Job 14-21 (New International Version)

Job 14

 ¹ "Man born of woman
       is of few days and full of trouble.

 ² He springs up like a flower and withers away;
       like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

 ³ Do you fix your eye on such a one?
       Will you bring him ^[a] before you for judgment?

 ⁴ Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
       No one!

 ⁵ Man's days are determined;
       you have decreed the number of his months
       and have set limits he cannot exceed.

 ⁶ So look away from him and let him alone,
       till he has put in his time like a hired man.

 ⁷ "At least there is hope for a tree:
       If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
       and its new shoots will not fail.

 ⁸ Its roots may grow old in the ground
       and its stump die in the soil,

 ⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
       and put forth shoots like a plant.

 ¹⁰ But man dies and is laid low;
       he breathes his last and is no more.

 ¹¹ As water disappears from the sea
       or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,

 ¹² so man lies down and does not rise;
       till the heavens are no more, men will not awake
       or be roused from their sleep.

 ¹³ "If only you would hide me in the grave ^[b]
       and conceal me till your anger has passed!
       If only you would set me a time
       and then remember me!

 ¹⁴ If a man dies, will he live again?
       All the days of my hard service
       I will wait for my renewal ^[c] to come.

 ¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;
       you will long for the creature your hands have made.

 ¹⁶ Surely then you will count my steps
       but not keep track of my sin.

 ¹⁷ My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
       you will cover over my sin.

 ¹⁸ "But as a mountain erodes and crumbles
       and as a rock is moved from its place,

 ¹⁹ as water wears away stones
       and torrents wash away the soil,
       so you destroy man's hope.

 ²⁰ You overpower him once for all, and he is gone;
       you change his countenance and send him away.

 ²¹ If his sons are honored, he does not know it;
       if they are brought low, he does not see it.

 ²² He feels but the pain of his own body
       and mourns only for himself."

Job 15

Eliphaz

 ¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

 ² "Would a wise man answer with empty notions
       or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

 ³ Would he argue with useless words,
       with speeches that have no value?

 ⁴ But you even undermine piety
       and hinder devotion to God.

 ⁵ Your sin prompts your mouth;
       you adopt the tongue of the crafty.

 ⁶ Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
       your own lips testify against you.

 ⁷ "Are you the first man ever born?
       Were you brought forth before the hills?

 ⁸ Do you listen in on God's council?
       Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

 ⁹ What do you know that we do not know?
       What insights do you have that we do not have?

 ¹⁰ The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
       men even older than your father.

 ¹¹ Are God's consolations not enough for you,
       words spoken gently to you?

 ¹² Why has your heart carried you away,
       and why do your eyes flash,

 ¹³ so that you vent your rage against God
       and pour out such words from your mouth?

 ¹⁴ "What is man, that he could be pure,
       or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?

 ¹⁵ If God places no trust in his holy ones,
       if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

 ¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
       who drinks up evil like water!

 ¹⁷ "Listen to me and I will explain to you;
       let me tell you what I have seen,

 ¹⁸ what wise men have declared,
       hiding nothing received from their fathers

 ¹⁹ (to whom alone the land was given
       when no alien passed among them):

 ²⁰ All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
       the ruthless through all the years stored up for him.

 ²¹ Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
       when all seems well, marauders attack him.

 ²² He despairs of escaping the darkness;
       he is marked for the sword.

 ²³ He wanders about—food for vultures ^[d] ;
       he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

 ²⁴ Distress and anguish fill him with terror;
       they overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,

 ²⁵ because he shakes his fist at God
       and vaunts himself against the Almighty,

 ²⁶ defiantly charging against him
       with a thick, strong shield.

 ²⁷ "Though his face is covered with fat
       and his waist bulges with flesh,

 ²⁸ he will inhabit ruined towns
       and houses where no one lives,
       houses crumbling to rubble.

 ²⁹ He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,
       nor will his possessions spread over the land.

