Job 10:17-15:21

English Standard Version

^18 (C)“Why did you bring me out from the womb?
    Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
^19 (D)and were as though I had not been,
    carried from the womb to the grave.
^20 (E)Are not my days few?
    ^(F)Then cease, and leave me alone, ^(G)that I may find a little cheer
²¹ before I go—and ^(H)I shall not return—
    to the land of ^(I)darkness and ^(J)deep shadow,
²² the land of gloom like thick darkness,
    like deep shadow without any order,
    where light is as thick darkness.”

² “Should ^(L)a multitude of words go unanswered,
    and a man full of talk be judged right?
³ Should your babble silence men,
    and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
⁴ For ^(M)you say, ‘My ^(N)doctrine is pure,
    and I am clean in God's^[a] eyes.’
⁵ But oh, that God would speak
    and open his lips to you,
⁶ and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
    For he is manifold in ^(O)understanding.^[b]
Know then that God ^(P)exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

^7 (Q)“Can you find out the deep things of God?
    Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
⁸ It is ^(R)higher than heaven^[c]—what can you do?
    Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
⁹ Its measure is longer than the earth
    and broader than the sea.
¹⁰ If he ^(S)passes through and ^(T)imprisons
    and summons the court, who can ^(U)turn him back?
¹¹ For he knows ^(V)worthless men;
    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
¹² But a stupid man will get understanding
    when ^(W)a wild donkey's colt is ^(X)born a man!

¹³ “If you ^(Y)prepare your heart,
    you will ^(Z)stretch out your hands toward him.
¹⁴ If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
    and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
¹⁵ Surely then you will ^(AA)lift up your face without ^(AB)blemish;
    you will be secure and will not fear.
¹⁶ You will ^(AC)forget your misery;
    you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
¹⁷ And your life will be ^(AD)brighter than the noonday;
    its darkness will be like the morning.
¹⁸ And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
    you will look around and ^(AE)take your rest in security.
¹⁹ You will ^(AF)lie down, and none will make you afraid;
    many will ^(AG)court your favor.
²⁰ But ^(AH)the eyes of the wicked will fail;
    all way of escape will be lost to them,
    and their hope is ^(AI)to breathe their last.”

² “No doubt you are the people,
    and wisdom will die with you.
³ But I have ^(AJ)understanding as well as you;
    I am not inferior to you.
    Who does not know ^(AK)such things as these?
⁴ I am ^(AL)a laughingstock to my friends;
    I, who ^(AM)called to God and he answered me,
    a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
⁵ In the thought of one who is ^(AN)at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
    it is ready for those whose feet slip.
^6 (AO)The tents of robbers are at peace,
    and those who provoke God are secure,
    who bring their god in their hand.^[d]

⁷ “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
    the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
⁸ or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;^[e]
    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
⁹ Who among all these does not know
    that ^(AP)the hand of the Lord has done this?
¹⁰ In ^(AQ)his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of all mankind.
¹¹ Does not ^(AR)the ear test words
    as the palate tastes food?
¹² Wisdom is with ^(AS)the aged,
    and understanding in length of days.

^13 (AT)“With God^[f] are wisdom and might;
    he has counsel and understanding.
¹⁴ If he tears down, none can rebuild;
    if he ^(AU)shuts a man in, none can open.
¹⁵ If he ^(AV)withholds the waters, they dry up;
    if he ^(AW)sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
¹⁶ With him are strength and ^(AX)sound wisdom;
    the deceived and the deceiver are his.
¹⁷ He leads ^(AY)counselors away stripped,
    and ^(AZ)judges he makes fools.
¹⁸ He ^(BA)looses the bonds of kings
    and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped
    and overthrows the mighty.
²⁰ He deprives of speech those who are trusted
    ^(BB)and takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹ He ^(BC)pours contempt on princes
    and loosens the belt of the strong.
²² He ^(BD)uncovers the deeps out of darkness
    and brings ^(BE)deep darkness to light.
²³ He ^(BF)makes nations great, and he destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, and ^(BG)leads them away.
²⁴ He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
    and ^(BH)makes them wander in a trackless waste.
²⁵ They ^(BI)grope in the dark without light,
    and he makes them ^(BJ)stagger like a drunken man.

