The Daily Audio Bible

Bildad Talks

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, ² “How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a strong wind? ³ Does God make wrong what is fair? Does the All-powerful make wrong what is right? ⁴ If your children have sinned against Him, He has given them over to the power of their sin. ⁵ If you will look for God and pray to the All-powerful, ⁶ if you are pure and right and good, for sure He will help you. Because you are right and good He will put you back where you should be. ⁷ And even if your beginning was small, your end will be very great.

⁸ “Ask about those who have lived before. Think about what their fathers learned. ⁹ For we are only of yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as a shadow. ¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak words of wisdom?

¹¹ “Can the tall river grass grow up from dry ground? Can the grass that grows in wet places grow without water? ¹² While it is still green and not cut, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant. ¹³ So are the ways of all who forget God. The hope of the man without God is destroyed. ¹⁴ What he trusts in is easy to break, like the home of a spider. ¹⁵ The spider trusts in his house, but it falls apart. He holds on to it, but it does not hold. ¹⁶ He is full of strength in the sunshine, and his branches spread out over his garden. ¹⁷ His roots grow around rocks and they work their way among the stones. ¹⁸ If he is taken from his place, then it will turn away from him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’ ¹⁹ See, this is the joy of His way. And out of the dust others will come. ²⁰ See, God will not turn away from a man who is honest and faithful. And He will not help those who do wrong. ²¹ He will yet make you laugh and call out with joy. ²² Those who hate you will be dressed with shame. And the tent of the sinful will be no more.”

Job Talks

9 Then Job answered, ² “Yes, I know this is true. But how can a man be right and good before God? ³ If one wished to argue with Him, he would not be able to answer one out of a thousand of His questions. ⁴ He is wise in heart and powerful in strength. Who has ever stood against Him without being hurt? ⁵ It is He Who takes away the mountains without their knowing it, when He destroys them in His anger. ⁶ He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars shake. ⁷ He tells the sun not to shine, and He keeps the stars from shining. ⁸ He alone spreads out the heavens and walks upon the waves of the sea. ⁹ He makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades and the stars of the south. ¹⁰ He does things too great for us to understand, and more wonderful works than we can number. ¹¹ When He passes by me, I do not see Him. When He goes by me, I do not know Him. ¹² If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³ “God will not stop His anger. The helpers of Rahab bow under Him. ¹⁴ How then can I answer Him, and choose the right words to speak with Him? ¹⁵ Even if I am right, I cannot answer Him. I must beg Him who is against me to have pity. ¹⁶ If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice. ¹⁷ For He crushes me with a storm, and hurts me more and more without a reason. ¹⁸ He will not let me get my breath, but fills me with much that is bitter. ¹⁹ If it is a question of power, see, He is the strong one! If it is a question of what is right and fair, who can call Him to a trial? ²⁰ Even if I were right, my mouth would say that I am guilty. Even if I were without blame, He would say I am guilty. ²¹ Even though I am without blame, I do not care about myself. I hate my life. ²² It is all the same, so I say, ‘He destroys both those who are without blame and the sinful.’ ²³ If death comes fast by disease, He makes fun of the trouble of those who have done no wrong. ²⁴ The earth is given into the hand of the sinful. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵ “My days go faster than a runner. They fly away, and see no good. ²⁶ They go by like fast boats, like an eagle coming down to catch its food. ²⁷ If I say, ‘I will forget my complaining. I will put off my sad face and be happy,’ ²⁸ I am still afraid of all my pains for I know You will not take away my guilt. ²⁹ Because I am already guilty, why should I try for nothing? ³⁰ If I wash myself with snow and clean my hands using the best soap, ³¹ You would still throw me down into a deep hole. And my own clothes would hate me. ³² For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, that we might go to trial together. ³³ There is no one to decide between us, who might lay his hand upon us both. ³⁴ Let Him stop punishing me. And do not let fear of Him make me so afraid. ³⁵ Then I would speak and not be afraid of Him. But I am not like that in myself.

