Job 17-20 (Contemporary English Version)

Job 17

Job Complains to God

My Hopes Have Died

 ¹My hopes have died,

   my time is up,

   and the grave is ready.

    ²All I can see are angry crowds,

   making fun of me.

    ³If you, LORD, don't help,

   who will pay the price

   for my release?

    ⁴My friends won't really listen,

   all because of you,

   and so you must be the one

   to prove them wrong.

    ⁵They have condemned me,

   just to benefit themselves;

   now blind their children.

    ⁶You, God, are the reason

   I am insulted and spit on.

    ⁷I am almost blind with grief;

   my body is a mere shadow.

    ⁸People who are truly good

   would feel so alarmed,

   that they would become angry

   at my worthless friends.

    ⁹They would do the right thing

   and because they did,

   they would grow stronger. ^{[a] 10}But none of my friends

   show any sense.

    ¹¹My life is drawing to an end;

   hope has disappeared.

    ¹²But all my friends can do

   is offer empty hopes. ^{[b] 13}I could tell the world below

   to prepare me a bed.

    ¹⁴Then I could greet the grave

   as my father

   and say to the worms,

   "Hello, mother and sisters!"

    ¹⁵But what kind of hope is that?

    ¹⁶Will it keep me company

   in the world of the dead?

   

Job 18

Bildad's Second Speech

How Long Will You Talk?

 ¹Bildad from Shuah ^[c] said: ²How long will you talk?

   Be sensible! Let us speak.

    ³Or do you think that we

   are dumb animals?

    ⁴You cut yourself in anger.

   Will that shake the earth

   or even move the rocks?

    ⁵The lamps of sinful people

   soon are snuffed out,

    ⁶leaving their tents dark.

    ⁷Their powerful legs become weak,

   and they stumble on schemes

   of their own doing.

    ⁸Before they know it,

    ⁹they are trapped

   in a net,

    ¹⁰hidden along the path.

    ¹¹Terror strikes and pursues

   from every side.

    ¹²Starving, they run,

   only to meet disaster,

    ¹³then afterwards to be eaten alive

   by death itself.

    ¹⁴Those sinners are dragged

   from the safety of their tents

   to die a gruesome death.

    ¹⁵Then their tents and possessions

   are burned to ashes,

    ¹⁶and they are left like trees,

   dried up from the roots.

    ¹⁷They are gone and forgotten,

    ¹⁸thrown far from the light

   into a world of darkness,

    ¹⁹without any children

   to carry on their name.

    ²⁰Everyone, from east to west,

   is overwhelmed with horror.

    ²¹Such is the fate of sinners

   and their families

   who don't know God.

   

Job 19

Job's Reply to Bildad

How Long Will You Torture Me?

 ¹Job said:

    ²How long will you torture me

   with your words?

    ³Isn't ten times enough

   for you to accuse me?

   Aren't you ashamed?

    ⁴Even if I have sinned,

   you haven't been harmed.

    ⁵You boast of your goodness,

   claiming I am suffering

   because I am guilty.

    ⁶But God is the one at fault

   for finding fault with me.

    ⁷Though I pray to be rescued

   from this torment,

   no whisper of justice

   answers me.

    ⁸God has me trapped

   with a wall of darkness

    ⁹and stripped of respect.

    ¹⁰God rips me apart,

   uproots my hopes,

    ¹¹and attacks with fierce anger,

   as though I were his enemy.

    ¹²His entire army advances,

   then surrounds my tent.

   

I Am Forgotten

 ¹³God has turned relatives

   and friends against me,

    ¹⁴and I am forgotten.

    ¹⁵My guests and my servants

   consider me a stranger,

    ¹⁶and when I call my servants,

   they pay no attention.

    ¹⁷My breath disgusts my wife;

   everyone in my family

   turns away.

    ¹⁸Young children can't stand me,

   and when I come near,

   they make fun.

    ¹⁹My best friends and loved ones

   have turned from me.

    ²⁰I am skin and bones--

   just barely alive.

    ²¹My friends, I beg you for pity!

   God has made me his target.

    ²²Hasn't he already done enough?

   Why do you join the attack?

    ²³I wish that my words

   could be written down

    ²⁴or chiseled into rock.

    ²⁵I know that my Savior ^[d] lives, and at the end

   he will stand on this earth.

    ²⁶My flesh may be destroyed,

   yet from this body

   I will see God. ^{[e] 27}Yes, I will see him for myself,

   and I long for that moment.

    ²⁸My friends, you think up ways

   to blame and torment me,

   saying

   I brought it on myself.

    ²⁹But watch out for the judgment,

   when God will punish you!

   

Job 20

Zophar's Second Speech

Your Words Are Disturbing

 ¹Zophar from Naamah ^[f] said: ²Your words are disturbing;

   now I must speak.

    ³You have accused

   and insulted me,

   and reason requires a reply.

    ⁴Since the time of creation,

   everyone has known

    ⁵that sinful people are happy

   for only a while.

    ⁶Though their pride and power

   may reach to the sky,

    ⁷they will disappear like dust,

   and those who knew them

   will wonder what happened.

    ⁸They will be forgotten

   like a dream

    ⁹and vanish from the sight

   of family and friends.

    ¹⁰Their children will have to repay

   what the parents took

   from the poor.

    ¹¹Indeed, the wicked will die

   and go to their graves

   in the prime of life.

   

Sinners Love the Taste of Sin

 ¹²Sinners love the taste of sin;

   they relish every bite

    ¹³and swallow it slowly.

    ¹⁴But their food will turn sour

   and poison their stomachs.

    ¹⁵Then God will make them lose

   the wealth they gobbled down.

    ¹⁶They will die from the fangs

   of poisonous snakes

    ¹⁷and never enjoy rivers flowing

   with milk and honey.

    ¹⁸Their hard work will result

   in nothing gained,

    ¹⁹because they cheated the poor

   and took their homes.

    ²⁰Greedy people want everything

   and are never satisfied. ^{[g] 21}But when nothing remains

   for them to grab,

   they will be nothing.

    ²²Once they have everything,

   distress and despair

   will strike them down,

    ²³and God will make them swallow

   his blazing anger. ^{[h] 24}While running from iron spears,

   they will be killed

   by arrows of bronze,

    ²⁵whose shining tips go straight

   through their bodies.

   They will be trapped by terror,

    ²⁶and what they treasure most

   will be lost in the dark.

   God will send flames

   to destroy them in their tents

   with all their property.

    ²⁷The heavens and the earth

   will testify against them,

    ²⁸and all their possessions

   will be dragged off

   when God becomes angry.

    ²⁹This is what God has decided

   for those who are evil.