Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day three hundred and twenty two.
Job continued speaking.
I vow by the living God who has taken away my rights by the
Almighty, who has embittered my soul.
As long as I live, while I have breath from God, my lips will speak no evil
and my tongue will speak no lies.
I will never concede that you are right.
I will defend my integrity until I die.
I will maintain my innocence without wavering.
My conscience is clear For as long as I live, may my enemy
be punished like the wicked.
My adversary, like those who do evil for what hope do the godless have
when God cuts them off and takes away their life, will God listen to their
cry when trouble comes upon them?
Can they take delight in the Almighty?
Can they call to God at any time?
I will teach you about God's power.
I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.
But you have seen all this, yet you say all these useless things to me.
This is what the wicked will receive from God.
This is their inheritance from the Almighty.
They may have many children, but the children will die
in war or starve to death.
Those who survive will die of a plague and not even their widows will mourn them.
Evil people may have piles of money and may store away mounds of clothing, but
the righteous will wear that clothing and the innocent will divide that money.
The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider's web, as flimsy
as a shelter made of branches.
The wicked go to bed rich, but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.
Terror overwhelms them like a flood, and they are blown away In the
storms of the night, the east wind carries them away and they are gone.
It sweeps them away.
It whirls down on them without mercy.
They struggle to flee from its power, but everyone jeers at them and mocks them.
People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold.
They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock.
They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions
of the earth as they search in the dark.
For ore, they sink a mineshaft into the earth far from where anyone lives.
They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.
Food is grown on the earth above, but down below the earth is melted as by fire.
Here, the rocks contain precious lapis, lly, and the dust contains gold.
These are treasures.
No bird of prey can see no falcons eye observe.
No wild animal has walked upon these treasures.
No lion has ever set his paw there.
People know how to tear apart Flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains.
They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones.
They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures.
But do people know where to find wisdom?
Where can they find understanding?
No one knows where to find it for.
It is not found among the living.
It is not here says the ocean, nor is it here, says the sea.
It cannot be bought with gold.
It cannot be purchased with silver.
It's worth more than all the gold of oer, greater than precious onyx or lapis lly.
Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal.
It cannot be purchased.
With jewels mounted in fine, gold, coral and Jasper are
worthless in trying to get it.
The price of wisdom is far above rubies.
Precious paradox from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it.
It's worth more than the purest gold.
But do people know where to find wisdom?
Where can they find understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity.
Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.
Destruction and death say, we've heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.
God alone understands the way to wisdom.
He knows where it can be found for.
He looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens.
He decided how hard the wind should blow and how much rain should fall.
He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning.
Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it.
He said it in place and examined it thoroughly, and this is
what he says To all humanity, the fear of the Lord is true.
Wisdom to forsake evil is real understanding.
Job continued speaking.
I long for the years gone by when God took care of me, when he lit
up the way before me, and I walked safely through the darkness.
When I was in my prime, God's friendship was felt in my home.
The Almighty was still with me and my children were around me.
My steps were a wash in cream and the rocks gushed olive oil for me.
The those were the days when I went to the city gate and took my
place among the honored leaders.
The young stepped aside when they saw me and even the aged
rose and respect at my coming.
The Princes stood in silence and put their hands over their mouths.
The highest officials of the city stood quietly holding their tongues in respect.
All who heard me praised me, all who saw me, spoke well of me, for
I assisted the poor in their need and the orphans who required help.
I helped those without hope and they blessed me, and I caused the
widow's hearts to sing for joy.
Everything I did was honest.
Righteousness covered me like a robe, and I wore justice like a turban.
I served as eyes for the blind and feet for the lame.
I was a father to the poor and assisted strangers who needed help.
I broke the jaws of godless, oppressors and plucked their
victims from their teeth.
I thought, surely I will die surrounded by my family after a long, good life for I am
like a tree whose roots reach the water.
Whose branches are refreshed with the due new honors are constantly bestowed on me
and my strength is continually renewed.
Everyone listened to my advice.