Job Keeps On Talking

10 “I hate my life. I will be free in my complaining. I will show how bitter I am in my soul when I speak. ² I will say to God, ‘Do not say that I am guilty and punish me. Let me know why You work against me. ³ Do You think it is right for You to make it hard for me, to turn away from the work of Your hands and favor the plans of the sinful? ⁴ Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as a man sees? ⁵ Are Your days as the days of man, or Your years as man’s years, ⁶ that You should look for my wrong-doing and my sin? ⁷ You know that I am not guilty, yet there is no one who can take me away from Your hand.

⁸ ‘Your hands put me together and made me, and now would You destroy me? ⁹ Remember that You have made me as clay. Would You turn me into dust again? ¹⁰ Did You not pour me out like milk and make me become hard like cheese? ¹¹ You have given me clothing of skin and flesh, and have tied me together with bones and cord. ¹² You have given me life and loving-kindness. Your care has kept my spirit alive. ¹³ Yet You have hidden these things in Your heart. I know that this is in Your thoughts. ¹⁴ If I sin, You would see me, and would not free me from my guilt. ¹⁵ If I am sinful, it would be bad for me! If I am right and good, I cannot lift my head for I am filled with shame and see all my trouble. ¹⁶ If I would lift up my head, You would hunt me like a lion. Again You would show Your power against me. ¹⁷ You would send new ones who would speak against me, and become more angry with me. You would send me more and more trouble.

¹⁸ ‘Why then did You let me be born? If only I had died and no one had seen me! ¹⁹ I should have been as if I had never lived, carried from my mother to the grave.’ ²⁰ Are not my days few? Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort ²¹ before I go to a place from which I will not return. I will go to the land of darkness and shadow. ²² It is the land of complete darkness and shadow and trouble, where the light is darkness.”

Zophar Talks

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, ² “Should many words go without an answer? Should a man full of talk be said to be without blame? ³ Should your words of pride make men quiet? Should you make fun of truth and no one speak sharp words to you? ⁴ For you say, ‘What I believe is pure. I am without fault in Your eyes.’ ⁵ If only God would speak, and open His lips against you. ⁶ He would show you the secrets of wisdom because there are two sides. Then you would know that God is punishing you less than you should get.

⁷ “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out how far the All-powerful can go? ⁸ They are higher than the heavens. What can you do? They are deeper than the place of the dead. What can you know? ⁹ They are longer than the earth and wider than the sea. ¹⁰ If He passes by, puts a man in prison, or calls him to trial, who can stop Him? ¹¹ For He knows men who are no good. When He sees wrong-doing, will He not look into it? ¹² A fool cannot become wise anymore than a wild donkey can give birth to a man.

¹³ “If you set your heart right, and put out your hands to Him, ¹⁴ and if you put away the sin that is in your hand, do not let wrong-doing be in your tents. ¹⁵ Then you will be able to lift up your face without sin. You would be strong and not afraid. ¹⁶ For you would forget your trouble, remembering it as waters that have passed by. ¹⁷ Your life would be brighter than noon. Darkness would be like the morning. ¹⁸ Then you would trust, because there is hope. You would look around and rest and be safe. ¹⁹ You would lie down and no one would make you afraid. Many would ask for your favor. ²⁰ But the eyes of the sinful will waste away. There will be no way for them to get away. And their hope is to breathe their last.”

Jesus Christ Was Raised from the Dead

15 Christian brothers, I want to tell the Good News to you again. It is the same as I preached to you before. You received it and your faith has been made strong by it. ² This is what I preached to you. You are saved from the punishment of sin by the Good News if you keep hold of it, unless your faith was worth nothing.

