Job 1-41
Good News Translation
Satan Tests Job
1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz,[a] who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East.
4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.
6 (A)When the day came for the heavenly beings[b] to appear before the Lord, Satan[c] was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, “What have you been doing?”
Satan answered, “I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.”
8 “Did you notice my servant Job?” the Lord asked. “There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.”
9 (B)Satan replied, “Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has—he will curse you to your face!”
12 “All right,” the Lord said to Satan, “everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself.” So Satan left.
Job's Children and Wealth Are Destroyed
13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. “We were plowing the fields with the oxen,” he said, “and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans[d] attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Three bands of Chaldean[e] raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 (C)He said, “I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!”
22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.
Satan Tests Job Again
2 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, “Where have you been?”
Satan answered, “I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.”
3 “Did you notice my servant Job?” the Lord asked. “There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever.”
4 Satan replied, “A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body—he will curse you to your face!”
6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him.”
7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, “You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?”
10 Job answered, “You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?” Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God.
Job's Friends Come
11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.
Job's Complaint to God
3 (D)Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born.
Job
2-3 (E)O God, put a curse on the day I was born;
put a curse on the night when I was conceived!
4 Turn that day into darkness, God.
Never again remember that day;
never again let light shine on it.
5 Make it a day of gloom and thick darkness;
cover it with clouds, and blot out the sun.
6 Blot that night out of the year,
and never let it be counted again;
7 make it a barren, joyless night.
8 Tell the sorcerers to curse that day,
those who know how to control Leviathan.[f]
9 Keep the morning star from shining;
give that night no hope of dawn.
10 Curse that night for letting me be born,
for exposing me to trouble and grief.
11 I wish I had died in my mother's womb
or died the moment I was born.
12 Why did my mother hold me on her knees?
Why did she feed me at her breast?
13 If I had died then, I would be at rest now,
14 sleeping like the kings and rulers
who rebuilt ancient palaces.
15 Then I would be sleeping like princes
who filled their houses with gold and silver,
16 or sleeping like a stillborn child.
17 In the grave wicked people stop their evil,
and tired workers find rest at last.
18 Even prisoners enjoy peace,
free from shouts and harsh commands.
19 Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown,
and slaves at last are free.
20 Why let people go on living in misery?
Why give light to those in grief
21 (F)They wait for death, but it never comes;
they prefer a grave to any treasure.
22 They are not happy till they are dead and buried;
23 God keeps their future hidden
and hems them in on every side.
24 Instead of eating, I mourn,
and I can never stop groaning.
25 Everything I fear and dread comes true.
26 I have no peace, no rest,
and my troubles never end.
The First Dialogue(G)
4 1-2 Job, will you be annoyed if I speak?
I can't keep quiet any longer.
3 You have taught many people
and given strength to feeble hands.
4 When someone stumbled, weak and tired,
your words encouraged him to stand.
5 Now it's your turn to be in trouble,
and you are too stunned to face it.
6 You worshiped God, and your life was blameless;
and so you should have confidence and hope.
7 Think back now. Name a single case
where someone righteous met with disaster.
8 I have seen people plow fields of evil
and plant wickedness like seed;
now they harvest wickedness and evil.
9 Like a storm, God destroys them in his anger.
10 The wicked roar and growl like lions,
but God silences them and breaks their teeth.
11 Like lions with nothing to kill and eat,
they die, and all their children are scattered.
12 Once a message came quietly,
so quietly I could hardly hear it.
13 (H)Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.
14 I trembled and shuddered;
my whole body shook with fear.
15 A light breeze touched my face,
and my skin crawled with fright.
16 I could see something standing there;
I stared, but couldn't tell what it was.
Then I heard a voice out of the silence:
17 “Can anyone be righteous in the sight of[g] God
or be pure before[h] his Creator?
18 God does not trust his heavenly servants;
he finds fault even with his angels.
19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay,
a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?
20 We may be alive in the morning,
but die unnoticed before evening comes.
21 All that we have is taken away;
we die, still lacking wisdom.”
5 Call out, Job. See if anyone answers.
Is there any angel to whom you can turn?
2 To worry yourself to death with resentment
would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.
3 I have seen fools who looked secure,
but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.
4 Their children can never find safety;
no one stands up to defend them in court.
5 Hungry people will eat the fool's crops—
even the grain growing among thorns[i]—
and thirsty people will envy his wealth.
6 Evil does not grow in the soil,
nor does trouble grow out of the ground.
7 No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves,
as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.[j]
8 If I were you, I would turn to God
and present my case to him.
9 (I)We cannot understand the great things he does,
and to his miracles there is no end.
10 He sends rain on the land
and he waters the fields.
11 Yes, it is God who raises the humble
and gives joy to all who mourn.
12-13 (J)He upsets the plans of cunning people,
and traps the wise in their own schemes,
so that nothing they do succeeds;
14 even at noon they grope in darkness.
15 But God saves the poor[k] from death;
he saves the needy from oppression.
16 He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.
17 (K)Happy is the person whom God corrects!
Do not resent it when he rebukes you.
18 (L)God bandages the wounds he makes;
his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.
19 Time after time he will save you from harm;
20 when famine comes, he will keep you alive,
and in war protect you from death.
21 God will rescue you from slander;
he will save you when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at violence and hunger
and not be afraid of wild animals.
23 The fields you plow will be free of rocks;
wild animals will never attack you.
24 Then you will live at peace in your tent;
when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe.
25 You will have as many children
as there are blades of grass in a pasture.
26 Like wheat that ripens till harvest time,
you will live to a ripe old age.
27 Job, we have learned this by long study.
It is true, so now accept it.
6 1-2 If my troubles and griefs were weighed on scales,
3 they would weigh more than the sands of the sea,
so my wild words should not surprise you.
4 Almighty God has shot me with arrows,
and their poison spreads through my body.
God has lined up his terrors against me.
5 A donkey is content when eating grass,
and a cow is quiet when eating hay.
6 But who can eat flat, unsalted food?
What taste is there in the white of an egg?
7 I have no appetite for food like that,
and everything I eat makes me sick.[l]
8 Why won't God give me what I ask?
Why won't he answer my prayer?
9 If only he would go ahead and kill me!
10 If I knew he would, I would leap for joy,
no matter how great my pain.
I know that God is holy;
I have never opposed what he commands.
11 What strength do I have to keep on living?
Why go on living when I have no hope?
12 Am I made of stone? Is my body bronze?
13 I have no strength left to save myself;
there is nowhere I can turn for help.
14 In trouble[m] like this I need loyal friends—
whether I've forsaken God or not.
15 But you, my friends, you deceive me like streams
that go dry when no rain comes.
16 The streams are choked with snow and ice,
17 but in the heat they disappear,
and the stream beds lie bare and dry.
18 Caravans get lost looking for water;
they wander and die in the desert.
19 Caravans from Sheba and Tema search,
20 but their hope dies beside dry streams.
21 You are like[n] those streams to me,[o]
you see my fate and draw back in fear.
22 Have I asked you to give me a gift
or to bribe someone on my behalf
23 or to save me from some enemy or tyrant?
24 All right, teach me; tell me my faults.
I will be quiet and listen to you.
25 Honest words are convincing,
but you are talking nonsense.
26 You think I am talking nothing but wind;
then why do you answer my words of despair?
27 You would even roll dice for orphan slaves
and make yourselves rich off your closest friends!
28 Look me in the face. I won't lie.
29 You have gone far enough. Stop being unjust.
Don't condemn me. I'm in the right.
30 But you think I am lying—
you think I can't tell right from wrong.
7 Human life is like forced army service,
like a life of hard manual labor,
2 like a slave longing for cool shade;
like a worker waiting to be paid.
3 Month after month I have nothing to live for;
night after night brings me grief.
4 When I lie down to sleep, the hours drag;
I toss all night and long for dawn.
5 My body is full of worms;
it is covered with scabs;
pus runs out of my sores.
6 My days pass by without hope,
pass faster than a weaver's shuttle.[p]
7 Remember, O God, my life is only a breath;
my happiness has already ended.
8 You see me now, but never again.
If you look for me, I'll be gone.
9-10 (M)Like a cloud that fades and is gone,
we humans die and never return;
we are forgotten by all who knew us.
11 No! I can't be quiet!
I am angry and bitter.
I have to speak.
