WELS Through my Bible in Three Years

By WELSReligion & Spirituality Christianity

WELS Through my Bible in Three Years episodes

August 18, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 18
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 18Psalms 45
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Through My Bible – August 18
Psalms 45 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0818db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Psalm 45
The Wedding of the Victorious King
Heading
For the choir director. According to “Lilies.” [1]
By the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A love song.
Introduction
1 My heart is bubbling over with a beautiful theme.
I am reciting my works for the King.
My tongue is the pen of a rapid writer.
The Glory of the Royal Groom
2 You are the most beautiful of the sons of Adam.
Grace is poured out on your lips.
Therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Strap your sword on your thigh, you mighty warrior,
in your splendor and your majesty.
4 In your majesty advance successfully.
Ride forward in the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharpened.
Let peoples fall beneath you.
Your arrows are in the heart of the king’s enemies.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy
more than any of your companions.
8 Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume all your garments.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad.
9 Daughters of kings are among your honored attendants.
The royal wife [2] stands at your right hand in gold from Ophir.
The Beauty of the Bride
10 Hear, O daughter, look and listen.
Forget your people and your father’s house,
11 because the king desires your beauty.
Because he is your lord, bow down to him.
12 Then the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift.
The richest people will seek your favor.
13 The princess, who waits inside, is all glorious.
Her dress is interwoven with gold.
14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king.
Virgins who follow her as attendants are brought to you.
15 They are brought with joyful celebration.
They enter the palace of the king.
The Glory of the King’s Children
16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers.
You will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will preserve the memory of your name through all generations.
Therefore peoples will praise you forever and ever.
Footnotes
Psalm 45:1 This may be the name of the tune.
Psalm 45:9 This may refer to the queen mother (Song 3:11). The next section is addressed to the King’s bride.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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3 min
August 17, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 17
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 17Psalms 44
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 17
Psalms 44 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0817db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Psalm 44
Past Victory—Present Defeat
Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A maskil.
Past Victory
1 God, our ears have heard.
Our fathers have told us the work you performed
in their days, in days long ago.
2 By your hand you drove out the nations,
but you planted your people.
You crushed the peoples,
but you sent your people forward.
3 For it was not by their sword
that they took possession of the land.
It was not their arm that saved them.
It was your right hand and your arm,
and the light from your face,
because you took pleasure in them.
Present Trust
4 You are the one who is my King, O God.
Command victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we drive back our foes.
Through your name we trample our adversaries.
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and my sword does not save me.
7 But you save us from our foes,
and you put those who hate us to shame.
8 In God we make our boast all day,
and we will praise your name forever. Interlude
Present Defeat
9 But now you have rejected and humbled us,
and you do not go out with our armies.
10 You made us turn back before the foe,
and those who hate us have taken plunder for themselves.
11 You give us up for food like sheep,
and you have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for no great price,
and you have not profited from their sale.
13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
scorn and ridicule to those around us.
14 You have made us a laughingstock among the nations,
a reason for the peoples to shake their heads.
15 All day my disgrace is right in front of me,
and the shame on my face covers me,
16 because of the voice of the slanderer and reviler,
because of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this came on us, though we had not forgotten you.
We had not been false to your covenant.
18 Our hearts had not turned back.
Our steps had not slipped off your path.
19 But you crushed us and made us a home for jackals,
and you covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God have discovered this,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all day long.
We are considered sheep to be slaughtered.
Present Plea
23 Get up! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Wake up!
Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our misery and our oppression?
25 For our souls bow down to the dust.
Our bellies cling to the earth.
26 Stand up! Help us!
Redeem us because of your mercy.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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4 min
August 16, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 16
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 16Psalms 42 – 43
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 16
Psalms 42 – 43 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0816db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Book II
Psalms 42–72
Psalms 42 & 43
An Exile’s Prayer: Why Are You Cast Down? [1]
Heading
For the choir director. A maskil [2] by the Sons of Korah. [3]
Longing for the Temple
1 As a doe pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and appear before God? [4]
3 My tears have been food for me day and night,
while people are saying to me all day,
“Where is your God?”
4 I am overcome by my emotions
whenever I remember these things:
    how I used to arrive with the crowd,
    as I led the procession to the house of God,
    with loud shouts of thanksgiving,
    with the crowd celebrating the festival.
Refrain
5 Why are you so depressed, [5] O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I will again praise him
    for salvation from his presence. [6]
Remembrance of the Lord
6 My God, my soul is depressed within me.
Therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan,
from the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your rapids.
All your breakers and your waves have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his mercy,
and at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go around mourning because of oppression by the enemy?”
10 It is like breaking my bones when my foes taunt me.
All day long they say to me, “Where is your God?”
Refrain
11 Why are you so depressed, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I will again praise him
    for my salvation from the face of my God. [7]
Psalm 43
A Plea for Vindication
1 Judge me justly, O God,
and plead my case against an ungodly nation.
Rescue me from the deceitful, wicked man.
2 I know you are God, my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go around mourning
    because of oppression by the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth.
Let them guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and gladness.
