Job 29-31 (New American Standard Bible)

Job 29

Job's Past Was Glorious

 ¹And Job again took up his ^(A)discourse and said,
    ²"Oh that I were as in months gone by,
         As in the days when God ^(B)watched over me;
    ³When ^(C)His lamp shone over my head,
         And ^(D)by His light I walked through darkness;
    ⁴As I was in ^[a]the prime of my days,
         When the ^(E)friendship of God was over my tent;
    ⁵When the Almighty was yet with me,
         And my children were around me;
    ⁶When my steps were bathed in ^(F)butter,
         And the ^(G)rock poured out for me streams of oil!
    ⁷"When I went out to ^(H)the gate of the city,
         When I took my seat in the square,
    ⁸The young men saw me and hid themselves,
         And the old men arose and stood.
    ⁹"The princes ^(I)stopped talking
         And ^(J)put their hands on their mouths;
    ¹⁰The voice of the nobles was ^(K)hushed,
         And their ^(L)tongue stuck to their palate.
    ¹¹"For when ^(M)the ear heard, it called me blessed,
         And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,
    ¹²Because I delivered ^(N)the poor who cried for help,
         And the ^(O)orphan who had no helper.
    ¹³"The blessing of the one ^(P)ready to perish came upon me,
         And I made the ^(Q)widow's heart sing for joy.
    ¹⁴"I ^(R)put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
         My justice was like a robe and a turban.
    ¹⁵"I was ^(S)eyes to the blind
         And feet to the lame.
    ¹⁶"I was a father to ^(T)the needy,
         And I investigated the case which I did not know.
    ¹⁷"I ^(U)broke the jaws of the wicked
         And snatched the prey from his teeth.
    ¹⁸"Then I thought, 'I shall die in my nest,
         And I shall multiply my days as the sand.
    ¹⁹'My ^(V)root is spread out to the waters,
         And ^(W)dew lies all night on my branch.
    ²⁰'My glory is ever new with me,
         And my ^(X)bow is renewed in my hand.'
    ²¹"To me ^(Y)they listened and waited,
         And kept silent for my counsel.
    ²²"After my words they did not ^(Z)speak again,
         And ^(AA)my speech dropped on them.
    ²³"They waited for me as for the rain,
         And opened their mouth as for the spring rain.
    ²⁴"I smiled on them when they did not believe,
         And the light of my face they did not cast down.
    ²⁵"I chose a way for them and sat as ^(AB)chief,
         And dwelt as a king among the troops,
         As one who ^(AC)comforted the mourners.

Job 30

Job's Present State Is Humiliating

    ¹"But now those younger than I ^(AD)mock me,
         Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
    ²"Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
         Vigor had perished from them.
    ³"From want and famine they are gaunt
         Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
    ⁴Who pluck ^[b]mallow by the bushes,
         And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
    ⁵"They are driven from the community;
         They shout against them as against a thief,
    ⁶So that they dwell in dreadful valleys,
         In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
    ⁷"Among the bushes they cry out;
         Under the nettles they are gathered together.
    ⁸"Fools, even those without a name,
         They were scourged from the land.
    ⁹"And now I have become their ^(AE)taunt,
         I have even become a ^(AF)byword to them.
    ¹⁰"They abhor me and stand aloof from me,
         And they do not refrain from ^(AG)spitting at my face.
    ¹¹"Because He has loosed His bowstring and ^(AH)afflicted me,
         They have cast off ^(AI)the bridle before me.
    ¹²"On the right hand their brood arises;
         They ^(AJ)thrust aside my feet ^(AK)and build up against me their ways of destruction.
    ¹³"They ^(AL)break up my path,
         They profit from my destruction;
         No one restrains them.
    ¹⁴"As through a wide breach they come,
         Amid the tempest they roll on.
    ¹⁵"^(AM)Terrors are turned against me;
         They pursue my honor as the wind,
         And my prosperity has passed away ^(AN)like a cloud.
    ¹⁶"And now ^(AO)my soul is poured out within me;
         Days of affliction have seized me.
    ¹⁷"At night it pierces ^(AP)my bones within me,
         And my gnawing pains take no rest.
    ¹⁸"By a great force my garment is ^(AQ)distorted;
         It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
    ¹⁹"He has cast me into the ^(AR)mire,
         And I have become like dust and ashes.
    ²⁰"I ^(AS)cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
         I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
    ²¹"You have become cruel to me;
         With the might of Your hand You ^(AT)persecute me.
    ²²"You ^(AU)lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;
         And You dissolve me in a storm.
    ²³"For I know that You ^(AV)will bring me to death
         And to the ^(AW)house of meeting for all living.
    ²⁴"Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
         Or in his disaster therefore ^(AX)cry out for help?
    ²⁵"Have I not ^(AY)wept for the one whose life is hard?
         Was not my soul grieved for ^(AZ)the needy?
    ²⁶"When I ^(BA)expected good, then evil came;
         When I waited for light, ^(BB)then darkness came.
    ²⁷"I am seething ^(BC)within and cannot relax;
         Days of affliction confront me.
    ²⁸"I go about ^(BD)mourning without comfort;
         I stand up in the assembly and ^(BE)cry out for help.
    ²⁹"I have become a brother to ^(BF)jackals
         And a companion of ostriches.
    ³⁰"My ^(BG)skin turns black on me,
         And my ^(BH)bones burn with fever.
    ³¹"Therefore my ^(BI)harp is turned to mourning,
         And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

