The Daily Audio Bible

Job Talks

23 Then Job answered, ² “Even today my complaining is bitter. His hand is heavy even when I cry inside myself. ³ If only I knew where to find Him, that I might go where He is! ⁴ I would tell Him how things are with me, and my mouth would be ready to argue. ⁵ I would know His answer, and could think about what He would say to me. ⁶ Would He go against me using His great power? No, He would listen to me. ⁷ There a man who is right could reason with Him. And I would be set free by my Judge.

⁸ “See, I go east, but He is not there. I go west, but I cannot see Him. ⁹ When He works to the left, I cannot see Him. When He turns to the right, I cannot see Him. ¹⁰ But He knows the way that I take. When He has tried me, I will come out as gold. ¹¹ My foot has kept close to His steps. I have kept His way and have not turned aside. ¹² I have not turned away from the words of His lips. I have stored up the words of His mouth. They are worth more to me than the food I need. ¹³ But He cannot be changed. Who can go against Him? He does whatever He wants. ¹⁴ For He does what He has planned for me, and many such things are in His mind. ¹⁵ So I am afraid to be with Him. When I think about it, I am very afraid of Him. ¹⁶ God has made my heart weak. The All-powerful has filled me with fear. ¹⁷ But I am not made quiet by the darkness or the deep shadow which covers my face.

Job Keeps On Talking

24 “Why are times for judging not set up by the All-powerful? And why do those who know Him not see these days? ² Some take away the land-marks and take fields and animals. ³ They drive away the donkeys that belong to those who have no parents. They take the bull that belongs to a woman whose husband has died, as a promise that she will pay what she owes. ⁴ They push poor people off the road. All the poor of the land are made to hide themselves. ⁵ See, they go out like wild donkeys in the desert to look for food for their children. ⁶ They gather food in the fields, and gather what they can that is left from the grape-fields owned by the sinful. ⁷ They lie all night without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. ⁸ They are wet with the mountain rains and stay close to the rocks for cover. ⁹ Others take from the breast the child who has no father. They take the child from the poor as a promise that they will pay what they owe. ¹⁰ They make the poor go about without clothing, making them carry loads of cut grain while they are hungry. ¹¹ Among the olive trees they make oil. They crush grapes but they are thirsty. ¹² Men from the city cry inside themselves. The souls of those who are hurt cry out. Yet God does not listen to their prayer.

¹³ “Then there are those who turn against the light. They do not want to know its ways or stay in its paths. ¹⁴ The one who kills people gets up early in the morning. He kills the poor and those in need. And during the night he is like a robber. ¹⁵ The eye of the one who is not faithful in marriage waits for the evening, saying, ‘No one will see me.’ And he covers his face. ¹⁶ In the dark they dig into houses. They shut themselves up during the day and do not know the light. ¹⁷ For midnight is morning to them. They are not afraid of the fears of darkness.

¹⁸ “They are taken away on the top of the waters. Their part of the earth is cursed. They do not go to their grape-fields. ¹⁹ Dry weather and heat take away the water from the snow, just as the place of the dead takes away those who have sinned. ²⁰ A mother will forget him. The worm is pleased to eat him until he is remembered no more. Sin will be broken like a tree. ²¹ He does wrong to the woman who cannot give birth. And he does no good for the woman whose husband has died. ²² But God by His power gives long life to the strong. They rise again, even when they had no hope of life. ²³ He makes them safe and gives them strength, and His eyes are on their ways. ²⁴ They are given honor for a little while, and then they are gone. They are brought low and gathered up as all others are. They are cut off like the heads of grain. ²⁵ If it is not so, who can prove me a liar, and show that what I say means nothing?”

Bildad Talks

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, ² “Power and fear belong to God. He keeps peace in His high places. ³ Is there any number to His armies? Upon whom does His light not shine? ⁴ How then can a man be right and good before God? How can he who is born of woman be clean? ⁵ See, even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in His eyes. ⁶ How much less man, who is a bug, and the son of man, who is a worm!”

Job Talks

26 Then Job answered, ² “What a help you are to the weak! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! ³ How you have given wise words to him who has no wisdom! How much true learning you have given! ⁴ To whom have your words been said? And from whose spirit have you spoken?

⁵ “The spirits of the dead shake under the waters and those living in them. ⁶ The place of the dead has no covering before God and the place that destroys has no covering. ⁷ He spreads out the north over empty waste, and hangs the earth on nothing. ⁸ He holds the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not break under them. ⁹ He covers the face of the moon and spreads His cloud over it. ¹⁰ He has marked the sides around the waters where light and darkness are divided. ¹¹ The pillars of heaven shake with fear. They are surprised and afraid of His sharp words. ¹² He made the sea quiet by His power. And by His understanding He destroyed Rahab. ¹³ By His breath the heavens are made beautiful. His hand cut through the snake as it tried to get away. ¹⁴ See, these are only a few of the things He does. And how quiet are the words spoken about Him! But who can understand His powerful thunder?”

Job Keeps On Talking

27 Job kept on speaking, and said, ² “As God lives, Who has taken away my right, and the All-powerful, Who has troubled my soul, ³ as long as life is in me, and the breath of God is in my nose, ⁴ my lips will not speak what is not true, and my tongue will not lie. ⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right. Until I die I will not put away my honor. ⁶ I hold on to what is right and good and will not let it go. My heart does not put me to shame for any of my days.