12 Why do you keep me under guard?
Do you think I am a sea monster?[q]
13 I lie down and try to rest;
I look for relief from my pain.
14 But you—you terrify me with dreams;
you send me visions and nightmares
15 until I would rather be strangled
than live in this miserable body.
16 I give up; I am tired of living.
Leave me alone. My life makes no sense.
17 (N)Why are people so important to you?
Why pay attention to what they do?
18 You inspect them every morning
and test them every minute.
19 Won't you look away long enough
for me to swallow my spit?
20 Are you harmed by my sin, you jailer?
Why use me for your target practice?
Am I so great a burden to you?
21 Can't you ever forgive my sin?
Can't you pardon the wrong I do?
Soon I will be in my grave,
and I'll be gone when you look for me.
8 1-2 Are you finally through with your windy speech?
3 God never twists justice;
he never fails to do what is right.
4 Your children must have sinned against God,
and so he punished them as they deserved.
5 But turn now and plead with Almighty God;
6 if you are so honest and pure,
then God will come and help you
and restore your household as your reward.
7 All the wealth you lost will be nothing
compared with what God will give you then.
8 (O)Look for a moment at ancient wisdom;
consider the truths our ancestors learned.
9 Our life is short, we know nothing at all;
we pass like shadows across the earth.
10 But let the ancient wise people teach you;
listen to what they had to say:
11 “Reeds can't grow where there is no water;
they are never found outside a swamp.
12 If the water dries up, they are the first to wither,
while still too small to be cut and used.
13 Godless people are like those reeds;
their hope is gone, once God is forgotten.
14 They trust a thread—a spider's web.
15 If they lean on a web, will it hold them up?
If they grab for a thread, will it help them stand?”
16 Evil people sprout like weeds in the sun,
like weeds that spread all through the garden.
17 Their roots wrap around the stones
and hold fast to[r] every rock.
18 But then pull them up—
no one will ever know they were there.
19 Yes, that's all the joy evil people have;
others now come and take their places.
20 But God will never abandon the faithful
or ever give help to evil people.
21 He will let you laugh and shout again,
22 but he will bring disgrace on those who hate you,
and the homes of the wicked will vanish.
9 (P)1-2 Yes, I've heard all that before.
But how can a human being win a case against God?
3 How can anyone argue with him?
He can ask a thousand questions
that no one could ever answer.[s]
4 God is so wise and powerful;
no one can stand up against him.
5 Without warning he moves mountains
and in anger he destroys them.
6 God sends earthquakes and shakes the ground;
he rocks the pillars that support the earth.
7 (Q)He can keep the sun from rising,
and the stars from shining at night.
8 No one helped God spread out the heavens
or trample the sea monster's back.[t]
9 (R)God hung the stars in the sky—the Dipper,
Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars of the south.
10 We cannot understand the great things he does,
and to his miracles there is no end.
11 God passes by, but I cannot see him.
12 He takes what he wants, and no one can stop him;
no one dares ask him, “What are you doing?”
13 God's anger is constant. He crushed his enemies
who helped Rahab,[u] the sea monster, oppose him.
14 So how can I find words to answer God?
15 Though I am innocent, all I can do
is beg for mercy from God my judge.
16 Yet even then, if he lets me speak,
I can't believe he would listen to me.
17 He sends storms to batter and bruise me
without any reason at all.
18 He won't let me catch my breath;
he has filled my life with bitterness.
19 Should I try force? Try force on God?
Should I take him to court? Could anyone make him go?[v]
20 I am innocent and faithful, but my words sound guilty,
and everything I say seems to condemn me.
21-22 I am innocent, but I no longer care.
I am sick of living. Nothing matters;
innocent or guilty, God will destroy us.
23 When an innocent person suddenly dies,
God laughs.
24 God gave the world to the wicked.
He made all the judges blind.
And if God didn't do it, who did?
25 My days race by, not one of them good.
26 My life passes like the swiftest boat,
as fast as an eagle swooping down on a rabbit.
27-28 If I smile and try to forget my pain,
all my suffering comes back to haunt me;
I know that God does hold me guilty.
29 Since I am held guilty, why should I bother?
30 No soap can wash away my sins.
31 God throws me into a pit with filth,
and even my clothes are ashamed of me.
32 If God were human, I could answer him;
we could go to court to decide our quarrel.
33 But there is no one to step between us—
no one to judge both God and me.
34 Stop punishing me, God!
Keep your terrors away!
35 I am not afraid. I am going to talk
because I know my own heart.
10 I am tired of living.
Listen to my bitter complaint.
2 Don't condemn me, God.
Tell me! What is the charge against me?
3 Is it right for you to be so cruel?
To despise what you yourself have made?
And then to smile on the schemes of wicked people?
4 Do you see things as we do?
5 Is your life as short as ours?
6 Then why do you track down all my sins
and hunt down every fault I have?
7 (S)You know that I am not guilty,
that no one can save me from you.
8 Your hands formed and shaped me,
and now[w] those same hands destroy me.
9 Remember that you made me from clay;[x]
are you going to crush me back to dust?
10 (T)You gave my father strength to beget me;
you made me grow in my mother's womb.
11 You formed my body with bones and sinews
and covered the bones with muscles and skin.
12 You have given me life and constant love,
and your care has kept me alive.
13 But now I know that all that time
you were secretly planning to harm me.
14 You were watching to see if I would sin,
so that you could refuse to forgive me.
15 As soon as I sin, I'm in trouble with you,
but when I do right, I get no credit.
I am miserable and covered with shame.[y]
16 If I have any success at all,
you hunt me down like a lion;
to hurt me you even work miracles.
17 You always have some witness against me;
your anger toward me grows and grows;
you always plan some new attack.
18 Why, God, did you let me be born?
I should have died before anyone saw me.
19 To go from the womb straight to the grave
would have been as good as never existing.
20 Isn't my life almost over? Leave me alone!
Let me enjoy the time I have left.
21 I am going soon and will never come back—
going to a land that is dark and gloomy,
22 a land of darkness, shadows, and confusion,
where the light itself is darkness.
11 1-2 Will no one answer all this nonsense?
Does talking so much put you in the right?
3 Job, do you think we can't answer you?
That your mocking words will leave us speechless?
4 You claim that what you say is true;
you claim you are pure in the sight of God.
5 How I wish God would answer you!
6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom;
there are things too deep for human knowledge.
God is punishing you less than you deserve.
7 Can you discover the limits and bounds
of the greatness and power of God?
8 The sky is no limit for God,
but it lies beyond your reach.
God knows the world of the dead,
but you do not know it.
9 God's greatness is broader than the earth,
wider than the sea.
10 If God arrests you and brings you to trial,
who is there to stop him?
11 God knows which people are worthless;
he sees all their evil deeds.
12 Stupid people will start being wise
when wild donkeys are born tame.
13 Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God.
14 Put away evil and wrong from your home.
15 Then face the world again, firm and courageous.
16 Then all your troubles will fade from your memory,
like floods that are past and remembered no more.
17 Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon,
and life's darkest hours will shine like the dawn.
18 You will live secure and full of hope;
God will protect you and give you rest.
19 You won't be afraid of your enemies;
many people will ask you for help.
20 But the wicked will look around in despair
and find that there is no way to escape.
Their one hope is that death will come.
12 1-2 Yes, you are the voice of the people.
When you die, wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have as much sense as you have;
I am in no way inferior to you;
everyone knows all that you have said.
4 Even my friends laugh at me now;
they laugh, although I am righteous and blameless;
but there was a time when God answered my prayers.
5 You have no troubles, and yet you make fun of me;
you hit someone who is about to fall.
6 But thieves and godless people live in peace,
though their only god is their own strength.
7 Even birds and animals have much they could teach you;
8 ask the creatures of earth and sea for their wisdom.
9 All of them know that the Lord's hand made them.
10 It is God who directs the lives of his creatures;
everyone's life is in his power.
11 But just as your tongue enjoys tasting food,
your ears enjoy hearing words.
12-13 Old people have wisdom,
but God has wisdom and power.
Old people have insight;
God has insight and power to act.
14 When God tears down, who can rebuild,
and who can free those God imprisons?
15 Drought comes when God withholds rain;
floods come when he turns water loose.
16 God is strong and always victorious;
both deceived and deceiver are in his power.
17 He takes away the wisdom of rulers
and makes leaders act like fools.
18 He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners;
19 he humbles priests and men of power.
