Job 15-21

English Standard Version

² “Should ^(B)a wise man answer with ^(C)windy knowledge,
    and fill his ^(D)belly with ^(E)the east wind?
³ Should he argue in unprofitable talk,
    or in words with which he can do no good?
⁴ But you are doing away with the fear of God^[a]
    and hindering meditation before God.
⁵ For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
    and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
⁶ Your ^(F)own mouth condemns you, and not I;
    ^(G)your own lips testify against you.

^7 (H)“Are you the first man who was born?
    Or ^(I)were you brought forth ^(J)before the hills?
⁸ Have you listened in ^(K)the council of God?
    And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
^9 (L)What do you know that we do not know?
    What do you understand that is not clear to us?
^10 (M)Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
    older than your father.
¹¹ Are the comforts of God too small for you,
    or the word that deals gently with you?
¹² Why does your heart carry you away,
    and why do your eyes flash,
¹³ that you turn your ^(N)spirit against God
    and bring such words out of your mouth?
^14 (O)What is man, ^(P)that he can be pure?
    Or he who is ^(Q)born of a woman, that he can be righteous?
¹⁵ Behold, God^{[b] (R)}puts no trust in his ^(S)holy ones,
    and the heavens are not pure in his sight;
^16 (T)how much less one who is abominable and ^(U)corrupt,
    a man who ^(V)drinks injustice like water!

¹⁷ “I will show you; hear me,
    and what I have seen I will declare
¹⁸ (what wise men have told,
    without hiding it ^(W)from their fathers,
¹⁹ to whom alone the land was given,
    and no ^(X)stranger passed among them).
²⁰ The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
    through all the ^(Y)years that are laid up for ^(Z)the ruthless.
^21 (AA)Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
    in ^(AB)prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
²² He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,
    and he is marked for the sword.
²³ He ^(AC)wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
    He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
²⁴ distress and anguish terrify him;
    they ^(AD)prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
²⁵ Because he has stretched out his hand against God
    and defies the Almighty,
^26 (AE)running ^(AF)stubbornly against him
    with a thickly bossed shield;
²⁷ because he has ^(AG)covered his face with his fat
    and gathered fat upon his waist
²⁸ and has lived in desolate cities,
    in houses that none should inhabit,
    which were ready to become heaps of ruins;
²⁹ he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,
    nor will his possessions spread over the earth;^[c]
30 he will not depart from darkness;
    the flame will dry up his shoots,
    and by ^(AH)the breath of his mouth he will depart.
³¹ Let him not ^(AI)trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,
    for emptiness will be his payment.
³² It will be paid in full ^(AJ)before his time,
    and his branch will not be green.
³³ He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,
    and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.
³⁴ For ^(AK)the company of the godless is barren,
    and ^(AL)fire consumes the tents of bribery.
³⁵ They ^(AM)conceive trouble and give birth to evil,
    and their ^(AN)womb prepares deceit.”

² “I have heard ^(AO)many such things;
    ^(AP)miserable comforters are you all.
³ Shall ^(AQ)windy words have an end?
    Or what provokes you that you answer?
⁴ I also could speak as you do,
    if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
    and ^(AR)shake my head at you.
⁵ I could strengthen you with my mouth,
    and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

