The Daily Audio Bible

² “My complaint is still bitter today.
    I groan because God’s heavy hand is on me.
³ I wish I knew where to find God
    so I could go to where he lives.
⁴ I would present my case before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.
⁵ I would learn how he would answer me
    and would think about what he would say.
⁶ Would he not argue strongly against me?
    No, he would really listen to me.
⁷ Then an honest person could present his case to God,
    and I would be saved forever by my judge.

⁸ “If I go to the east, God is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not see him.
⁹ When he is at work in the north, I catch no sight of him;
    when he turns to the south, I cannot see him.
¹⁰ But God knows the way that I take,
    and when he has tested me, I will come out like gold.
¹¹ My feet have closely followed his steps;
    I have stayed in his way;
    I did not turn aside.
¹² I have never left the commands he has spoken;
    I have treasured his words more than my own.

¹³ “But he is the only God.
    Who can come against him?
    He does anything he wants.
¹⁴ He will do to me what he said he would do,
    and he has many plans like this.
¹⁵ That is why I am frightened of him;
    when I think of this, I am afraid of him.
¹⁶ God has made me afraid;
    the Almighty terrifies me.
¹⁷ But I am not hidden by the darkness,
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 “I wish the Almighty would set a time for judging.
    Those who know God do not see such a day.
² Wicked people take other people’s land;
    they steal flocks and take them to new pastures.
³ They chase away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox when she has no money.
⁴ They push needy people off the path;
    all the poor of the land hide from them.
⁵ The poor become like wild donkeys in the desert
    who go about their job of finding food.
    The desert gives them food for their children.
⁶ They gather hay and straw in the fields
    and pick up leftover grapes from the vineyard of the wicked.
⁷ They spend the night naked, because they have no clothes,
    nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
⁸ They are soaked from mountain rains
    and stay near the large rocks because they have no shelter.
⁹ The fatherless child is grabbed from its mother’s breast;
    they take a poor mother’s baby to pay for what she owes.
¹⁰ So the poor go around naked without any clothes;
    they carry bundles of grain but still go hungry;
¹¹ they crush olives to get oil
    and grapes to get wine, but they still go thirsty.
¹² Dying people groan in the city,
    and the injured cry out for help,
    but God accuses no one of doing wrong.

¹³ “Those who fight against the light
    do not know God’s ways
    or stay in his paths.
¹⁴ When the day is over, the murderers get up
    to kill the poor and needy.
    At night they go about like thieves.
¹⁵ Those who are guilty of adultery watch for the night,
    thinking, ‘No one will see us,’
    and they keep their faces covered.
¹⁶ In the dark, evil people break into houses.
    In the daytime they shut themselves up in their own houses,
    because they want nothing to do with the light.
¹⁷ Darkness is like morning to all these evil people
    who make friends with the terrors of darkness.

¹⁸ “They are like foam floating on the water.
    Their part of the land is cursed;
    no one uses the road that goes by their vineyards.
¹⁹ As heat and dryness quickly melt the snow,
    so the grave quickly takes away the sinners.
²⁰ Their mothers forget them,
    and worms will eat their bodies.
They will not be remembered,
    so wickedness is broken in pieces like a stick.
²¹ These evil people abuse women who cannot have children
    and show no kindness to widows.
²² But God drags away the strong by his power.
    Even though they seem strong, they do not know how long they will live.
²³ God may let these evil people feel safe,
    but he is watching their ways.
²⁴ For a little while they are important, and then they die;
    they are laid low and buried like everyone else;
    they are cut off like the heads of grain.
²⁵ If this is not true, who can prove I am wrong?
    Who can show that my words are worth nothing?”

² “God rules and he must be honored;
    he set up order in his high heaven.
³ No one can count God’s armies.
    His light shines on all people.
⁴ So no one can be good in the presence of God,
    and no one born to a woman can be pure.
⁵ Even the moon is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes.
⁶ People are much less! They are like insects.
    They are only worms!”