20 He silences those who are trusted,
and takes the wisdom of old people away.
21 He disgraces those in power
and puts an end to the strength of rulers.
22 He sends light to places dark as death.
23 He makes nations strong and great,
but then he defeats and destroys them.
24 He makes their leaders foolish
and lets them wander confused and lost;
25 they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards.
13 1-2 Everything you say, I have heard before.
I understand it all; I know as much as you do.
I'm not your inferior.
3 But my dispute is with God, not you;
I want to argue my case with him.
4 You cover up your ignorance with lies;
you are like doctors who can't heal anyone.
5 Say nothing, and someone may think you are wise!
6 Listen while I state my case.
7 Why are you lying?
Do you think your lies will benefit God?
8 Are you trying to defend him?
Are you going to argue his case in court?
9 If God looks at you closely, will he find anything good?
Do you think you can fool God the way you fool others?
10 Even though your prejudice is hidden,
he will reprimand you,
11 and his power will fill you with terror.
12 Your proverbs are as useless as ashes;
your arguments are as weak as clay.
13 Be quiet and give me a chance to speak,
and let the results be what they will.
14 I am[z] ready to risk my life.
15 I've lost all hope, so what if God kills me?
I am going to state my case to him.
16 It may even be that my boldness will save me,
since no wicked person would dare to face God.
17 Now listen to my words of explanation.
18 I am ready to state my case,
because I know I am in the right.
19 Are you coming to accuse me, God?
If you do, I am ready to be silent and die.
20 Let me ask for two things; agree to them,
and I will not try to hide from you:
21 stop punishing me, and don't crush me with terror.
22 Speak first, O God, and I will answer.
Or let me speak, and you answer me.
23 What are my sins? What wrongs have I done?
What crimes am I charged with?
24 Why do you avoid me?
Why do you treat me like an enemy?
25 Are you trying to frighten me? I'm nothing but a leaf;
you are attacking a piece of dry straw.
26 You bring bitter charges against me,
even for what I did when I was young.
27 (U)You bind chains on my feet;
you watch every step I take,
and even examine my footprints.
28 As a result, I crumble like rotten wood,
like a moth-eaten coat.
14 (V)We are all born weak and helpless.
All lead the same short, troubled life.
2 We grow and wither as quickly as flowers;
we disappear like shadows.
3 Will you even look at me, God,
or put me on trial and judge me?
4 Nothing clean can ever come
from anything as unclean as human beings.
5 The length of our lives is decided beforehand—
the number of months we will live.
You have settled it, and it can't be changed.
6 Look away from us and leave us alone;[aa]
let us enjoy our hard life—if we can.[ab]
7 There is hope for a tree that has been cut down;
it can come back to life and sprout.
8 Even though its roots grow old,
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 with water it will sprout like a young plant.
10 But we die, and that is the end of us;
we die, and where are we then?
11 Like rivers that stop running,
and lakes that go dry,
12 people die, never to rise.
They will never wake up while the sky endures;
they will never stir from their sleep.
13 I wish you would hide me in the world of the dead;
let me be hidden until your anger is over,
and then set a time to remember me.
14 If a man dies, can he come back to life?
But I will wait for better times,
wait till this time of trouble is ended.
15 Then you will call, and I will answer,
and you will be pleased with me, your creature.
16 Then you will watch every step I take,
but you will not keep track of my sins.
17 You will forgive them and put them away;
you will wipe out all the wrongs I have done.
18 There comes a time when mountains fall
and solid cliffs are moved away.
19 Water will wear down rocks,
and heavy rain will wash away the soil;
so you destroy our hope for life.
20 You overpower us and send us away forever;
our faces are twisted in death.
21 Our children win honor, but we never know it,
nor are we told when they are disgraced.
22 We feel only the pain of our own bodies
and the grief of our own minds.
The Second Dialogue(W)
15 1-2 Empty words, Job! Empty words!
3 No one who is wise would talk the way you do
or defend himself with such meaningless words.
4 If you had your way, no one would fear God;
no one would pray to him.
5 Your wickedness is evident by what you say;
you are trying to hide behind clever words.
6 There is no need for me to condemn you;
you are condemned by every word you speak.
7 Do you think you were the first person born?
Were you there when God made the mountains?
8 Did you overhear the plans God made?
Does human wisdom belong to you alone?
9 There is nothing you know that we don't know.
10 We learned our wisdom from gray-haired people—
those born before your father.
11 God offers you comfort; why still reject it?
We have spoken for him with calm, even words.
12 But you are excited and glare at us in anger.
13 You are angry with God and denounce him.
14 (X)Can any human being be really pure?
Can anyone be right with God?
15 Why, God does not trust even his angels;
even they are not pure in his sight.
16 And we drink evil as if it were water;
yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.
17 Now listen, Job, to what I know.
18 Those who are wise have taught me truths
which they learned from their ancestors,
and they kept no secrets hidden.
19 Their land was free from foreigners;
there was no one to lead them away from God.
20 The wicked who oppress others
will be in torment as long as they live.
21 Voices of terror will scream in their ears,
and robbers attack when they think they are safe.
22 They have no hope of escaping from darkness,
for somewhere a sword is waiting to kill them,
23 and vultures[ac] are waiting[ad] to eat their corpses.
They know their future is dark;
24 disaster, like a powerful king,
is waiting to attack them.
25 That is the fate of those
who shake their fists at God
and defy the Almighty.
26-27 They are proud and rebellious;
they stubbornly hold up their shields
and rush to fight against God.
28 They are the ones who captured cities
and seized houses whose owners had fled,
but war will destroy those cities and houses.
29 They will not remain rich for long;
nothing they own will last.
Even their shadows[ae] will vanish,
30 and they will not escape from darkness.
They will be like trees
whose branches are burned by fire,
whose blossoms[af] are blown away by the wind.
31 If they are foolish enough to trust in evil,
then evil will be their reward.
32 Before their time is up they will wither,[ag]
wither like a branch and never be green again.
33 They will be like vines that lose their unripe grapes;
like olive trees that drop their blossoms.
34 There will be no descendants for godless people,
and fire will destroy the homes built by bribery.
35 These are the ones who plan trouble and do evil;
their hearts are always full of deceit.
16 1-2 I have heard words like that before;
the comfort you give is only torment.
3 Are you going to keep on talking forever?
Do you always have to have the last word?
4 If you were in my place and I in yours,
I could say everything you are saying.
I could shake my head wisely
and drown you with a flood of words.
5 I could strengthen you with advice
and keep talking to comfort you.
6 But nothing I say helps,
and being silent does not calm my pain.
7 You have worn me out, God;
you have let my family be killed.
8 You have seized me; you are my enemy.
I am skin and bones,
and people take that as proof of my guilt.[ah]
9 In anger God tears me limb from limb;
he glares at me with hate.
10 People sneer at me;
they crowd around me and slap my face.
11 God has handed me over to evil people.
12 I was living in peace,
but God took me by the throat
and battered me and crushed me.
God uses me for target practice
13 and shoots arrows at me from every side—
arrows that pierce and wound me;
and even then he shows no pity.
14 He wounds me again and again;
he attacks like a soldier gone mad with hate.
15 I mourn and wear clothes made of sackcloth,
and I sit here in the dust defeated.
16 I have cried until my face is red,
and my eyes are swollen and circled with shadows,
17 but I am not guilty of any violence,
and my prayer to God is sincere.
18 O Earth, don't hide the wrongs done to me!
Don't let my call for justice be silenced!
19 (Y)There is someone in heaven
to stand up for me and take my side.
20 My friends scorn me;
my eyes pour out tears to God.
21 I want someone to plead with God for me,
as one pleads for a friend.
22 My years are passing now,
and I walk the road of no return.
17 The end of my life is near. I can hardly breathe;
there is nothing left for me but the grave.
2 I watch how bitterly everyone mocks me.
3 I am being honest, God. Accept my word.
There is no one else to support what I say.
4 You have closed their minds to reason;
don't let them triumph over me now.
5 In the old proverb someone betrays his friends for money,
and his children suffer for it.[ai]
6 And now people use this proverb against me;
they come and spit in my face.
7 My grief has almost made me blind;
my arms and legs are as thin as shadows.
8 Those who claim to be honest are shocked,
and they all condemn me as godless.
9 Those who claim to be respectable
are more and more convinced they are right.
