Job 30-32
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
30 But now they who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yes, how could the strength of their hands profit me? They were men whose ripe age and vigor had perished.
3 They are gaunt with want and famine; they gnaw the dry and barren ground or flee into the wilderness, into the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
4 They pluck saltwort or mallows among the bushes, and roots of the broom for their food or to warm them.
5 They are driven from among men, who shout after them as after a thief.
6 They must dwell in the clefts of frightful valleys (gullies made by torrents) and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they bray and howl [like wild animals]; beneath the prickly scrub they fling themselves and huddle together.
8 Sons of the worthless and nameless, they have been scourged and crushed out of the land.
9 And now I have become their song; yes, I am a byword to them.
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and do not refrain from spitting in my face or at the sight of me.
11 For God has loosed my bowstring and afflicted and humbled me; they have cast off the bridle [of restraint] before me.
12 On my right hand rises the rabble brood; they jostle me and push away my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction [like an advancing army].
13 They break up and clutter my path [embarrassing my plans]; they urge on my calamity, even though they have no helper [and are themselves helpless].
14 As through a wide breach they come in; amid the crash [of falling walls] they roll themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned upon me; my honor and reputation they chase away like the wind, and my welfare has passed away as a cloud.
16 And now my life is poured out within me; the days of affliction have gripped me.
17 My bones are pierced [with aching] in the night season, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
18 By the great force [of my disease] my garment is disguised and disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my coat.
19 [God] has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to You, [Lord,] and You do not answer me; I stand up, but You [only] gaze [indifferently] at me.
21 You have become harsh and cruel to me; with the might of Your hand You [keep me alive only to] persecute me.
22 You lift me up on the wind; You cause me to ride upon it, and You toss me about in the tempest.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death and to the house [of meeting] appointed for all the living.
24 However, does not one falling in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand? Or in his calamity will he not therefore cry for help?
25 Did not I weep for him who was in trouble? Was not my heart grieved for the poor and needy?
26 But when I looked for good, then evil came to me; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My heart is troubled and does not rest; days of affliction come to meet me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the congregation and cry for help.
29 I am a brother to jackals [which howl], and a companion to ostriches [which scream dismally].
30 My skin falls from me in blackened flakes, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 Therefore my lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.
31 I dictated a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes; how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl?
2 For what portion should I have from God above [if I were lewd], and what heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Does not calamity [justly] befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?
4 Does not [God] see my ways and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with falsehood or vanity, or if my foot has hastened to deceit—
6 Oh, let me be weighed in a just balance and let Him weigh me, that God may know my integrity!
7 If my step has turned out of [God’s] way, and my heart has gone the way my eyes [covetously] invited, and if any spot has stained my hands with guilt,
8 Then let me sow and let another eat; yes, let the produce of my field or my offspring be rooted out.
9 If my heart has been deceived and I made a fool by a woman, or if I have [covetously] laid wait at my neighbor’s door [until his departure],
10 Then let my wife grind [meal, like a bondslave] for another, and let others bow down upon her.
11 For [adultery] is a heinous and chief crime, an iniquity [to demand action by] the judges and punishment.(A)
12 For [uncontrolled passion] is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (to destruction, ruin, and the place of final torment); [that fire once lighted would rage until all is consumed] and would burn to the root all my [life’s] increase.
13 If I have despised and rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they contended or brought a complaint against me,
14 What then shall I do when God rises up [to judge]? When He visits [to inquire of me], what shall I answer Him?(B)
15 Did not He Who made me in the womb make [my servant]? And did not One fashion us both in the womb?(C)
16 If I have withheld from the poor and needy what they desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],
17 Or have eaten my morsel alone and have not shared it with the fatherless—
18 No, but from my youth [the fatherless] grew up with me as a father, and I have been [the widow’s] guide from my mother’s womb—
19 If I have seen anyone perish for want of clothing, or any poor person without covering,
20 If his loins have not blessed me [for clothing them], and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 If I have lifted my hand against the fatherless when I saw [that the judges would be favorable and be] my help at the [council] gate,
22 Then let my shoulder fall away from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For calamity from God was a terror to me, and because of His majesty I could not endure [to face Him] and could do nothing.(D)
24 If I have made gold my trust and hope or have said to fine gold, You are my confidence,
25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great and because my [powerful] hand [alone] had gotten much,
26 If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness,
27 And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them],
28 This also would have been [a heinous and principal] iniquity to demand the judges’ action and punishment, for I would have denied and been false to the God Who is above.(E)
29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me or lifted myself up [in malicious triumph] when evil overtook him—
30 No, I have let my mouth sin neither by cursing my enemy nor by praying that he might die—
31 [Just ask] if the men of my tent will not say, Who can find one in need who has not been satisfied with food he gave them?—
32 The temporary resident has not lodged in the street, but I have opened my door to the wayfaring man—
33 If like Adam or like [other] men I have concealed my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom
34 Because I feared the great multitude and the contempt of families terrified me so that I kept silence and did not go out of the door—
35 Oh, for a hearing! Oh, for an answer from the Almighty! Let my adversary write out His indictment [and put His vague accusations in tangible form] in a book!
36 Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder and wind the scroll about my head as a diadem.
37 I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life], approaching His presence as a prince—
38 For if my land has cried out against me and its furrows have complained together with tears [that I have no right to them],
39 If I have eaten its fruits without paying for them or have caused its [rightful] owners to breathe their last,
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat and cockleburs instead of barley. The [controversial] words of Job [with his friends] are ended.
32 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was [rigidly] righteous (upright and in right standing with God) in his own eyes. [But there was a fifth man there also.]
2 Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became indignant. His indignation was kindled against Job because he justified himself rather than God [even made himself out to be better than God].
3 Also against [Job’s] three friends was [Elihu’s] anger kindled, because they had found no answer [were unable to show his real error], and yet they had declared him to be in the wrong [and responsible for his own afflictions].
4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he.
5 But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.
6 Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite said, I am young, and you are aged; for that reason I was timid and restrained and dared not declare my opinion to you.
7 I said, Age should speak, and a multitude of years should teach wisdom [so let it be heard].
8 But there is [a vital force] a spirit [of intelligence] in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives men understanding.(F)
9 It is not the great [necessarily] who are wise, nor [always] the aged who understand justice.
10 So I say, Listen to me; I also will give you my opinion [about Job’s situation] and my knowledge.
11 You see, I waited for your words, I listened to your wise reasons, while you searched out what to say.
12 Yes, I paid attention to what you said, and behold, not one of you convinced Job or made [satisfactory] replies to his words [you could not refute him].
13 Beware lest you say, We have found wisdom; God thrusts [Job] down [justly], not man [God alone is dealing with him].
14 Now [Job] has not directed his words against me [therefore I have no cause for irritation], neither will I answer him with speeches like yours. [I speak for truth, not for revenge.]
15 [Job’s friends] are amazed and embarrassed, they answer no more; they have not a thing to say [reports Elihu].
16 And shall I wait, because they say nothing but stand still and answer no more?
17 I also will answer my [God-assigned] part; I also will declare my opinion and my knowledge.
18 For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.
19 My breast is as wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.
20 I must speak, that I may get relief and be refreshed; I will open my lips and answer.
21 I will not [I warn you] be influenced by respect for any man’s person and show partiality, neither will I flatter any man.
22 For I know not how to flatter, [wasting my time in mere formalities, for then] my Maker would soon take me away.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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