Job 6-9 (English Standard Version)

Job 6

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

 ¹Then Job answered and said:
 ²"Oh that my vexation were weighed,
   and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³For then it would be heavier than^(A) the sand of the sea;
   therefore my words have been rash.
⁴For^(B) the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
   my spirit drinks their poison;
   the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
   or the ox low over his fodder?
⁶Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
   or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?^[a]
7My appetite refuses to touch them;
   they are as food that is loathsome to me.^[b]

 ⁸"Oh that I might have my request,
   and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹that it would^(C) please God to crush me,
   that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰This would be my comfort;
   I would even exult^[c] in pain^(D) unsparing,
   for I have not denied the words of^(E) the Holy One.
¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?
   And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹²Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? ¹³Have I any help in me,
   when resource is driven from me?

 ¹⁴"He who^(F) withholds^[d] kindness from a^(G) friend
   forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵My^(H) brothers are^(I) treacherous as a torrent-bed,
   as torrential^(J) streams that pass away,
¹⁶which are dark with ice,
   and where the snow hides itself.
¹⁷When they melt, they disappear;
   when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
¹⁸The caravans turn aside from their course;
   they go up into^(K) the waste and perish.
¹⁹The caravans of^(L) Tema look,
   the travelers of^(M) Sheba hope.
²⁰They are^(N) ashamed because they were confident;
   they come there and are disappointed.
²¹For you have now become nothing;
   you see my calamity and are afraid.
²²Have I said, 'Make me a gift'?
   Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me'?
²³Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary’s hand'?
   Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of^(O) the ruthless'?

 ²⁴"Teach me, and I will be silent;
   make me understand how I have gone astray.
²⁵How forceful are upright words!
   But what does reproof from you reprove?
²⁶Do you think that you can reprove words,
   when the speech of a despairing man is^(P) wind?
²⁷You would even^(Q) cast lots over the fatherless,
   and bargain over your friend.

 ²⁸"But now, be pleased to look at me,
   for I will not lie to your face.
^29(R) Please turn; let no injustice be done.
   Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
³⁰Is there any injustice on my tongue?
   Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

Job 7

Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope

 ¹"Has not man^(S) a hard service on earth,
   and are not his^(T) days like the days of a hired hand?
²Like a slave who longs for^(U) the shadow,
   and like^(V) a hired hand who looks for his^(W) wages,
³so I am allotted months of^(X) emptiness,
   ^(Y) and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
^4(Z) When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?'
   But the night is long,
   and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
⁵My flesh is clothed with^(AA) worms and^(AB) dirt;
   my skin hardens, then^(AC) breaks out afresh.
⁶My days are^(AD) swifter than^(AE) a weaver’s shuttle
   and come to their end without hope.

 ⁷"Remember that my life is a^(AF) breath;
   my eye will never again see good.
^8(AG) The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
   while your eyes are on me,^(AH) I shall be gone.
⁹As^(AI) the cloud fades and vanishes,
   so he who^(AJ) goes down to Sheol does not come up;
¹⁰he^(AK) returns no more to his house,
   nor does his^(AL) place know him anymore.

 ¹¹"Therefore I will not^(AM) restrain my mouth;
   I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
   I will^(AN) complain in^(AO) the bitterness of my soul.
¹²Am I the sea, or^(AP) a sea monster,
   that you set a guard over me?
^13(AQ) When I say, 'My bed will comfort me,
   my couch will ease my complaint,'
¹⁴then you scare me with dreams
   and terrify me with visions,
¹⁵so that I would choose strangling
   and death rather than my^(AR) bones.
¹⁶I^(AS) loathe my life; I would not live forever.
   ^(AT) Leave me alone, for my days are^(AU) a breath.
^17(AV) What is man, that you make so much of him,
   and that you set your heart on him,
^18(AW) visit him every morning
   and^(AX) test him every moment?
¹⁹How long will you not^(AY) look away from me,
   nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
²⁰If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
   Why have you made me^(AZ) your mark?
   Why have I become a burden to you?
²¹Why do you not pardon my transgression
   and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in^(BA) the earth;
   you will^(BB) seek me,^(BC) but I shall not be."

Job 8

Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent

 ¹Then^(BD) Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
 ²"How long will you say these things,
   and the words of your mouth be a^(BE) great wind?
^3(BF) Does God pervert justice?
   Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
⁴If your^(BG) children have sinned against him,
   he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
⁵If you will seek God
   and^(BH) plead with the Almighty for mercy,
⁶if you are pure and upright,
   surely then he will^(BI) rouse himself for you
   and^(BJ) restore your rightful habitation.
⁷And though your beginning was small,
   ^(BK) your latter days will be very great.