10 But if all of them came and stood before me,
I would not find even one of them wise.
11 My days have passed; my plans have failed;
my hope is gone.
12 But my friends say night is daylight;
they say that light is near,
but I know I remain in darkness.
13 My only hope is the world of the dead,
where I will lie down to sleep in the dark.
14 I will call the grave my father,
and the worms that eat me
I will call my mother and my sisters.
15 Where is there any hope for me?
Who sees any?
16 Hope will not go with me[aj]
when I go down to the world of the dead.
18 1-2 Job, can't people like you ever be quiet?
If you stopped to listen, we could talk to you.
3 What makes you think we are as stupid as cattle?
4 You are only hurting yourself with your anger.
Will the earth be deserted because you are angry?
Will God move mountains to satisfy you?
5 (Z)The light of the wicked will still be put out;
its flame will never burn again.
6 The lamp in their tents will be darkened.
7 Their steps were firm, but now they stumble;
they fall—victims of their own advice.
8 They walk into a net, and their feet are caught;
9 a trap catches their heels and holds them.
10 On the ground a snare is hidden;
a trap has been set in their path.
11 All around them terror is waiting;
it follows them at every step.
12 They used to be rich, but now they go hungry;
disaster stands and waits at their side.
13 A deadly disease spreads over their bodies
and causes their arms and legs to rot.
14 They are torn from the tents where they lived secure,
and are dragged off to face King Death.
15 Now anyone may live in their tents—[ak]
after sulfur is sprinkled to disinfect them![al]
16 Their roots and branches are withered and dry.
17 Their fame is ended at home and abroad;
no one remembers them any more.
18 They will be driven out of the land of the living,
driven from light into darkness.
19 They have no descendants, no survivors.
20 From east to west, all who hear of their fate
shudder and tremble with fear.
21 That is the fate of evil people,
the fate of those who care nothing for God.
19 1-2 Why do you keep tormenting me with words?
3 Time after time you insult me
and show no shame for the way you abuse me.
4 Even if I have done wrong,
how does that hurt you?
5 You think you are better than I am,
and regard my troubles as proof of my guilt.
6 Can't you see it is God who has done this?
He has set a trap to catch me.
7 I protest his violence,
but no one is listening;
no one hears my cry for justice.
8 God has blocked the way, and I can't get through;
he has hidden my path in darkness.
9 He has taken away all my wealth
and destroyed my reputation.
10 He batters me from every side.
He uproots my hope
and leaves me to wither and die.
11 God is angry and rages against me;
he treats me like his worst enemy.
12 He sends his army to attack me;
they dig trenches and lay siege to my tent.
13 God has made my own family forsake me;
I am a stranger to those who knew me;
14 my relatives and friends are gone.
15 Those who were guests in my house have forgotten me;
my servant women treat me like a stranger and a foreigner.
16 When I call a servant, he doesn't answer—
even when I beg him to help me.
17 My wife can't stand the smell of my breath,
and my own brothers won't come near me.
18 Children despise me and laugh when they see me.
19 (AA)My closest friends look at me with disgust;
those I loved most have turned against me.
20 My skin hangs loose on my bones;
I have barely escaped with my life.[am]
21 You are my friends! Take pity on me!
The hand of God has struck me down.
22 Why must you persecute me the way God does?
Haven't you tormented me enough?
23 How I wish that someone would remember my words
and record them in a book!
24 Or with a chisel carve my words in stone
and write them so that they would last forever.[an]
25 But I know there is someone in heaven
who will come at last to my defense.
26 Even after my skin is eaten by disease,
while still in this body[ao] I will see God.[ap]
27 I will see him with my own eyes,
and he will not be a stranger.
My courage failed because you said,
28 “How can we torment him?”
You looked for some excuse to attack me.
29 But now, be afraid of the sword—
the sword that brings God's wrath on sin,
so that you will know there is one who judges.[aq]
20 1-2 Job, you upset me. Now I'm impatient to answer.
3 What you have said is an insult,
but I know how to reply to you.
4 Surely you know that from ancient times,
when we humans were first placed on earth,
5 no wicked people have been happy for long.
6 They may grow great, towering to the sky,
so great that their heads reach the clouds,
7 but they will be blown away like dust.
Those who used to know them
will wonder where they have gone.
8 (AB)They will vanish like a dream, like a vision at night,
and never be seen again.
9 The wicked will disappear from the place where they used to live;
10 and their children will make good what they stole from the poor.
11 Their bodies used to be young and vigorous,
but soon they will turn to dust.
12-13 Evil tastes so good to them
that they keep some in their mouths to enjoy its flavor.
14 But in their stomachs the food turns bitter,
as bitter as any poison could be.
15 The wicked vomit up the wealth they stole;
God takes it back, even out of their stomachs.
16 What the evil people swallow is like poison;
it kills them like the bite of a deadly snake.
17 They will not live to see rivers of olive oil[ar]
or streams that flow with milk and honey.
18 They will have to give up all they have worked for;
they will have no chance to enjoy their wealth,
19 because they oppressed and neglected the poor
and seized houses someone else had built.
20 Their greed is never satisfied.
21 When they eat, there is nothing left over,
but now their prosperity comes to an end.
22 At the height of their success
all the weight of misery will crush them.
23 Let them eat all they want!
God will punish them in fury and anger.
24 (AC)When they try to escape from an iron sword,
a bronze bow will shoot them down.
25 Arrows stick through their bodies;
the shiny points drip with their blood,
and terror grips their hearts.
26 Everything they have saved is destroyed;
a fire not lit by human hands
burns them and all their family.
27 Heaven reveals their sin,
and the earth gives testimony against them.
28 All their wealth will be destroyed
in the flood of God's anger.
29 This is the fate of wicked people,
the fate that God assigns to them.
21 1-2 Listen to what I am saying;
that is all the comfort I ask from you.
3 Give me a chance to speak and then,
when I am through, sneer if you like.
4 My quarrel is not with mortals;
I have good reason to be impatient.
5 Look at me. Isn't that enough
to make you stare in shocked silence?
6 When I think of what has happened to me,
I am stunned, and I tremble and shake.
7 Why does God let evil people live,
let them grow old and prosper?
8 They have children and grandchildren,
and live to watch them all grow up.
9 God does not bring disaster on their homes;
they never have to live in terror.
10 Yes, all their cattle breed
and give birth without trouble.
11 Their children run and play like lambs
12 and dance to the music of harps and flutes.
13 They live out their lives in peace
and quietly die without suffering.
14 The wicked tell God to leave them alone;
they don't want to know his will for their lives.
15 They think there is no need to serve God
nor any advantage in praying to him.
16 They claim they succeed by their own strength,
but their way of thinking I can't accept.
17 Was a wicked person's light ever put out?
Did one of them ever meet with disaster?
Did God ever punish the wicked in anger
18 and blow them away like straw in the wind,
or like dust carried away in a storm?
19 You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father.
No! Let God punish the sinners themselves;
let him show that he does it because of their sins.
20 Let sinners bear their own punishment;
let them feel the wrath of Almighty God.
21 When our lives are over,
do we really care whether our children are happy?
22 Can anyone teach God,
who judges even those in high places?
23-24 Some people stay healthy till the day they die;
they die happy and at ease,
their bodies well-nourished.
25 Others have no happiness at all;
they live and die with bitter hearts.
26 But all alike die and are buried;
they all are covered with worms.
27 I know what spiteful thoughts you have.
28 You ask, “Where are the homes of great people now,
those who practiced evil?”
29 Haven't you talked with people who travel?
Don't you know the reports they bring back?
30 On the day God is angry and punishes,
it is the wicked who are always spared.
31 There is no one to accuse the wicked
or pay them back for all they have done.
32 When they are carried to the graveyard,
to their well-guarded tombs,
33 thousands join the funeral procession,
and even the earth lies gently on their bodies.
34 And you! You try to comfort me with nonsense!
Every answer you give is a lie!
The Third Dialogue(AD)
22 (AE)1-2 Is there anyone, even the wisest,
who could ever be of use to God?
3 Does your doing right benefit God,
or does your being good help him at all?
4 It is not because you stand in awe of God
that he reprimands you and brings you to trial.
5 No, it's because you have sinned so much;
it's because of all the evil you do.
6 To make a brother repay you the money he owed,
you took away his clothes and left him nothing to wear.
7 You refused water to those who were tired,
and refused to feed those who were hungry.
