Job 13-15
International Standard Version
Job Begins to Argues His Case
13 “Look, I’ve seen everything;
I’ve listened carefully and I understand.
2 What you know, I know, too;
I’m not inferior to you.
3 But I want to talk to the Almighty;
and I’m determined to argue my case[a] before God.”
Job Accuses His Friends
4 “But as for you, you whitewash with lies;
all of you are worthless quacks.[b]
5 I wish you’d all just shut up.
Then at least you would appear to be wise.
6 “Now listen to my dispute!
Pay attention to my arguments.[c]
7 Why do you speak falsely on God’s behalf
and speak deceitfully[d] about him?
8 Will you show partiality to him?[e]
Will you plead God’s case?
9 Will things go well for you under his cross-examination?
Can you lie to him, as you would to a human being?[f]
10 “He will be sure to rebuke you,
if you show partiality[g] in secret.
11 His splendor will petrify you with terror,
paralyzing you with fear, won’t it?
12 Your maxims are just worthless proverbs;
your defensive arguments are made of clay.”
Job Resolves to Present His Case
13 “Don’t talk to me! It’s my turn to speak;
then whatever happens, happens.
14 Why shouldn’t I bite my flesh
or take my life in my hands?
15 Even though he kills me,
I’ll continue to hope in him.
At least I’ll be able to argue my case[h] to his face!
16 I have this as my salvation:
the godless person won’t be appearing before him.
17 Pay attention[i] to what I have to say
and listen to my testimony with your own ears.”
Job Presents His Conditions
18 “Look, now! I’ve prepared my case for court.[j]
I know that I’m going to win.[k]
19 Who can oppose me?
If they do, I’ll be silent and die.
20 Grant me only two things as you deal with me;
then I won’t hide from you.[l]
21 Withdraw your hand far from me
and keep me from being petrified with terror.
22 Then call and I’ll answer,
or let me speak and then you reply to me!”
Job Presents Himself for Cross-Examination
23 “How many of my iniquities and sins have you counted?
Show me my transgression and sin.
24 Why do you hide your face
and regard me as your enemy?
25 Are you a god who would make a leaf tremble
or who would prosecute a dry straw?
26 You’ve accused me of bitter things;
you’ve caused me to reap[m] the sins of my youth.
27 You’ve locked my feet in stocks;
you watch all my steps;
You’ve limited where I can walk.[n]
28 So I’m a man who wears out like something rotten,
like a garment that has become moth-eaten.”
Human Beings Live and Die
14 Human beings born by women
are short-lived[o] and full of trouble.
2 He springs up[p] like a flower and then withers.[q]
Like a shadow, he disappears[r] and doesn’t last.
3 Indeed, have you opened your eyes on one like this—
to bring me into a legal fight with you?
4 Who can produce a clean thing from an unclean thing?
No one!
5 Since his days have been determined,
the number of his months is known to you.
You’ve set his limit
and he cannot exceed it.
6 Look away from him and leave him alone,
so he can enjoy his time, like a hired worker.”
Death is Certain
7 “There is hope for the tree, if it is cut down,
that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots won’t stop growing.
8 Even if its roots have grown ancient in the earth,
and its stump begins to rot[s] in the ground,
9 the presence[t] of water will make it to bud
so that it sprouts new branches like a young plant.
10 “But when a person[u] dies and wastes away,
when a person[v] breathes his last, where will he be?
11 As water disappears from the sea,
or water evaporates from a river,
12 so also a person[w] lies down and does not get up;
they won’t awaken until the heavens are no more,
nor will they arise from their sleep.”
There is Life after Death
13 “Won’t you keep me safe in the afterlife?[x]
Conceal me until your anger subsides.
Set an appointment for me,
then remember me.
14 If a human being[y] dies, will he live again?
I will endure the entire time of my assigned service,
until I am changed.[z]
15 You’ll call and I’ll answer you;
you’ll long for your creatures that your hands have made.[aa]
16 Then you’ll certainly count every step I took,
but you won’t keep an inventory of my sin.
17 My transgressions would be sealed up in a bag;
you would cover over my sins.
18 “Mountains fall and crumble;
rocks are dislodged from their places.
19 Water wears away stones;
floods wash away topsoil from the land—
but you destroy the hope of human beings just like that!
20 You overpower him once and for all, and then he departs;
you change his appearance and then send him away.
21 “If his children are honored, he doesn’t know it;
if they become insignificant, he never perceives it.
22 He feels only his own pain,[ab]
and grieves only for himself.”
Eliphaz Speaks Again
15 Then Eliphaz from Teman responded:
2 “Should a wise person respond with knowledge based on wind?
Should he fill his stomach with a wind storm from the east?
3 Should he engage in unprofitable argument,
or give a speech that benefits no one?
