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Job 29-31
Contemporary English Version
Job 29-31
Contemporary English Version
Job Continues
I Long for the Past
29 Job said:
2 I long for the past,
when God took care of me,
3 and the light from his lamp
showed me the way
through the dark.
4 I was in the prime of life,
God All-Powerful
was my closest friend,
5 and all of my children
were nearby.
6 My herds gave enough milk
to bathe my feet,
and from my olive harvest
flowed rivers of oil.
* 7 When I sat down at the meeting
of the city council,
8 the young leaders stepped aside,
* 9 while the older ones stood
10 and remained silent.
Everyone Was Pleased
11 Everyone was pleased
with what I said and did.
12 When poor people or orphans
cried out for help,
I came to their rescue.
13 And I was highly praised
for my generosity to widows
and others in poverty.
14 Kindness and justice
were my coat and hat;
15 I was helpful to the blind
and to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I defended them in court,
even if they were strangers.
17 When criminals attacked,
I broke their teeth
and set their victims free.
18 I felt certain that I would live
a long and happy life,
then die in my own bed.
19 In those days I was strong
like a tree with deep roots
and with plenty of water,
20 or like an archer's new bow.
21 Everyone listened in silence
to my welcome advice,
22 and when I finished speaking,
nothing needed to be said.
23 My words were eagerly accepted
like the showers of spring,
24 and the smile on my face
renewed everyone's hopes.
25 My advice was followed
as though I were a king
leading my troops,
or someone comforting
those in sorrow.
Job Continues
Young People Now Insult Me
30 Young people now insult me,
although their fathers
would have been a disgrace
to my sheep dogs.
2 And those who insult me
are helpless themselves.
3 They must claw the desert sand
in the dark for something
to satisfy their hunger.[a]
4 They gather tasteless shrubs
for food and firewood,
5 and they are run out of towns,
as though they were thieves.
6 Their only homes are ditches
or holes between rocks,
7 where they bray like donkeys
gathering around shrubs.
8 And like senseless donkeys
they are chased away.
Those Worthless Nobodies
9 Those worthless nobodies
make up jokes and songs
to disgrace me.
10 They are hateful
and keep their distance,
even while spitting
in my direction.
11 God has destroyed me,
and so they don't care
what they do.[b]
12 Their attacks never stop,
though I am defenseless,
and my feet are trapped.[c]
13 Without any help,
they prevent my escape,
destroying me completely[d]
14 and leaving me crushed.
15 Terror has me surrounded;
my reputation and my riches
have vanished like a cloud.
I Am Sick at Heart
16 I am sick at heart!
Pain has taken its toll.
17 Night chews on my bones,
causing endless torment,
18 and God has shrunk my skin,
choking me to death.[e]
19 I have been thrown in the dirt
and now am dirt myself.
20 I beg God for help,
but there is no answer;
and when I stand up,
he simply stares.
21 God has turned brutal,
22 stirring up a windstorm
to toss me about.
23 Soon he will send me home
to the world of the dead,
where we all must go.
24 No one refuses help to others,
when disaster strikes.[f]
25 I mourned for the poor
and those who suffered.
26 But when I beg for relief
and light,
all I receive are disaster
and darkness.
27 My stomach is tied in knots;
pain is my daily companion.
28 My days are dark and gloomy
and in the city council
I stand and cry out,
29 making mournful sounds
like jackals[g] and owls.
30 My skin is so parched,
that it peels right off,
and my bones are burning.
31 My only songs are sorrow
and sadness.
Job Continues
I Promised Myself
31 I promised myself
never to stare with desire
at a young woman.
2 God All-Powerful punishes
men who do that.
3 In fact, God sends disaster
on all who sin,
4 and he keeps a close watch
on everything I do.
5 I am not dishonest or deceitful,
6 and I beg God to prove
my innocence.
7 If I have disobeyed him
or even wanted to,
8 then others can eat my harvest
and uproot my crops.
9 If I have desired someone's wife
and chased after her,
10 then let some stranger
steal my wife from me.
11 If I took someone's wife,
it would be a horrible crime,
12 sending me to destruction
and my crops to the flames.[h]
13 When my servants
complained against me,
I was fair to them.
14 Otherwise, what answer
would I give to God
when he judges me?