8 You used your power and your position
to take over the whole land.
9 You not only refused to help widows,
but you also robbed and mistreated orphans.
10 So now there are pitfalls all around you,
and suddenly you are full of fear.
11 It has grown so dark that you cannot see,
and a flood overwhelms you.
12 Doesn't God live in the highest heavens
and look down on the stars, even though they are high?
13 And yet you ask, “What does God know?
He is hidden by clouds—how can he judge us?”
14 You think the thick clouds keep him from seeing,
as he walks on the dome of the sky.
15 Are you determined to walk in the paths
that evil people have always followed?
16 Even before their time had come,
they were washed away by a flood.
17 These are the ones who rejected God
and believed that he could do nothing to them.
18 And yet it was God who made them prosperous—
I can't understand the thoughts of the wicked.
19 Good people are glad and the innocent laugh
when they see the wicked punished.
20 All that the wicked own is destroyed,
and fire burns up anything that is left.
21 Now, Job, make peace with God
and stop treating him like an enemy;
if you do, then he will bless you.
22 Accept the teaching he gives;
keep his words in your heart.
23 Yes, you must humbly[as] return to God
and put an end to all the evil
that is done in your house.
24 Throw away your gold;
dump your finest gold in the dry stream bed.
25 Let Almighty God be your gold,
and let him be silver, piled high for you.
26 Then you will always trust in God
and find that he is the source of your joy.
27 When you pray, he will answer you,
and you will keep the vows you made.
28 You will succeed in all you do,
and light will shine on your path.
29 God brings down the proud[at]
and saves the humble.
30 He will rescue you if you are innocent,[au]
if what you do is right.[av]
23 1-2 I still rebel and complain against God;
I cannot keep from groaning.
3 How I wish I knew where to find him,
and knew how to go where he is.
4 I would state my case before him
and present all the arguments in my favor.
5 I want to know what he would say
and how he would answer me.
6 Would God use all his strength against me?
No, he would listen as I spoke.
7 I am honest; I could reason with God;
he would declare me innocent[aw] once and for all.
8 I have searched in the East, but God is not there;
I have not found him when I searched in the West.
9 God has been at work in the North and the South,
but still I have not seen him.
10 Yet God knows every step I take;
if he tests me, he will find me pure.
11 I follow faithfully the road he chooses,
and never wander to either side.
12 I always do what God commands;
I follow his will, not my own desires.
13 He never changes. No one can oppose him
or stop him from doing what he wants to do.
14 He will fulfill what he has planned for me;
that plan is just one of the many he has;
15 I tremble with fear before him.
16-17 Almighty God has destroyed my courage.
It is God, not the dark, that makes me afraid—
even though the darkness has made me blind.
24 Why doesn't God set a time for judging,
a day of justice for those who serve him?
2 People move property lines to get more land;
they steal sheep and put them with their own flocks.
3 They take donkeys that belong to orphans,
and keep a widow's ox till she pays her debts.
4 They prevent the poor from getting their rights
and force the needy to run and hide.
5 So the poor, like wild donkeys,
search for food in the dry wilderness;
nowhere else can they find food for their children.
6 They have to harvest fields they don't own,[ax]
and gather grapes in vineyards of the wicked.
7 At night they sleep with nothing to cover them,
nothing to keep them from the cold.
8 They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains,
and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
9 Evil people make slaves of fatherless infants
and take the children of the poor in payment for debts.
10 But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them;
they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.
11 They press olives for oil, and grapes for wine,
but they themselves are thirsty.
12 In the cities the wounded and dying cry out,
but God ignores their prayers.
13 There are those who reject the light;
they don't understand it or go where it leads.
14 At dawn the murderer gets up
and goes out to kill the poor,
and at night he steals.
15 The adulterer waits for twilight to come;
he covers his face so that no one can see him.
16 At night thieves break into houses,
but by day they hide and avoid the light.
17 They fear the light of day,
but darkness holds no terror for them.
[Zophar][ay]
18 The wicked are swept away by floods,
and the land they own is under God's curse;
they no longer go to work in their vineyards.
19 As snow vanishes in heat and drought,
so sinners vanish from the land of the living.
20 Not even their mothers remember them now;
they are eaten by worms and destroyed like fallen trees.
21 That happens because they mistreated widows
and showed no kindness to childless women.
22 God, in his strength, destroys the mighty;
God acts—and the wicked die.
23 God may let them live secure,
but keeps an eye on them all the time.
24 For a while the wicked prosper,
but then they wither like weeds,
like stalks of grain that have been cut down.
25 Can anyone deny that this is so?
Can anyone prove that my words are not true?
25 1-2 God is powerful; all must stand in awe of him;
he keeps his heavenly kingdom in peace.
3 Can anyone count the angels who serve him?
Is there any place where God's light does not shine?
4 Can anyone be righteous or pure in God's sight?
5 In his eyes even the moon is not bright,
or the stars pure.
6 Then what about a human being, that worm, that insect?
What is a human life worth in God's eyes?
26 1-2 What a big help you are to me—
poor, weak man that I am!
3 You give such good advice
and share your knowledge with a fool like me!
4 Who do you think will hear all your words?
Who inspired you to speak like this?
[Bildad][az]
5 The spirits of the dead tremble
in the waters under the earth.
6 The world of the dead lies open to God;
no covering shields it from his sight.
7 God stretched out the northern sky
and hung the earth in empty space.
8 It is God who fills the clouds with water
and keeps them from bursting with the weight.
9 He hides the full moon behind a cloud.
10 He divided light from darkness
by a circle drawn on the face of the sea.
11 When he threatens the pillars that hold up the sky,
they shake and tremble with fear.
12 It is his strength that conquered the sea;[ba]
by his skill he destroyed the monster Rahab.[bb]
13 It is his breath that made the sky clear,
and his hand that killed the escaping monster.[bc]
14 But these are only hints of his power,
only the whispers that we have heard.
Who can know how truly great God is?
27 1-2 I swear by the living Almighty God,
who refuses me justice and makes my life bitter—
3 as long as God gives me breath,
4 my lips will never say anything evil,
my tongue will never tell a lie.
5 I will never say that you men are right;
I will insist on my innocence to my dying day.
6 I will never give up my claim to be right;
my conscience is clear.
7 May all who oppose me and fight against me
be punished like the wicked and the unrighteous.
8 What hope is there for the godless
in the hour when God demands their life?
9 When trouble comes, will God hear their cries?
10 They should have desired the joy he gives;
they should have constantly prayed to him.
11 Let me teach you how great is God's power,
and explain what Almighty God has planned.
12 But no, after all, you have seen for yourselves;
so why do you talk such nonsense?
[Zophar][bd]
13 This is how Almighty God
punishes wicked, violent people.
14 They may have many sons,
but all will be killed in war;
their children never have enough to eat.
15 Those who survive will die from disease,
and even their widows will not mourn their death.
16 The wicked may have too much silver to count
and more clothes than anyone needs;
17 but some good person will wear the clothes,
and someone honest will get the silver.
18 The wicked build houses like a spider's web[be]
or like the hut of a slave guarding the fields.
19 One last time[bf] they will lie down rich,
and when they wake up, they will find their wealth gone.
20 Terror will strike like a sudden flood;
a wind in the night will blow them away;
21 the east wind will sweep them from their homes;
22 it will blow down on them without pity
while they try their best to escape.
23 The wind howls at them as they run,
frightening them with destructive power.
In Praise of Wisdom[bg]
28 There are mines where silver is dug;
There are places where gold is refined.
2 We dig iron out of the ground
And melt copper out of the stones.
3 Miners explore the deepest darkness.
They search the depths of the earth
And dig for rocks in the darkness.
4 Far from where anyone lives
Or human feet ever travel,
They dig the shafts of mines.
There they work in loneliness,
Clinging to ropes in the pits.
5 Food grows out of the earth,
But underneath the same earth
All is torn up and crushed.
6 The stones of the earth contain sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7 No hawk sees the roads to the mines,
And no vulture ever flies over them.
8 No lion or other fierce beast
Ever travels those lonely roads.
9 Miners dig the hardest rocks,
Dig mountains away at their base.
10 As they tunnel through the rocks,
They discover precious stones.
11 They dig to the sources of[bh] rivers
And bring to light what is hidden.
12 (AF)But where can wisdom be found?
Where can we learn to understand?
