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Job 14-16
New International Version
Job 14-16
New International Version
14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
2 They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?(H)
Will you bring them[a] before you for judgment?(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure(J) from the impure?(K)
No one!(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;(M)
you have decreed the number of his months(N)
and have set limits he cannot exceed.(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,(P)
till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(Q)
7 “At least there is hope for a tree:(R)
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots(S) will not fail.(T)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump(U) die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water(V) it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(X)
he breathes his last and is no more.(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(AA)
till the heavens are no more,(AB) people will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.(AC)
13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(AD)
and conceal me till your anger has passed!(AE)
If only you would set me a time
and then remember(AF) me!(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service(AH)
I will wait for my renewal[b](AI) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(AJ)
you will long for the creature your hands have made.(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(AL)
but not keep track of my sin.(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed(AN) up in a bag;(AO)
you will cover over my sin.(AP)
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(AQ)
and as a rock is moved from its place,(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents(AS) wash away the soil,(AT)
so you destroy a person’s hope.(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(AV)
you change their countenance and send them away.(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(AY)
and mourn only for themselves.(AZ)”
Eliphaz
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(BA) replied:
2 “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
or fill their belly with the hot east wind?(BB)
3 Would they argue with useless words,
with speeches that have no value?(BC)
4 But you even undermine piety
and hinder devotion to God.(BD)
5 Your sin(BE) prompts your mouth;(BF)
you adopt the tongue of the crafty.(BG)
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
your own lips testify against you.(BH)
7 “Are you the first man ever born?(BI)
Were you brought forth before the hills?(BJ)
8 Do you listen in on God’s council?(BK)
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?(BL)
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What insights do you have that we do not have?(BM)
10 The gray-haired and the aged(BN) are on our side,
men even older than your father.(BO)
11 Are God’s consolations(BP) not enough for you,
words(BQ) spoken gently to you?(BR)
12 Why has your heart(BS) carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you vent your rage(BT) against God
and pour out such words(BU) from your mouth?(BV)
14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
or those born of woman,(BW) that they could be righteous?(BX)
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,(BY)
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,(BZ)
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,(CA)
who drink up evil(CB) like water!(CC)
17 “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
let me tell you what I have seen,(CD)
18 what the wise have declared,
hiding nothing received from their ancestors(CE)
19 (to whom alone the land(CF) was given
when no foreigners moved among them):
20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment,(CG)
the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.(CH)
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;(CI)
when all seems well, marauders attack him.(CJ)
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;(CK)
he is marked for the sword.(CL)
23 He wanders about(CM) for food like a vulture;(CN)
he knows the day of darkness(CO) is at hand.(CP)
24 Distress and anguish(CQ) fill him with terror;(CR)
troubles overwhelm him, like a king(CS) poised to attack,
25 because he shakes his fist(CT) at God
and vaunts himself against the Almighty,(CU)
26 defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield.(CV)
27 “Though his face is covered with fat
and his waist bulges with flesh,(CW)
28 he will inhabit ruined towns
and houses where no one lives,(CX)
houses crumbling to rubble.(CY)
29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,(CZ)
nor will his possessions spread over the land.(DA)
30 He will not escape the darkness;(DB)
a flame(DC) will wither his shoots,(DD)
and the breath of God’s mouth(DE) will carry him away.(DF)
31 Let him not deceive(DG) himself by trusting what is worthless,(DH)
for he will get nothing in return.(DI)
32 Before his time(DJ) he will wither,(DK)
and his branches will not flourish.(DL)
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,(DM)
like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.(DN)
34 For the company of the godless(DO) will be barren,
and fire will consume(DP) the tents of those who love bribes.(DQ)
35 They conceive trouble(DR) and give birth to evil;(DS)
their womb fashions deceit.”
Job
16 Then Job replied:
2 “I have heard many things like these;
you are miserable comforters,(DT) all of you!(DU)
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?(DV)
What ails you that you keep on arguing?(DW)
4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head(DX) at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort(DY) from my lips would bring you relief.(DZ)
6 “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I refrain, it does not go away.(EA)
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;(EB)
you have devastated my entire household.(EC)
8 You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
my gauntness(ED) rises up and testifies against me.(EE)
9 God assails me and tears(EF) me in his anger(EG)
and gnashes his teeth at me;(EH)
my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.(EI)
10 People open their mouths(EJ) to jeer at me;(EK)
they strike my cheek(EL) in scorn
and unite together against me.(EM)
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.(EN)
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.(EO)
He has made me his target;(EP)
13 his archers surround me.(EQ)
Without pity, he pierces(ER) my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground.
14 Again and again(ES) he bursts upon me;
he rushes at me like a warrior.(ET)
15 “I have sewed sackcloth(EU) over my skin
and buried my brow in the dust.(EV)
16 My face is red with weeping,(EW)
dark shadows ring my eyes;(EX)
17 yet my hands have been free of violence(EY)
and my prayer is pure.(EZ)
18 “Earth, do not cover my blood;(FA)
may my cry(FB) never be laid to rest!(FC)
19 Even now my witness(FD) is in heaven;(FE)
my advocate is on high.(FF)
20 My intercessor(FG) is my friend[c](FH)
as my eyes pour out(FI) tears(FJ) to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads(FK) with God
as one pleads for a friend.
22 “Only a few years will pass
before I take the path of no return.(FL)
Job 14-16
King James Version
Job 14-16
King James Version
14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.
2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
3 And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
6 Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.
18 And surely the mountains falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.
19 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
15 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?
12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
16 Then Job answered and said,
2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.
3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?
7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.
9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.
18 O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.
20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
New International Version (NIV) 
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