15 After all, God is the one
who gave life to each of us
before we were born.
I Have Never Cheated Anyone
16 (A) I have never cheated widows
or others in need,
17 and I have always shared
my food with orphans.
18 Since the time I was young,
I have cared for orphans
and helped widows.[i]
19 I provided clothes for the poor,
20 and I was praised
for supplying woolen garments
to keep them warm.
21 If I have ever raised my arm
to threaten an orphan
when the power was mine,
22 I hope that arm will fall
from its socket.
23 I could not have been abusive;
I was terrified at the thought
that God might punish me.
24 (B) I have never trusted
the power of wealth,
25 or taken pride in owning
many possessions.
* 26 I have never openly or secretly
27 worshiped the sun or moon.
28 Such horrible sins
would have deserved
punishment from God.
29 I have never laughed
when my enemies
were struck by disaster.
30 Neither have I sinned
by asking God
to send down on them
the curse of death.
31 No one ever went hungry[j]
at my house,
32 and travelers
were always welcome.
33 Many have attempted to hide
their sins from others—
but I refused.
34 And the fear of public disgrace
never forced me to keep silent
about what I had done.
Why Doesn't God Listen?
35 Why doesn't God All-Powerful
listen and answer?
If God has something against me,
let him speak up
or put it in writing!
36 Then I would wear his charges
on my clothes and forehead.
37 And with my head held high,
I would tell him everything
I have ever done.
38 I have never mistreated
the land I farmed
and made it mourn.[k]
39 Nor have I cheated
my workers
and caused them pain.[l]
40 If I had, I would pray
for weeds instead of wheat
to grow in my fields.
After saying these things,
Job was silent.
Footnotes
- 30.3 hunger: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 3.
- 30.11 God … do: Or “They have destroyed me, and so they don't care what else they do.”
- 30.12 trapped: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 12.
- 30.13 destroying … completely: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 30.18 death: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.
- 30.24 strikes: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 24.
- 30.29 jackals: Desert animals related to wolves, but smaller.
- 31.12 flames: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 12.
- 31.18 widows: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.
- 31.31 ever went hungry: Or “was ever sexually abused” (see Genesis 19.1-11; Judges 17.22-30). In ancient Israel, the lives of one's guests were sacred and had to be protected at any cost.
- 31.38 mourn: In biblical times there were strict regulations for proper use of the land, and land that was abused was said to “mourn” and become no longer productive.
- 31.39 pain: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 39.
Job 29-31
New International Version
Job 29-31
New International Version
Job’s Final Defense
29 Job continued his discourse:(A)
2 “How I long for the months gone by,(B)
for the days when God watched over me,(C)
3 when his lamp shone on my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!(D)
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God’s intimate friendship(E) blessed my house,(F)
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children(G) were around me,(H)
6 when my path was drenched with cream(I)
and the rock(J) poured out for me streams of olive oil.(K)
7 “When I went to the gate(L) of the city
and took my seat in the public square,
8 the young men saw me and stepped aside(M)
and the old men rose to their feet;(N)
9 the chief men refrained from speaking(O)
and covered their mouths with their hands;(P)
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,(Q)
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.(R)
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,(S)
12 because I rescued the poor(T) who cried for help,
and the fatherless(U) who had none to assist them.(V)
13 The one who was dying blessed me;(W)
I made the widow’s(X) heart sing.
14 I put on righteousness(Y) as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.(Z)
15 I was eyes(AA) to the blind
and feet to the lame.(AB)
16 I was a father to the needy;(AC)
I took up the case(AD) of the stranger.(AE)
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims(AF) from their teeth.(AG)
18 “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.(AH)
19 My roots will reach to the water,(AI)
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.(AJ)
20 My glory will not fade;(AK)
the bow(AL) will be ever new in my hand.’(AM)
21 “People listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.(AN)
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;(AO)
my words fell gently on their ears.(AP)
23 They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.(AQ)
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face(AR) was precious to them.[a](AS)
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;(AT)
I dwelt as a king(AU) among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.(AV)
30 “But now they mock me,(AW)
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.(AX)
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed[b] the parched land(AY)
in desolate wastelands(AZ) at night.(BA)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,(BB)
and their food[c] was the root of the broom bush.(BC)
5 They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.(BD)
7 They brayed(BE) among the bushes(BF)
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,(BG)
they were driven out of the land.(BH)
9 “And now those young men mock me(BI) in song;(BJ)
I have become a byword(BK) among them.
