:(D)
17 “Can anyone be more in the right than God?(E)
Can mortals be more blameless than their Maker?
18 Look, he puts no trust in his servants,(F)
and even with his messengers he finds fault.
19 How much more with those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed more easily than a moth!
20 Morning or evening they may be shattered;
unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 The pegs of their tent are plucked up;
they die without knowing wisdom.”
Chapter 5
1 Call now! Will anyone respond to you?
To which of the holy ones[c] will you turn?
2 Surely impatience kills the fool
and indignation slays the simpleton.
3 I have seen a fool spreading his roots,(G)
but I cursed his household suddenly:
4 May his children be far from safety;
may they be crushed at the gate[d] without a rescuer.
5 What they have reaped may the hungry eat up,
or God take away by blight,
or the thirsty swallow their substance.
6 For not from dust does mischief come,
nor from the soil does trouble sprout.
7 Human beings beget mischief
as sparks[e] fly upward.
8 In your place, I would appeal to God,
and to God I would state my plea.
9 [f]He does things great and unsearchable,
things marvelous and innumerable.
10 He gives rain upon the earth
and sends water upon the fields;
11 (H)He sets up the lowly on high,
and those who mourn are raised to safety.
12 He frustrates the plans of the cunning,
so that their hands achieve no success;
13 He catches the wise in their own ruses,(I)
and the designs of the crafty are routed.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime,
at noonday they grope as though it were night.
15 But he saves the poor from the sword of their mouth,[g]
from the hand of the mighty.
16 Thus the needy have hope,
and iniquity closes its mouth.
17 Happy the one whom God reproves!
The Almighty’s[h] discipline do not reject.
18 For he wounds, but he binds up;(J)
he strikes, but his hands give healing.
19 Out of six troubles he will deliver you,
and at the seventh[i] no evil shall touch you.
20 In famine he will deliver you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword;
21 From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden,
and you shall not fear approaching ruin.
22 At ruin and want you shall laugh;
the beasts of the earth, do not fear.
23 With the stones of the field shall your covenant be,
and the wild beasts shall be at peace with you.
24 And you shall know that your tent is secure;
taking stock of your household, you shall miss nothing.
25 You shall know that your descendants are many,
and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You shall approach the grave in full vigor,
as a shock of grain comes in at its season.
27 See, this we have searched out; so it is!
This we have heard, and you should know.
Chapter 6
Job’s First Reply. 1 Then Job answered and said:
2 Ah, could my anguish but be measured
and my calamity laid with it in the scales,
3 They would now outweigh the sands of the sea!
Because of this I speak without restraint.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me,(K)
and my spirit drinks in their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass?[j]
Does the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can anything insipid be eaten without salt?
Is there flavor in the white of an egg?
7 I refuse to touch them;
they are like loathsome food to me.
8 Oh, that I might have my request,
and that God would grant what I long for:
9 Even that God would decide to crush me,
that he would put forth his hand and cut me off!
10 Then I should still have consolation
and could exult through unremitting pain,
because I have not transgressed the commands of the Holy One.
11 What strength have I that I should endure,
and what is my limit that I should be patient?
12 Have I the strength of stones,
or is my flesh of bronze?
13 Have I no helper,(L)
and has my good sense deserted me?
14 A friend owes kindness to one in despair,
though he has forsaken the fear of the Almighty.
15 My companions are undependable as a wadi,
as watercourses that run dry in the wadies;
16 Though they may be black with ice,
and with snow heaped upon them,
17 Yet once they flow, they cease to be;
in the heat, they disappear from their place.
18 Caravans wander from their routes;
they go into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema[k] search,
the companies of Sheba have hopes;
20 They are disappointed, though they were confident;
they come there and are frustrated.
21 It is thus that you have now become for me;[l]
you see a terrifying thing and are afraid.
22 Have I said, “Give me something,
make a bribe on my behalf from your possessions”?
23 Or “Deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
redeem me from oppressors”?
24 Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have erred.
25 How painful honest words can be;
yet how unconvincing is your argument!
26 Do you consider your words as proof,
but the sayings of a desperate man as wind?
27 You would even cast lots for the orphan,
and would barter over your friend!
