Job 8-10
World English Bible
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
2 “How long will you speak these things?
Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
4 If your children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience.
5 If you want to seek God diligently,
make your supplication to the Almighty.
6 If you were pure and upright,
surely now he would awaken for you,
and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
7 Though your beginning was small,
yet your latter end would greatly increase.
8 “Please inquire of past generations.
Find out about the learning of their fathers.
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
because our days on earth are a shadow.)
10 Shall they not teach you, tell you,
and utter words out of their heart?
11 “Can the papyrus grow up without mire?
Can the rushes grow without water?
12 While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down,
it withers before any other reed.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God.
The hope of the godless man will perish,
14 whose confidence will break apart,
whose trust is a spider’s web.
15 He will lean on his house, but it will not stand.
He will cling to it, but it will not endure.
16 He is green before the sun.
His shoots go out along his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped around the rock pile.
He sees the place of stones.
18 If he is destroyed from his place,
then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way.
Out of the earth, others will spring.
20 “Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man,
neither will he uphold the evildoers.
21 He will still fill your mouth with laughter,
your lips with shouting.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame.
The tent of the wicked will be no more.”
9 Then Job answered,
2 “Truly I know that it is so,
but how can man be just with God?
3 If he is pleased to contend with him,
he can’t answer him one time in a thousand.
4 God is wise in heart, and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against him and prospered?
5 He removes the mountains, and they don’t know it,
when he overturns them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth out of its place.
Its pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun and it doesn’t rise,
and seals up the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
and the rooms of the south.
10 He does great things past finding out;
yes, marvelous things without number.
11 Behold, he goes by me, and I don’t see him.
He passes on also, but I don’t perceive him.
12 Behold, he snatches away.
Who can hinder him?
Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God will not withdraw his anger.
The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
14 How much less will I answer him,
and choose my words to argue with him?
15 Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him.
I would make supplication to my judge.
16 If I had called, and he had answered me,
yet I wouldn’t believe that he listened to my voice.
17 For he breaks me with a storm,
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to catch my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’
20 Though I am righteous, my own mouth will condemn me.
Though I am blameless, it will prove me perverse.
21 I am blameless.
I don’t respect myself.
I despise my life.
22 “It is all the same.
Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.
23 If the scourge kills suddenly,
he will mock at the trial of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
He covers the faces of its judges.
If not he, then who is it?
25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner.
They flee away. They see no good.
26 They have passed away as the swift ships,
as the eagle that swoops on the prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and cheer up,’
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows.
I know that you will not hold me innocent.
29 I will be condemned.
Why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me in the ditch.
My own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,
that we should come together in judgment.
33 There is no umpire between us,
that might lay his hand on us both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me.
Let his terror not make me afraid;
35 then I would speak, and not fear him,
for I am not so in myself.
10 “My soul is weary of my life.
I will give free course to my complaint.
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me.
Show me why you contend with me.
3 Is it good to you that you should oppress,
that you should despise the work of your hands,
and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Or do you see as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of mortals,
or your years as man’s years,
6 that you inquire after my iniquity,
and search after my sin?
7 Although you know that I am not wicked,
there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.
8 “‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether,
yet you destroy me.
9 Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay.
Will you bring me into dust again?
10 Haven’t you poured me out like milk,
and curdled me like cheese?
11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and loving kindness.
Your visitation has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet you hid these things in your heart.
I know that this is with you:
14 if I sin, then you mark me.
You will not acquit me from my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked, woe to me.
If I am righteous, I still will not lift up my head,
being filled with disgrace,
and conscious of my affliction.
16 If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion.
Again you show yourself powerful to me.
17 You renew your witnesses against me,
and increase your indignation on me.
Changes and warfare are with me.
18 “‘Why, then, have you brought me out of the womb?
I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.
19 I should have been as though I had not been.
I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Aren’t my days few?
Stop!
Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,
21 before I go where I will not return from,
to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
22 the land dark as midnight,
of the shadow of death,
without any order,
where the light is as midnight.’”
Job 8-10
New International Version
Bildad
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite(A) replied:
2 “How long will you say such things?(B)
Your words are a blustering wind.(C)
3 Does God pervert justice?(D)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?(E)
4 When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.(F)
5 But if you will seek God earnestly
and plead(G) with the Almighty,(H)
6 if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf(I)
and restore you to your prosperous state.(J)
7 Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous(K) will your future be.(L)
8 “Ask the former generation(M)
and find out what their ancestors learned,
9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,(N)
and our days on earth are but a shadow.(O)
10 Will they not instruct(P) you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?(Q)
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?(R)
Can reeds(S) thrive without water?