10 They detest me(BL) and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.(BM)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow(BN) and afflicted me,(BO)
they throw off restraint(BP) in my presence.
12 On my right(BQ) the tribe[d] attacks;
they lay snares(BR) for my feet,(BS)
they build their siege ramps against me.(BT)
13 They break up my road;(BU)
they succeed in destroying me.(BV)
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;(BW)
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors(BX) overwhelm me;(BY)
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.(BZ)
16 “And now my life ebbs away;(CA)
days of suffering grip me.(CB)
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.(CC)
18 In his great power(CD) God becomes like clothing to me[e];
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,(CE)
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.(CF)
20 “I cry out to you,(CG) God, but you do not answer;(CH)
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;(CI)
with the might of your hand(CJ) you attack me.(CK)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;(CL)
you toss me about in the storm.(CM)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,(CN)
to the place appointed for all the living.(CO)
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man(CP)
when he cries for help in his distress.(CQ)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?(CR)
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?(CS)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.(CT)
27 The churning inside me never stops;(CU)
days of suffering confront me.(CV)
28 I go about blackened,(CW) but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.(CX)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,(CY)
a companion of owls.(CZ)
30 My skin grows black(DA) and peels;(DB)
my body burns with fever.(DC)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,(DD)
and my pipe(DE) to the sound of wailing.
31 “I made a covenant with my eyes(DF)
not to look lustfully at a young woman.(DG)
2 For what is our lot(DH) from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?(DI)
3 Is it not ruin(DJ) for the wicked,
disaster(DK) for those who do wrong?(DL)
4 Does he not see my ways(DM)
and count my every step?(DN)
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit(DO)—
6 let God weigh me(DP) in honest scales(DQ)
and he will know that I am blameless(DR)—
7 if my steps have turned from the path,(DS)
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands(DT) have been defiled,(DU)
8 then may others eat what I have sown,(DV)
and may my crops be uprooted.(DW)
9 “If my heart has been enticed(DX) by a woman,(DY)
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind(DZ) another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.(EA)
11 For that would have been wicked,(EB)
a sin to be judged.(EC)
12 It is a fire(ED) that burns to Destruction[f];(EE)
it would have uprooted my harvest.(EF)
13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,(EG)
whether male or female,
when they had a grievance against me,(EH)
14 what will I do when God confronts me?(EI)
What will I answer when called to account?(EJ)
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?(EK)
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?(EL)
16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor(EM)
or let the eyes of the widow(EN) grow weary,(EO)
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless(EP)—
18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
and from my birth I guided the widow(EQ)—
19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,(ER)
or the needy(ES) without garments,
20 and their hearts did not bless me(ET)
for warming them with the fleece(EU) from my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,(EV)
knowing that I had influence in court,(EW)
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.(EX)
23 For I dreaded destruction from God,(EY)
and for fear of his splendor(EZ) I could not do such things.(FA)
24 “If I have put my trust in gold(FB)
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’(FC)
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,(FD)
the fortune my hands had gained,(FE)
26 if I have regarded the sun(FF) in its radiance
or the moon(FG) moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed(FH)
and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,(FI)
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,(FJ)
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.(FK)
29 “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune(FL)
or gloated over the trouble that came to him(FM)—
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against their life(FN)—
31 if those of my household have never said,
‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’(FO)—
32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the traveler(FP)—
33 if I have concealed(FQ) my sin as people do,[g]
by hiding(FR) my guilt in my heart
34 because I so feared the crowd(FS)
and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I kept silent(FT) and would not go outside—
35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!(FU)
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser(FV) put his indictment in writing.
36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,(FW)
I would put it on like a crown.(FX)
37 I would give him an account of my every step;(FY)
I would present it to him as to a ruler.(FZ))—
38 “if my land cries out against me(GA)
and all its furrows are wet(GB) with tears,
39 if I have devoured its yield without payment(GC)
or broken the spirit of its tenants,(GD)
40 then let briers(GE) come up instead of wheat
and stinkweed(GF) instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.(GG)
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