Then I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Refrain
5 Why are you so depressed, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I will again praise him
    for my salvation from the face of my God. [8]
Footnotes
Psalm 42:1 These two psalms are treated as a unit since they are united by a common theme, a common refrain, and a single heading.
Psalm 42:1 Maskil is a musical term of uncertain meaning. It may be a skillful song or a song that gives wisdom. This form is used also in Psalms 44 and 45.
Psalm 42:1 The Sons of Korah were a group of levitical musicians, who apparently were descendants of the Korah who rebelled against Moses. In this section of Psalms, Psalms 42–49 were written by them.
Psalm 42:2 A different reading of the Hebrew verb yields the translation see the face of God.
Psalm 42:5 Literally bowed down or cast down
Psalm 42:5 Many translations emend this verse to agree with verses 42:11 and 43:5.
Psalm 42:11 Literally the salvation of my face and my God
Psalm 43:5 Literally the salvation of my face and my God

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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4 min
August 15, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 15
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 15Job 42:7-17
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 15
Job 42:7-17 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0815db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Job 42
The Conclusion
7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger burns against you and your two friends, because none of you have spoken correctly about me, as my servant Job did. 8 So now, take seven bulls and seven rams for yourselves, go to my servant Job, and offer up a whole burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, so that I will look upon him with favor and not deal with you on the basis of your foolishness, for none of you have spoken correctly about me, as my servant Job did.”
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Na’amathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord looked on Job with favor.
10 Then the Lord restored Job’s fortunes, after he had prayed on behalf of his friends. The Lord gave Job twice as much of everything as he had before.
11 Then all his brothers and sisters and all his acquaintances came to Job. They dined with him in his house, and they showed him sympathy and comforted him concerning the tragedy that the Lord had brought on him. Each of them gave him one qesitah [1] of silver and one gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first part, so he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
13 He had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren Happuk. 15 In the whole land there were no women as beautiful as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived one hundred forty years and saw his sons and their children to the fourth generation.
17 Job died, old and fulfilled by a long life.
Footnotes
Job 42:11 A qesitah is an ancient unit for measuring weight. Its value is unknown.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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3 min
August 14, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 14
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 14Job 40:6 – 42:6
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 14
Job 40:6 – 42:6 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0814db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Job 40
6 Then the Lord answered Job from the violent storm. He said:
7 Get ready for action like a man!
Then I will ask you questions,
and you will inform me.
8 Will you really deny that I am just?
Will you convict me, so that you can be acquitted?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s arm?
Does your voice thunder like his?
10 Go ahead, please. Adorn yourself with dignity and honor.
Clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
11 Pour out your overflowing anger.
Look at every proud man and bring him low.
12 Look at every proud man and humble him.
Trample the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all together in the dust.
Cover their faces in the hidden place.
14 Then I will praise you
and admit that your right hand can save you.
Behemoth
15 Take a look at Behemoth, [1]
    which I made just as I made you.
He eats grass like cattle.
16 Would you look at the power of his hips
and the strength of the muscles of his belly!
17 He stiffens his tail [2] like a cedar.
The tendons of his thighs [3] are tight.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze.
His skeleton is like bars of iron.
19 He stands at the head of God’s creatures,
but his Maker draws near with his sword. [4]
20 Yes, the mountains carry their floodwaters [5] to him.
All the wild animals play there.
21 He lies under the lotus plants,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotus plants cover him with their shadows.
Poplars by the stream surround him.
23 The river rages, but he is not frightened.
He remains calm even if the Jordan bursts into his mouth.
24 Can people capture him by his eyes?
Can they pierce his nose with a hook?
Leviathan
Job 41
1 Can you pull out Leviathan [6] with a fishhook? [7]
Can you tie down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a reed in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he keep asking for your favor
or speak tender words to you?
4 Will he sign a contract with you
so that you keep him as your servant forever?
5 Can you play with him like a bird?
Can you put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Do the merchants barter for Leviathan’s meat?
Do they divide it up with the other tradesmen?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
and his head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay your hand on him,
you will never forget the battle and won’t do it again.
9 Listen! Any hope you have of overcoming him is unfounded.
Wouldn’t you be knocked down by the mere sight of him?
10 No one is fierce enough to risk stirring him up. [8]
Who then can stand before me?
11 Who can confront me and demand that I repay him?
Everything under the whole sky belongs to me.
12 I will tell about the parts of his body.
I will describe his power and his beautiful design.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can touch his double layer of armor?
14 Who dares to open the doors to his mouth,
    which is surrounded with terrifying teeth?
15 His back [9] is like rows of shields,
    which are tightly joined together.
16 They are so close together not even a breath of air
can pass between them.
17 They are fastened to each other,
so they stick together and cannot be separated.
18 His snorts are flashes of light.
His eyes are like the eyelids of dawn.
19 Blazing torches come out of his mouth.
Sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours out from his nostrils
    like a pot boiling over a reed fire.
21 His breath sets coals on fire,
and flames come out of his mouth.
22 Strength dwells in his neck.
Despair dances ahead of him.
23 The folds of his flesh are compact,
solid and immovable.
