The Daily Audio Bible
Job’s Fifth Speech
16 Then[a] Job answered and said,
2 “I have heard many things like these;
all of you are miserable comforters.[b]
3 Is there a limit to windy words?
What provokes you that you answer?
4 I myself[c] also could talk as you,
if you were in my place;[d]
I could join against you with words,
and I could shake at you with my head.
5 I could[e] encourage you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would[f] ease the pain.
6 If I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I cease, how much will leave me?
7 “Surely now he has worn me out;
you[g] have devastated all my company.
8 Thus[h] you shriveled me up;[i]
it became a witness.
And my leanness has risen up against me;
it testifies to my face.
9 His wrath has torn, and he has been hostile toward me;
he gnashed at me with his teeth.
My foe sharpens his eyes against me.
10 They gaped at me with their mouth;
they struck my cheeks with disgrace;
they have massed themselves together against me.
11 God delivers me to an evil one,
and he casts me into the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was at ease, then[j] he broke me in two,
and he seized me by my neck;
then[k] he shattered me
and set me up as a target for him.
13 His archers surround me;
he slashes open my kidneys, and he does not have compassion;
he pours out my gall on the ground.
14 He breached me breach upon breach;[l]
he rushes at me like a warrior.
15 “I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,
and I have inserted my pride[m] in the dust.
16 My face is red because of weeping,
and deep shadows are on my eyelids,
17 although[n] violence is not on my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, you should not cover my blood,
and let there be no place[o] for my cry for help.
19 So now look, my witness is in the heavens,
and he who vouches for me is in the heights.
20 My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 and it argues[p] for a mortal with God,
and as a human[q] for his friend.
22 Indeed, after a few years[r] have come,
then[s] I will go the way from which I will not return.
Job’s Fifth Speech, Continued
17 “My spirit is pulled down; my days are extinguished;
the graveyard is for me.
2 Surely[t] mockery is with me,
and my eye rests[u] on their provocation.
3 Please lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is he who will give security for my hand?[v]
4 Indeed,[w] you have closed their mind from understanding;
therefore, you will not let them triumph.
5 He denounces friends for reward,
so[x] his children’s eyes will fail.
6 “And he has made me a proverb for[y] the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.[z]
7 And my eye has grown dim from grief,
and the limbs of my body are all[aa] like a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent excites himself over the godless.
9 But[ab] the righteous holds on to his way,
and he who has clean hands[ac] increases in strength.
10 But[ad] all of you must return[ae]—please come![af]
But[ag] I shall not find a wise person among you.
11 “My days are past; my plans are broken down—
even the desires of my heart.
12 They make night into day,
saying, ‘Light is near to darkness.’[ah]
13 If I hope for Sheol as my house,
if I spread my couch in the darkness,
14 if I call to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
to the maggot, ‘You are my mother or[ai] my sister,’
15 where[aj] then is my hope?
And who will see my hope?[ak]
16 Will they go down to the bars of Sheol?
Or shall we descend together into the dust?”
Bildad’s Second Speech
18 Then[al] Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 “How long[am] will you[an] hunt for words?[ao]
Consider,[ap] and afterward we shall speak.
3 Why are we considered as animals?
Why are we taken as[aq] stupid in your[ar] eyes?
4 “You who are tearing yourself[as] in your[at] anger,
will the earth be forsaken because of you?[au]
Or[av] will the rock be removed from its place?
5 Furthermore,[aw] the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of his fire will not shine.
6 The light becomes dark in his tent,
and his lamp above him is put out.
7 “His strong steps[ax] are shortened,
and his own schemes[ay] throw him down,
8 for he is thrust into a net by his feet,
and he walks into a pitfall.
9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare takes hold of him.
10 His rope is hidden in the ground,
and his trap on the path.
11 “Sudden terrors terrify him all around,
and they chase him at his heels.
12 His wealth will become hunger,
and disaster is ready for his stumbling.
13 It consumes parts of his skin;
the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14 He is torn from his tent in which he trusted,[az]
and it brought him to the king of terrors.
15 “Nothing[ba] remains for him in his tent;
sulfur is scattered upon his dwelling place.
16 His roots dry up below,[bb]
and its branches[bc] wither away above.[bd]
17 His remembrance perishes from the earth,
and there is not a name for him on the street.
18 “They thrust him from light into darkness,
and they drive him out from the world.
19 There is no offspring for him nor[be] a descendant among his people,
and there is not a survivor in his abode.
20 Those of the west are appalled over his fate,[bf]
and those of the east are seized with horror.[bg]
21 Surely these are the dwellings of the godless,
and this is the dwelling place of him who knows not God.”
Job’s Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad
19 Then[bh] Job answered and said,
2 “How long[bi] will you[bj] torment me[bk]
and crush me with words?