13 (AG)Wisdom is not to be found among mortals;
No one knows its true value.
14 The depths of the oceans and seas
Say that wisdom is not found there.
15 It cannot be bought with silver or gold.
16 The finest gold and jewels
Cannot equal its value.
17 It is worth more than gold,
Than a gold vase or finest glass.
18 The value of wisdom is more
Than coral or crystal or rubies.
19 The finest topaz and the purest gold
Cannot compare with the value of wisdom.
20 Where, then, is the source of wisdom?
Where can we learn to understand?
21 No living creature can see it,
Not even a bird in flight.
22 Even death and destruction
Admit they have heard only rumors.
23 (AH)God alone knows the way,
Knows the place where wisdom is found,
24 Because he sees the ends of the earth,
Sees everything under the sky.
25 When God gave the wind its power
And determined the size of the sea;
26 When God decided where the rain would fall,
And the path that the thunderclouds travel;
27 (AI)It was then he saw wisdom and tested its worth—
He gave it his approval.
28 (AJ)God said to us humans,
“To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord.
To understand, you must turn from evil.”
Job's Final Statement of His Case
29 Job began speaking again.
Job
2 If only my life could once again
be as it was when God watched over me.
3 God was always with me then
and gave me light as I walked through the darkness.
4 Those were the days when I was prosperous,
and the friendship of God protected my home.
5 Almighty God was with me then,
and I was surrounded by all my children.
6 My cows and goats gave plenty of milk,
and my olive trees grew in the rockiest soil.
7 Whenever the city elders met
and I took my place among them,
8 young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me,
and old men stood up to show me respect.
9 The leaders of the people would stop talking;
10 even the most important men kept silent.
11 Everyone who saw me or heard of me
had good things to say about what I had done.
12 When the poor cried out, I helped them;
I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn.
13 People who were in deepest misery praised me,
and I helped widows find security.
14 I have always acted justly and fairly.
15 I was eyes for the blind,
and feet for the lame.
16 I was like a father to the poor
and took the side of strangers in trouble.
17 I destroyed the power of cruel men
and rescued their victims.
18 I always expected to live a long life
and to die at home in comfort.
19 I was like a tree whose roots always have water
and whose branches are wet with dew.
20 Everyone was always praising me,
and my strength never failed me.
21 When I gave advice, people were silent
and listened carefully to what I said;
22 they had nothing to add when I had finished.
My words sank in like drops of rain;
23 everyone welcomed them
just as farmers welcome rain in spring.
24 I smiled on them when they had lost confidence;
my cheerful face encouraged them.
25 I took charge and made the decisions;
I led them as a king leads his troops,
and gave them comfort in their despair.
30 But men younger than I am make fun of me now!
Their fathers have always been so worthless
that I wouldn't let them help my dogs guard sheep.
2 They were a bunch of worn-out men,
too weak to do any work for me.
3 They were so poor and hungry
that they would gnaw dry roots—
at night, in wild, desolate places.
4 They pulled up the plants of the desert and ate them,
even the tasteless roots of the broom tree!
5 Everyone drove them away with shouts,
as if they were shouting at thieves.
6 They had to live in caves,
in holes dug in the sides of cliffs.
7 Out in the wilds they howled like animals
and huddled together under the bushes.
8 A worthless bunch of nameless nobodies!
They were driven out of the land.
9 Now they come and laugh at me;
I am nothing but a joke to them.
10 They treat me with disgust;
they think they are too good for me,
and even come and spit in my face.
11 Because God has made me weak and helpless,
they turn against me with all their fury.
12 This mob attacks me head-on;
they send me running; they prepare their final assault.
13 They cut off my escape and try to destroy me;
and there is no one to stop[bi] them.
14 They pour through the holes in my defenses
and come crashing down on top of me;
15 I am overcome with terror;
my dignity is gone like a puff of wind,
and my prosperity like a cloud.
16 Now I am about to die;
there is no relief for my suffering.
17 At night my bones all ache;
the pain that gnaws me never stops.
18 God seizes me by my collar
and twists my clothes out of shape.
19 He throws me down in the mud;
I am no better than dirt.
20 I call to you, O God, but you never answer;
and when I pray, you pay no attention.
21 You are treating me cruelly;
you persecute me with all your power.
22 You let the wind blow me away;
you toss me about in a raging storm.
23 I know you are taking me off to my death,
to the fate in store for everyone.
24 Why do you attack a ruined man,
one who can do nothing but beg for pity?[bj]
25 Didn't I weep with people in trouble
and feel sorry for those in need?
26 I hoped for happiness and light,
but trouble and darkness came instead.
27 I am torn apart by worry and pain;
I have had day after day of suffering.
28 I go about in gloom, without any sunshine;
I stand up in public and plead for help.
29 My voice is as sad and lonely
as the cries of a jackal or an ostrich.
30 My skin has turned dark; I am burning with fever.
31 Where once I heard joyful music,
now I hear only mourning and weeping.
31 I have made a solemn promise
never to look with lust at a woman.
2 What does Almighty God do to us?
How does he repay human deeds?
3 He sends disaster and ruin
to those who do wrong.
4 God knows everything I do;
he sees every step I take.
5 I swear I have never acted wickedly
and never tried to deceive others.
6 Let God weigh me on honest scales,
and he will see how innocent I am.
7 If I have turned from the right path
or let myself be attracted to evil,
if my hands are stained with sin,
8 then let my crops be destroyed,
or let others eat the food I grow.
9 If I have been attracted to my neighbor's wife,
and waited, hidden, outside her door,
10 then let my wife cook another man's food
and sleep in another man's bed.
11 Such wickedness should be punished by death.
12 It would be like a destructive, hellish fire,
consuming everything I have.
13 When any of my servants complained against me,
I would listen and treat them fairly.
14 If I did not, how could I then face God?
What could I say when God came to judge me?
15 The same God who created me
created my servants also.
16 (AK)I have never refused to help the poor;
never have I let widows live in despair
17 or let orphans go hungry while I ate.
18 All my life I have taken care of them.[bk]
19 When I found someone in need,
too poor to buy clothes,
20 I would give him clothing made of wool
that had come from my own flock of sheep.
Then he would praise me with all his heart.
21 If I have ever cheated an orphan,
knowing I could win in court,
22 then may my arms be broken;
may they be torn from my shoulders.
23 Because I fear God's punishment,
I could never do such a thing.
24 (AL)I have never trusted in riches
25 or taken pride in my wealth.
26 I have never worshiped the sun in its brightness
or the moon in all its beauty.
27 I have not been led astray to honor them
by kissing my hand in reverence to them.
28 Such a sin should be punished by death;
it denies Almighty God.
29 I have never been glad when my enemies suffered,
or pleased when they met with disaster;
30 I never sinned by praying for their death.
31 All those who work for me know
that I have always welcomed strangers.
32 I invited travelers into my home
and never let them sleep in the streets.
33 Others try to hide their sins,
but I have never concealed mine.
34 I have never feared what people would say;
I have never kept quiet or stayed indoors
because I feared their scorn.
35 Will no one listen to what I am saying?
I swear that every word is true.
Let Almighty God answer me.
If the charges my opponent brings against me
were written down so that I could see them,
36 I would wear them proudly on my shoulder
and place them on my head like a crown.
37 I would tell God everything I have done,
and hold my head high in his presence.
38 If I have stolen the land I farm
and taken it from its rightful owners—
39 if I have eaten the food that grew there
but let the farmers that grew it starve—
40 then instead of wheat and barley,
may weeds and thistles grow.
The words of Job are ended.
The Speeches of Elihu(AM)
32 Because Job was convinced of his own innocence, the three men gave up trying to answer him. 2 But a bystander named Elihu could not control his anger any longer, because Job was justifying himself and blaming God. (Elihu was the son of Barakel, a descendant of Buz, and belonged to the clan of Ram.) 3 He was also angry with Job's three friends. They could not find any way to answer Job, and this made it appear that God was in the wrong. 4 Because Elihu was the youngest one there, he had waited until everyone finished speaking. 5 When he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he was angry 6 and began to speak.
Elihu
I am young, and you are old,
so I was afraid to tell you what I think.
7 I told myself that you ought to speak,
that you older men should share your wisdom.
8 But it is the spirit of Almighty God
that comes to us and gives us wisdom.
9 It is not growing old that makes us wise
or helps us to know what is right.
