Job 23-27

English Standard Version

² “Today also my ^(A)complaint is bitter;^[a]
    my ^(B)hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
³ Oh, ^(C)that I knew where I might find him,
    that I might come even to his ^(D)seat!
⁴ I would ^(E)lay my case before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.
⁵ I would know what he would answer me
    and understand what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he ^(F)contend with me in the greatness of his power?
    No; he would pay attention to me.
⁷ There an upright man could argue with him,
    and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸ “Behold, ^(G)I go forward, but he is not there,
    and backward, but I do not perceive him;
⁹ on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
    he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
¹⁰ But he ^(H)knows ^(I)the way that I ^(J)take;
    when he has ^(K)tried me, I shall come out as gold.
¹¹ My foot ^(L)has held fast to his steps;
    I have kept his way and have ^(M)not turned aside.
¹² I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
    I have ^(N)treasured the words of his mouth more than my ^(O)portion of food.
¹³ But he is unchangeable,^[b] and ^(P)who can turn him back?
    What he ^(Q)desires, that he does.
¹⁴ For he will complete what he ^(R)appoints for me,
    and many such things are ^(S)in his mind.
¹⁵ Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
    when I consider, I am in dread of him.
¹⁶ God has made my ^(T)heart faint;
    the Almighty has terrified me;
¹⁷ yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
    nor because thick darkness covers my face.

24 “Why are ^(U)not times of judgment ^(V)kept by the Almighty,
    and why do those who know him never see his ^(W)days?
² Some move ^(X)landmarks;
    they seize flocks and pasture them.
³ They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
    they ^(Y)take the widow's ox for a pledge.
⁴ They ^(Z)thrust the poor off the road;
    the poor of the earth ^(AA)all hide themselves.
⁵ Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
    the poor^{[c] (AB)}go out to their toil, ^(AC)seeking game;
    the wasteland yields food for their children.
⁶ They gather their^[d] fodder in the field,
    and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
⁷ They ^(AD)lie all night naked, without clothing,
    and have no covering in the cold.
⁸ They are wet with the rain of the mountains
    and ^(AE)cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
⁹ (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
    and they take a pledge against the poor.)
¹⁰ They go about naked, without clothing;
    hungry, they ^(AF)carry the sheaves;
¹¹ among the olive rows of the wicked^[e] they make oil;
    they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
¹² From out of the city the dying^[f] groan,
    and the soul of ^(AG)the wounded cries for help;
    yet God charges no one with ^(AH)wrong.

¹³ “There are those who rebel ^(AI)against the light,
    who are not acquainted with its ways,
    and do not stay in its paths.
¹⁴ The murderer rises before it is light,
    that he ^(AJ)may kill the poor and needy,
    and in the night he is like a thief.
¹⁵ The eye of the adulterer also waits for ^(AK)the twilight,
    saying, ‘No ^(AL)eye will see me’;
    and he veils his face.
¹⁶ In the dark they ^(AM)dig through houses;
    by day they shut themselves up;
    they do not know the light.
¹⁷ For ^(AN)deep darkness is morning to all of them;
    for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

¹⁸ “You say, ^(AO)‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;
    their portion is cursed in the land;
    no treader turns toward their vineyards.
¹⁹ Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
    so does ^(AP)Sheol those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets them;
    the worm finds them sweet;
they are ^(AQ)no longer remembered,
    so wickedness is broken like ^(AR)a tree.’

²¹ “They wrong the barren, childless woman,
    and do no good to the widow.
²² Yet God^[g] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
    they rise up when they despair of life.
²³ He gives them security, and they are supported,
    and his ^(AS)eyes are upon their ways.
²⁴ They are exalted ^(AT)a little while, and then ^(AU)are gone;
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
    they are ^(AV)cut off like the heads of grain.
²⁵ If it is ^(AW)not so, who will prove me a liar
    and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

² “Dominion and fear are with God;^[h]
    he makes peace in his high heaven.
³ Is there any number to his ^(AY)armies?
    Upon whom does his ^(AZ)light not arise?
⁴ How then can man be ^(BA)in the right before God?
    How can he who is ^(BB)born of woman be ^(BC)pure?
⁵ Behold, even the moon is not bright,
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
^6 (BD)how much less man, who is ^(BE)a maggot,
    and ^(BF)the son of man, who is a worm!”

² “How you have ^(BG)helped him who has no power!
    How you have saved ^(BH)the arm that has no strength!
³ How you have ^(BI)counseled him who has no wisdom,
    and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
⁴ With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose breath ^(BJ)has come out from you?
⁵ The ^(BK)dead tremble
    under the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶ Sheol is ^(BL)naked before God,^[i]
    and ^(BM)Abaddon has no covering.
⁷ He ^(BN)stretches out the north over ^(BO)the void
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ He ^(BP)binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not split open under them.
⁹ He covers the face of the full moon^[j]
    and ^(BQ)spreads over it his cloud.
¹⁰ He has inscribed ^(BR)a circle on the face of the waters
    at the boundary between light and darkness.
^11 (BS)The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his ^(BT)rebuke.
¹² By his power he ^(BU)stilled the sea;
    by his understanding he shattered ^(BV)Rahab.
^13 (BW)By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced ^(BX)the fleeing serpent.
¹⁴ Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ^(BY)ways,
    and how small ^(BZ)a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

² “As God lives, who has ^(CB)taken away my right,
    and the Almighty, who has ^(CC)made my soul bitter,
³ as long as my breath is in me,
    and ^(CD)the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak ^(CE)falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter ^(CF)deceit.
⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    till I die I will not put away my ^(CG)integrity from me.
⁶ I ^(CH)hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart does not ^(CI)reproach me for any of my days.

⁷ “Let my enemy be as the wicked,
    and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
^8 (CJ)For what is the hope of the godless ^(CK)when God cuts him off,
    when God takes away his life?
^9 (CL)Will God hear his cry
    when distress comes upon him?
¹⁰ Will he ^(CM)take delight in the Almighty?
    Will he call upon God at all times?
¹¹ I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    ^(CN)what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹² Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

^13 (CO)“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
    and the heritage that ^(CP)oppressors receive from the Almighty:
¹⁴ If his ^(CQ)children are multiplied, it is for ^(CR)the sword,
    and his descendants have not enough bread.
¹⁵ Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
    and his ^(CS)widows do not weep.
¹⁶ Though he ^(CT)heap up silver like dust,
    and pile up clothing like clay,
¹⁷ he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
    and ^(CU)the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸ He builds his ^(CV)house like a moth's,
    like ^(CW)a booth that ^(CX)a watchman makes.
¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will ^(CY)do so no more;
    he opens his eyes, and ^(CZ)his wealth is gone.
^20 (DA)Terrors overtake him like ^(DB)a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind ^(DC)carries him off.
^21 (DD)The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
    it ^(DE)sweeps him out of his place.
²² It^[k] hurls at him ^(DF)without pity;
    he flees from its^[l] power in headlong flight.
²³ It ^(DG)claps its hands at him
    and ^(DH)hisses at him from its place.