Job 32-37

New American Standard Bible 1995

¹¹ “Behold, I waited for your words,
I listened to your reasonings,
While you ^[k]pondered what to say.
¹² “I even paid close attention to you;
^[l]Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job,
Not one of you who answered his words.
¹³ “Do not say,
‘^(J)We have found wisdom;
God will ^[m]rout him, not man.’
¹⁴ “For he has not arranged his words against me,
Nor will I reply to him with your ^[n]arguments.

¹⁵ “They are dismayed, they no longer answer;
Words have ^[o]failed them.
¹⁶ “Shall I wait, because they do not speak,
Because they ^[p]stop and no longer answer?
¹⁷ “I too will answer my share,
I also will tell my opinion.
¹⁸ “For I am full of words;
The spirit within me constrains me.
¹⁹ “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine,
Like new wineskins it is about to burst.
²⁰ “Let me speak that I may get relief;
Let me open my lips and answer.
²¹ “Let me now ^(K)be partial to no one,
Nor flatter any man.
²² “For I do not know how to flatter,
Else my Maker would soon take me away.

⁸ “Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words:
⁹ ‘I am ^(S)pure, ^(T)without transgression;
I am innocent and there ^(U)is no guilt in me.
¹⁰ ‘Behold, He ^[t]invents pretexts against me;
He ^(V)counts me as His enemy.
¹¹ ‘He ^(W)puts my feet in the stocks;
He watches all my paths.’
¹² “Behold, let me ^[u]tell you, ^(X)you are not right in this,
For God is greater than man.

¹³ “Why do you ^(Y)complain against Him
That He does not give an account of all His doings?
¹⁴ “Indeed ^(Z)God speaks once,
Or twice, yet no one notices it.
¹⁵ “In a ^(AA)dream, a vision of the night,
When sound sleep falls on men,
While they slumber in their beds,
¹⁶ Then ^(AB)He opens the ears of men,
And seals their instruction,
¹⁷ That He may turn man aside from his conduct,
And ^[v]keep man from pride;
¹⁸ He ^(AC)keeps back his soul from the pit,
And his life from ^[w]passing over ^(AD)into Sheol.

¹⁹ “^[x]Man is also chastened with ^(AE)pain on his bed,
And with unceasing complaint in his bones;
²⁰ So that his life ^(AF)loathes bread,
And his soul favorite food.
²¹ “His ^(AG)flesh wastes away from sight,
And his ^(AH)bones which were not seen stick out.
²² “Then ^(AI)his soul draws near to the pit,
And his life to those who bring death.

²³ “If there is an angel as ^(AJ)mediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To remind a man what is ^[y]right for him,
²⁴ Then let him be gracious to him, and say,
‘Deliver him from ^(AK)going down to the pit,
I have found a ^(AL)ransom’;
²⁵ Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,
Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;
²⁶ Then he will ^(AM)pray to God, and He will accept him,
That ^(AN)he may see His face with joy,
And He may restore His righteousness to man.
²⁷ “He will sing to men and say,
‘I ^(AO)have sinned and perverted what is right,
And it is not ^(AP)proper for me.
²⁸ ‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,
And my life shall ^(AQ)see the light.’

²⁹ “Behold, God does ^(AR)all these ^[z]oftentimes with men,
³⁰ To ^(AS)bring back his soul from the pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life.
³¹ “Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;
Keep silent, and let me speak.
³² “Then if ^[aa]you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.
³³ “If not, ^(AT)listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

¹⁰ “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to ^(BB)do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.
¹¹ “For He pays a man according to ^(BC)his work,
And makes ^[ae]him find it according to his way.
¹² “Surely, ^(BD)God will not act wickedly,
And the Almighty will not pervert justice.
¹³ “Who ^(BE)gave Him authority over the earth?
And who ^(BF)has laid on Him the whole world?
¹⁴ “If He should ^[af]determine to do so,
If He should ^(BG)gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,
¹⁵ All ^(BH)flesh would perish together,
And man would ^(BI)return to dust.

¹⁶ “But if you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.
¹⁷ “Shall ^(BJ)one who hates justice rule?
And ^(BK)will you condemn the righteous mighty One,
¹⁸ Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’
To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;
¹⁹ Who shows no ^(BL)partiality to princes
Nor regards the rich above the poor,
For they all are the ^(BM)work of His hands?
²⁰ “In a moment they die, and ^(BN)at midnight
People are shaken and pass away,
And ^(BO)the mighty are taken away without a hand.