10 So now I want you to listen to me;
let me tell you what I think.
11 I listened patiently while you were speaking
and waited while you searched for wise phrases.
12 I paid close attention and heard you fail;
you have not disproved what Job has said.
13 How can you claim you have discovered wisdom?
God must answer Job, for you have failed.
14 Job was speaking to you, not to me,
but I would never answer the way you did.
15 Words have failed them, Job;
they have no answer for you.
16 Shall I go on waiting when they are silent?
They stand there with nothing more to say.
17 No, I will give my own answer now
and tell you what I think.
18 I can hardly wait to speak.
I can't hold back the words.
19 If I don't get a chance to speak,
I will burst like a wineskin full of new wine.
20 I can't stand it; I have to speak.
21 I will not take sides in this debate;
I am not going to flatter anyone.
22 I don't know how to flatter,
and God would quickly punish me if I did.
33 And now, Job, listen carefully
to all that I have to say.
2 I am ready to say what's on my mind.
3 All my words are sincere,
and I am speaking the truth.
4 God's spirit made me and gave me life.
5 Answer me if you can. Prepare your arguments.
6 You and I are the same in God's sight,
both of us were formed from clay.
7 So you have no reason to fear me;
I will not overpower you.
8 Now this is what I heard you say:
9 “I am not guilty; I have done nothing wrong.
I am innocent and free from sin.
10 But God finds excuses for attacking me
and treats me like an enemy.
11 (AN)He binds chains on my feet;
he watches every move I make.”
12 But I tell you, Job, you are wrong.
God is greater than any human being.
13 Why do you accuse God
of never answering our complaints?
14 Although God speaks again and again,
no one pays attention to what he says.
15 (AO)At night when people are asleep,
God speaks in dreams and visions.
16 He makes them listen to what he says,
and they are frightened at his warnings.
17 God speaks to make them stop their sinning
and to save them from becoming proud.
18 He will not let them be destroyed;
he saves them from death itself.
19 God corrects us by sending sickness
and filling our bodies with pain.
20 Those who are sick lose their appetites,
and even the finest food looks revolting.
21 Their bodies waste away to nothing;
you can see all their bones;
22 they are about to go to the world of the dead.
23 Perhaps an angel may come to their aid—
one of God's thousands of angels,
who remind us of our duty.
24 In mercy the angel will say, “Release them!
They are not to go down to the world of the dead.
Here is the ransom to set them free.”
25 Their bodies will grow young and strong again;
26 when they pray, God will answer;
they will worship God with joy;
God will set things right for them again.
27 Each one will say in public, “I have sinned.
I have not done right, but God spared me.
28 He kept me from going to the world of the dead,
and I am still alive.”
29 God does all this again and again;
30 each one saves a person's life,
and gives him the joy of living.
31 Now, Job, listen to what I am saying;
be quiet and let me speak.
32 But if you have something to say, let me hear it;
I would gladly admit you are in the right.
33 But if not, be quiet and listen to me,
and I will teach you how to be wise.
34 1-2 You men are so wise, so clever;
listen now to what I am saying.
3 You know good food when you taste it,
but not wise words when you hear them.
4 It is up to us to decide the case.
5 Job claims that he is innocent,
that God refuses to give him justice.
6 He asks, “How could I lie and say I am wrong?
I am fatally wounded, but I am sinless.”
7 Have you ever seen anyone like this man Job?
He never shows respect for God.
8 He likes the company of evil people
and goes around with sinners.
9 He says that it never does any good
to try to follow God's will.
10 Listen to me, you men who understand!
Will Almighty God do what is wrong?
11 (AP)He rewards people for what they do
and treats them as they deserve.
12 Almighty God does not do evil;
he is never unjust to anyone.
13 Did God get his power from someone else?
Did someone put him in charge of the world?
14 If God took back the breath of life,
15 then everyone living would die
and turn into dust again.
16 Now listen to me, if you are wise.
17 Are you condemning the righteous God?
Do you think that he hates justice?
18 God condemns kings and rulers
when they are worthless or wicked.
19 He does not take the side of rulers
nor favor the rich over the poor,
for he created everyone.
20 We may suddenly die at night.
God strikes us down and we perish;
he kills the mighty with no effort at all.
21 He watches every step we take.
22 There is no darkness dark enough
to hide a sinner from God.
23 God does not need to set a time[bl]
for us to go and be judged by him.
24 He does not need an investigation
to remove leaders and replace them with others.
25 Because he knows what they do;
he overthrows them and crushes them by night.
26 He punishes sinners where all can see it,
27 because they have stopped following him
and ignored all his commands.
28 They forced the poor to cry out to God,
and he heard their calls for help.
29 If God decided to do nothing at all,
no one could criticize him.
If he hid his face, we would be helpless.
30 There would be nothing that nations could do
to keep godless oppressors from ruling them.
31 Job, have you confessed your sins to God
and promised not to sin again?
32 Have you asked God to show you your faults,
and have you agreed to stop doing evil?
33 Since you object to what God does,
can you expect him to do what you want?
The decision is yours, not mine;
tell us now what you think.
34 Any sensible person will surely agree;
and the wise who hear me will say
35 that Job is speaking from ignorance
and that nothing he says makes sense.
36 Think through everything that Job says;
you will see that he talks like an evil man.
37 To his sins he adds rebellion;
in front of us all he mocks God.
35 1-2 It is not right, Job, for you to say
that you are innocent in God's sight,
3 or to ask God, “How does my sin affect you?
What have I gained by not sinning?”
4 I am going to answer you and your friends too.
5 Look at the sky! See how high the clouds are!
6 (AQ)If you sin, that does no harm to God.
If you do wrong many times, does that affect him?
7 Do you help God by being so righteous?
There is nothing God needs from you.
8 Others suffer from your sins,
and the good you do helps them.
9 When people are oppressed, they groan;
they cry for someone to save them.
10 But they don't turn to God, their Creator,
who gives them hope in their darkest hours.
11 They don't turn to God, who makes us wise,
wiser than any animal or bird.
12 They cry for help, but God doesn't answer,
for they are proud and evil.
13 It is useless for them to cry out;
Almighty God does not see or hear them.
14 Job, you say you can't see God;
but wait patiently—your case is before him.
15 You think that God does not punish,
that he pays little attention to sin.
16 It is useless for you to go on talking;
it is clear you don't know what you are saying.
36 1-2 Be patient and listen a little longer
to what I am saying on God's behalf.
3 My knowledge is wide; I will use what I know
to show that God, my Creator, is just.
4 Nothing I say to you is false;
you see before you a truly wise man.
5 How strong God is! He despises no one;
there is nothing he doesn't understand.
6 He does not let sinners live on,
and he always treats the poor with justice.
7 He protects those who are righteous;
he allows them to rule like kings
and lets them be honored forever.
8 But if people are bound in chains,
suffering for what they have done,
9 God shows them their sins and their pride.
10 He makes them listen to his warning
to turn away from evil.
11 If they obey God and serve him,
they live out their lives in peace and prosperity.
12 But if not, they will die in ignorance
and cross the stream into the world of the dead.
13 Those who are godless keep on being angry,
and even when punished, they don't pray for help.
14 They die while they are still young,
worn out by a life of disgrace.
15 But God teaches people through suffering
and uses distress to open their eyes.
16 God brought you out of trouble,
and let you enjoy security;
your table was piled high with food.
17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.
18 Be careful not to let bribes deceive you,
or riches lead you astray.
19 It will do you no good to cry out for help;
all your strength can't help you now.
20 Don't wish for night to come,
the time when nations will perish.
21 Be careful not to turn to evil;
your suffering was sent to keep you from it.
22 Remember how great is God's power;
he is the greatest teacher of all.
23 No one can tell God what to do
or accuse him of doing evil.
24 He has always been praised for what he does;
you also must praise him.
25 Everyone has seen what he has done;
but we can only watch from a distance.[bm]
26 We cannot fully know his greatness
or count the number of his years.
27 It is God who takes water from the earth
and turns it into drops of rain.
28 He lets the rain pour from the clouds
in showers for all human beings.
29 No one knows how the clouds move
or how the thunder roars
through the sky, where God dwells.
30 He sends lightning through all the sky,
but the depths of the sea remain dark.
31 This is how he feeds[bn] the people
and provides an abundance of food.
32 He seizes the lightning with his hands
and commands it to hit the mark.