24 His heart is as hard as rock,
as hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the mighty are afraid.
When he thrashes around, they retreat.
26 If someone strikes him with a sword, it has no effect.
Neither do spears, arrows, or javelins.
27 To him iron is like straw;
bronze is like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make him flee.
To him sling stones are like chaff;
29 clubs are like stubble.
He laughs at the shaking of a javelin.
30 His underbelly is like sharp pieces of broken pottery.
It leaves marks in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 He makes the depths boil like a cooking pot.
He makes the sea like a cauldron of ointment.
32 He leaves a shiny wake behind him.
The deep looks like a white-haired man.
33 There is nothing at all like him on earth,
a creature without fear.
34 He looks down on everything that is lofty.
He is king over every proud creature!
Job’s Confession
Job 42
1 Job responded to the Lord. He said:
2 I know that you can do all things.
No purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, “Who is this who spreads darkness over my plans
    with his ignorant words?”
I have made statements about things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 You said, “Listen now and I will speak.
I will ask you questions, and you will inform me.”
5 My ear heard about you.
Now my eyes see you.
6 So I despise myself.
I repent in dust and ashes.
Footnotes
Job 40:15 Or the Beast. This is a poetic description, which does not exactly match any known animal, though the hippopotamus has been suggested as the closest match. Other suggestions are the elephant or some form of dinosaur.
Job 40:17 Or penis. The Hebrew word zanav, which most often means tail, can be used as a euphemism for penis.
Job 40:17 Or testicles. The Targum, the Vulgate, Luther, and the King James Version all support the interpretation testicles.
Job 40:19 Or his Maker provided him with his sword
Job 40:20 Or food. The word occurs only here. The translation accepts the view that it is derived from a verb that means flow violently. Many translations accept a derivation from a verb that means produce.
Job 41:1 Or the Dragon. This is a poetic description that does not exactly match any animal, though the crocodile is the closest match. Another suggestion that has been made is some form of dinosaur. Dragon (Greek: drakon) is the translation of the Greek Old Testament. The term has satanic overtones. See Revelation 12.
Job 41:1 English 41:1-8 is equivalent to Hebrew 40:25-32. English 41:9 is Hebrew 41:1.
Job 41:10 Or He is fierce. No one stirs him up.
Job 41:15 The translation follows the ancient versions. The Hebrew reading is his pride.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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7 min
August 13, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 13
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 13Job 38:1 – 40:5
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 13
Job 38:1 – 40:5 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0813db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
The Lord’s Challenge to Job
Job 38
1 Then the Lord responded to Job out of a violent storm. He said:
2 Who is this who spreads darkness over my plans
    with his ignorant words?
3 Get ready for action [1] like a man!
Then I will ask you questions,
and you will inform me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you understand anything about it.
5 Who determined its dimensions?
I am sure you know.
Who stretched out the surveying line over it?
6 What supports its foundation?
Who set its cornerstone in place,
7     when the morning stars sang loud songs together,
        and all the sons of God shouted for joy? [2]
8 Who locked up the sea behind doors
    when it burst out of the womb?
9 When I clothed the sea with clouds,
when I wrapped it with thick darkness as its swaddling cloths,
10 when I broke its power with my decree,
when I locked it up behind barred, double doors,
11 I said, “You may come this far, but no farther.
Here is the barrier for your proud waves.”
12 Have you ever in all your days given a command to the morning?
Have you ever set a time for the sun to rise,
13 so it may grab the earth by its edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth’s shapes become visible like designs impressed on clay,
and its decorations can be seen like those on a garment.
15 Their light is withheld from the wicked,
and an uplifted arm is broken.
16 Have you ever traveled to the sources of the sea
or walked around in the dark depths of the ocean?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? [3]
18 Do you comprehend the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 How can someone get to the dwelling of light?
Where is the place for darkness?
20 Could you lead it to its property?
Do you know the way to its house?
21 You must know that, since you were born before it,
and you have lived for so many days!
22 Have you visited the warehouses where the snow is kept?
Have you seen the warehouses [4] where the hail is stored?
23 I have reserved them for troubled times,
for days of battle and war.
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning divides, [5]
where the east wind is scattered over the earth?
25 Who has excavated a channel for the floodwaters
and a road for the rolling thunder?
26 They bring rain to lands where no one lives,
to a wilderness without a person in it.
27 The rain satisfies the wilderness and wasteland
and causes the dry ground to produce green plants.
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who is the father of the drops of dew?
29 Whose womb produces the ice?
Who gives birth to the heavy frost from the sky?
30 The water is disguised as stone,
and the surface of the deep is trapped under ice.
31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Can you lead out the constellations at the right season
and guide the Bear with her cubs? [6]
33 Do you know the laws that govern the skies?
Can you establish God’s rule on earth?
34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of water submerges you?
35 Can you unleash the lightning bolts,
so that they come and say to you, “Here we are”?
36 Who has placed wisdom in the human heart
and given understanding to the mind? [7]
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds
and to empty the water jars of the sky,
38 when the loose dust has been poured into molds to harden,
and the clods of dirt are cemented together?