²¹ “For ^(BP)His eyes are upon the ways of a man,
And He sees all his steps.
²² “There is ^(BQ)no darkness or deep shadow
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
²³ “For He does not ^(BR)need to consider a man further,
That he should go before God in judgment.
²⁴ “He breaks in pieces ^(BS)mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.
²⁵ “Therefore He ^(BT)knows their works,
And ^(BU)He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
²⁶ “He ^(BV)strikes them like the wicked
^[ag]In a public place,
²⁷ Because they ^(BW)turned aside from following Him,
And ^(BX)had no regard for any of His ways;
²⁸ So that they caused ^(BY)the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He might ^(BZ)hear the cry of the afflicted—
²⁹ When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him,
That is, in regard to both nation and man?—
³⁰ So that ^(CA)godless men would not rule
Nor be snares of the people.

³¹ “For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne chastisement;
I will not offend anymore;
³² Teach me what I do not see;
If I have ^(CB)done iniquity,
I will not do it again’?
³³ “Shall He ^(CC)recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore declare what you know.
³⁴ “Men of understanding will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,
³⁵ ‘Job ^(CD)speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom.
³⁶ ‘Job ought to be tried ^[ah]to the limit,
Because he answers ^(CE)like wicked men.
³⁷ ‘For he adds ^(CF)rebellion to his sin;
He ^(CG)claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.’”

⁹ “Because of the ^(CO)multitude of oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help because of the arm ^(CP)of the mighty.
¹⁰ “But ^(CQ)no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who ^(CR)gives songs in the night,
¹¹ Who ^(CS)teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
¹² “There ^(CT)they cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil men.
¹³ “Surely ^(CU)God will not listen to ^[aj]an empty cry,
Nor will the Almighty regard it.
¹⁴ “How much less when ^(CV)you say you do not behold Him,
The ^(CW)case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!
¹⁵ “And now, because He has not visited in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged ^[ak]transgression well,
¹⁶ So Job opens his mouth ^[al]emptily;
He multiplies words ^(CX)without knowledge.”

¹⁷ “But you were full of ^(DT)judgment on the wicked;
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
¹⁸ “Beware that ^(DU)wrath does not entice you to scoffing;
And do not let the greatness of the ^(DV)ransom turn you aside.
¹⁹ “Will your ^[as]riches keep you from distress,
Or all the forces of your strength?
²⁰ “Do not long for ^(DW)the night,
When people ^[at]vanish in their place.
²¹ “Be careful, do ^(DX)not turn to evil,
For you have preferred this to ^(DY)affliction.
²² “Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a ^(DZ)teacher like Him?
²³ “Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘^(EA)You have done wrong’?

²⁴ “Remember that you should ^(EB)exalt His work,
Of which men have ^(EC)sung.
²⁵ “All men have seen it;
Man beholds from afar.
²⁶ “Behold, God is ^(ED)exalted, and ^(EE)we do not know Him;
The ^(EF)number of His years is unsearchable.
²⁷ “For ^(EG)He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain from ^[au]the ^[av]mist,
²⁸ Which the clouds pour down,
They drip upon man abundantly.
²⁹ “Can anyone understand the ^(EH)spreading of the clouds,
The ^(EI)thundering of His ^[aw]pavilion?
³⁰ “Behold, He spreads His ^[ax]lightning about Him,
And He covers the depths of the sea.
³¹ “For by these He ^(EJ)judges peoples;
He ^(EK)gives food in abundance.
³² “He covers His hands with the ^[ay]lightning,
And ^(EL)commands it to strike the mark.
³³ “Its ^(EM)noise declares ^[az]His presence;
The cattle also, concerning what is coming up.

¹⁴ “Listen to this, O Job,
Stand and consider the wonders of God.
¹⁵ “Do you know how God establishes them,
And makes the ^[bl]lightning of His cloud to shine?
¹⁶ “Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds,
The ^(FG)wonders of one ^(FH)perfect in knowledge,
¹⁷ You whose garments are hot,
When the land is still because of the south wind?
¹⁸ “Can you, with Him, ^(FI)spread out the skies,
Strong as a molten mirror?
¹⁹ “Teach us what we shall say to Him;
We ^(FJ)cannot arrange our case because of darkness.
²⁰ “Shall it be told Him that I would speak?
^[bm]Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

²¹ “Now ^[bn]men do not see the light which is bright in the skies;
But the wind has passed and cleared them.
²² “Out of the north comes golden splendor;
Around God is awesome majesty.
²³ “The Almighty—^(FK)we cannot find Him;
He is ^(FL)exalted in power
And ^(FM)He will not do violence ^(FN)to justice and abundant righteousness.
²⁴ “Therefore men ^(FO)fear Him;
He does not ^(FP)regard any who are wise of heart.”