Job 31

Job Asserts His Integrity

    ¹"I have made a covenant with my ^(BJ)eyes;
         How then could I gaze at a virgin?
    ²"And what is ^(BK)the portion of God from above
         Or the heritage of the Almighty from on high?
    ³"Is it not ^(BL)calamity to the unjust
         And disaster to ^(BM)those who work iniquity?
    ⁴"Does He not ^(BN)see my ways
         And ^(BO)number all my steps?
    ⁵"If I have ^(BP)walked with falsehood,
         And my foot has hastened after deceit,
    ⁶Let Him ^(BQ)weigh me with accurate scales,
         And let God know ^(BR)my integrity.
    ⁷"If my step has ^(BS)turned from the way,
         Or my heart followed my eyes,
         Or if any ^(BT)spot has stuck to my hands,
    ⁸Let me ^(BU)sow and another eat,
         And let my ^(BV)crops be uprooted.
    ⁹"If my heart has been ^(BW)enticed by a woman,
         Or I have lurked at my neighbor's doorway,
    ¹⁰May my wife ^(BX)grind for another,
         And let ^(BY)others kneel down over her.
    ¹¹"For that would be a ^(BZ)lustful crime;
         Moreover, it would be ^(CA)an iniquity punishable by judges.
    ¹²"For it would be ^(CB)fire that consumes to ^(CC)Abaddon,
         And would ^(CD)uproot all my increase.
    ¹³"If I have ^(CE)despised the claim of my male or female slaves
         When they filed a complaint against me,
    ¹⁴What then could I do when God arises?
         And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?
    ¹⁵"Did not ^(CF)He who made me in the womb make him,
         And the same one fashion us in the womb?
    ¹⁶"If I have kept ^(CG)the poor from their desire,
         Or have caused the eyes of ^(CH)the widow to fail,
    ¹⁷Or have ^(CI)eaten my morsel alone,
         And ^(CJ)the orphan has not shared it
    ¹⁸(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
         And from infancy I guided her),
    ¹⁹If I have seen anyone perish ^(CK)for lack of clothing,
         Or that ^(CL)the needy had no covering,
    ²⁰If his loins have not thanked me,
         And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
    ²¹If I have lifted up my hand against ^(CM)the orphan,
         Because I saw I had support ^(CN)in the gate,
    ²²Let my shoulder fall from the socket,
         And my ^(CO)arm be broken off at the elbow.
    ²³"For ^(CP)calamity from God is a terror to me,
         And because of ^(CQ)His majesty I can do nothing.
    ²⁴"If I have put my confidence in ^(CR)gold,
         And called fine gold my trust,
    ²⁵If I have ^(CS)gloated because my wealth was great,
         And because my hand had secured so much;
    ²⁶If I have ^(CT)looked at the sun when it shone
         Or the moon going in splendor,
    ²⁷And my heart became secretly enticed,
         And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
    ²⁸That too would have been ^(CU)an iniquity calling for judgment,
         For I would have ^(CV)denied God above.
    ²⁹"Have I ^(CW)rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy,
         Or exulted when evil befell him?
    ³⁰"No, ^(CX)I have not allowed my mouth to sin
         By asking for his life in ^(CY)a curse.
    ³¹"Have the men of my tent not said,
         'Who can find one who has not been ^(CZ)satisfied with his meat'?
    ³²"The alien has not lodged outside,
         For I have opened my doors to the traveler.
    ³³"Have I ^(DA)covered my transgressions like Adam,
         By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
    ³⁴Because I ^(DB)feared the great multitude,
         And the contempt of families terrified me,
         And kept silent and did not go out of doors?
    ³⁵"Oh that I had one to hear me!
         Behold, here is my signature;
         ^(DC)Let the Almighty answer me!
         And the indictment which my ^(DD)adversary has written,
    ³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
         I would bind it to myself like a crown.
    ³⁷"I would declare to Him ^(DE)the number of my steps;
         Like ^(DF)a prince I would approach Him.
    ³⁸"If my ^(DG)land cries out against me,
         And its furrows weep together;
    ³⁹If I have ^(DH)eaten its fruit without money,
         Or have ^(DI)caused its owners to lose their lives,
    ⁴⁰Let ^(DJ)briars grow instead of wheat,
         And stinkweed instead of barley."
         The words of Job are ended.