Job 14-16 (English Standard Version)

Job 14

Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All

 ¹"Man who is^(A) born of a woman
   is^(B) few of days and^(C) full of trouble.
²He comes out like^(D) a flower and^(E) withers;
   he flees like^(F) a shadow and continues not.
³And do you^(G) open your eyes on such a one
   and^(H) bring me into judgment with you?
⁴Who can bring^(I) a clean thing out of an unclean?
   There is not one.
⁵Since his^(J) days are determined,
   and^(K) the number of his months is with you,
   and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
^6(L) look away from him and leave him alone,^[a]
   that he may enjoy, like^(M) a hired hand, his day.

 ⁷"For there is hope for a tree,
   if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
   and that its shoots will not cease.
⁸Though its root grow old in the earth,
   and^(N) its stump die in the soil,
⁹yet at the scent of water it will bud
   and put out^(O) branches like a young plant.
¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low;
   man breathes his last, and^(P) where is he?
^11(Q) As waters fail from a lake
   and a river wastes away and dries up,
¹²so a man lies down and rises not again;
   till^(R) the heavens are no more he will not awake
   or be^(S) roused out of his sleep.
¹³Oh that you would^(T) hide me in^(U) Sheol,
   that you would^(V) conceal me until your wrath be past,
   that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴If a man dies, shall he live again?
   All the days of my^(W) service I would^(X) wait,
   till my renewal^[b] should come.
¹⁵You would^(Y) call, and I would answer you;
   you would long for the^(Z) work of your hands.
¹⁶For then you would^(AA) number my steps;
   you would not keep^(AB) watch over my sin;
¹⁷my transgression would be^(AC) sealed up in a bag,
   and you would cover over my iniquity.

 ¹⁸"But the mountain falls and^(AD) crumbles away,
   and^(AE) the rock is removed from its place;
¹⁹the waters wear away the stones;
   the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
   so you destroy the hope of man.
²⁰You prevail forever against him, and he passes;
   you change his countenance, and send him away.
²¹His sons come to honor, and he^(AF) does not know it;
   they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
²²He feels only the pain of his own body,
   and he mourns only for himself."

Job 15

Eliphaz Accuses: Job Does Not Fear God

 ¹Then^(AG) Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
 ²"Should^(AH) a wise man answer with^(AI) windy knowledge,
   and fill his^(AJ) belly with^(AK) the east wind?
³Should he argue in unprofitable talk,
   or in words with which he can do no good?
⁴But you are doing away with the fear of God^[c]
   and hindering meditation before God.
⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
   and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
⁶Your^(AL) own mouth condemns you, and not I;
   ^(AM) your own lips testify against you.

 ^7(AN) "Are you the first man who was born?
   Or^(AO) were you brought forth^(AP) before the hills?
⁸Have you listened in^(AQ) the council of God?
   And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
^9(AR) What do you know that we do not know?
   What do you understand that is not clear to us?
^10(AS) Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
   older than your father.
¹¹Are the comforts of God too small for you,
   or the word that deals gently with you?
¹²Why does your heart carry you away,
   and why do your eyes flash,
¹³that you turn your^(AT) spirit against God
   and bring such words out of your mouth?
^14(AU) What is man,^(AV) that he can be pure?
   Or he who is^(AW) born of a woman, that he can be righteous?
¹⁵Behold, God^[d](AX) puts no trust in his^(AY) holy ones,
   and the heavens are not pure in his sight;
^16(AZ) how much less one who is abominable and^(BA) corrupt,
   a man who^(BB) 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^(BC) from their fathers,
¹⁹to whom alone the land was given,
   and no^(BD) stranger passed among them).
²⁰The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
   through all the^(BE) years that are laid up for^(BF) the ruthless.
^21(BG) Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
   in^(BH) prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
²²He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,
   and he is marked for the sword.
²³He^(BI) wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?'
   He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
²⁴distress and anguish terrify him;
   they^(BJ) prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
²⁵Because he has stretched out his hand against God
   and defies the Almighty,
^26(BK) running^(BL) stubbornly against him
   with a thickly bossed shield;
²⁷because he has^(BM) covered his face with his fat
   and gathered fat upon his waist
²⁸and has lived in desolate cities,
   in houses that none should inhabit,
   which were ready to become heaps of ruins;
²⁹he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,
   nor will his possessions spread over the earth;^[e]
30he will not depart from darkness;
   the flame will dry up his shoots,
   and by^(BN) the breath of his mouth he will depart.
³¹Let him not^(BO) trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,
   for emptiness will be his payment.
³²It will be paid in full^(BP) before his time,
   and his branch will not be green.
³³He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,
   and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.
³⁴For^(BQ) the company of the godless is barren,
   and^(BR) fire consumes the tents of bribery.
³⁵They^(BS) conceive trouble and give birth to evil,
   and their^(BT) womb prepares deceit."

Job 16

Job Replies: Miserable Comforters Are You

 ¹Then Job answered and said:
 ²"I have heard^(BU) many such things;
   ^(BV) miserable comforters are you all.
³Shall^(BW) windy words have an end?
   Or what provokes you that you answer?
⁴I also could speak as you do,
   if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
   and^(BX) shake my head at you.
⁵I 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?
⁷Surely now God has worn me out;
   ^(BY) he has^[f] made desolate all my company.
⁸And he has shriveled me up,
   which is^(BZ) a witness against me,
and my^(CA) leanness has risen up against me;
   it testifies to my face.
⁹He has^(CB) torn me in his wrath^(CC) and hated me;
   he has^(CD) gnashed his teeth at me;
   my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.
¹⁰Men have^(CE) gaped at me with their mouth;
   they have^(CF) struck me insolently on the cheek;
   they^(CG) mass themselves together against me.
¹¹God gives me up to the ungodly
   and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
¹²I 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^(CH) target;
 ¹³his^(CI) archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys^(CJ) and does not spare;
   he^(CK) pours out my gall on the ground.
¹⁴He breaks me with^(CL) breach upon breach;
   he^(CM) runs upon me like a warrior.
¹⁵I have sewed^(CN) sackcloth upon my skin
   and have laid^(CO) my strength^(CP) in the dust.
¹⁶My face is red with weeping,
   and on my eyelids is^(CQ) deep darkness,
¹⁷although there is no^(CR) violence in my hands,
   and my prayer is pure.

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