Job 8-11
Christian Standard Bible
Bildad Speaks
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words(A) are a blast of wind.(B)
3 Does God pervert justice?(C)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?(D)
4 Since your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to their rebellion.
5 But if you earnestly seek(E) God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,(F)
6 if you are pure and upright,
then he will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.(G)
7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.(H)
8 For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their ancestors discovered,(I)
9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are but a shadow.(J)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and speak from their understanding?
11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Do reeds flourish without water?
12 While still uncut shoots,
they would dry up quicker than any other plant.
13 Such is the destiny[a] of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless(K) will perish.
14 His source of confidence is fragile;[b]
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.(L)
15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.
16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;
his shoots spread out over his garden.
17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.
18 If he is uprooted[c] from his place,
it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”(M)
19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.
20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and he will not support[d] evildoers.(N)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.(O)
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame;(P)
the tent(Q) of the wicked will no longer exist.
Job’s Reply to Bildad
9 Then Job answered:
2 Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?(R)
3 If one wanted to take(S) him to court,
he could not answer God[e] once in a thousand times.(T)
4 God is wise(U) and all-powerful.
Who has opposed him and come out unharmed?
5 He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overturning them in his anger.(V)
6 He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.(W)
8 He alone stretches out the heavens(X)
and treads on the waves of the sea.[f]
9 He makes the stars: the Bear,[g] Orion,
the Pleiades,(Y) and the constellations[h] of the southern sky.
10 He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.(Z)
11 If he passed by me, I wouldn’t see him;(AA)
if he went by, I wouldn’t recognize him.
12 If he snatches something, who can stop[i] him?
Who can ask him, “What are you doing?” (AB)
13 God does not hold back his anger;
Rahab’s(AC) assistants cringe in fear beneath him!
14 How then can I answer him
or choose my arguments against him?
15 Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.(AD)
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I do not believe he would pay attention to what I said.
17 He batters me with a whirlwind(AE)
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He doesn’t let me catch my breath
but fills me with bitter experiences.
19 If it is a matter of strength, look, he is the powerful one!(AF)
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon(AG) him?[j]
20 Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;(AH)
if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.
21 Though I am blameless,
I no longer care about myself;
I renounce my life.(AI)
22 It is all the same. Therefore I say,
“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”(AJ)
23 When catastrophe[k] brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth[l] is handed over to the wicked;
he blindfolds[m] its judges.(AK)
If it isn’t he, then who is it?
25 My days fly by faster than a runner;[n](AL)
they flee without seeing any good.(AM)
26 They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.(AN)
27 If I said, “I will forget my complaint,
change my expression, and smile,”
28 I would still live in terror of all my pains.(AO)
I know you will not acquit me.(AP)
29 Since I will be found guilty,(AQ)
why should I struggle in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you dip me in a pit of mud,
and my own clothes despise me!
32 For he is not a man like me, that I can answer him,(AR)
that we can take each other to court.
33 There is no mediator between us,
to lay his hand on both of us.
34 Let him take his rod away from me
so his terror will no longer frighten me.(AS)
35 Then I would speak and not fear him.
But that is not the case; I am on my own.
10 I am disgusted with my life.(AT)
I will give vent to my complaint
and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God,
“Do not declare me guilty!
Let me know why you prosecute me.
3 Is it good for you to oppress,
to reject the work of your hands,(AU)
and favor[o] the plans of the wicked?(AV)
4 Do you have eyes of flesh,
or do you see as a human sees?
5 Are your days like those of a human,
or your years like those of a man,(AW)
6 that you look for my iniquity(AX)
and search for my sin,
7 even though you know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can rescue from your power?(AY)
8 “Your hands shaped me and formed me.(AZ)
Will you now turn and destroy me?
9 Please remember that you formed me like clay.
Will you now return me to dust?(BA)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and wove me together with bones and tendons.(BB)
12 You gave me life and faithful love,
and your care has guarded my life.
