Job 7-12

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁷ “Remember that my life is a breath;
    my eye will never again see good.^(F)
8 The eye that beholds me will see me no more;
    while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.^(G)
9 As the cloud fades and vanishes,
    so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;^(H)
10 they return no more to their houses,
    nor do their places know them any more.^(I)

¹¹ “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
    I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
    I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.^(J)
12 Am I the Sea or the Dragon
    that you set a guard over me?^(K)
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
    my couch will ease my complaint,’
¹⁴ then you scare me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions,^(L)
15 so that I would choose strangling
    and death rather than this body.
¹⁶ I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
    Let me alone, for my days are a breath.^(M)
17 What are humans, that you make so much of them,
    that you set your mind on them,^(N)
18 visit them every morning,
    test them every moment?
¹⁹ Will you not look away from me for a while,
    let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
²⁰ If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity?
    Why have you made me your target?
    Why have I become a burden to you?^(O)
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
    and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
    you will seek me, but I shall not be.”^(P)

² “How long will you say these things
    and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
³ Does God pervert justice?
    Or does the Almighty^[b] pervert the right?^(Q)
4 If your children sinned against him,
    he delivered them into the power of their transgression.^(R)
5 If you will seek God
    and make supplication to the Almighty,^[c](S)
6 if you are pure and upright,
    surely then he will rouse himself for you
    and restore to you your rightful place.^(T)
7 Though your beginning was small,
    your latter days will be very great.^(U)

⁸ “For inquire now of bygone generations
    and consider what their ancestors have found,^(V)
9 for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing,
    for our days on earth are but a shadow.^(W)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
    and utter words out of their understanding?

¹¹ “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
    Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
¹² While yet in flower and not cut down,
    they wither before any other plant.^(X)
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
    the hope of the godless shall perish.^(Y)
14 Their confidence is gossamer,
    a spider’s house their trust.
¹⁵ If one leans against its house, it will not stand;
    if one lays hold of it, it will not endure.^(Z)
16 The wicked thrive^[d] before the sun,
    and their shoots spread over the garden.^(AA)
17 Their roots twine around the stoneheap;
    they live among the rocks.^[e]
18 If they are destroyed from their place,
    then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’^(AB)
19 See, these are their happy ways,^[f]
    and out of the earth still others will spring.

²⁰ “See, God will not reject the blameless,
    nor take the hand of evildoers.^(AC)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
    and your lips with shouts of joy.^(AD)
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
    and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”^(AE)

² “Indeed, I know that this is so,
    but how can a mortal be just before God?^(AF)
3 If one wished to contend with him,
    one could not answer him once in a thousand.^(AG)
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
    who has resisted him and succeeded?^(AH)
5 He removes mountains, and they do not know it
    when he overturns them in his anger;
⁶ he shakes the earth out of its place,
    and its pillars tremble;^(AI)
7 he commands the sun, and it does not rise;
    he seals up the stars;
⁸ he alone stretched out the heavens
    and trampled the waves of the Sea;^[g](AJ)
9 he made the Bear and Orion,
    the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;^(AK)
10 he does great things beyond understanding
    and marvelous things without number.^(AL)
11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
    he moves on, but I do not perceive him.^(AM)
12 He snatches away; who can stop him?
    Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’^(AN)

¹³ “God will not turn back his anger;
    the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.^(AO)
14 How then can I answer him,
    choosing my words with him?
¹⁵ Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;
    I must appeal to my accuser for my right.^(AP)
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
    I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
¹⁷ For he crushes me with a tempest
    and multiplies my wounds without cause;^(AQ)
18 he will not let me get my breath
    but fills me with bitterness.^(AR)
19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
    If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?^[h]
20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;
    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
²¹ I am blameless; I do not know myself;
    I loathe my life.^(AS)
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’^(AT)
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
    he mocks at the calamity^[i] of the innocent.^(AU)
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
    he covers the eyes of its judges—
    if it is not he, who then is it?^(AV)