⁶ “If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,
    and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?
⁷ Surely now God has worn me out;
    ^(AS)he has^[d] made desolate all my company.
⁸ And he has shriveled me up,
    which is ^(AT)a witness against me,
and my ^(AU)leanness has risen up against me;
    it testifies to my face.
⁹ He has ^(AV)torn me in his wrath ^(AW)and hated me;
    he has ^(AX)gnashed his teeth at me;
    my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.
¹⁰ Men have ^(AY)gaped at me with their mouth;
    they have ^(AZ)struck me insolently on the cheek;
    they ^(BA)mass themselves together against me.
¹¹ God gives me up to the ungodly
    and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
¹² I was at ease, and he broke me apart;
    he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his ^(BB)target;
¹³     his ^(BC)archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys ^(BD)and does not spare;
    he ^(BE)pours out my gall on the ground.
¹⁴ He breaks me with ^(BF)breach upon breach;
    he ^(BG)runs upon me like a warrior.
¹⁵ I have sewed ^(BH)sackcloth upon my skin
    and have laid ^(BI)my strength ^(BJ)in the dust.
¹⁶ My face is red with weeping,
    and on my eyelids is ^(BK)deep darkness,
¹⁷ although there is no ^(BL)violence in my hands,
    and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ “O earth, ^(BM)cover not my blood,
    and let my ^(BN)cry find no resting place.
¹⁹ Even now, behold, my ^(BO)witness is in heaven,
    and he who testifies for me is ^(BP)on high.
²⁰ My friends ^(BQ)scorn me;
    my eye pours out tears to God,
²¹ that he would ^(BR)argue the case of a man with God,
    as^[e] a son of man does with his neighbor.
²² For when a few years have come
    I shall go the way ^(BS)from which I shall not return.

³ “Lay down a pledge for me with you;
    who is there who will put up ^(BW)security for me?
⁴ Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
⁵ He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—
    the ^(BX)eyes of his children will fail.

⁶ “He has made me ^(BY)a byword of the peoples,
    and I am one before whom men spit.
⁷ My ^(BZ)eye has grown dim from vexation,
    and all my members are like ^(CA)a shadow.
⁸ The upright are ^(CB)appalled at this,
    and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
⁹ Yet the righteous holds to his way,
    and he who has ^(CC)clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
¹⁰ But you, ^(CD)come on again, all of you,
    and I shall not find a wise man among you.
¹¹ My ^(CE)days are past; my plans are broken off,
    the desires of my heart.
¹² They ^(CF)make night into day:
    ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’^[f]
13 If I hope for ^(CG)Sheol as ^(CH)my house,
    if I make my bed in darkness,
¹⁴ if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
¹⁵ where then is my hope?
    Who will see my hope?
¹⁶ Will it go down to the bars of ^(CI)Sheol?
    Shall we ^(CJ)descend together ^(CK)into the dust?”^[g]

² “How long will you ^(CM)hunt for words?
    Consider, and then we will speak.
³ Why are we counted as ^(CN)cattle?
    Why are we stupid in your sight?
⁴ You who ^(CO)tear yourself in your anger,
    shall the earth be forsaken for you,
    or ^(CP)the rock be removed out of its place?

⁵ “Indeed, ^(CQ)the light of the wicked is put out,
    and the flame of his fire does not shine.
⁶ The light is ^(CR)dark in his tent,
    and his lamp above him is put out.
⁷ His strong steps are shortened,
    and his ^(CS)own schemes throw him down.
⁸ For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
    and he walks on its mesh.
^9 (CT)A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare lays hold of him.
¹⁰ A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
    a trap for him in the path.
^11 (CU)Terrors frighten him on every side,
    and chase him at his heels.
¹² His strength is famished,
    and calamity is ^(CV)ready for his stumbling.
¹³ It consumes the parts of his skin;
    ^(CW)the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
¹⁴ He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
    and is brought to ^(CX)the king of terrors.
¹⁵ In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
    ^(CY)sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
¹⁶ His ^(CZ)roots dry up beneath,
    and his branches ^(DA)wither above.
¹⁷ His ^(DB)memory perishes from the earth,
    and he has no name in the street.
^18 (DC)He is thrust from light into darkness,
    and driven out of the world.
¹⁹ He has no ^(DD)posterity or progeny among his people,
    and no survivor where he used to live.
²⁰ They of the west are appalled at his ^(DE)day,
    and ^(DF)horror seizes them of the east.
²¹ Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
    such is the place of him who ^(DG)knows not God.”