39 Can you hunt prey for a lioness?
Can you satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens,
or they lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who prepares its provisions for the raven,
when its young are screaming to God,
while they thrash around in the nest waiting for food?
Job 39
1 Do you know the time when the antelope on the cliffs gives birth?
Do you keep watch over the doe as she is in labor?
2 Do you count how many months they carry their young?
Do you know when it is time for them to give birth?
3 They crouch down.
They give birth to their fawns.
Their labor pains are over.
4 Their young are lively and live in the open countryside.
They go out, and they do not return to them.
5 Who set the wild donkey free?
Who untied the restraints on the onager? [8]
6 I have given it the wasteland [9] as its home,
the salt flats as its dwelling place.
7 It brays at the commotion in a town.
It does not listen to the shouting of the driver.
8 It explores the mountains as its pasture,
while it searches for anything green.
9 Is a wild ox willing to serve you?
Will it spend the night at your manger?
10 Can you lead the wild ox down a furrow with a rope?
Will it work the fields in the valleys behind you?
11 Will you depend on it because it is so strong?
Will you rely on it to labor for you?
12 Will you trust it to return your seed grain
and to bring it to your threshing floor?
13 The wings of a screeching ostrich flap wildly,
but they do not have feathers and plumage like a stork’s.
14 She leaves her eggs on the ground.
She keeps them warm in the dust.
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them,
or a wild animal may trample them.
16 She is hard-hearted toward her children.
It is as if they were not hers.
It does not bother her if her labor is for nothing,
17 because God made her forget wisdom,
and he has not given her any understanding.
18 But as soon as she jumps up to run,
she laughs at the horse and the rider.
19 Did you give strength to the horse?
Did you clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Did you give it the ability to jump like a locust?
Its snorting and neighing are frightening.
21 It paws at the ground in the valley. [10]
It rejoices in its strength.
It goes out to meet the weapons of war.
22 It laughs at danger and is not afraid.
It does not turn away from the sword.
23 A quiver rattles against it.
A spear and a javelin [11] flash.
24 Shaking with excitement, it swallows up ground.
It doesn’t just stand there when the ram’s horn sounds.
25 As often as the horn sounds, it neighs and snorts!
From a distance it smells the battle,
the thunder of the commanders and the war cries.
26 Did you teach the hawk how to soar,
as it spreads out its wings to the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle flies high
and makes its nest in a lofty place?
28 On a rocky cliff it settles down to spend the night,
on a pinnacle of rock in a mountain stronghold.
29 From there it spies its food.
Its eyes spot it far away.
30 Its young ones drink up the blood.
Wherever the carcasses are—there it is.
The Lord Confronts Job
Job 40
1 The Lord responded to Job and said:
2 Will the one who makes charges against the Almighty
    dare to correct him?
The one who accuses God should make his case!
3 Job answered the Lord and said:
4 No, I am insignificant. [12]
How could I reply to you?
I will put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I cannot defend it.
Twice, but I will not go any further.
Footnotes
Job 38:3 Or hitch up your robes with a belt
Job 38:7 It is not certain whether the terms morning stars and sons of God refer to stars, angels, or both.
Job 38:17 The scribes of the Hebrew text consistently spell this word as shadow of death. Many recent translations alter the spelling to a very similar word that means deep darkness. The EHV in many cases retains the traditional reading.
Job 38:22 Or armories
Job 38:24 Or light is distributed
Job 38:32 The identification of these constellations is uncertain.
Job 38:36 The meanings of the words translated heart and mind are unknown. Some interpret them as names of birds, the ibis and rooster. Others interpret them as names of celestial phenomena, meteors or clouds.
Job 39:5 Onager is the name for several species of wild donkeys found in Asia.
Job 39:6 Hebrew arabah
Job 39:21 Or with great force
Job 39:23 Or scimitar
Job 40:4 Or not worthy

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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10 min
August 12, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 12
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 12Job 36 – 37
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 12
Job 36 – 37 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0812db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Job 36
1 Elihu kept talking and said:
2 Be patient with me a little longer.
I intend to inform you further,
since I have more to say on God’s behalf.
3 I will provide you with comprehensive knowledge,
and I will justify my Maker.
4 You can be sure that none of my words are false.
A man with complete knowledge is here with you.
5 Yes, God is mighty, but he does not despise people.
He is mighty and has great understanding. [1]
6 He does not keep a wicked man alive,
but he does give justice to the oppressed.
7 He does not turn his eyes away from the righteous.
He seats them on thrones with kings
and exalts them forever.
8 But if people are bound in chains,
and they are held captive by cords of affliction,
9 he declares to them what they have done—
how arrogantly they have committed rebellious deeds.
10 He opens their ears to accept discipline, [2]
and he tells them to turn back from wickedness.
11 If they listen and serve him,
they will complete their days in prosperity,
and their years will end in pleasure.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will be overwhelmed by a stream. [3]
They will breathe their last without knowledge.
13 Godless hearts nourish anger.
They do not cry out for help even when he imprisons them.
14 Their souls die while they are still young,
and they end their lives among the male prostitutes at their shrines.