12 While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.(T)
13 Such is the destiny(U) of all who forget God;(V)
so perishes the hope of the godless.(W)
14 What they trust in is fragile[a];
what they rely on is a spider’s web.(X)
15 They lean on the web,(Y) but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.(Z)
16 They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots(AA) over the garden;(AB)
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(AC) it and says, ‘I never saw you.’(AD)
19 Surely its life withers(AE) away,
and[b] from the soil other plants grow.(AF)
20 “Surely God does not reject one who is blameless(AG)
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.(AH)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter(AI)
and your lips with shouts of joy.(AJ)
22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame,(AK)
and the tents(AL) of the wicked will be no more.”(AM)
Job
9 Then Job replied:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?(AN)
3 Though they wished to dispute with him,(AO)
they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.(AP)
4 His wisdom(AQ) is profound, his power is vast.(AR)
Who has resisted(AS) him and come out unscathed?(AT)
5 He moves mountains(AU) without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.(AV)
6 He shakes the earth(AW) from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.(AX)
7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;(AY)
he seals off the light of the stars.(AZ)
8 He alone stretches out the heavens(BA)
and treads on the waves of the sea.(BB)
9 He is the Maker(BC) of the Bear[c] and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.(BD)
10 He performs wonders(BE) that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.(BF)
11 When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.(BG)
12 If he snatches away, who can stop him?(BH)
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’(BI)
13 God does not restrain his anger;(BJ)
even the cohorts of Rahab(BK) cowered at his feet.
14 “How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?(BL)
15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;(BM)
I could only plead(BN) with my Judge(BO) for mercy.(BP)
16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.(BQ)
17 He would crush me(BR) with a storm(BS)
and multiply(BT) my wounds for no reason.(BU)
18 He would not let me catch my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.(BV)
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!(BW)
And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him[d]?(BX)
20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.(BY)
21 “Although I am blameless,(BZ)
I have no concern for myself;(CA)
I despise my own life.(CB)
22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(CC)
23 When a scourge(CD) brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.(CE)
24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,(CF)
he blindfolds its judges.(CG)
If it is not he, then who is it?(CH)
25 “My days are swifter than a runner;(CI)
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.(CJ)
26 They skim past(CK) like boats of papyrus,(CL)
like eagles swooping down on their prey.(CM)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,(CN)
I will change my expression, and smile,’
28 I still dread(CO) all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.(CP)
29 Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?(CQ)
30 Even if I washed myself with soap(CR)
and my hands(CS) with cleansing powder,(CT)
31 you would plunge me into a slime pit(CU)
so that even my clothes would detest me.(CV)
32 “He is not a mere mortal(CW) like me that I might answer him,(CX)
that we might confront each other in court.(CY)
33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,(CZ)
someone to bring us together,(DA)
34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,(DB)
so that his terror would frighten me no more.(DC)
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,(DD)
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.(DE)
10 “I loathe my very life;(DF)
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.(DG)
2 I say to God:(DH) Do not declare me guilty,
but tell me what charges(DI) you have against me.(DJ)
3 Does it please you to oppress me,(DK)
to spurn the work of your hands,(DL)
while you smile on the plans of the wicked?(DM)
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?(DN)
5 Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a strong man,(DO)
6 that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin(DP)—
7 though you know that I am not guilty(DQ)
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?(DR)
8 “Your hands shaped(DS) me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?(DT)
9 Remember that you molded me like clay.(DU)
Will you now turn me to dust again?(DV)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,
11 clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together(DW) with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life(DX) and showed me kindness,(DY)
and in your providence(DZ) watched over(EA) my spirit.
13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:(EB)
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me(EC)
and would not let my offense go unpunished.(ED)
15 If I am guilty(EE)—woe to me!(EF)
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,(EG)
for I am full of shame
and drowned in[e] my affliction.(EH)
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion(EI)
and again display your awesome power against me.(EJ)
17 You bring new witnesses against me(EK)
and increase your anger toward me;(EL)
your forces come against me wave upon wave.(EM)
18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?(EN)
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.(EO)
19 If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!(EP)
20 Are not my few days(EQ) almost over?(ER)
Turn away from me(ES) so I can have a moment’s joy(ET)
21 before I go to the place of no return,(EU)
to the land of gloom and utter darkness,(EV)
22 to the land of deepest night,
of utter darkness(EW) and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”(EX)
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