28 Come, now, give me your attention;
surely I will not lie to your face.
29 Think it over; let there be no injustice.
Think it over; I still am right.
30 Is there insincerity on my tongue,
or cannot my taste discern falsehood?
Chapter 7
1 (M)Is not life on earth a drudgery,[m]
its days like those of a hireling?
2 Like a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for wages,
3 So I have been assigned months of futility,
and troubled nights have been counted off for me.
4 When I lie down I say, “When shall I arise?”
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and scabs;(N)
my skin cracks and festers;
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
7 Remember that my life is like the wind;(O)
my eye will not see happiness again.
8 The eye that now sees me shall no more behold me;
when your eye is on me, I shall be gone.
9 As a cloud dissolves and vanishes,(P)
so whoever goes down to Sheol shall not come up.
10 They shall not return home again;
their place shall know them no more.
11 My own utterance I will not restrain;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 [n]Am I the Sea, or the dragon,
that you place a watch over me?[o]
13 When I say, “My bed shall comfort me,
my couch shall ease my complaint,”
14 Then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 So that I should prefer strangulation
and death rather than my existence.[p]
16 I waste away: I will not live forever;(Q)
let me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17 [q]What are human beings, that you make much of them,
or pay them any heed?
18 You observe them every morning(R)
and try them at every moment!
19 How long before you look away from me,
and let me alone till I swallow my spit?
20 If I sin, what do I do to you,
O watcher of mortals?
Why have you made me your target?
Why should I be a burden for you?
21 Why do you not pardon my offense,
or take away my guilt?
For soon I shall lie down in the dust;
and should you seek me I shall be gone.
18 I give thanks to God that I speak in tongues more than any of you, 19 but in the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Functions of These Gifts. 20 [a]Brothers, stop being childish in your thinking. In respect to evil be like infants, but in your thinking be mature.(A) 21 It is written in the law:
“By people speaking strange tongues
and by the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
and even so they will not listen to me,(B)
says the Lord.” 22 Thus, tongues are a sign not for those who believe but for unbelievers, whereas prophecy is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.
23 [b]So if the whole church meets in one place and everyone speaks in tongues, and then uninstructed people or unbelievers should come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?(C) 24 But if everyone is prophesying, and an unbeliever or uninstructed person should come in, he will be convinced by everyone and judged by everyone, 25 and the secrets of his heart will be disclosed, and so he will fall down and worship God, declaring, “God is really in your midst.”(D)
Rules of Order. 26 [c]So what is to be done, brothers? When you assemble, one has a psalm, another an instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything should be done for building up.(E) 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let it be two or at most three, and each in turn, and one should interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, the person should keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God.
29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others discern. 30 But if a revelation is given to another person sitting there, the first one should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged. 32 Indeed, the spirits of prophets are under the prophets’ control, 33 since he is not the God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the churches of the holy ones,[d] 34 women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not allowed to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says.(F) 35 But if they want to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home. For it is improper for a woman to speak in the church. 36 Did the word of God go forth from you? Or has it come to you alone?
37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or a spiritual person, he should recognize that what I am writing to you is a commandment of the Lord. 38 If anyone does not acknowledge this, he is not acknowledged. 39 So, [my] brothers, strive eagerly to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues, 40 but everything must be done properly and in order.
Pe
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;(A)
his tongue speaks what is right.
31 God’s teaching is in his heart;(B)
his steps do not falter.
Sadhe
32 The wicked spies on the righteous
and seeks to kill him.
33 But the Lord does not abandon him in his power,
nor let him be condemned when tried.
Qoph
34 Wait eagerly for the Lord,
and keep his way;(C)
He will raise you up to inherit the earth;
you will see when the wicked are cut off.
Resh
35 I have seen a ruthless scoundrel,
spreading out like a green cedar.(D)
36 When I passed by again, he was gone;
though I searched, he could not be found.
Shin
37 Observe the person of integrity and mark the upright;
Because there is a future for a man of peace.(E)
38 Sinners will be destroyed together;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.
Taw
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
their refuge in a time of distress.(F)
40 The Lord helps and rescues them,
rescues and saves them from the wicked,
because they take refuge in him.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination,
the more so when they offer it with bad intent.(A)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.