Reading Plan
Comprehensive Reading Plan (365 days) New Testament Reading Plan (83 days) Old Testament Plan (282 days) Old/New Testament Plan (365 days) Survey Reading Plan (61 days) Through-the-Bible Reading Plan (365 days)
Bible Version
Apostles' Bible Complete (2004) King James Version (1769) New King James Version (1982) Today's English Version (Good News Bible) (1992) Voice In Wilderness (2006)
1
Everything you say, I have heard before. I understand it all; I know as much as you do. I'm not your inferior.
3
But my dispute is with God, not you; I want to argue my case with him.
4
You cover up your ignorance with lies; you are like doctors who can't heal anyone.
5
Say nothing, and someone may think you are wise!
6
Listen while I state my case.
7
Why are you lying? Do you think your lies will benefit God?
8
Are you trying to defend him? Are you going to argue his case in court?
9
If God looks at you closely, will he find anything good? Do you think you can fool God the way you fool others?
10
Even though your prejudice is hidden, he will reprimand you,
11
and his power will fill you with terror.
12
Your proverbs are as useless as ashes; your arguments are as weak as clay.
13
Be quiet and give me a chance to speak, and let the results be what they will.
14
I am ready to risk my life.
15
I've lost all hope, so what if God kills me? I am going to state my case to him.
16
It may even be that my boldness will save me, since no wicked person would dare to face God.
17
Now listen to my words of explanation.
18
I am ready to state my case, because I know I am in the right.
19
Are you coming to accuse me, God? If you do, I am ready to be silent and die.
20
Let me ask for two things; agree to them, and I will not try to hide from you:
21
stop punishing me, and don't crush me with terror.
22
Speak first, O God, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me.
23
What are my sins? What wrongs have I done? What crimes am I charged with?
24
Why do you avoid me? Why do you treat me like an enemy?
25
Are you trying to frighten me? I'm nothing but a leaf; you are attacking a piece of dry straw.
26
You bring bitter charges against me, even for what I did when I was young.
27
You bind chains on my feet; you watch every step I take, and even examine my footprints.
28
As a result, I crumble like rotten wood, like a moth-eaten coat.
1
We are all born weak and helpless. All lead the same short, troubled life.
2
We grow and wither as quickly as flowers; we disappear like shadows.
3
Will you even look at me, God, or put me on trial and judge me?
4
Nothing clean can ever come from anything as unclean as human beings.
5
The length of our lives is decided beforehand--- the number of months we will live. You have settled it, and it can't be changed.
6
Look away from us and leave us alone; let us enjoy our hard life---if we can.
7
There is hope for a tree that has been cut down; it can come back to life and sprout.
8
Even though its roots grow old, and its stump dies in the ground,
9
with water it will sprout like a young plant.
10
But we die, and that is the end of us; we die, and where are we then?
11
Like rivers that stop running, and lakes that go dry,
12
people die, never to rise. They will never wake up while the sky endures; they will never stir from their sleep.
13
I wish you would hide me in the world of the dead; let me be hidden until your anger is over, and then set a time to remember me.
14
If a man dies, can he come back to life? But I will wait for better times, wait till this time of trouble is ended.
15
Then you will call, and I will answer, and you will be pleased with me, your creature.
16
Then you will watch every step I take, but you will not keep track of my sins.
17
You will forgive them and put them away; you will wipe out all the wrongs I have done.
18
There comes a time when mountains fall and solid cliffs are moved away.
19
Water will wear down rocks, and heavy rain will wash away the soil; so you destroy our hope for life.
20
You overpower us and send us away forever; our faces are twisted in death.
21
Our children win honor, but we never know it, nor are we told when they are disgraced.
22
We feel only the pain of our own bodies and the grief of our own minds.
1
Empty words, Job! Empty words!
3
No one who is wise would talk the way you do or defend himself with such meaningless words.
4
If you had your way, no one would fear God; no one would pray to him.
5
Your wickedness is evident by what you say; you are trying to hide behind clever words.
6
There is no need for me to condemn you; you are condemned by every word you speak.
7
Do you think you were the first person born? Were you there when God made the mountains?
8
Did you overhear the plans God made? Does human wisdom belong to you alone?
9
There is nothing you know that we don't know.
10
We learned our wisdom from gray-haired people--- those born before your father.
11
God offers you comfort; why still reject it? We have spoken for him with calm, even words.
12
But you are excited and glare at us in anger.
13
You are angry with God and denounce him.
14
Can any human being be really pure? Can anyone be right with God?
15
Why, God does not trust even his angels; even they are not pure in his sight.
16
And we drink evil as if it were water; yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.
17
Now listen, Job, to what I know.
18
Those who are wise have taught me truths which they learned from their ancestors, and they kept no secrets hidden.
19
Their land was free from foreigners; there was no one to lead them away from God.
20
The wicked who oppress others will be in torment as long as they live.
21
Voices of terror will scream in their ears, and robbers attack when they think they are safe.
22
They have no hope of escaping from darkness, for somewhere a sword is waiting to kill them,
23
and vultures are waiting to eat their corpses. They know their future is dark;
24
disaster, like a powerful king, is waiting to attack them.
25
That is the fate of those who shake their fists at God and defy the Almighty.
26
They are proud and rebellious; they stubbornly hold up their shields and rush to fight against God.
28
They are the ones who captured cities and seized houses whose owners had fled, but war will destroy those cities and houses.
29
They will not remain rich for long; nothing they own will last. Even their shadows will vanish,
30
and they will not escape from darkness. They will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire, whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.
31
If they are foolish enough to trust in evil, then evil will be their reward.
32
Before their time is up they will wither, wither like a branch and never be green again.
33
They will be like vines that lose their unripe grapes; like olive trees that drop their blossoms.
34
There will be no descendants for godless people, and fire will destroy the homes built by bribery.
35
These are the ones who plan trouble and do evil; their hearts are always full of deceit.