 ³⁰ He will not escape the darkness;
       a flame will wither his shoots,
       and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away.

 ³¹ Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,
       for he will get nothing in return.

 ³² Before his time he will be paid in full,
       and his branches will not flourish.

 ³³ He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
       like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.

 ³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren,
       and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

 ³⁵ They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
       their womb fashions deceit."

Job 16

Job

 ¹ Then Job replied:

 ² "I have heard many things like these;
       miserable comforters are you all!

 ³ Will your long-winded speeches never end?
       What ails you that you keep on arguing?

 ⁴ I also could speak like you,
       if you were in my place;
       I could make fine speeches against you
       and shake my head at you.

 ⁵ But my mouth would encourage you;
       comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

 ⁶ "Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
       and if I refrain, it does not go away.

 ⁷ Surely, O God, you have worn me out;
       you have devastated my entire household.

 ⁸ You have bound me—and it has become a witness;
       my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.

 ⁹ God assails me and tears me in his anger
       and gnashes his teeth at me;
       my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.

 ¹⁰ Men open their mouths to jeer at me;
       they strike my cheek in scorn
       and unite together against me.

 ¹¹ God has turned me over to evil men
       and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.

 ¹² All was well with me, but he shattered me;
       he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
       He has made me his target;

 ¹³ his archers surround me.
       Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
       and spills my gall on the ground.

 ¹⁴ Again and again he bursts upon me;
       he rushes at me like a warrior.

 ¹⁵ "I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
       and buried my brow in the dust.

 ¹⁶ My face is red with weeping,
       deep shadows ring my eyes;

 ¹⁷ yet my hands have been free of violence
       and my prayer is pure.

 ¹⁸ "O earth, do not cover my blood;
       may my cry never be laid to rest!

 ¹⁹ Even now my witness is in heaven;
       my advocate is on high.

 ²⁰ My intercessor is my friend ^[e]
       as my eyes pour out tears to God;

 ²¹ on behalf of a man he pleads with God
       as a man pleads for his friend.

 ²² "Only a few years will pass
       before I go on the journey of no return.

Job 17

 ¹ My spirit is broken,
       my days are cut short,
       the grave awaits me.

 ² Surely mockers surround me;
       my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

 ³ "Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
       Who else will put up security for me?

 ⁴ You have closed their minds to understanding;
       therefore you will not let them triumph.

 ⁵ If a man denounces his friends for reward,
       the eyes of his children will fail.

 ⁶ "God has made me a byword to everyone,
       a man in whose face people spit.

 ⁷ My eyes have grown dim with grief;
       my whole frame is but a shadow.

 ⁸ Upright men are appalled at this;
       the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.

 ⁹ Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,
       and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

 ¹⁰ "But come on, all of you, try again!
       I will not find a wise man among you.

 ¹¹ My days have passed, my plans are shattered,
       and so are the desires of my heart.

 ¹² These men turn night into day;
       in the face of darkness they say, 'Light is near.'

 ¹³ If the only home I hope for is the grave, ^[f]
       if I spread out my bed in darkness,

 ¹⁴ if I say to corruption, 'You are my father,'
       and to the worm, 'My mother' or 'My sister,'

 ¹⁵ where then is my hope?
       Who can see any hope for me?

 ¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of death ^[g] ?
       Will we descend together into the dust?"

Job 18

Bildad

 ¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

 ² "When will you end these speeches?
       Be sensible, and then we can talk.

 ³ Why are we regarded as cattle
       and considered stupid in your sight?

 ⁴ You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
       is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?
       Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

 ⁵ "The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out;
       the flame of his fire stops burning.

 ⁶ The light in his tent becomes dark;
       the lamp beside him goes out.

 ⁷ The vigor of his step is weakened;
       his own schemes throw him down.

 ⁸ His feet thrust him into a net
       and he wanders into its mesh.