13 “Yet you concealed these thoughts in your heart;
I know that this was your hidden plan:[p]
14 if I sin, you would notice,[q]
and would not acquit me of my iniquity.(BC)
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am filled with shame(BD)
and have drunk deeply of[r] my affliction.(BE)
16 If I am proud,[s] you hunt me like a lion
and again display your miraculous power against me.(BF)
17 You produce new witnesses[t] against me
and multiply your anger toward me.
Hardships assault me, wave after wave.[u]
18 “Why did you bring me out of the womb?(BG)
I should have died and never been seen.
19 I wish[v] I had never existed
but had been carried from the womb to the grave.(BH)
20 Are my days not few? Stop it![w]
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little
21 before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,(BI)
never to return.
22 It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like[x] the darkness.”
Zophar Speaks
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2 Should this abundance of words(BJ) go unanswered
and such a talker[y] be acquitted?
3 Should your babbling put others to silence,
so that you can keep on ridiculing
with no one to humiliate you?
4 You have said, “My teaching(BK) is sound,
and I am pure in your sight.”
5 But if only God would speak
and open his lips against you!
6 He would show you the secrets of wisdom,(BL)
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your iniquity.(BM)
7 Can you fathom the depths of God
or discover the limits of the Almighty?(BN)
8 They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?(BO)
9 Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.
10 If he passes by and throws someone in prison
or convenes a court, who can stop him?(BP)
11 Surely he knows which people are worthless.
If he sees iniquity, will he not take note of it?(BQ)
12 But a stupid person will gain understanding
as soon as a wild donkey is born a human!
13 As for you, if you redirect your heart
and spread out your hands to him in prayer—
14 if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—
15 then you will hold your head high, free from fault.
You will be firmly established and unafraid.(BR)
16 For you will forget your suffering,
recalling it only as water that has flowed by.
17 Your life will be brighter than noonday;
its darkness[z] will be like the morning.(BS)
18 You will be confident, because there is hope.(BT)
You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.(BU)
19 You will lie down with no one to frighten you,
and many will seek your favor.(BV)
20 But the sight of the wicked(BW) will fail.
Their way of escape will be cut off,
and their only hope is their last breath.(BX)
Footnotes
- 8:13 Lit Such are the ways
- 8:14 Or cut off; Hb obscure
- 8:18 Or destroyed
- 8:20 Lit grasp the hand of
- 9:3 Or court, God would not answer him
- 9:8 Or and walks on the back of the sea god
- 9:9 Or Aldebaran
- 9:9 Or chambers
- 9:12 Or dissuade
- 9:19 LXX; MT reads me
- 9:23 Or whip; Hb obscure
- 9:24 Or land
- 9:24 Lit covers the faces of
- 9:25 = a royal messenger
- 10:3 Lit shine on
- 10:13 Lit was with you
- 10:14 Lit notice me
- 10:15 Or and look at
- 10:16 Lit If he lifts up
- 10:17 Or You bring fresh troops
- 10:17 Lit Changes and a host are with me
- 10:19 Lit As if
- 10:20 Alt Hb tradition reads Will he not leave my few days alone?
- 10:22 Lit chaotic, and shines as
- 11:2 Lit a man of lips
- 11:17 Text emended; MT reads noonday; you are dark, you
Revelation 12
Christian Standard Bible
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
12 A great sign[a] appeared in heaven:(A) a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.(B) 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth.(C) 3 Then another sign[b] appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon(D) having seven heads and ten horns,(E) and on its heads were seven crowns.[c] 4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.(F) And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.(G) 5 She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule[d] all nations with an iron rod.(H) Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God,(I) to be nourished there[e] for 1,260 days.(J)
The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael(K) and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail,(L) and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.(M) 9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent,(N) who is called the devil and Satan,(O) the one who deceives the whole world.(P) He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.(Q) 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,
The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ
have now come,(R)
because the accuser(S) of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them
before our God day and night,
has been thrown down.
11 They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb(T)
and by the word of their testimony;(U)
for they did not love their lives
to the point of death.(V)
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them!(W)
Woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you
with great fury,
because he knows his time is short.
The Woman Persecuted
13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted[f] the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle,(X) so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.(Y) 15 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war(Z) against the rest of her offspring[g](AA)—those who keep the commands of God(AB) and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus.(AC)
The Beast from the Sea
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