² “You are no help to the helpless!
    You have not aided the weak!
³ Your advice lacks wisdom!
    You have shown little understanding!
⁴ Who has helped you say these words?
    And where did you get these ideas?

⁵ “The spirits of the dead tremble,
    those who are beneath and in the waters.
⁶ Death is naked before God;
    destruction is uncovered before him.
⁷ God stretches the northern sky out over empty space
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ He wraps up the waters in his thick clouds,
    but the clouds do not break under their weight.
⁹ He covers the face of the moon,
    spreading his clouds over it.
¹⁰ He draws the horizon like a circle on the water
    at the place where light and darkness meet.
¹¹ Heaven’s foundations shake
    when he thunders at them.
¹² With his power he quiets the sea;
    by his wisdom he destroys Rahab, the sea monster.
¹³ He breathes, and the sky clears.
    His hand stabs the fleeing snake.
¹⁴ And these are only a small part of God’s works.
    We only hear a small whisper of him.
    Who could understand God’s thundering power?”

² “As surely as God lives, who has taken away my rights,
    the Almighty, who has made me unhappy,
³ as long as I am alive
    and God’s breath of life is in my nose,
⁴ my lips will not speak evil,
    and my tongue will not tell a lie.
⁵ I will never agree you are right;
    until I die, I will never stop saying I am innocent.
⁶ I will insist that I am right; I will not back down.
    My conscience will never bother me.

⁷ “Let my enemies be like evil people,
    my foes like those who are wrong.
⁸ What hope do the wicked have when they die,
    when God takes their life away?
⁹ God will not listen to their cries
    when trouble comes to them.
¹⁰ They will not find joy in the Almighty,
    even though they call out to God all the time.

¹¹ “I will teach you about the power of God
    and will not hide the ways of the Almighty.
¹² You have all seen this yourselves.
    So why are we having all this talk that means nothing?

¹³ “Here is what God has planned for evil people,
    and what the Almighty will give to cruel people:
¹⁴ They may have many children, but the sword will kill them.
    Their children who are left will never have enough to eat.
¹⁵ Then they will die of disease and be buried,
    and the widows will not even cry for them.
¹⁶ The wicked may heap up silver like piles of dirt
    and have so many clothes they are like piles of clay.
¹⁷ But good people will wear what evil people have gathered,
    and the innocent will divide up their silver.
¹⁸ The houses the wicked build are like a spider’s web,
    like a hut that a guard builds.
¹⁹ The wicked are rich when they go to bed,
    but they are rich for the last time;
    when they open their eyes, everything is gone.
²⁰ Fears come over them like a flood,
    and a storm snatches them away in the night.
²¹ The east wind will carry them away, and then they are gone,
    because it sweeps them out of their place.
²² The wind will hit them without mercy
    as they try to run away from its power.
²³ It will be as if the wind is clapping its hands;
    it will whistle at them as they run from their place.

⁴ I said, “Lord, have mercy on me.
    Heal me, because I have sinned against you.”
⁵ My enemies are saying evil things about me.
    They say, “When will he die and be forgotten?”
⁶ Some people come to see me,
    but they lie.
They just come to get bad news.
    Then they go and gossip.
⁷ All my enemies whisper about me
    and think the worst about me.
⁸ They say, “He has a terrible disease.
    He will never get out of bed again.”
⁹ My best and truest friend, who ate at my table,
    has even turned against me.

¹⁰ Lord, have mercy on me.
    Give me strength so I can pay them back.
¹¹ Because my enemies do not defeat me,
    I know you are pleased with me.
¹² Because I am innocent, you support me
    and will let me be with you forever.

¹³ Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
    He has always been,
    and he will always be.
Amen and amen.

⁵ Evil people’s lives are like paths covered with thorns and traps.
    People who guard themselves don’t have such problems.

⁶ Train children to live the right way,
    and when they are old, they will not stray from it.