³ First of all, I taught you what I had received. It was this: Christ died for our sins as the Holy Writings said He would. ^{(A) 4} Christ was buried. He was raised from the dead three days later as the Holy Writings said He would. ^{(B) 5} Christ was seen by Peter. After that, the twelve followers saw Him. ⁶ After that, more than 500 of His followers saw Him at one time. Most of them are still here, but some have died. ⁷ After that, James saw Christ. Then all the missionaries saw Him. ⁸ Last of all, Christ showed Himself to me as if I had been born too late. ⁹ For I am the least important of all the missionaries. I should not be called a missionary because I made it so hard for God’s church. ¹⁰ I am different now. It is all because of what God did for me by His loving-favor. His loving-favor was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other missionaries. But it was not I who worked. It was God’s loving-favor working through me. ¹¹ It makes no difference how you heard the Good News. It could have been through the other missionaries or through me. The important thing is this: We preached the Good News to you and you believed it.

We Will Be Raised from the Dead Also

¹² We preached to you that Christ has been raised from the dead. But some of you say that people are not raised from the dead. Why do you say this? ¹³ If the dead are not raised, then Christ was not raised from the dead. ¹⁴ If Christ was not raised from the dead, then what we preach to you is worth nothing. Your faith in Christ is worth nothing. ¹⁵ That makes us all liars because we said that God raised Christ from the dead. But God did not raise Christ from the dead if the dead do not come to life again. ¹⁶ If the dead are not raised, then not even Christ was raised from the dead. ¹⁷ If Christ was not raised from the dead, your faith is worth nothing and you are still living in your sins. ¹⁸ Then the Christians who have already died are lost in sin. ¹⁹ If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are more sad than anyone else.

²⁰ But it is true! Christ has been raised from the dead! He was the first One to be raised from the dead and all those who are in graves will follow. ²¹ Death came because of a man, Adam. Being raised from the dead also came because of a Man, Christ. ²² All men will die as Adam died. But all those who belong to Christ will be raised to new life. ²³ This is the way it is: Christ was raised from the dead first. Then all those who belong to Christ will be raised from the dead when He comes again. ²⁴ Next, at the end of the world, Christ will give His holy nation over to God the Father. Christ will have destroyed every nation and power. ²⁵ Christ must be King until He has destroyed all those who hate Him and work against Him. ²⁶ The last thing that will be destroyed is death. ²⁷ The Holy Writings say that God has put all things under Christ’s feet except Himself. ²⁸ When Christ is over all things, He will put Himself under God Who put all things under Christ. And God will be over all things.

Prayer of a Suffering Man

38 O Lord, do not speak sharp words to me when You are angry. Do not punish me in Your burning anger. ² For Your arrows have cut deep into me. And Your hand has come down upon me. ³ My body is in pain because of Your anger. There is no strength in my bones because of my sin. ⁴ For my sins are gone over my head. Like a heavy load, they weigh too much for me. ⁵ My sores smell and grow bigger because I do foolish things. ⁶ I cannot stand straight but keep my head down. I have sorrow all day long ⁷ for my body is filled with burning pain. There is no strength in my body. ⁸ I am weak and broken. I cry because of the pain in my heart. ⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You. And my breathing deep within is not hidden from You. ¹⁰ My heart beats fast. My strength leaves me. Even the light of my eyes has gone from me. ¹¹ My loved ones and my friends stay away from me because of my sickness. My family stands far away. ¹² Those who want to take my life set their traps. And those who want to destroy me talk about ways to do it. They make their sinful plans all day long.

¹³ But like a deaf man, I do not hear. I am like one who cannot speak and does not open his mouth. ¹⁴ Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, and whose mouth does not argue. ¹⁵ For I hope in You, O Lord. You will answer, O Lord my God. ¹⁶ For I said, “Do not let them be happy and raise themselves up against me when my foot trips.” ¹⁷ For I am ready to fall. And my sorrow is always with me. ¹⁸ For I tell my wrong-doings. I am full of sorrow because of my sin. ¹⁹ But those who fight against me are full of action and strength. There are many who hate me without reason. ²⁰ They pay what is bad for what is good. They are against me because I follow what is good. ²¹ Do not leave me alone, O Lord! O my God, do not be far from me! ²² Hurry to help me, O Lord, Who saves me!

²⁸ A person who tells a lie about someone else will be lost, but the man who listens to the truth will speak forever.

²⁹ A sinful man’s face shows he is pretending, but a good man is sure of himself.