⁷ “May the one who hates me be as the sinful. And may the one who is against me be as those who are not right and good. ⁸ For what is the hope of the man without God when he dies, when God takes away his life? ⁹ Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? ¹⁰ Will he be glad in the All-powerful? Will he call on God at all times? ¹¹ I will teach you about the power of God. I will not hide the ways of the All-powerful. ¹² All of you have seen it yourselves. Why then do you speak in a foolish way?

¹³ “This is what God gives to a sinful man, the gift that a man who makes it hard for others receives from the All-powerful. ¹⁴ If he has many sons, they will be killed by the sword. And his children will not have enough bread to eat. ¹⁵ Those who are left to him will be buried because of disease. And the wives who have lost their husbands will not be able to cry. ¹⁶ He may gather up silver like dust, and gather so much clothing as if they were clay. ¹⁷ He may have it, but those who are right with God will wear it. And those who are without guilt will divide the silver. ¹⁸ He builds his house like the home of a spider, or like a tent which a watchman has made. ¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will never again. When he opens his eyes, his riches are gone. ²⁰ Fears come over him like a flood. A storm carries him away in the night. ²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he is gone. It carries him away from his place. ²² It comes at him without pity. He tries to run from its power as fast as he can. ²³ Men clap their hands at him, and drive him from his place with sounds of shame.

Paul Wants to Visit Corinth

¹² I am happy to say this. Whatever we did in this world, and for sure when we were with you, we were honest and had pure desires. We did not trust in human wisdom. Our power came from God’s loving-favor. ¹³ We write to you only what we know you can understand. I hope you will understand everything. ¹⁴ When the Lord Jesus comes again, you can be as proud of us as we will be proud of you. Right now you do not understand us real well.

¹⁵ It was because of this, I wanted to visit you first. In that way, you would be helped two times. ¹⁶ I wanted to stop to visit you on my way to the country of Macedonia. I would stop again as I came from there. Then you could help me on my way to the country of Judea. ¹⁷ Yes, I changed my mind. Does that show that I change my mind a lot? Do I plan things as people of the world who say yes when they mean no? You know I am not like that! ¹⁸ As God is true, my yes means yes. I am not the kind of person who says one thing and means another. ¹⁹ Timothy and Silvanus and I have preached to you about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Him there is no yes and no. In Him is yes. ²⁰ Jesus says yes to all of God’s many promises. It is through Jesus that we say, “Let it be so,” when we give thanks to God. ²¹ God is the One Who makes our faith and your faith strong in Christ. He has set us apart for Himself. ²² He has put His mark on us to show we belong to Him. His Spirit is in our hearts to prove this.

²³ I call on God to look into my heart. The reason I did not come to the city of Corinth was because I did not want my strong words to hurt you. ²⁴ We are not the boss of your faith but we are working with you to make you happy. Your faith is strong.

2 As I thought about it, I decided I would not come to you again. It would only make you sad. ² If I make you sad, who is going to make me happy? How can you make me happy if I make you sad? ³ That is why I wrote that letter to you. I did not want to visit you and be made sad by the ones who should be making me happy. I am sure when I am happy, you are happy also. ⁴ I wrote you with a troubled heart. Tears were coming from my eyes. I did not want to make you sad. I wanted you to know how much I loved you.

Forgiving a Christian

⁵ If someone among you has brought sorrow, he has not made me as sad as he has all of you. I say this so I may not make it hard for you. ⁶ Most of you have punished him. That is enough for such a person. ⁷ Now you should forgive him and comfort him. If you do not, he will be so sad that he will want to give up. ⁸ I ask you to show him you do love him. ⁹ This is why I wrote to you. I wanted to test you to see if you were willing to obey in all things. ¹⁰ If you forgive a man, I forgive him also. If I have forgiven anything, I have done it because of you. Christ sees me as I forgive. ¹¹ We forgive so that Satan will not win. We know how he works!

Prayer of a Sick Man about False Friends

41 Happy is the man who cares for the poor. The Lord will save him in times of trouble. ² The Lord will keep him alive and safe. And he will be happy upon the earth. You will not give him over to the desire of those who hate him. ³ The Lord will give him strength on his bed of sickness. When he is sick, You will make him well again.

⁴ As for me, I said, “O Lord, have loving-kindness for me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” ⁵ Those who hate me speak bad words against me, saying, “When will he die, and his name be forgotten?” ⁶ When one comes to see me, he speaks lies. His heart gathers up bad stories. Then he goes outside and tells them. ⁷ All who hate me speak in secret together against me. They make plans to hurt me, saying, ⁸ “A bad thing has come over him. When he lies down, he will not rise again.” ⁹ Even a friend of mine whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has turned against me.

¹⁰ Have loving-kindness for me, O Lord. Raise me up, so that I may pay them back. ¹¹ Then I will know that You are pleased with me, because he who hates me does not win over me. ¹² As for me, You hold me up in my honesty. And You set me beside You forever.

¹³ Honor be to the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever! Let it be so!

⁵ Thorns and traps are in the way of the sinful. He who watches himself will stay far from them.

⁶ Bring up a child by teaching him the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it.