4 Yet you dispense with fear of God
and hinder meditations before God.
5 Because your sin dictates your speech,[ac]
you have chosen the language[ad] of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth is condemning you, not I;
your own lips will testify against you.”
Eliphaz Claims that Job is Guilty
7 “Were you the first person[ae]to be born?
Were you brought forth before the hills were made?
8 Have you listened in on God’s secret council?
Have you limited wisdom only to yourself?
9 What do you know that we don’t know,
or that you understand and that isn’t clear to us?
10 “We have both the gray-haired and the aged with us,
and they are far older[af] than your father.
11 Are God’s encouragements inconsequential to you,
even a word that has been spoken[ag] gently to you?
12 Why have your emotions[ah] carried you away?
And why do your eyes flash
13 that you turn your anger[ai] against God
and speak words like this?
14 “What is mankind, that he can be blameless?
Or does being born of a woman mean he’ll be in the right?
15 Look, if God[aj] doesn’t trust his holy ones,[ak]
if even the heavens aren’t pure as he looks at them,
16 then how much less is one who is abhorred and corrupted,
such as a man who drinks injustice like water?”
Eliphaz Describes the Plight of the Wicked
17 “I’ll tell you what, listen to me!
Let me relate what I’ve seen,
18 which is what wise men have explained,
who didn’t withhold anything from their ancestors.
19 To them alone was the land given,
when no invader[al] passed through their midst.
20 “The wicked person writhes in pain throughout his life,
a number of years has been reserved for the ruthless.
21 Terrifying sounds ring[am] in his ears;
when times are prosperous, the Destroyer will attack[an] him.
22 He does not believe he will escape[ao] darkness;
he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders around for food—where is it?
He knows that a time of darkness is near.[ap]
24 Distress and pressure terrify him;
they overwhelm him, like a king poised for attack.
25 “For he has raised his fist against God,
defying the Almighty.
26 He defiantly ran against him
carrying his thick, reinforced shield.
27 Though he covered his face with fat,
and is grossly overweight at the waist,
28 He will live in devastated towns,
in abandoned houses
that are about to become heaps of rubble.
29 “He won’t become rich and his wealth won’t last;
he won’t expand his holdings to cover the land.
30 He won’t escape darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots;
and he’ll depart by the breath of God’s[aq] mouth.
31 Let him not trust in a worthless speech.
He leads only himself astray,
for emptiness will be his reward.
32 This will be accomplished before his time;[ar]
his branches won’t grow luxuriant.
33 “He is like a vine that drops its unripe grapes;
like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
34 For the company of the godless is desolation,
and fire consumes the tents of those who[as] bribe.
35 For they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity;
their womb is pregnant[at] with deception.”
Footnotes
- Job 13:3 The Heb. lacks my case
- Job 13:4 Lit. physicians
- Job 13:6 Lit. arguments of my lips
- Job 13:7 Or treachery
- Job 13:8 Lit. lift up his face
- Job 13:9 Lit. mankind
- Job 13:10 Lit. you lift up the face
- Job 13:15 Or way
- Job 13:17 Lit. listen, to listen
- Job 13:18 Or judgment
- Job 13:18 Lit. I’m in the right
- Job 13:20 Lit. from your face
- Job 13:26 Lit. inherit
- Job 13:27 Lit. limited the soles of my feet
- Job 14:1 Lit. is of short days
- Job 14:2 Lit. goes out
- Job 14:2 Lit. is cut off
- Job 14:2 Lit. flees
- Job 14:8 Lit. die
- Job 14:9 Lit. scent
- Job 14:10 Lit. man
- Job 14:10 Lit. the valiant man
- Job 14:12 Lit. man
- Job 14:13 Lit. in Sheol; i.e. the realm of the dead
- Job 14:14 Lit. strong man
- Job 14:14 Lit. until my change comes; i.e. change in bodily state at the resurrection; cf. 1 Cor 15:51
- Job 14:15 Lit. for the work of your hands
- Job 14:22 Lit. flesh
- Job 15:5 Lit. mouth
- Job 15:5 Lit. tongue
- Job 15:7 Lit. man
- Job 15:10 Lit. are older by many days
- Job 15:11 The Heb. lacks spoken
- Job 15:12 Lit. heart
- Job 15:13 Lit. spirit
- Job 15:15 Lit. he
- Job 15:15 Cf. Job 4:18
- Job 15:19 Or foreigner
- Job 15:21 The Heb. lacks ring
- Job 15:21 Or come upon him
- Job 15:22 Or turn aside
- Job 15:23 Lit. is at hand
- Job 15:30 Lit. his
- Job 15:32 Lit. day
- Job 15:34 The Heb. lacks those who
- Job 15:35 Lit. womb fashions; i.e., as a womb fashions a child
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