 ⁹ A trap seizes him by the heel;
       a snare holds him fast.

 ¹⁰ A noose is hidden for him on the ground;
       a trap lies in his path.

 ¹¹ Terrors startle him on every side
       and dog his every step.

 ¹² Calamity is hungry for him;
       disaster is ready for him when he falls.

 ¹³ It eats away parts of his skin;
       death's firstborn devours his limbs.

 ¹⁴ He is torn from the security of his tent
       and marched off to the king of terrors.

 ¹⁵ Fire resides ^[h] in his tent;
       burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.

 ¹⁶ His roots dry up below
       and his branches wither above.

 ¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth;
       he has no name in the land.

 ¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness
       and is banished from the world.

 ¹⁹ He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
       no survivor where once he lived.

 ²⁰ Men of the west are appalled at his fate;
       men of the east are seized with horror.

 ²¹ Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;
       such is the place of one who knows not God."

Job 19

Job

 ¹ Then Job replied:

 ² "How long will you torment me
       and crush me with words?

 ³ Ten times now you have reproached me;
       shamelessly you attack me.

 ⁴ If it is true that I have gone astray,
       my error remains my concern alone.

 ⁵ If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
       and use my humiliation against me,

 ⁶ then know that God has wronged me
       and drawn his net around me.

 ⁷ "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response;
       though I call for help, there is no justice.

 ⁸ He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
       he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

 ⁹ He has stripped me of my honor
       and removed the crown from my head.

 ¹⁰ He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
       he uproots my hope like a tree.

 ¹¹ His anger burns against me;
       he counts me among his enemies.

 ¹² His troops advance in force;
       they build a siege ramp against me
       and encamp around my tent.

 ¹³ "He has alienated my brothers from me;
       my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

 ¹⁴ My kinsmen have gone away;
       my friends have forgotten me.

 ¹⁵ My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger;
       they look upon me as an alien.

 ¹⁶ I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
       though I beg him with my own mouth.

 ¹⁷ My breath is offensive to my wife;
       I am loathsome to my own brothers.

 ¹⁸ Even the little boys scorn me;
       when I appear, they ridicule me.

 ¹⁹ All my intimate friends detest me;
       those I love have turned against me.

 ²⁰ I am nothing but skin and bones;
       I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth. ^[i]

 ²¹ "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
       for the hand of God has struck me.

 ²² Why do you pursue me as God does?
       Will you never get enough of my flesh?

 ²³ "Oh, that my words were recorded,
       that they were written on a scroll,

 ²⁴ that they were inscribed with an iron tool on ^[j] lead,
       or engraved in rock forever!

 ²⁵ I know that my Redeemer ^[k] lives,
       and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. ^[l]

 ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
       yet ^[m] in ^[n] my flesh I will see God;

 ²⁷ I myself will see him
       with my own eyes—I, and not another.
       How my heart yearns within me!

 ²⁸ "If you say, 'How we will hound him,
       since the root of the trouble lies in him, ^[o] '

 ²⁹ you should fear the sword yourselves;
       for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
       and then you will know that there is judgment. ^[p] "

Job 20

Zophar

 ¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

 ² "My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
       because I am greatly disturbed.

 ³ I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
       and my understanding inspires me to reply.

 ⁴ "Surely you know how it has been from of old,
       ever since man ^[q] was placed on the earth,

 ⁵ that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
       the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

 ⁶ Though his pride reaches to the heavens
       and his head touches the clouds,

 ⁷ he will perish forever, like his own dung;
       those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'

 ⁸ Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
       banished like a vision of the night.

 ⁹ The eye that saw him will not see him again;
       his place will look on him no more.

 ¹⁰ His children must make amends to the poor;
       his own hands must give back his wealth.

 ¹¹ The youthful vigor that fills his bones
       will lie with him in the dust.