15 God delivers the afflicted by means of their affliction,
and he gets their attention through their suffering.
16 Certainly he is drawing you out of the jaws of distress
    to a wide-open place, where you will not be hemmed in.
You will be comfortable at your table covered with rich food.
17 But now you are caught up with the judgment of the wicked,
and judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
18 Watch out, so that no one lures you with luxury.
Do not let a large payment turn you aside.
19 Can your affluence arrange for your security,
    so that you do not suffer want?
Can even your strongest efforts accomplish that?
20 Do not long for night time, when nations vanish from their place. [4]
21 Watch out. Do not turn to evil,
because that is why you have been tested by affliction. [5]
22 Listen to me. God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has dictated his way for him?
Who has said, “You have done wrong”?
24 Remember that you should praise his work,
    which people have celebrated in song.
25 All mankind has observed it.
People can look at it from a distance.
26 Yes, God is exalted far beyond our comprehension.
The number of his years is beyond investigation.
27 He draws up drops of water from the sea,
and he distills the raindrops to form mist,
28 which flow down from the clouds
and pour down abundantly on mankind.
29 Indeed, who understands how the clouds spread out?
Who understands how the thunder rumbles out from his shelter?
30 Look how he spreads his light [6] all around him,
and he covers the bottom [7] of the sea.
31 He uses this to bring judgment on peoples
and to provide abundant food.
32 With his hands he grasps the lightning,
and he gives it orders as it advances.
33 Through the thunder he sounds his war cry.
The herds sense the coming of the rising storm. [8]
Job 37
1 When I hear this, my heart races
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the booming thunder of his voice,
to the rumble that goes out from his mouth.
3 He turns it loose across the whole sky,
and his light reaches the ends of the earth.
4 After the lightning, a voice roars.
He thunders with his majestic voice.
He does not restrain the lightning.
Then his voice is heard!
5 God thunders with his voice in wonderful ways.
He does great things that we do not understand.
6 To the snow he says, “Fall on the earth.”
To the pouring rain, the torrential downpours of rain,
    he says, “Be strong.” [9]
7 He brings an end to all the work of men’s hands,
    so that they recognize his work.
8 The wild animals take shelter in their lairs.
They remain in their dens.
9 A winter wind comes out from its room,
and driving winds bring icy cold.
10 The breath of God produces ice.
The wide surface of the water turns solid.
11 Yes, he loads dark clouds with moisture,
and he fills the clouds with his light.
12 The clouds swirl around at his direction.
They do whatever he commands them
    over the face of the whole inhabited world.
13 Whether their purpose is to bring punishment or mercy to the world,
    he makes them achieve their goal.
14 Listen to this, Job! Stand still and recognize the wonders of God!
15 Do you know how God arranges them?
Do you know how he makes his light shine out from his clouds?
16 Do you know how the clouds float in the sky,
    those marvels produced by perfect knowledge?
17 You, whose clothing is too hot for you
    when the land rests quietly because of the hot south wind,
18 can you help him spread out the clouds
    when the sky is as hard as a metal mirror?
19 Teach us what we should say to him!
We are not able to prepare our case because of the darkness.
20 Should he be notified that I want to speak?
Or would a man who said that be swallowed up?
21 But no one can look at the sun.
It is too bright when the wind has cleared the sky of the clouds.
22 God’s golden splendor comes from the north.
God is surrounded by awesome majesty.
23 As for the Almighty, we cannot comprehend him.
He is exalted in power,
but he does not violate justice and great righteousness.
24 Therefore men should revere him,
because he has regard for all those who are wise in heart. [10]
Footnotes
Job 36:5 Or resolve
Job 36:10 Or correction
Job 36:12 Or weapon
Job 36:20 The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
Job 36:21 Or though you seem to prefer it to affliction. The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
Job 36:30 Or lightning. In Job the same word is used for both light and lightning.
Job 36:30 Literally the roots
Job 36:33 The meaning of this line is uncertain.
Job 37:6 This line is difficult.
Job 37:24 Or, reading with the Greek, those who are wise in heart fear him

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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7 min
August 11, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 11
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 11Job 34 – 35
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 11
Job 34 – 35 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0811db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Job 34
1 Elihu resumed [1] his speech and said:
2 Hear my words, you wise men.
You learned men, pay attention to me.
3 It is true that the ear tests words as the mouth tastes food.
4 So now we should choose for ourselves what is just.
We should determine among ourselves what is good.
5 This is what Job said:
“I am in the right,
but God has deprived me of justice.
6 Would I lie about what is just for me? [2]
His arrow has inflicted an incurable wound on me,
though I did not rebel.”
7 Who is like Job?
He drinks down derision against God like water.
8 He travels the road with evildoers,
and he walks with wicked men,
9 because he said,
“It is no benefit to a man when he takes pleasure in God.”
10 So then, you men with understanding, listen to me.
I swear that God never does anything wicked.
The Almighty is far from wrongdoing.
11 He repays a man for what he does.
He causes the consequences of his ways to catch up with him.
12 God would absolutely not do anything evil.
The Almighty does not pervert justice.
