The Daily Audio Bible
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Wisdom only comes from God
28 ‘If people want to find silver,
they can dig it out of the ground.
They also have places where they can make gold pure.
2 They know how to take iron from under the ground.
They can also use heat to get copper from rocks.
3 People take light into dark places under the ground.
They look carefully for valuable metals.
4 They dig deep holes in the ground
far away from places where people live.
Other people do not know about those places.
People hang on ropes as they go deep down into the earth.
5 We grow our food on the earth above.
But deep under the ground, people use fire to break the rocks.
6 Sapphires come from the rocks in those places.[a]
The dust there contains gold.
7 Even eagles or other birds with good eyes
do not see those places.
8 Lions and other wild animals do not walk there.
9 People break into the hard rocks.
They turn over rocks under the mountains.
10 They cut holes through the rocks.
They discover stones that are very valuable.
11 They look carefully in the springs of water
where rivers start.
They bring into the light things that were hidden away.
12 But as for wisdom,
people do not know where to find it.
They cannot learn how to understand things properly.
13 Humans do not understand the value of wisdom.
They cannot find it in this world where people live.
14 Wisdom is not in the sea.
Even in the deepest sea, no one will find it.
15 Nobody can buy wisdom.
You may have lots of gold and silver,
but you can never buy wisdom.
16 All the pure gold from Ophir will not be enough to buy it.
It is worth more than valuable onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor beautiful glass is as valuable as wisdom.
A whole pot full of gold could not buy it.
18 As for coral and jasper,
they are not nearly as valuable as wisdom.[b]
Its price is more than the price of rubies.
19 Topaz from Ethiopia is not as valuable as wisdom.
No one can buy it,
not even with pure gold.[c]
20 So where can we find wisdom?
Where can we learn to understand things properly?
21 We cannot see where it is.
No person or animal can see it.
No bird that flies in the sky can see it.
22 In the place of death, they say,
“We have heard only a little about wisdom,
and where to find it.”
23 Only God knows the way to find wisdom.
Only he knows where it is.
24 He can see to the ends of the earth.
He knows what happens everywhere in the world.
25 He decided how strong the wind must be.
He decided the size of the seas.
26 He made a command for the rain
to decide where it should fall.
He chose where storms should go and make thunder.
27 Then he thought about wisdom and its value.
He prepared it and he tested it.
28 God said this to us humans:
“If you want to be wise,
learn to respect the Lord with fear.
If you want to understand things properly,
turn away from evil acts.” ’
Job speaks about his life[d]
29 Job continued to speak. This is what he said:
2 ‘I would like my life to be as it was before,
many months ago.
At that time, God took care of me.
3 He was my guide,
as if he had a lamp to show me the way.
His light kept me safe
as I walked in dark places.
4 I was strong and well.
God was my friend
and he protected my home.
5 At that time, Almighty God was still with me.
My children were near me.
6 I got plenty of milk from my cows,
so that my life was easy.
My olive trees gave me lots of oil.
7 I would go to the gate of the city,
and sit there as one of the leaders.
8 When young men saw me,
they would move to the side.
Even the old men would stand up to respect me.
9 The city's rulers would stop speaking.
They would cover their mouths with their hands.
10 The important leaders would be quiet.
They would not want to say anything.
11 Everyone was very pleased
to listen to the things that I said.
They respected me
when they saw the things that I did.
12 When poor people cried for help,
I rescued them.
I helped children
who had no family that could help them.
13 People who were near to death praised me for my help.
Widows were happy when I helped them.
14 I always did what was right,
like good clothes that I wore.
I was fair and honest,
like my coat and my hat.[e]
15 If people were blind,
I would be their guide.
If people could not walk,
I would fetch things for them.
16 If poor people needed help,
I helped them like their father would do.
I spoke on behalf of strangers
to help them get justice.
17 I destroyed the power of wicked people.
I rescued the people that they had attacked.
18 At that time, I thought,
“I will live to be an old man.
After a long life, I will die in my own home.
19 My body is strong and well,
like a tree that always has plenty of water.
20 People will continue to give me honour.
Each day I will have new strength.”
21 People waited patiently to hear to my advice.
They listened carefully to what I said.
22 After I had spoken,
they did not say any more.
They listened to every word
and they thought about it.
23 They would wait for me to speak to them,
like people who wait for rain to fall.
My words would make them happy,
like rain in spring that makes a farmer happy.
24 They were surprised when I smiled at them.
My smile made them happy.
25 As their leader,
I told them what they should do.
I was like a king who leads his soldiers.
When they were sad,
I would comfort them.’
Job continues to speak[f]
30 ‘But now it is different.
Men who are younger than I am laugh at me.
I would not even trust their fathers
to take care of my sheep.
2 The work that those old men could do was no help to me.
They no longer were strong.
3 They were weak and thin because they were hungry.
They had to look for food in the desert at night.
They found roots to eat in dry places.
4 They pulled up plants in the desert
as their food.
They burned the roots of bushes
to keep themselves warm.
5 People chased them away from their towns,
as if they were shouting at robbers.