 ¹² "Though evil is sweet in his mouth
       and he hides it under his tongue,

 ¹³ though he cannot bear to let it go
       and keeps it in his mouth,

 ¹⁴ yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
       it will become the venom of serpents within him.

 ¹⁵ He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
       God will make his stomach vomit them up.

 ¹⁶ He will suck the poison of serpents;
       the fangs of an adder will kill him.

 ¹⁷ He will not enjoy the streams,
       the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

 ¹⁸ What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
       he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

 ¹⁹ For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
       he has seized houses he did not build.

 ²⁰ "Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
       he cannot save himself by his treasure.

 ²¹ Nothing is left for him to devour;
       his prosperity will not endure.

 ²² In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
       the full force of misery will come upon him.

 ²³ When he has filled his belly,
       God will vent his burning anger against him
       and rain down his blows upon him.

 ²⁴ Though he flees from an iron weapon,
       a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

 ²⁵ He pulls it out of his back,
       the gleaming point out of his liver.
       Terrors will come over him;

 ²⁶ total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
       A fire unfanned will consume him
       and devour what is left in his tent.

 ²⁷ The heavens will expose his guilt;
       the earth will rise up against him.

 ²⁸ A flood will carry off his house,
       rushing waters ^[r] on the day of God's wrath.

 ²⁹ Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
       the heritage appointed for them by God."

Job 21

Job

 ¹ Then Job replied:

 ² "Listen carefully to my words;
       let this be the consolation you give me.

 ³ Bear with me while I speak,
       and after I have spoken, mock on.

 ⁴ "Is my complaint directed to man?
       Why should I not be impatient?

 ⁵ Look at me and be astonished;
       clap your hand over your mouth.

 ⁶ When I think about this, I am terrified;
       trembling seizes my body.

 ⁷ Why do the wicked live on,
       growing old and increasing in power?

 ⁸ They see their children established around them,
       their offspring before their eyes.

 ⁹ Their homes are safe and free from fear;
       the rod of God is not upon them.

 ¹⁰ Their bulls never fail to breed;
       their cows calve and do not miscarry.

 ¹¹ They send forth their children as a flock;
       their little ones dance about.

 ¹² They sing to the music of tambourine and harp;
       they make merry to the sound of the flute.

 ¹³ They spend their years in prosperity
       and go down to the grave ^[s] in peace. ^[t]

 ¹⁴ Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone!
       We have no desire to know your ways.

 ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
       What would we gain by praying to him?'

 ¹⁶ But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
       so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

 ¹⁷ "Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
       How often does calamity come upon them,
       the fate God allots in his anger?

 ¹⁸ How often are they like straw before the wind,
       like chaff swept away by a gale?

 ¹⁹ It is said, 'God stores up a man's punishment for his sons.'
       Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it!

 ²⁰ Let his own eyes see his destruction;
       let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. ^[u]

 ²¹ For what does he care about the family he leaves behind
       when his allotted months come to an end?

 ²² "Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
       since he judges even the highest?

 ²³ One man dies in full vigor,
       completely secure and at ease,

 ²⁴ his body ^[v] well nourished,
       his bones rich with marrow.

 ²⁵ Another man dies in bitterness of soul,
       never having enjoyed anything good.

 ²⁶ Side by side they lie in the dust,
       and worms cover them both.

 ²⁷ "I know full well what you are thinking,
       the schemes by which you would wrong me.

 ²⁸ You say, 'Where now is the great man's house,
       the tents where wicked men lived?'

 ²⁹ Have you never questioned those who travel?
       Have you paid no regard to their accounts-

 ³⁰ that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
       that he is delivered from ^[w] the day of wrath?

 ³¹ Who denounces his conduct to his face?
       Who repays him for what he has done?

 ³² He is carried to the grave,
       and watch is kept over his tomb.

 ³³ The soil in the valley is sweet to him;
       all men follow after him,
       and a countless throng goes ^[x] before him.

 ³⁴ "So how can you console me with your nonsense?
       Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!"