13 Did anyone put him in charge of the earth?
Did anyone place the whole world under his control?
14 If God resolved in his heart to recall his spirit and breath to himself,
15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
16 But if you have understanding, listen to this.
Hear the sound of my words:
17 Is it possible that one who hates justice could govern?
Will you condemn the Righteous One, who is mighty?
18 He says to kings, “You are worthless,”
and tells nobles, “You are evil.”
19 He shows no favoritism to high officials,
and he shows no more regard for the rich than for the poor,
because they are all the work of his hands.
20 In a moment they die, in the middle of the night.
People are shaken, and they pass away.
Even the mighty are taken away effortlessly, without a human hand,
21 because God’s eyes are on the ways of a man,
and he sees all his steps.
22 There is no darkness,
and there is no dark shadow where evildoers can hide,
23 for God does not need to investigate further
or to set a time of judgment for a person.
24 He breaks mighty rulers without further inquiry,
and he sets up others in their place.
25 Because he knows their deeds,
he overthrows them at night,
and they lie crushed.
26 Because of their wickedness,
    he strikes them in plain sight of everyone.
27 He does this because they turned aside from following him,
and they were not wise enough to follow all his ways.
28 They caused the poor to cry out to God,
so he heard the cry of the afflicted.
29 But if God remains quiet, who can condemn him?
If he hides his face, who can observe him?
But even if he does, he still rules over both nations and individuals,
30 to prevent a godless man from ruling,
so that the godless man does not lay snares for the people.
31 What if someone says to God,
“I have accepted my punishment.
I will not keep sinning.
32 Teach me about what I do not see.
If I have done evil, I will not do it again.”
33 Would God then be obligated to repay you on your terms,
when you refuse to repent? [3]
But, Job, it is your decision, not mine.
So tell me what you know.
34 Men who have understanding say this to me,
and any wise person who listens tells me the same thing:
35 “Job speaks without knowledge,
and his words reveal a lack of understanding.”
36 I wish that Job would be tested to the limit,
because he responds like a wicked man.
37 Yes, he even adds rebellion to his sin.
Among us he shows his contempt by clapping his hands,
and he multiplies his words against God.
Job 35
1 Then Elihu continued:
2 Do you really think it is right when you say,
“My righteousness is greater than God’s”? [4]
3 You even say, “What use will this be to me?
How will it profit me more than if I sinned?”
4 But I will respond to your words—and to your friends with you!
5 Look at the heavens and you will see.
Take a good look at the clouds.
They are high above you!
6 If you have sinned, how does that affect God?
If your rebellious deeds are many, what harm can you do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what are you giving to him?
What does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness only affects a man like you,
and your righteousness only impacts other people.
9 They cry out because of severe oppression.
They scream for relief from the arm of the powerful.
10 But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker,
    who provides songs in the night,
11     who teaches us more than the wild animals on the earth,
        who makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?”
12 Then the wicked cry out, but he does not answer,
    because of their arrogant pride. [5]
13 Certainly God will not listen to an insincere [6] cry,
and the Almighty will not pay attention to it.
14 How much less when you say
    that you do not see him,
    that your case has been presented to him,
    and that you are waiting for him!
15 Besides that, you say that his anger has not demanded an accounting,
and that he does not fully understand sin. [7]
16 Job opens his mouth pointlessly,
and he heaps up words without knowledge.
Footnotes
Job 34:1 After pausing to give Job a chance to respond, Elihu resumes his monologue.
Job 34:6 Or I am unjustly treated like a liar
Job 34:33 Or just because you reject the charges
Job 35:2 Or my righteousness will come from God. The line is cryptic.
Job 35:12 Or then they cry out because of the arrogant pride of the wicked, but he does not answer. The word order is difficult.
Job 35:13 Or empty
Job 35:15 The meaning of this word is uncertain.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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7 min
August 10, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 10
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 10Job 32 – 33
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 10
Job 32 – 33 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0810db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
Elihu’s Monologues
Job 32
1 These three men gave up trying to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 So Elihu son of Barakel, the Buzite from the clan of Ram, burned with anger. His anger burned against Job because Job had justified himself rather than God. 3 His anger also burned against his three companions, because they had no answer for Job, but they nevertheless had condemned him.
4 Up to this point, Elihu had held back, and he had not spoken to Job, because the others were older and more experienced than he was.
5 When Elihu saw that the three men had no ready answer, his anger burned. 6 So Elihu son of Barakel, the Buzite, responded. He said:
I am young and inexperienced, and you are aged.
That is why I held back,
and I was afraid to tell you what I know.
7 I thought that experience should speak.
Many years should give a man wisdom.
8 However, it is the spirit [1] in a man
and the breath of the Almighty that give a man understanding.
9 It is not just the important men who are wise.
The elderly are not the only ones who know how to judge cases.
10 That is why I now say, “Listen to me.”
I will declare what I know—yes, I will.
11 Notice that I waited for you to finish your words.
I have listened carefully to your conclusions.
The whole time you were searching for the right words,
12 I paid attention to you.
But look, not one of you showed Job that he was wrong
or came up with an answer for Job.
