Job Proclaims God’s Righteous Judgments

23 Then Job answered and said:

“Even today my (A)complaint is bitter;
[a]My hand is listless because of my groaning.
(B)Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!
I would present my case before Him,
And fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know the words which He would answer me,
And understand what He would say to me.
(C)Would He contend with me in His great power?
No! But He would take note of me.
There the upright could reason with Him,
And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

“Look,(D) I go forward, but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
10 But (E)He knows the way that I take;
When (F)He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 (G)My foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the (H)commandment of His lips;
(I)I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my [b]necessary food.

13 “But He is unique, and who can make Him change?
And whatever (J)His soul desires, that He does.
14 For He performs what is (K)appointed for me,
And many such things are with Him.
15 Therefore I am terrified at His presence;
When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.
16 For God (L)made my heart weak,
And the Almighty terrifies me;
17 Because I was not (M)cut off [c]from the presence of darkness,
And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

Job Complains of Violence on the Earth

24 Since (N)times are not hidden from the Almighty,
Why do those who know Him see not His (O)days?

Some remove (P)landmarks;
They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
They (Q)take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
They push the needy off the road;
All the (R)poor of the land are forced to hide.
Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,
They go out to their work, searching for food.
The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
They gather their fodder in the field
And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
They (S)spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And (T)huddle around the rock for want of shelter.

Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,
And take a pledge from the poor.
10 They cause the poor to go naked, without (U)clothing;
And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
11 They press out oil within their walls,
And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 The dying groan in the city,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

13 “There are those who rebel against the light;
They do not know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14 (V)The murderer rises with the light;
He kills the poor and needy;
And in the night he is like a thief.
15 (W)The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
(X)Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
And he [d]disguises his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses
Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;
(Y)They do not know the light.
17 For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death;
If someone recognizes them,
They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

18 “They should be swift on the face of the waters,
Their portion should be cursed in the earth,
So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat [e]consume the snow waters,
So [f]the grave consumes those who have sinned.
20 The womb should forget him,
The worm should feed sweetly on him;
(Z)He should be remembered no more,
And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
21 For he [g]preys on the barren who do not bear,
And does no good for the widow.

22 “But God draws the mighty away with His power;
He rises up, but no man is sure of life.
23 He gives them security, and they rely on it;
Yet (AA)His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while,
Then they are gone.
They are brought low;
They are [h]taken out of the way like all others;
They dry out like the heads of grain.

25 “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,
And make my speech worth nothing?”

Footnotes

  1. Job 23:2 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. His
  2. Job 23:12 Lit. appointed portion
  3. Job 23:17 Or by or before
  4. Job 24:15 Lit. puts a covering on his face
  5. Job 24:19 Lit. seize
  6. Job 24:19 Or Sheol
  7. Job 24:21 Lit. feeds on
  8. Job 24:24 Lit. gathered up

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