Job 12-14:22 (Contemporary English Version)

Job 12

Job's Reply to Zophar

You Think You Are So Great

 ¹Job said to his friends:

    ²You think you are so great,

   with all the answers.

    ³But I know as much as you do,

   and so does everyone else.

    ⁴I have always lived right,

   and God answered my prayers;

   now friends make fun of me.

    ⁵It's easy to condemn

   those who are suffering,

   when you have no troubles.

    ⁶Robbers and other godless people

   live safely at home

   and say,

   "God is in our hands!" ^[a]

If You Want To Learn

 ⁷If you want to learn,

   then go and ask

   the wild animals and the birds,

    ⁸the flowers and the fish.

    ⁹Any of them can tell you

   what the LORD has done. ^{[b] 10}Every living creature

   is in the hands of God.

    ¹¹We hear with our ears,

   taste with our tongues,

    ¹²and gain some wisdom from those

   who have lived a long time.

    ¹³But God is the real source

   of wisdom and strength.

    ¹⁴No one can rebuild

   what he destroys,

   or release

   those he has imprisoned.

    ¹⁵God can hold back the rain

   or send a flood,

    ¹⁶just as he rules over liars

   and those they lie to.

    ¹⁷God destroys counselors,

   turns judges into fools,

    ¹⁸and makes slaves of kings.

    ¹⁹God removes priests and others

   who have great power--

    ²⁰he confuses wise,

   experienced advisors,

    ²¹puts mighty kings to shame,

   and takes away their power.

    ²²God turns darkness to light;

    ²³he makes nations strong,

   then shatters their strength.

    ²⁴God strikes their rulers senseless,

   then leaves them to roam

   through barren deserts,

    ²⁵lost in the dark, staggering

   like someone drunk.

   

Job 13

Job Continues

I Know and Understand

 ¹I know and understand

   every bit of this.

    ²None of you are smarter

   than I am;

   there's nothing you know

   that I don't.

    ³But I prefer to argue my case

   with God All-Powerful--

    ⁴you are merely useless doctors,

   who treat me with lies.

    ⁵The wisest thing you can do

   is to keep quiet

    ⁶and listen

   to my argument.

    ⁷Are you telling lies for God

    ⁸and not telling the whole truth

   when you argue his case?

    ⁹If he took you to court,

   could you fool him,

   just as you fool others?

    ¹⁰If you were secretly unfair,

   he would correct you,

    ¹¹and his glorious splendor

   would make you terrified.

    ¹²Your wisdom and arguments

   are as delicate as dust.

   

Be Quiet While I Speak

 ¹³Be quiet while I speak,

   then say what you will.

    ¹⁴I will be responsible

   for what happens to me.

    ¹⁵God may kill me, but still

   I will trust him ^[c] and offer my defense.

    ¹⁶This may be what saves me,

   because no guilty person

   would come to his court.

    ¹⁷Listen carefully to my words!

    ¹⁸I have prepared my case well,

   and I am certain to win.

    ¹⁹If you can prove me guilty,

   I will give up and die.

   

Job Prays

I Ask Only Two Things

 ²⁰I ask only two things

   of you, my God,

   and I will no longer

   hide from you--

    ²¹stop punishing

   and terrifying me!

    ²²Then speak, and I will reply;

   or else let me speak,

   and you reply.

    ²³Please point out my sins,

   so I will know them.

    ²⁴Why have you turned your back

   and count me your enemy?

    ²⁵Do you really enjoy

   frightening a fallen leaf?

    ²⁶Why do you accuse me

   of horrible crimes

   and make me pay for sins

   I did in my youth?

    ²⁷You have tied my feet down

   and keep me surrounded;

    ²⁸I am rotting away like cloth

   eaten by worms.

   

Job 14

Job Continues his Prayer

Life Is Short and Sorrowful

 ¹Life is short and sorrowful

   for every living soul.

    ²We are flowers that fade

   and shadows that vanish.

    ³And so, I ask you, God,

   why pick on me?

    ⁴There's no way a human

   can be completely pure.

    ⁵Our time on earth is brief;

   the number of our days

   is already decided by you.

    ⁶Why don't you leave us alone

   and let us find some happiness

   while we toil and labor?

   

When a Tree Is Chopped Down

 ⁷When a tree is chopped down,

   there is always the hope

   that it will sprout again.

    ⁸Its roots and stump may rot,

    ⁹but at the touch of water,

   fresh twigs shoot up.

    ¹⁰Humans are different--

   we die, and that's the end.

    ¹¹We are like streams and lakes

   after the water has gone;

    ¹²we fall into the sleep of death,

   never to rise again,

   until the sky disappears.

    ¹³Please hide me, God,

   deep in the ground--

   and when you are angry no more,

   remember to rescue me.

   

Will We Humans Live Again?

 ¹⁴Will we humans live again?

   I would gladly suffer

   and wait for my time.

    ¹⁵My Creator, you would want me;

   you would call out,

   and I would answer.

    ¹⁶You would take care of me,

   but not count my sins--

    ¹⁷you would put them in a bag,

   tie it tight,

   and toss them away.

    ¹⁸But in the real world,

   mountains tumble,

   and rocks crumble;

    ¹⁹streams wear away stones

   and wash away soil.

   And you destroy our hopes!

    ²⁰You change the way we look,

   then send us away,

   wiped out forever.

    ²¹We never live to know

   if our children are praised

   or disgraced.

    ²²We feel no pain but our own,

   and when we mourn,

   it's only for ourselves.