6 They had to live in dry valleys,
among the rocks, or in caves.
7 They cried aloud like animals among the bushes.
They hid together under the thorn bushes.
8 They were foolish people that nobody respected.
People chased them away from their land.
9 But now their sons sing songs that insult me.
They tell jokes about me.[g]
10 They hate me
and they do not come near me.
When they see me,
they spit at my face.
11 God has made me weak and helpless.
People do to me anything that they want to do.
12 From one side, the crowd attacks me.
They make me run away.
They are like an army that builds a road
to come and attack me.
13 They stop me from escaping.
They are ready to destroy me.
They do not need anyone to help them.
14 I cannot stop them when they attack me.
They rush forward to knock me down.
15 So I am always afraid.
My honour has disappeared
as if a strong wind has blown it away.
My riches have also gone,
like a cloud that passes across the sky.
16 Now I know that my life will soon end.
Every day I continue to suffer.
17 At night, my bones are painful.
The pain is always there in my body.
18 God has used his power to take hold of me.
He has held my shirt around my neck.
19 He has thrown me down into the mud.
I am no better than dust and ashes on the ground.
20 I call aloud to you, God,
but you do not answer me.
When I stand to pray,
you only look at me.
21 You have become cruel to me.
You have used your strength to attack me.
22 You take hold of me and you carry me away,
like a strong wind that blows.
You use a storm to destroy me.
23 I know that you are already taking me to my death.
Everyone who lives has to go to that place.
24 When someone is weak and in trouble,
people do not usually try to hurt him.
When someone calls aloud for help,
they do not refuse to help him.
25 When other people were in trouble,
I wept for them.
When I saw poor people
it made me very upset.
26 But when I hoped for good things to happen,
trouble came instead.
When I looked for light to shine on me,
everything became dark.
27 I hurt inside me all the time.
Every day I suffer from pain.
28 Illness has caused my skin to become black.
It is not the sun that has made that happen.
I stand up in the public meeting place
and I call aloud for help.
29 I have become like the jackals and the ostriches.
My sad voice sounds like them.
30 My skin has become black,
and bits of skin fall off.
My body is hot with fever.[h]
31 Now, when I make music with my harp,
I only sing funeral songs.
When I make music with my flute,
I do it for people who are weeping.’
The good news about Christ
12 I went to Troas city to tell people the good news about Christ.[a] When I arrived there, I discovered that the Lord had already prepared people to listen. 13 But I was not happy in my thoughts because I could not find my friend Titus there. So I said ‘goodbye’ to those people and I travelled on to Macedonia.
14 But I thank God! He has won against sin, because of what Christ has done. Christ is our leader and we show that he is the winner. We also help people to know about Christ. That knowledge is like a lovely smell that comes to people everywhere. 15 When we tell people about Christ, we are like a lovely smell that rises up to God. We are like that among the people that God is saving. We are also like that among the people who are dying because they are far from God. 16 For the people who are dying, we are like a bad smell that brings a message of death. But for the people that God is saving, we are like a lovely smell that brings a message of new life.
Nobody is really good enough to tell such an important message! 17 Some people even tell God's message because they want to get a lot of money for themselves. But we are not like them. No, God himself has sent us to do this work. And he sees what we are doing. So we are honest and we speak God's message clearly, as Christ's servants should do.
This is a special song for the music leader. The sons of Korah wrote it.
A prayer when you are away from home[a]
42 God, I need you so much!
I look for you,
as a thirsty deer looks for streams of water.
2 Deep down inside me,
I am very thirsty!
You are the God who lives for ever,
and I need life from you!
When will I be able to come near to you
and see you face to face?[b]
3 All day and all night I weep.
My tears are my only food!
My enemies say to me all the time,
‘Where is your God?’
4 When I remember how my life was before,
I am very upset and I weep.
Once I walked with a big crowd of people
to worship God in his temple.
I led the people there as we sang happy songs,
and we praised God with loud voices.[c]
5 Now I ask myself,
‘Why am I so sad and upset?’
I must wait patiently for God to help me.
Then I will praise my God once again,
because he is the one who saves me.[d]
6 Deep inside me I am very sad.
So I will turn to you, my God, from where I am.
I will pray to you from Hermon mountain
where the Jordan River begins,
and from Mizar mountain.
7 I hear your waterfalls make a noise like thunder.
It seems like all that water is pouring over me
and it knocks me down to the ground.[e]
8 Each day, the Lord shows me that he loves me
with his faithful love.
Each night he gives me a song to sing,
as I pray to the God who lives for ever.[f]
9 I say to God, who is my high rock,
‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I be so sad?
How much longer must I continue to weep,
because my enemies do cruel things to me?’
10 My enemies laugh at me all the time.
It is like they are breaking all my bones.
They are always saying,
‘Where is your God?’
11 I ask myself again,
‘Why am I so sad and upset?’
I must wait patiently for God to help me.
Then I will praise my God once again,
because he is the one who saves me.
7 Rich people have authority over poor people.
People who borrow money have to serve those who lend it to them.
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