² “How long will you torment me
    and break me in pieces with words?
³ These ^(DH)ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
    are you not ashamed to wrong me?
⁴ And even if it be true that I have erred,
    my error remains with myself.
⁵ If indeed you ^(DI)magnify yourselves against me
    and make my disgrace an argument against me,
⁶ know then that God has ^(DJ)put me in the wrong
    and closed his net about me.
⁷ Behold, I ^(DK)cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
    I call for help, but there is no justice.
⁸ He has ^(DL)walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
    and he has set darkness upon my paths.
⁹ He has ^(DM)stripped from me my glory
    and taken the ^(DN)crown from my head.
¹⁰ He breaks me down on every side, and I ^(DO)am gone,
    and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
¹¹ He has kindled his wrath against me
    and ^(DP)counts me as his adversary.
¹² His ^(DQ)troops come on together;
    they have ^(DR)cast up their siege ramp^[h] against me
    and encamp around my tent.

¹³ “He has put my ^(DS)brothers far from me,
    and ^(DT)those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
¹⁴ My relatives ^(DU)have failed me,
    my close ^(DV)friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ The guests ^(DW)in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;
    I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
¹⁶ I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
    I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.
¹⁷ My breath is strange to my ^(DX)wife,
    and I am a stench to the children of ^(DY)my own mother.
¹⁸ Even young ^(DZ)children despise me;
    when I rise they talk against me.
¹⁹ All my ^(EA)intimate friends abhor me,
    and those whom I loved have turned against me.
²⁰ My ^(EB)bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
    and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
²¹ Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
    for the hand of God has ^(EC)touched me!
²² Why do you, like God, ^(ED)pursue me?
    Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

²³ “Oh that my words were written!
    Oh that they were ^(EE)inscribed in a book!
²⁴ Oh that with an iron ^(EF)pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
²⁵ For I ^(EG)know that my ^(EH)Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the ^(EI)earth.^[i]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
    yet in^[j] my flesh I shall ^(EJ)see God,
²⁷ whom I shall see for myself,
    and my eyes shall behold, and not ^(EK)another.
    My heart ^(EL)faints within me!
²⁸ If you say, ‘How we will ^(EM)pursue him!’
    and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’^[k]
29 be afraid of the sword,
    for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
    that you may know there is ^(EN)a judgment.”

² “Therefore my ^(EP)thoughts answer me,
    because of my haste within me.
³ I hear censure that insults me,
    and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
⁴ Do you not know this from of old,
    ^(EQ)since man was placed on earth,
^5 (ER)that the exulting of the wicked is short,
    and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
^6 (ES)Though his height mount up to the heavens,
    and his head reach to the clouds,
⁷ he will perish forever like his own ^(ET)dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ^(EU)‘Where is he?’
⁸ He will fly away like ^(EV)a dream and not be found;
    he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
^9 (EW)The eye that saw him will see him no more,
    nor will his place any more behold him.
¹⁰ His children will seek the favor of the poor,
    and his hands will ^(EX)give back his wealth.
¹¹ His bones are full of his ^(EY)youthful vigor,
    but it will lie ^(EZ)down with him in the dust.

¹² “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
    though he hides it ^(FA)under his tongue,
¹³ though he is loath to let it go
    and holds it in his mouth,
¹⁴ yet his food is turned in his stomach;
    it is the venom of ^(FB)cobras within him.
¹⁵ He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;
    God casts them out of his belly.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
    ^(FC)the tongue of a viper will kill him.
¹⁷ He will not look upon ^(FD)the rivers,
    the streams flowing with ^(FE)honey and ^(FF)curds.
¹⁸ He will ^(FG)give back the fruit of his toil
    and will not ^(FH)swallow it down;
from the profit of his trading
    he will get no enjoyment.
¹⁹ For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;
    he has seized a house that he did not build.

