Job

23 Then Job replied:

“Even today my complaint(A) is bitter;(B)
    his hand[a] is heavy in spite of[b] my groaning.(C)
If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!(D)
I would state my case(E) before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.(F)
I would find out what he would answer me,(G)
    and consider what he would say to me.
Would he vigorously oppose me?(H)
    No, he would not press charges against me.(I)
There the upright(J) can establish their innocence before him,(K)
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.(L)

“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.(M)
10 But he knows the way that I take;(N)
    when he has tested me,(O) I will come forth as gold.(P)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;(Q)
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.(R)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;(S)
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.(T)

13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?(U)
    He does whatever he pleases.(V)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
    and many such plans he still has in store.(W)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;(X)
    when I think of all this, I fear him.(Y)
16 God has made my heart faint;(Z)
    the Almighty(AA) has terrified me.(AB)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,(AC)
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times(AD) for judgment?(AE)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?(AF)
There are those who move boundary stones;(AG)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.(AH)
They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.(AI)
They thrust the needy(AJ) from the path
    and force all the poor(AK) of the land into hiding.(AL)
Like wild donkeys(AM) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor(AN) of foraging food;
    the wasteland(AO) provides food for their children.
They gather fodder(AP) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards(AQ) of the wicked.(AR)
Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.(AS)
They are drenched(AT) by mountain rains
    and hug(AU) the rocks for lack of shelter.(AV)
The fatherless(AW) child is snatched(AX) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized(AY) for a debt.(AZ)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;(BA)
    they carry the sheaves,(BB) but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[c];
    they tread the winepresses,(BC) yet suffer thirst.(BD)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.(BE)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.(BF)

Footnotes

  1. Job 23:2 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew / the hand on me
  2. Job 23:2 Or heavy on me in
  3. Job 24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

Shout for joy(A) to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the Lord with the harp,(B)
    with the harp and the sound of singing,(C)
with trumpets(D) and the blast of the ram’s horn(E)
    shout for joy(F) before the Lord, the King.(G)

Let the sea(H) resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.(I)
Let the rivers clap their hands,(J)
    let the mountains(K) sing together for joy;
let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.(L)

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