²⁵ “My days are swifter than a runner;
    they flee away; they see no good.
²⁶ They go by like skiffs of reed,
    like an eagle swooping on the prey.^(AW)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
    I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’
²⁸ I become afraid of all my suffering,
    for I know you will not hold me innocent.
²⁹ I shall be condemned;
    why then do I labor in vain?^(AX)
30 If I wash myself with soap
    and cleanse my hands with lye,^(AY)
31 yet you will plunge me into filth,
    and my own clothes will abhor me.
³² For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should come to trial together.^(AZ)
33 There is no mediator^[j] between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.^(BA)
34 If he would take his rod away from me
    and not let dread of him terrify me,^(BB)
35 then I would speak without fear of him,
    for I know I am not what I am thought to be.^[k]

¹⁸ “ ‘Why did you bring me forth from the womb?
    Would that I had died before any eye had seen me^(BQ)
19 and were as though I had not been,
    carried from the womb to the grave.
²⁰ Are not the days of my life few?^[n]
    Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort^[o](BR)
21 before I go, never to return,
    to the land of gloom and deep darkness,
²² the land of gloom^[p] and chaos,
    where light is like darkness.’ ”

² “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
    and should one full of talk be vindicated?^(BS)
3 Should your babble put others to silence,
    and when you mock, shall no one shame you?^(BT)
4 For you say, ‘My conduct^[q] is pure,
    and I am clean in God’s^[r] sight.’^(BU)
5 But O that God would speak
    and open his lips to you
⁶ and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
    For wisdom is many-sided.^[s]
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.^(BV)

⁷ “Can you find out the deep things of God?
    Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?^[t](BW)
8 It is higher than heaven^[u]—what can you do?
    Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?^(BX)
9 Its measure is longer than the earth
    and broader than the sea.
¹⁰ If he passes through and imprisons
    and assembles for judgment, who can hinder him?^(BY)
11 For he knows those who are worthless;
    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?^(BZ)
12 But the stupid will get understanding
    when a wild ass is born human.^[v]

¹³ “If you direct your heart rightly,
    you will stretch out your hands toward him.^(CA)
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
    and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.^(CB)
15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
    you will be secure and will not fear.^(CC)
16 You will forget your misery;
    you will remember it as waters that have passed away.^(CD)
17 And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
    its darkness will be like the morning.^(CE)
18 And you will have confidence because there is hope;
    you will be protected^[w] and take your rest in safety.^(CF)
19 You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;
    many will entreat your favor.
²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
    all way of escape will be lost to them,
    and their hope is to breathe their last.”^(CG)

² “No doubt you are the people,
    and wisdom will die with you.
³ But I have understanding as well as you;
    I am not inferior to you.
    Who does not know such things as these?
⁴ I am a laughingstock to my friends;
    I, who called upon God and he answered me,
    a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock.^(CH)
5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,^[x]
    but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.^(CI)
6 The tents of robbers are at peace,
    and those who provoke God are secure,
    who bring their god in their hands.^[y](CJ)

⁷ “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
    the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
⁸ ask the plants of the earth,^[z] and they will teach you,
    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
⁹ Who among all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?^(CK)
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of every human being.^(CL)
11 Does not the ear test words
    as the palate tastes food?^(CM)
12 Is wisdom with the aged
    and understanding in length of days?^(CN)

¹³ “With God^[aa] are wisdom and strength;
    he has counsel and understanding.^(CO)
14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
    if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.^(CP)
15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
    if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.^(CQ)
16 With him are strength and wisdom;
    the deceived and the deceiver are his.^(CR)
17 He leads counselors away stripped
    and makes fools of judges.^(CS)
18 He looses the sash of kings
    and binds a waistcloth on their loins.^(CT)
19 He leads priests away stripped
    and overthrows the mighty.
²⁰ He deprives of speech those who are trusted
    and takes away the discernment of the elders.^(CU)
21 He pours contempt on princes
    and looses the belt of the strong.^(CV)
22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness
    and brings deep darkness to light.^(CW)
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, then leads them away.^(CX)
24 He strips understanding from the leaders^[ab] of the earth
    and makes them wander in a pathless waste.^(CY)
25 They grope in the dark without light;
    he makes them stagger like a drunkard.^(CZ)