²⁰ “Because he ^(FI)knew no ^(FJ)contentment in his belly,
    ^(FK)he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.
²¹ There was nothing left after he had eaten;
    therefore his prosperity will not endure.
²² In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;
    the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.
²³ To fill his belly to the full,
    God^[l] will send his burning anger against him
    and rain it upon him ^(FL)into his body.
^24 (FM)He will flee from an iron weapon;
    ^(FN)a bronze arrow will strike ^(FO)him through.
²⁵ It ^(FP)is drawn forth and comes out of his body;
    ^(FQ)the glittering point comes out of his ^(FR)gallbladder;
    ^(FS)terrors come upon him.
²⁶ Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;
    ^(FT)a fire not fanned will devour him;
    what is left in his tent will be consumed.
^27 (FU)The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
    and the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ The possessions of his house will be carried away,
    dragged off in the day of God's^[m] wrath.
^29 (FV)This is the wicked man's portion from God,
    ^(FW)the heritage decreed for him by God.”

^2 (FX)“Keep listening to my words,
    and let this be your comfort.
³ Bear with me, and I will speak,
    and after I have spoken, ^(FY)mock on.
⁴ As for me, is my ^(FZ)complaint against man?
    Why should I not be impatient?
⁵ Look at me and be appalled,
    and ^(GA)lay your hand over your mouth.
⁶ When I remember, I am dismayed,
    and shuddering seizes my flesh.
^7 (GB)Why do the wicked live,
    reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
⁸ Their ^(GC)offspring are established in their presence,
    and their descendants before their eyes.
⁹ Their houses are ^(GD)safe from fear,
    and ^(GE)no rod of God is upon them.
¹⁰ Their bull breeds without fail;
    their cow calves and ^(GF)does not miscarry.
¹¹ They send out their ^(GG)little boys like a flock,
    and their children dance.
¹² They sing to ^(GH)the tambourine and ^(GI)the lyre
    and rejoice to the sound of ^(GJ)the pipe.
¹³ They ^(GK)spend their days in prosperity,
    and in ^(GL)peace they go down to ^(GM)Sheol.
¹⁴ They say to God, ^(GN)‘Depart from us!
    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
^15 (GO)What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    And what ^(GP)profit do we get if we pray to him?’
¹⁶ Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
    ^(GQ)The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷ “How often is it that ^(GR)the lamp of the wicked is put out?
    That their calamity comes upon them?
    That God^[n] distributes pains in his anger?
¹⁸ That they are like ^(GS)straw before the wind,
    and like ^(GT)chaff that the storm carries away?
¹⁹ You say, ‘God ^(GU)stores up their iniquity for their ^(GV)children.’
    Let him pay it out to them, that they may ^(GW)know it.
²⁰ Let their own eyes see their destruction,
    and let them ^(GX)drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
²¹ For what do they care for their houses after them,
    when ^(GY)the number of their months is cut off?
^22 (GZ)Will any teach God knowledge,
    seeing that he ^(HA)judges those who are on high?
²³ One dies in his full vigor,
    being wholly at ease and secure,
²⁴ his pails^[o] full of milk
    and ^(HB)the marrow of his bones moist.
²⁵ Another dies in ^(HC)bitterness of soul,
    never having tasted of prosperity.
²⁶ They ^(HD)lie down alike in the dust,
    and ^(HE)the worms cover them.

²⁷ “Behold, I know your thoughts
    and your schemes to wrong me.
²⁸ For you say, ^(HF)‘Where is the house of the prince?
    Where is ^(HG)the tent in which the wicked lived?’
²⁹ Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
    and do you not accept their testimony
³⁰ that ^(HH)the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
    that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
³¹ Who declares his way ^(HI)to his face,
    and who ^(HJ)repays him for what he has done?
³² When he is ^(HK)carried to the grave,
    watch is kept over his tomb.
^33 (HL)The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
    ^(HM)all mankind follows after him,
    and those who go before him are innumerable.
³⁴ How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
    There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”