13 So do not say, “We have found wisdom,
but it is God, not a man, who will have to refute him.”
14 Job has not drawn up his speeches against me,
so I will not respond to him with arguments like yours.
15 Those three are shattered. They no longer respond.
They have run out of words.
16 I have waited patiently,
but since they no longer speak,
and they just stand there and do not answer anymore,
17 I will now respond with my contribution.
I will now declare what I know,
18 for I am full of words.
A wind [2] in my belly is building up pressure.
19 My belly is like unvented wine.
I am like a new wineskin ready to burst.
20 I intend to speak, so that I can find relief for myself.
Let me open my lips and answer.
21 I will certainly not show favoritism to any man.
I will not address any man with flattering titles,
22 because I do not know how to pass out flattering titles.
If I did so, my Maker would quickly carry me away.
Job 33
1 But now, Job, listen to my speech.
Pay close attention to all my words.
2 Listen, because I have opened my mouth.
See how my tongue shapes words in my mouth.
3 My speech will reveal my upright heart.
My lips express my knowledge plainly. [3]
4 The spirit [4] of God made me.
The breath of the Almighty gave me life.
5 Refute me if you are able.
Lay out your case before me! Take your stand!
6 Look, my mouth belongs to God, just as your mouth does.
Like you I was snipped off from a lump of clay.
7 Look, you should not be terrified by how awesome I am.
Pressure from me should not intimidate you.
8 However, you said this in my hearing,
and I did hear the sound of these words:
9 “I am pure, without any sinful rebellion.
I am clean. I have no guilt.
10 But look how God finds pretexts to oppose me.
He treats me like his enemy.
11 He has put my feet in stocks.
He patrols all my paths.”
12 Job, listen to this!
You are not right.
I must refute you!
Certainly, God is greater than a man.
13 Why do you bring charges against him,
just because he does not answer all of a man’s questions?
14 God does speak, sometimes one way, sometimes another,
but people do not pay attention to it.
15 In a dream, in a vision in the night,
when people are falling into a deep sleep,
while they slumber on their beds,
16 he whispers a revelation into people’s ears,
and he confirms his warnings to them,
17 in order to turn a man from his course of action
and to suppress a person’s pride.
18 He spares his life from the pit.
He spares his life from crossing the stream of death. [5]
19 Or a person may be disciplined on his bed by pain
and by continual agony in his bones,
20 so that his life makes food disgusting to him,
and he has no appetite for delicious food.
21 His flesh wastes away and disappears,
and his bones, which were hidden, now stick out.
22 Then his soul draws near to destruction,
and his life to those who bring death.
23 If there is a messenger at his side to mediate,
one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
24 if he is gracious to him,
if he says, “Spare him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom for him,”
25 then his flesh would become more vigorous than it was in his youth.
He would return to days of youthful vitality.
26 Then he would pray to God,
and God would be pleased with him.
With a joyful cry he would see God’s face,
and God would restore his righteousness to the man.
27 Then the man would turn to people and say, [6]
“I have sinned, and I have perverted what is right,
yet I was not punished as much as I deserved.
28 God has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit,
and my life will see the light.”
29 Look, God does all these things with a man—
two times, or even three times—
30 to bring back his soul from the pit,
so that light shines on him among the living.
31 Pay attention, Job. Listen to me.
Be silent, so that I may speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me.
Speak up, for I would be delighted to declare you innocent.
33 If you have nothing to say, listen to me
Be silent, so I may teach you wisdom.
Footnotes
Job 32:8 Or Spirit
Job 32:18 Or spirit. There is unintended irony in Elihu’s words.
Job 33:3 Or sincerely
Job 33:4 Or Spirit
Job 33:18 Or spares him from being killed by a weapon
Job 33:27 This line is difficult.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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7 min
August 09, 2024Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 09
Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 09Job 30 – 31
LISTEN HERE
Through My Bible – August 09
Job 30 – 31 (EHV)
https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-0809db.mp3
See series: Through My Bible
The Shame of the Present
Job 30
1 But those far younger than I am now laugh at me—
men whose fathers I would not have allowed
    to serve with my sheepdogs.
2 The strength of their hands was useless to me. [1]
Their vigor had failed.
3 Emaciated from famine and hunger,
they gnawed desert plants in the desolate wasteland.
4 They picked marsh plants among the brush,
and their food was the roots of broom bushes.
5 They were driven out of the community.
People shouted at them like thieves.
6 They lived in dry streambeds,
in holes among the dust and the rocks.
7 They brayed between shrubs,
and they huddled under thorn bushes.
8 Sons of fools and nameless nobodies,
they were driven out of the land with whips.
9 But now I am the target of their mocking songs,
and my name has become proverbial as a term of scorn.
10 They despise me and keep their distance.
They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 God has unhooked my bowstring, [2]
and he has afflicted me,
so they throw off all restraint in my presence.
12 At my right hand this rabble rises up like a mob.
They trip my feet.
They besiege me with their plans to destroy me.
13 They cut off my path to escape.
They try to benefit from my destruction.
They need no one to help them.
14 They pour through the breach in my wall.
They roll in through the ruins.