 ⁸"For^(BL) inquire, please, of bygone ages,
   and consider what^(BM) the fathers have searched out.
⁹For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
   for our days on earth are^(BN) a shadow.
¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you
   and utter words out of their understanding?

 ¹¹"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
   Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
¹²While yet in flower and not cut down,
   they^(BO) wither before any other plant.
¹³Such are the paths of all who^(BP) forget God;
   ^(BQ) the hope of^(BR) the godless shall perish.
¹⁴His confidence is severed,
   and his trust is^(BS) a spider’s web.^[e]
15He leans against his^(BT) house, but it does not stand;
   he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
¹⁶He is a lush plant before the sun,
   and his^(BU) shoots spread over his garden.
¹⁷His roots entwine the stone heap;
   he looks upon a house of stones.
¹⁸If he is destroyed from his^(BV) place,
   then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never^(BW) seen you.'
¹⁹Behold, this is the joy of his way,
   and out of^(BX) the soil others will spring.

 ²⁰"Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
   nor take the hand of evildoers.
²¹He will yet^(BY) fill your mouth with laughter,
   and your lips with shouting.
²²Those who hate you will be^(BZ) clothed with shame,
   and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

Job 9

Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter

 ¹Then Job answered and said:
 ²"Truly I know that it is so:
   But how can a man be^(CA) in the right before God?
³If one wished to^(CB) contend with him,
   one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
⁴He is^(CC) wise in heart and mighty in strength
   —who has^(CD) hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
⁵he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
   when he overturns them in his anger,
⁶who^(CE) shakes the earth out of its place,
   and^(CF) its pillars tremble;
⁷who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
   who seals up the stars;
⁸who alone^(CG) stretched out the heavens
   and trampled the waves of the sea;
⁹who^(CH) made^(CI) the Bear and^(CJ) Orion,
   the Pleiades^(CK) and the chambers of the south;
¹⁰who does^(CL) great things beyond searching out,
   and marvelous things beyond number.
¹¹Behold, he passes by me, and I^(CM) see him not;
   he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
¹²Behold, he snatches away;^(CN) who can turn him back?
   ^(CO) Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'

 ¹³"God will not turn back his anger;
   beneath him bowed the helpers of^(CP) Rahab.
^14(CQ) How then can I^(CR) answer him,
   choosing my words with him?
^15(CS) Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
   I must^(CT) appeal for mercy to my accuser.^[f]
16If I summoned him and he answered me,
   I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
¹⁷For he crushes me with a tempest
   and multiplies my wounds^(CU) without cause;
¹⁸he will not let me get my breath,
   but fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹If it is a contest of^(CV) strength, behold, he is mighty!
   If it is a matter of justice, who can^(CW) summon him?^[g]
20Though I am in the right,^(CX) my own mouth would condemn me;
   though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
²¹I am^(CY) blameless; I regard not myself;
   I^(CZ) loathe my life.
²²It is all one; therefore I say,
   He^(DA) destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
²³When^(DB) disaster brings sudden death,
   he mocks at the calamity^[h] of the innocent.
^24(DC) The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
   he^(DD) covers the faces of its judges—
   ^(DE) if it is not he, who then is it?

 ²⁵"My^(DF) days are swifter than^(DG) a runner;
   they flee away; they see no good.
²⁶They go by like^(DH) skiffs of reed,
   like^(DI) an eagle swooping on the prey.
²⁷If I say,^(DJ) 'I will forget my complaint,
   I will put off my sad face, and^(DK) be of good cheer,'
²⁸I become^(DL) afraid of all my suffering,
   for I know you will not^(DM) hold me innocent.
²⁹I shall be^(DN) condemned;
   why then do I labor in vain?
³⁰If I wash myself with snow
   and^(DO) cleanse my hands with lye,
³¹yet you will plunge me into a pit,
   and my own clothes will^(DP) abhor me.
³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
   that we should^(DQ) come to trial together.
^33(DR) There is no^[i] arbiter between us,
   who might lay his hand on us both.
^34(DS) Let him take his^(DT) rod away from me,
   and let^(DU) not dread of him terrify me.
³⁵Then I would speak without fear of him,
   for I am not so in myself.