¹³ “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
    and let come on me what may.
¹⁴ Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
    and ^(BX)put my life in my hand?
^15 (BY)Though he slay me, I will ^(BZ)hope in him;^[g]
    yet I will ^(CA)argue my ways to his face.
¹⁶ This will be my salvation,
    that the godless shall not come before him.
^17 (CB)Keep listening to my words,
    and let my declaration be in your ears.
¹⁸ Behold, I have ^(CC)prepared my case;
    I know that I shall be in the right.
^19 (CD)Who is there who will contend with me?
    For then I would be silent and die.
²⁰ Only grant me two things,
    then I will not ^(CE)hide myself from your face:
^21 (CF)withdraw your hand far from me,
    and let not ^(CG)dread of you terrify me.
^22 (CH)Then call, and I will answer;
    or let me speak, and you reply to me.
²³ How many are my iniquities and my sins?
    ^(CI)Make me know my transgression and my sin.
²⁴ Why ^(CJ)do you hide your face
    and ^(CK)count me as your enemy?
²⁵ Will you frighten ^(CL)a driven leaf
    and pursue dry ^(CM)chaff?
²⁶ For you ^(CN)write bitter things against me
    and make me inherit ^(CO)the iniquities of my youth.
²⁷ You put my feet in ^(CP)the stocks
    and ^(CQ)watch all my paths;
    you set a limit for^[h] the soles of my feet.
²⁸ Man^[i] wastes away like ^(CR)a rotten thing,
    like a garment that is ^(CS)moth-eaten.

⁷ “For there is hope for a tree,
    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
⁸ Though its root grow old in the earth,
    and ^(DG)its stump die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put out ^(DH)branches like a young plant.
¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low;
    man breathes his last, and ^(DI)where is he?
^11 (DJ)As waters fail from a lake
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
¹² so a man lies down and rises not again;
    till ^(DK)the heavens are no more he will not awake
    or be ^(DL)roused out of his sleep.
¹³ Oh that you would ^(DM)hide me in ^(DN)Sheol,
    that you would ^(DO)conceal me ^(DP)until your wrath be past,
    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If a man dies, shall he live again?
    All the days of my ^(DQ)service I would ^(DR)wait,
    till my renewal^[k] should come.
¹⁵ You would ^(DS)call, and I would answer you;
    you would long for the ^(DT)work of your hands.
¹⁶ For then you would ^(DU)number my steps;
    you would not keep ^(DV)watch over my sin;
¹⁷ my transgression would be ^(DW)sealed up in a bag,
    and you would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸ “But the mountain falls and ^(DX)crumbles away,
    and ^(DY)the rock is removed from its place;
¹⁹ the waters wear away the stones;
    the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
    so you destroy the hope of man.
²⁰ You prevail forever against him, and he passes;
    you change his countenance, and send him away.
²¹ His sons come to honor, and he ^(DZ)does not know it;
    they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
²² He feels only the pain of his own body,
    and he mourns only for himself.”

² “Should ^(EB)a wise man answer with ^(EC)windy knowledge,
    and fill his ^(ED)belly with ^(EE)the east wind?
³ Should he argue in unprofitable talk,
    or in words with which he can do no good?
⁴ But you are doing away with the fear of God^[l]
    and hindering meditation before God.
⁵ For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
    and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
⁶ Your ^(EF)own mouth condemns you, and not I;
    ^(EG)your own lips testify against you.

^7 (EH)“Are you the first man who was born?
    Or ^(EI)were you brought forth ^(EJ)before the hills?
⁸ Have you listened in ^(EK)the council of God?
    And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
^9 (EL)What do you know that we do not know?
    What do you understand that is not clear to us?
^10 (EM)Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
    older than your father.
¹¹ Are the comforts of God too small for you,
    or the word that deals gently with you?
¹² Why does your heart carry you away,
    and why do your eyes flash,
¹³ that you turn your ^(EN)spirit against God
    and bring such words out of your mouth?
^14 (EO)What is man, ^(EP)that he can be pure?
    Or he who is ^(EQ)born of a woman, that he can be righteous?
¹⁵ Behold, God^{[m] (ER)}puts no trust in his ^(ES)holy ones,
    and the heavens are not pure in his sight;
^16 (ET)how much less one who is abominable and ^(EU)corrupt,
    a man who ^(EV)drinks injustice like water!

¹⁷ “I will show you; hear me,
    and what I have seen I will declare
¹⁸ (what wise men have told,
    without hiding it ^(EW)from their fathers,
¹⁹ to whom alone the land was given,
    and no ^(EX)stranger passed among them).
²⁰ The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
    through all the ^(EY)years that are laid up for ^(EZ)the ruthless.
^21 (FA)Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
    in ^(FB)prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.