15 Terrors are unleashed against me.
My prestige is blown away by the wind.
My security has passed by like a cloud.
16 Now my soul is being poured out within me.
Days of suffering have seized me.
17 Night pierces my bones with pain.
The pain gnawing at me never stops.
18 God tugs violently at my clothing.
He chokes me like the collar of my robe.
19 He has thrown me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you for help, but you do not answer me.
Whenever I stand up, you pay no attention to me. [3]
21 You have become cruel to me.
With a strong hand you assault me.
22 You lift me up with the wind, and it carries me away.
You scatter me in the raging storm.
23 Yes, I know that you are bringing me down to death,
to the home where all the living meet.
24 Will he really stretch out his hand against a pile of ruins,
when the ruined man screams for help? [4]
25 Didn’t I weep for those who live through hard days?
Didn’t my soul grieve for the needy?
26 But when I waited for good, evil came.
When I hoped for light, darkness came.
27 My emotions [5] are boiling over.
They are never quiet.
Days of suffering confront me.
28 I walk around darkened, but not by the sun.
I stand in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals,
a companion for screeching ostriches.
30 My skin turns black and falls off,
and my bones burn with fever.
31 My lyre plays only sad songs.
My flute accompanies only the sound of weeping.
Job’s Morality
Job 31
1 I have made a covenant with my eyes.
How then could I stare at a virgin with desire?
2 If I did, what reward would I receive from God above?
What inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not ruin the reward for the wicked,
and misfortune the reward for evildoers?
4 But doesn’t God see my ways?
Doesn’t he count my every step?
5 Have I walked with deceit and lies?
Has my foot hurried to pursue fraud?
6 If God weighs me on an honest scale,
he will know my integrity.
7 If my footsteps have slipped off the path,
if my heart has pursued things desired by my eyes,
if anything corrupt has stuck to my palms,
8 then let someone else eat what I have sown.
Let my crops be uprooted.
9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
if I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,
10 let my wife grind for another,
and let other men crouch down over her.
11 For that would have been shameful behavior,
a guilty deed worthy of judgment.
12 There is a fire that consumes all the way to hell, [6]
that would completely burn up all my harvest.
13 If I have denied justice to my male servants
or to my female servants in their disputes with me,
14 then what would I do when God arises,
when he comes to call me to account?
How could I respond to him?
15 Didn’t he who made me in the womb also make my servant?
Didn’t the same God fashion us both in the womb?
16 If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,
if I have darkened the eyes of the widow,
17 if I have eaten my food all by myself
and have not shared it with the fatherless—
18 no, from the time of my youth, the fatherless child grew up with me,
and I was like a father to him.
From the womb of my mother I guided the widow.
19 If I saw anyone perishing from lack of clothing,
if the needy had nothing to wear,
20 his very body blessed me,
    as he was warmed by the wool from my sheep.
21 If I raised my hand against the fatherless child,
    because I had influence in the court at the city gate,
22 then let my shoulder be knocked out of its socket,
and let my upper arm be broken.
23 Now doom from God terrifies me,
and I cannot endure his majesty.
24 If I placed my confidence in gold,
and if I said to pure gold, “You are my security,”
25 if I rejoiced because I was so rich
and because my hand had obtained so much,
26 if I saw the shining sun and the moon moving in its splendor,
27 if my heart was gullible enough to worship them in secret,
and I kissed my hand to honor them,
28 that would have made me guilty and deserving of judgment,
for I would have denied God above.
29 If I rejoiced at the misfortune of someone who hates me,
or I was thrilled because trouble caught up with him—
30 but no, I have not savored sin by asking for a curse on his life.
31 Did the men in my tent ever have to say
    that there was someone who had not been filled with meat from Job? [7]
32 No stranger ever had to spend the night outside.
I have opened my door to the traveler.
33 If I had covered up my sin like Adam, [8]
and I had hidden my guilt in my heart,
34 because I was frightened of the crowd,
and the contempt of the clans filled me with terror,
so that I was silent and I did not go out of a door—
35 Oh how I wish I had someone to listen to me!
Look, here is my seal on my testimony.
Let the Almighty answer me!
Let me see the written indictment from my accuser.
36 I would lift it up on my shoulder.
I would place it on my head as a crown.
37 I would account to him for every single step.
I would approach him like the chief of a tribe.
38 If my soil cries out against me,
and its furrows weep because of me,
39 if I have consumed its wealth without paying for it,
if I have caused the death of its owners,
40 then let a thorn bush grow up instead of wheat,
and stinkweeds instead of barley.
The words of Job are concluded.
Footnotes
Job 30:2 The pronouns their and they in verses 2 to 7 may refer either to the men in verse 1, to their fathers, or to both. The tenses, therefore, could be either past or present.
Job 30:11 Or tent cord
Job 30:20 The translation follows some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions, as well as the parallelism. Other manuscripts read you direct your attention against me.
Job 30:24 This verse is difficult.
Job 30:27 Literally my intestines
Job 31:12 Or destruction. The Hebrew reads abaddon.
Job 31:31 The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
Job 31:33 Or as people do

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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9 min