They were silent as they waited for me to speak, and after I spoke, they
had nothing to add for my counsel.
Satisfied them.
They longed for me to speak as people long for rain.
They drank my words like a refreshing spring rain.
When they were discouraged, I smiled at them.
My look of approval was precious to them like a chief.
I told them what to do.
I lived like a king among his troops and comforted those who mourned.
But now I am mocked by people younger than I, by young men whose fathers are
not worthy to run with my sheep dogs.
A lot of good they are.
To me.
Those worn out wretches, they are gone from poverty and hunger.
They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.
They pluck wild greens from among the bushes and eat from
the roots of broom trees.
They are driven from human society and people shout at
them as if they were thieves.
So now they live in frightening ravines in caves and among the rocks, they sound
like animals howling among the bushes, huddled together beneath the nettles.
They're nameless fools outcasts from society.
And now they mock me with vulgar songs.
They taunt me.
They despise me and won't come near me, except as spit in my
face for God has cut my bow.
Stringing.
He has humbled me so they have thrown off all restraint.
These outcasts oppose me to my face.
They send me sprawling and lay traps in my path.
They block my road and do everything they can to destroy me.
They know I have no one to help me.
They come at me from all directions.
They jump on me when I am down.
I live in terror now, my honor Has blown away in the wind and
my prosperity has vanished like a cloud, and now my life seeps away.
Depression haunts my days at night.
My bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly with a strong hand.
God grabs my shirt.
He grips me by the collar of my coat.
He has thrown me into the mud.
I'm nothing more than dust and ashes.
I cry to you.
Oh God, but you don't answer.
I stand before you, but you don't even look.
You have become cruel toward me.
You use your power to persecute me.
You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm, and I know
you are sending me to my death.
The destination of all who live.
Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble.
Did I not weep for those in trouble?
Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?
So I looked for good, but evil came.
Instead, I waited for the light, but darkness fell.
My heart is troubled and restless.
Days of suffering torment me.
I walk in gloom without sunlight.
I stand in the public square and cry for help.
Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to owls.
My skin has turned dark and my bones burn with fever.
My heart plays sad music and my flute accompanies those who weep.
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.
For what has God above chosen for us?
What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high, isn't it?
Calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil?
Doesn't he see everything I do and every step I take?
Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone?
Let God weigh me on the scales of justice for he knows my integrity
if I have strayed from his pathway.
Or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I'm guilty
of any other sin, then let someone else eat the crops I have planted.
Let all that I have planted be uprooted.
If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor's
wife, then let my wife serve another man.
Let other men sleep with her for lust Is a shameful sin, a
crime that should be punished.
It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.
It would wipe out everything I own if I have been unfair to my
male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me.
How could I face God?
What could I say When he questioned me, for God created both me and my servants.
He created us both in the womb.
Have I refused to help the poor or crushed the hopes of widows?
Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans?
No.
From childhood, I have cared for orphans like a father, and all
my life I have cared for widows.
Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes and the needy with nothing
to wear, did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?
If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side,
then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place, let my arm be torn from its
socket, that would be better than facing God's judgment for if the majesty of
God opposes me, what hope is there?
Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of gold?
Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own?
Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies or the moon walking down its silver
pathway and been secretly enticed in my heart to throw kisses at them and worship.
If so, I should be punished by the judges.
For it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.
Have I ever rejoiced when disastrous struck my enemies or become
excited when harm came their way?
No.
I have never sinned by cursing anyone or by asking for revenge.
My servants have never said he let others go hungry.
I have never turned away a stranger, but have opened my doors to everyone.
Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do?
Concealing my guilt in my heart?
Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses so that
I kept quiet and stayed indoors?
If only someone would listen to me, look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the almighty answer me.
Let my accuser write out the charges against me.
I would face the accusation proudly.
I would wear it like a crown for, I would tell him exactly what I have done.
I would come before him like a prince.
If my land accuses me and all its furrows cry out together, or if I
have stolen its crops or murdered its owners, then let thistles grow on
that land instead of wheat and weeds.
Instead of barley job's, words are ended.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.