Job 6-9 (New International Version - UK)

Job 6

Job

 ¹ Then Job replied:

   

 ²If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!

    ³ It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas— no wonder my words have been impetuous.

    ⁴ The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshalled against me.

    ⁵ Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?

    ⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavour in the white of an egg?

    ⁷ I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

   

 ⁸Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,

    ⁹ that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!

    ¹⁰ Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

   

 ¹¹What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?

    ¹² Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?

    ¹³ Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

   

 ¹⁴A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

    ¹⁵ But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow

    ¹⁶ when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,

    ¹⁷ but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.

    ¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.

    ¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for water, the travelling merchants of Sheba look in hope.

    ²⁰ They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

    ²¹ Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.

    ²² Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,

    ²³ deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?

   

 ²⁴Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.

    ²⁵ How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?

    ²⁶ Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?

    ²⁷ You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.

   

 ²⁸But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face?

    ²⁹ Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.

    ³⁰ Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?

   

   

Job 7

 ¹ Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man?

    ² Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages,

    ³ so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me.

    ⁴ When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?' The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

    ⁵ My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.

   

 ⁶My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.

    ⁷ Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again.

    ⁸ The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more.

    ⁹ As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return.

    ¹⁰ He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.

   

 ¹¹Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

    ¹² Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard?

    ¹³ When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,

    ¹⁴ even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

    ¹⁵ so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine.

    ¹⁶ I despise my life; I would not live for ever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

   

 ¹⁷What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention,

    ¹⁸ that you examine him every morning and test him every moment?

    ¹⁹ Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?

    ²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you?

    ²¹ Why do you not pardon my offences and forgive my sins? For I shall soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I shall be no more.

   

Job 8

Bildad

 ¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

   

 ²How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.

    ³ Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

    ⁴ When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

    ⁵ But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty,

    ⁶ if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place.

    ⁷ Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.

   

 ⁸Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned,

    ⁹ for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.

    ¹⁰ Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?

    ¹¹ Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?

    ¹² While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.

    ¹³ Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.

    ¹⁴ What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web.

    ¹⁵ He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.

    ¹⁶ He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;

    ¹⁷ it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.

    ¹⁸ But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'

    ¹⁹ Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.

   

 ²⁰Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

    ²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

    ²² Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more.

Job 9

Job

 ¹ Then Job replied:

   

 ²Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

    ³ Though one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

    ⁴ His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

    ⁵ He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.

    ⁶ He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.

    ⁷ He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.

    ⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

    ⁹ He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

    ¹⁰ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

    ¹¹ When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

    ¹² If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'

    ¹³ God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

   

 ¹⁴How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?

    ¹⁵ Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

    ¹⁶ Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

    ¹⁷ He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.

    ¹⁸ He would not let me regain my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.

    ¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him?

    ²⁰ Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

   

 ²¹Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.

    ²² It is all the same; that is why I say,'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'

    ²³ When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.

    ²⁴ When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?

   

 ²⁵My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

    ²⁶ They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.

    ²⁷ If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,'

    ²⁸ I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.

    ²⁹ Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?

    ³⁰ Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with washing soda,

    ³¹ you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.

   

 ³²He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.

    ³³ If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both,

    ³⁴ someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.

    ³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.