Job 10-11

New American Standard Bible

Job Despairs of God’s Dealings

10 “^[a]^(A)I am disgusted with my own life;
I will express ^(B)my complaint freely;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
²I will say to God, ‘^(C)Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.
³Is it ^[b]right for You indeed to ^(D)oppress,
To reject ^(E)the work of Your hands,
And ^[c]to look favorably on ^(F)the plan of the wicked?
⁴Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You ^(G)see as mankind sees?
⁵Are Your days like the days of a mortal,
Or ^(H)Your years like a man’s year,
⁶That ^(I)You should search for my guilt
And carefully seek my sin?
⁷According to Your knowledge ^(J)I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is ^(K)no one to save me from Your hand.

⁸‘^(L)Your hands fashioned and made me ^[d]altogether,
^(M)Yet would You destroy me?
⁹Remember that You have made me as ^(N)clay;
Yet would You ^(O)turn me into dust again?
¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And intertwine me with bones and tendons?
¹²You have ^(P)granted me life and ^[e]goodness;
And Your care has guarded my spirit.
¹³Yet You have concealed ^(Q)these things in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:
¹⁴If I have sinned, You will ^(R)take note of me,
And ^(S)will not acquit me of my guilt.
¹⁵If ^(T)I am wicked, woe to me!
But if ^(U)I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am full of shame, and ^[f]conscious of my misery.
¹⁶And should my head be high, ^(V)You would hunt me like a lion;
And You would show Your ^(W)power against me again.
¹⁷You renew ^(X)Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
^[g]^(Y)Hardship after hardship is with me.

¹⁸‘^(Z)Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
If only I had died and no eye had seen me!
¹⁹I should have been as though I had not been,
Brought from womb to tomb.’
²⁰Would He not leave ^(AA)my few days alone?
^[h]^(AB)Withdraw from me so that I may have a little cheerfulness
²¹Before I go—^(AC)and I shall not return—
^(AD)To the land of darkness and ^(AE)deep shadow,
²²The land of utter gloom like darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And it shines like darkness.”

Zophar Rebukes Job

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,
And a ^(AF)talkative man be acquitted?
³Shall your boasts silence people?
And will you ^(AG)scoff, and no one rebuke?
⁴For ^(AH)you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And ^(AI)I am innocent in your eyes.’
⁵But if only God would speak,
And open His lips against you,
⁶And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom ^[i]^(AJ)has two sides.
Know then that God ^[j]forgets part of ^(AK)your guilt.

⁷“^(AL)Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
⁸They are as ^(AM)high as ^[k]the heavens; what can you do?
Deeper than ^[l]^(AN)Sheol; what can you know?
⁹Its measurement is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.
¹⁰If He passes by or apprehends people,
Or calls an assembly, ^(AO)who can restrain Him?
¹¹For ^(AP)He knows false people,
And He ^(AQ)sees injustice ^[m]without investigating.
¹²^[n]^(AR)An idiot will become intelligent
When a ^(AS)wild donkey is born a human.

¹³“^(AT)If you would ^(AU)direct your heart rightly
And ^(AV)spread out your hands to Him,
¹⁴If wrongdoing is in your hand, ^(AW)put it far away,
And do not let malice dwell in your tents;
¹⁵Then, indeed, you could ^(AX)lift up your face without moral blemish,
And you would be firmly established and ^(AY)not fear.
¹⁶For you would ^(AZ)forget your trouble;
Like ^(BA)waters that have passed by, you would remember it.
¹⁷Your ^[o]life would ^[p]be ^(BB)brighter than noonday;
Darkness would be like the morning.
¹⁸Then you would trust, because there is hope;
And you would look around and rest securely.
¹⁹You would ^(BC)lie down and none would disturb you,
And many would ^[q]^(BD)flatter you.
²⁰But the ^(BE)eyes of the wicked will fail,
And ^[r]there will ^(BF)be no escape for them;
And their ^(BG)hope is ^[s]^(BH)to breathe their last.”