Daily Text and Bible Reading: Tuesday, June 11 [Press play below]

15.1 Eliphaz the Temanite said in reply:
15.2 “Will a wise person answer with empty arguments, Or will he fill his belly with the east wind?
15.3 Reproving with mere words is useless, And talk alone is of no benefit.
15.4 For you undermine the fear of God, And you diminish any concern for God.
15.5 For your error dictates what you say, And you choose crafty speech.
15.6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Your own lips testify against you.
15.7 Were you the first man ever born, Or was your birth before that of the hills?
15.8 Do you listen to the confidential talk of God, Or do you limit wisdom to yourself?
15.9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not?
15.10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, Men much older than your father.
15.11 Are God’s consolations not enough for you, Or words spoken gently to you?
15.12 Why does your heart carry you away, And why do your eyes flash with anger?
15.13 For you turn your spirit against God himself, And you allow such words to go out of your own mouth.
15.14 What is mortal man that he should be pure, Or anyone born of a woman that he should be righteous?
15.15 Look! He has no faith in his holy ones, And even the heavens are not pure in his eyes.
15.16 How much less so when a person is detestable and corrupt, A man who drinks in unrighteousness just like water!
15.17 I will inform you; listen to me! I will relate what I have seen,
15.18 What wise men have related from their fathers, Things they have not hidden.
15.19 To them alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them.
15.20 A wicked person suffers torment all his days, Throughout all the years reserved for the tyrant.
15.21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears; In a time of peace, marauders attack him.
15.22 He does not believe that he will escape from darkness; He is reserved for a sword.
15.23 He wanders about in search of food—where is it? He well knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
15.24 Distress and anguish keep terrifying him; They overpower him like a king ready to launch an attack.
15.25 For he raises his hand against God himself And tries to defy the Almighty;
15.26 He stubbornly rushes against Him, With his thick, strong shield;
15.27 His face is covered with fat, And his hips bulge with fat;
15.28 He resides in cities that will be brought to ruin, In houses where no one will dwell, Which will become heaps of stones.
15.29 He will not grow rich, and his wealth will not accumulate, Nor will his possessions spread over the land.
15.30 He will not escape from darkness; A flame will dry up his twig, And he will pass away by a blast of God’s mouth.
15.31 He should not go astray and trust in what is worthless, For what he gets in exchange will be worthless;
15.32 It will happen before his day, And his branches will never flourish.
15.33 He will be like a vine that shakes off its unripe grapes, And like an olive tree that casts off its blossoms.
15.34 For the assembly of godless ones is sterile, And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
15.35 They conceive trouble and give birth to what is wicked, And their womb produces deceit.”

16.1 Job said in reply:
16.2 “I have heard many things like these before. All of you are troublesome comforters!
16.3 Is there an end to empty words? What provokes you to answer this way?
16.4 I could also speak as you do. If you were in my place, I could make persuasive speeches against you And shake my head at you.
16.5 Instead, though, I would strengthen you with the words of my mouth, And the consolation of my lips would bring relief.
16.6 If I speak, my own pain is not relieved, And if I stop speaking, how much is my pain reduced?
16.7 But now he has made me weary; He has devastated my whole household.
16.8 You also seize me, and it has become a witness, So that my own skinniness rises up and testifies to my face.
16.9 His anger has torn me to pieces, and he harbors animosity against me. He grinds his teeth against me. My adversary pierces me with his eyes.
16.10 They have opened their mouth wide against me, And they have scornfully struck my cheeks; In large numbers they gather against me.
16.11 God hands me over to young boys, And he thrusts me into the hands of the wicked.
16.12 I was untroubled, but he shattered me; He grabbed me by the back of the neck and crushed me; Then he set me up as his target.
16.13 His archers surround me; He pierces my kidneys and feels no compassion; He pours out my gall on the earth.
16.14 He breaks through against me with breach after breach; He rushes at me like a warrior.
16.15 I have sewn sackcloth together to cover my skin, And I have buried my dignity in the dust.
16.16 My face is red from weeping, And on my eyelids is deep shadow,
16.17 Although my hands have done no violence And my prayer is pure.
16.18 O earth, do not cover my blood! And let there be no resting-place for my outcry!
16.19 Even now, my witness is in the heavens; The one who can testify for me is in the heights.
16.20 My companions ridicule me As my eye sheds tears to God.
16.21 Let someone arbitrate between a man and God, As one would between a man and his fellow.
16.22 For the years to come are few, And I will go away on the path of no return.

17.1 “My spirit has been broken, my days have been extinguished; The graveyard awaits me.
17.2 Mockers surround me, And my eye must gaze at their rebellious behavior.
17.3 Please accept my security, and keep it with you. Who else will shake hands with me and pledge in my behalf?
17.4 For you have concealed discernment from their heart; That is why you do not exalt them.
17.5 He may offer to share with his friends, While the eyes of his children fail.
17.6 He has made me an object of scorn among the peoples, So that I became one in whose face they spit.
17.7 From anguish my eyes grow dim, And all my limbs are but a shadow.
17.8 Upright people stare in amazement at this, And the innocent one is disturbed over the godless.
17.9 The righteous one keeps holding fast to his way, And the one with clean hands grows stronger.
17.10 However, you may all come and resume your arguing, For I have not found anyone wise among you.
17.11 My days are finished; My plans, the desires of my heart, have been shattered.
17.12 They keep turning night into day, Saying, ‘Light must be near because it is dark.’
17.13 If I wait, the Grave will become my home; I will spread out my bed in darkness.
17.14 I will call out to the pit, ‘You are my father!’ To the maggot, ‘My mother and my sister!’
17.15 Where, then, is my hope? Who can see hope for me?
17.16 It will go down to the barred gates of the Grave When we all descend together into the dust.”

18.1 Bildad the Shuhite said in reply:
18.2 “How long before you stop making such speeches? Show some understanding so that we may then speak.
18.3 Why should we be viewed as animals And be considered stupid in your eyes?
18.4 Even if you tear yourself to pieces in your anger, Will the earth be abandoned for your sake, Or will the rock move away from its place?
18.5 Yes, the light of the wicked will be extinguished, And the flame of his fire will not shine.
18.6 The light in his tent will certainly grow dark, And the lamp over him will be extinguished.
18.7 His vigorous stride is shortened, And his own counsel will make him fall.
18.8 For his feet will lead him into a net, And he will wander onto its mesh.
18.9 A trap will seize him by the heel; A snare will catch him.
18.10 A rope is hidden for him on the ground, And a trap lies in his path.
18.11 Terrors frighten him on all sides And chase him at his feet.
18.12 His strength fails him, And disaster will make him stagger.
18.13 His skin is eaten away; The most deadly disease consumes his limbs.
18.14 He is torn away from the security of his tent And marched to the king of terrors.
18.15 Strangers will live in his tent; Sulfur will be scattered on his home.
18.16 His roots will dry up beneath him, And his branches will wither above him.
18.17 The memory of him will fade from the earth, And in the street his name will be unknown.
18.18 He will be driven from the light into the darkness And chased away from the productive land.
18.19 He will have no offspring and no descendants among his people, And he will be without a survivor in the place where he lives.
18.20 When his day comes, the people in the West will be appalled And the people in the East will be seized with horror.
18.21 This is what happens to the tents of a wrongdoer And to the place of the one who has not known God.”