3 These ten times you[bl] have disgraced me;
you[bm] are not ashamed that you[bn] have attacked[bo] me.
4 And what is more, if I have truly erred,
my error remains with me.
5 If indeed you[bp] must magnify yourselves against me,
and you[bq] must let my disgrace argue against me,
6 know then that God has wronged me
and has surrounded me with his net.
7 “Look, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but[br] I am not answered;
I cry out, but[bs] there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so that[bt] I cannot pass;
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
9 He has taken my glory from me,
and he has removed the crown of[bu] my head.
10 He has broken me down all around, and I am gone.
And he has uprooted my hope like a tree,
11 and he has kindled his wrath against me,
and he has counted me as one of his foes.[bv]
12 His troops have come together
and have thrown up their rampart[bw] against me
and have encamped around my tent.
13 “He has removed my kinsfolk from me,
and my acquaintances have only[bx] turned aside from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 The sojourners in[by] my house and my slave women count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, but[bz] he does not answer;
I must personally[ca] plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife,
and I am loathsome to my own family.[cb]
18 Little boys also despise me;
when I rise, then[cc] they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends[cd] abhor me,
and these whom I have loved have turned against me.
20 My bones[ce] cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, pity me, you my friends,
for God’s hand has touched me.
22 Why do you[cf] pursue me like God?
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “O that[cg] my words could be written down!
O that they could be inscribed in a scroll![ch]
24 That with a pen of iron and with lead
they might be engraved on a rock forever!
25 But[ci] I myself[cj] know that my redeemer is alive,
and at the last he will stand up upon the earth.[ck]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
but[cl] from[cm] my flesh I will see God,
27 whom I will see for myself,[cn]
and whom my eyes will see and not a stranger.[co]
My heart faints within me.[cp]
28 “If you[cq] say, ‘How will we persecute him?’
And ‘The root of the trouble is found’ in me,[cr]
29 be afraid for yourselves because of the sword,[cs]
for wrath brings punishment by[ct] the sword,
so that you may know that there is judgment.”
Concerning the Collection for the Saints
16 Now concerning the collection for the saints: just as I gave directions about it to the churches of Galatia, so you do also. 2 On the first day of the week, each one of you put aside[a] something, saving up to whatever extent he has prospered[b], in order that whenever I come, at that time collections do not take place. 3 And whenever I arrive, whomever you approve by letters, I will send these to take your gift to Jerusalem. 4 And if it is worthwhile for me to go also, they will travel with me.
Travel Plans for Paul and Associates
5 But I will come to you whenever I go through Macedonia (for I am going through Macedonia), 6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. 7 For I do not want to see you now in passing, for I hope to remain some time with you, if the Lord allows it. 8 But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a great and effective door has opened for me, and there are many opponents.
10 But if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to fear, for he is carrying out the Lord’s work, as I also am. 11 Therefore do not let anyone disdain him, but send him on his way in peace in order that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
12 Now concerning Apollos our brother, I urged him many times that he should come to you with the brothers, and he was not at all willing that he should come now, but he will come whenever he has an opportunity.
Concluding Exhortations
13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act courageously, be strong. 14 All your actions must be done in love.
15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know about the household of Stephanas, that they are the first fruits of Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the ministry for the saints— 16 that you also be subject to such people, and to all those who work together and labor. 17 Now I rejoice over the arrival of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because these make up for your absence, 18 for they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore recognize such people.
Final Greetings and Benediction
19 The churches of the province of Asia[c] greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you in the Lord many times, together with the church in their house. 20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 The greeting is by my hand—Paul’s. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. O Lord, come![d]
23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.
God’s Faithfulness and Deliverance
For the music director. Of David. A psalm.[a]
40 I waited patiently for Yahweh,
And he inclined to me
and heard my cry for help.
2 And so he brought me up from the roaring pit,[b]
from the miry clay.
And he put my feet upon a rock;
he made my steps steady.
3 Then he put a new song in my mouth,
a praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and will trust Yahweh.
4 Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust
and does not turn to the proud and to those who fall away to a lie.[c]
5 Many things, O Yahweh my God, you have done—
your wonderful deeds and your thoughts toward us.
There is none to compare with you.
If I tried to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be too numerous to count.
6 A sacrifice and offering you do not desire.
My ears you have opened.[d]
Burnt offering and sin offering you have not demanded.
7 Then I said, “Look, I come.
In the scroll of the book
it is written concerning me:
8 ‘I delight to do your will, O my God,
and your law is deep within me.’”[e]
9 I have brought good tidings of righteousness in the great congregation.
Look, I have not shut my lips.
O Yahweh, you surely know that.[f]
10 Your righteousness I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your loyal love or your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
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