The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday August 31, 2022 (NIV)

¹⁴ “Hear this, O Job;
stop and ^(X)consider the wondrous works of God.
¹⁵ Do you know how God lays his command upon them
and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
¹⁶ Do you know the balancings^[b] of the clouds,
the wondrous works of him who is ^(Y)perfect in knowledge,
¹⁷ you whose garments are hot
when the earth is still because of the south wind?
¹⁸ Can you, like him, ^(Z)spread out the skies,
hard as a cast metal ^(AA)mirror?
¹⁹ Teach us what we shall say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of ^(AB)darkness.
²⁰ Shall it be told him that I would speak?
Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

²¹ “And now no one looks on the light
when it is bright in the skies,
when the wind has passed and cleared them.
²² Out of the north comes golden splendor;
God is clothed with ^(AC)awesome majesty.
²³ The Almighty—we ^(AD)cannot find him;
he is ^(AE)great in power;
^(AF)justice and abundant righteousness he will not ^(AG)violate.
²⁴ Therefore men ^(AH)fear him;
he does not regard any who are ^(AI)wise in their own conceit.”^[c]

² “Who is this that ^(AK)darkens counsel by words ^(AL)without knowledge?
^3 (AM)Dress for action^[d] like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.

⁴ “Where were you when I ^(AN)laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ when the morning stars ^(AO)sang together
and all ^(AP)the sons of God ^(AQ)shouted for joy?

⁸ “Or who ^(AR)shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
⁹ when I made clouds its garment
and ^(AS)thick darkness its swaddling band,
¹⁰ and prescribed ^(AT)limits for it
and set bars and doors,
¹¹ and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your ^(AU)proud waves be stayed’?

¹² “Have you ^(AV)commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
¹³ that it might take hold of ^(AW)the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be ^(AX)shaken out of it?
¹⁴ It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
¹⁵ From the wicked their ^(AY)light is withheld,
and ^(AZ)their uplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you ^(BA)entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
¹⁷ Have ^(BB)the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of ^(BC)deep darkness?
¹⁸ Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
²⁰ that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern ^(BD)the paths to its home?
²¹ You know, for ^(BE)you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!

²² “Have you entered ^(BF)the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen ^(BG)the storehouses of the hail,
²³ which I have reserved ^(BH)for the time of trouble,
^(BI)for the day of battle and war?
²⁴ What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

²⁵ “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and ^(BJ)a way for the thunderbolt,
²⁶ to bring rain on ^(BK)a land where no man is,
on ^(BL)the desert in which there is no man,
²⁷ to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with ^(BM)grass?

²⁸ “Has ^(BN)the rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb did ^(BO)the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to ^(BP)the frost of heaven?
³⁰ The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is ^(BQ)frozen.

³¹ “Can you bind the chains of ^(BR)the Pleiades
or loose the cords of ^(BS)Orion?
³² Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth^[e] in their season,
or can you guide ^(BT)the Bear with its children?
³³ Do you know ^(BU)the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?

³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that ^(BV)a flood of waters may cover you?
³⁵ Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ Who has ^(BW)put wisdom in ^(BX)the inward parts^[f]
or given understanding to the mind?^[g]
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
³⁸ when the dust runs into a mass
and ^(BY)the clods stick fast together?

³⁹ “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or ^(BZ)satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
⁴⁰ when they crouch in their ^(CA)dens
or lie in wait ^(CB)in their thicket?
⁴¹ Who provides for ^(CC)the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food?

39 “Do you know when ^(CD)the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe ^(CE)the calving of the does?
² Can you number the months that they fulfill,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
³ when they ^(CF)crouch, bring forth their offspring,
and are delivered of their young?
⁴ Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
they go out and ^(CG)do not return to them.

⁵ “Who has let the wild donkey go free?
Who has ^(CH)loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
⁶ to whom I have given ^(CI)the arid plain for his home
and ^(CJ)the salt land for his dwelling place?
⁷ He scorns the tumult of the city;
he hears not the shouts of the driver.
⁸ He ranges the mountains as his pasture,
and he searches after every green thing.

⁹ “Is ^(CK)the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will he spend the night at your ^(CL)manger?
¹⁰ Can you bind ^(CM)him in the furrow with ropes,
or will he harrow the valleys after you?
¹¹ Will you depend on him because his strength is great,
and will you leave to him your labor?
¹² Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
but are they the pinions and plumage of love?^[h]
14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
¹⁵ forgetting that a foot may crush them
and that the wild beast may trample them.
¹⁶ She ^(CN)deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;
though her ^(CO)labor be in vain, yet she has no fear,
¹⁷ because God has made her forget wisdom
and ^(CP)given her no share in understanding.
¹⁸ When she rouses herself to flee,^[i]
she laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
²⁰ Do you make him leap like the locust?
His majestic ^(CQ)snorting is terrifying.
²¹ He paws^[j] in the valley and exults in his strength;
he ^(CR)goes out to meet the weapons.
²² He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
he does not turn back from the sword.
²³ Upon him rattle the quiver,
the flashing spear, and the javelin.
²⁴ With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;
he cannot stand still at ^(CS)the sound of the trumpet.
²⁵ When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’
He smells the battle from afar,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars
and spreads his wings toward the south?
²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes his ^(CT)nest on high?
²⁸ On the rock he dwells and makes his home,
on ^(CU)the rocky crag and stronghold.
²⁹ From there he spies out the prey;
his eyes behold it from far away.
³⁰ His young ones suck up blood,
and ^(CV)where the slain are, there is he.”

⁹ But you have ^(A)rejected us and disgraced us
and ^(B)have not gone out with our armies.
¹⁰ You have made us ^(C)turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
¹¹ You have made us like ^(D)sheep for slaughter
and have ^(E)scattered us among the nations.
^12 (F)You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
¹³ You have made us ^(G)the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and ^(H)scorn of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us ^(I)a byword among the nations,
^(J)a laughingstock^[a] among the peoples.
¹⁵ All day long my disgrace is before me,
and ^(K)shame has covered my face
¹⁶ at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of ^(L)the enemy and the avenger.

^17 (M)All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our ^(N)steps ^(O)departed from your way;
¹⁹ yet you have ^(P)broken us in the place of ^(Q)jackals
and covered us with ^(R)the shadow of death.
²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
or ^(S)spread out our hands to ^(T)a foreign god,
^21 (U)would not God discover this?
^(V)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²² Yet ^(W)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

^23 (X)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! ^(Y)Do not reject us forever!
²⁴ Why ^(Z)do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
²⁵ For our ^(AA)soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up; ^(AB)come to our help!
^(AC)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!