33 Thunder announces the approaching storm,
and the cattle know it is coming.
37 The storm makes my heart beat wildly.
2 Listen, all of you, to the voice of God,
to the thunder that comes from his mouth.
3 He sends the lightning across the sky,
from one end of the earth to the other.
4 Then the roar of his voice is heard,
the majestic sound of thunder,
and all the while the lightning flashes.
5 At God's command amazing things happen,
wonderful things that we can't understand.
6 He commands snow to fall on the earth,
and sends torrents of drenching rain.
7 He brings our work to a stop;
he shows us what he can do.[bo]
8 The wild animals go to their dens.
9 The storm winds come from the south,
and the biting cold from the north.
10 The breath of God freezes the waters,
and turns them to solid ice.
11 Lightning flashes from the clouds,[bp]
12 as they move at God's will.
They do all that God commands,
everywhere throughout the world.
13 God sends rain to water the earth;
he may send it to punish us,
or to show us his favor.
14 Pause a moment, Job, and listen;
consider the wonderful things God does.
15 Do you know how God gives the command
and makes lightning flash from the clouds?
16 Do you know how clouds float in the sky,
the work of God's amazing skill?
17 No, you can only suffer in the heat
when the south wind oppresses the land.
18 Can you help God stretch out the sky
and make it as hard as polished metal?
19 Teach us what to say to God;
our minds are blank; we have nothing to say.
20 I won't ask to speak with God;
why should I give him a chance to destroy me?
21 And now the light in the sky is dazzling,
too bright for us to look at it;
and the sky has been swept clean by the wind.
22 A golden glow is seen in the north,
and the glory of God fills us with awe.
23 God's power is so great that we cannot come near him;
he is righteous and just in his dealings with us.
24 No wonder, then, that everyone is awed by him,
and that he ignores those who claim to be wise.
The Lord Answers Job
38 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job.
The Lord
2 Who are you to question my wisdom
with your ignorant, empty words?
3 Now stand up straight
and answer the questions I ask you.
4 Were you there when I made the world?
If you know so much, tell me about it.
5 Who decided how large it would be?
Who stretched the measuring line over it?
Do you know all the answers?
6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth?
Who laid the cornerstone of the world?
7 (AR)In the dawn of that day the stars sang together,
and the heavenly beings[bq] shouted for joy.
8 (AS)Who closed the gates to hold back the sea[br]
when it burst from the womb of the earth?
9 It was I who covered the sea with clouds
and wrapped it in darkness.
10 I marked a boundary for the sea
and kept it behind bolted gates.
11 I told it, “So far and no farther!
Here your powerful waves must stop.”
12 Job, have you ever in all your life
commanded a day to dawn?
13 Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth
and shake the wicked from their hiding places?
14 Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out
like the folds of a garment,
clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.
15 The light of day is too bright for the wicked
and restrains them from doing violence.
16 Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea?
Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?
17 Has anyone ever shown you the gates
that guard the dark world of the dead?
18 Have you any idea how big the world is?
Answer me if you know.
19 Do you know where the light comes from
or what the source of darkness is?
20 Can you show them how far to go,
or send them back again?
21 I am sure you can, because you're so old
and were there when the world was made!
22 Have you ever visited the storerooms,
where I keep the snow and the hail?
23 I keep them ready for times of trouble,
for days of battle and war.
24 Have you been to the place where the sun comes up,
or the place from which the east wind blows?
25 Who dug a channel for the pouring rain
and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?
26 Who makes rain fall where no one lives?
27 Who waters the dry and thirsty land,
so that grass springs up?
28 Does either the rain or the dew have a father?
29 Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,
30 which turn the waters to stone
and freeze the face of the sea?
31 (AT)Can you tie the Pleiades together
or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?
32 Can you guide the stars season by season
and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?
33 Do you know the laws that govern the skies,
and can you make them apply to the earth?
34 Can you shout orders to the clouds
and make them drench you with rain?
35 And if you command the lightning to flash,
will it come to you and say, “At your service”?
36 Who tells the ibis[bs] when the Nile will flood,
or who tells the rooster that rain will fall?[bt]
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds
and tilt them over to pour out the rain,
38 rain that hardens the dust into lumps?
39 Do you find food for lions to eat,
and satisfy hungry young lions
40 when they hide in their caves,
or lie in wait in their dens?
41 Who is it that feeds the ravens
when they wander about hungry,
when their young cry to me for food?
39 Do you know when mountain goats are born?
Have you watched wild deer give birth?
2 Do you know how long they carry their young?
Do you know the time for their birth?
3 Do you know when they will crouch down
and bring their young into the world?
4 In the wilds their young grow strong;
they go away and don't come back.
5 Who gave the wild donkeys their freedom?
Who turned them loose and let them roam?
6 I gave them the desert to be their home,
and let them live on the salt plains.
7 They keep far away from the noisy cities,
and no one can tame them and make them work.
8 The mountains are the pastures where they feed,
where they search for anything green to eat.
9 Will a wild ox work for you?
Is he willing to spend the night in your stable?
10 Can you hold one with a rope and make him plow?
Or make him pull a harrow in your fields?
11 Can you rely on his great strength
and expect him to do your heavy work?
12 Do you expect him to bring in your harvest
and gather the grain from your threshing place?
13 How fast the wings of an ostrich beat!
But no ostrich can fly like a stork.[bu]
14 The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground
for the heat in the soil to warm them.
15 She is unaware that a foot may crush them
or a wild animal break them.
16 She acts as if the eggs were not hers,
and is unconcerned that her efforts were wasted.
17 It was I who made her foolish
and did not give her wisdom.
18 But when she begins to run,[bv]
she can laugh at any horse and rider.
19 Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong
and gave them their flowing manes?
20 Did you make them leap like locusts
and frighten people with their snorting?
21 They eagerly paw the ground in the valley;
they rush into battle with all their strength.
22 They do not know the meaning of fear,
and no sword can turn them back.
23 The weapons which their riders carry
rattle and flash in the sun.
24 Trembling with excitement, the horses race ahead;
when the trumpet blows, they can't stand still.
25 At each blast of the trumpet they snort;
they can smell a battle before they get near,
and they hear the officers shouting commands.
26 Does a hawk learn from you how to fly
when it spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Does an eagle wait for your command
to build its nest high in the mountains?
28 It makes its home on the highest rocks
and makes the sharp peaks its fortress.
29 From there it watches near and far
for something to kill and eat.
30 (AU)Around dead bodies the eagles gather,
and the young eagles drink the blood.
40 1-2 Job, you challenged Almighty God;
will you give up now, or will you answer?
Job
3-4 I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer?
I will not try to say anything else.
5 I have already said more than I should.
6 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job once again.
The Lord
7 Now stand up straight
and answer my questions.
8 Are you trying to prove that I am unjust—
to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right?
9 Are you as strong as I am?
Can your voice thunder as loud as mine?
10 If so, stand up in your honor and pride;
clothe yourself with majesty and glory.
11 Look at those who are proud;
pour out your anger and humble them.
12 Yes, look at them and bring them down;
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the ground;
bind them in the world of the dead.
14 Then I will be the first to praise you
and admit that you won the victory yourself.
15 Look at the monster Behemoth;[bw]
I created him and I created you.
He eats grass like a cow,
16 but what strength there is in his body,
and what power there is in his muscles!
17 His tail stands up like a cedar,
and the muscles in his legs are strong.
18 His bones are as strong as bronze,
and his legs are like iron bars.
19 The most amazing of all my creatures!
Only his Creator can defeat him.
20 Grass to feed him grows
on the hills where wild beasts play.[bx]
21 He lies down under the thorn bushes,
and hides among the reeds in the swamp.
22 The thorn bushes and the willows by the stream
give him shelter in their shade.
23 He is not afraid of a rushing river;
he is calm when the Jordan dashes in his face.
24 Who can blind his eyes and capture him?
Or who can catch his snout in a trap?
41 (AV)Can you catch Leviathan[by] with a fishhook
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a rope through his snout
or put a hook through his jaws?
3 Will he beg you to let him go?
Will he plead with you for mercy?
4 Will he make an agreement with you
and promise to serve you forever?
5 Will you tie him like a pet bird,
like something to amuse your servant women?
6 Will fishermen bargain over him?
Will merchants cut him up to sell?
7 Can you fill his hide with fishing spears
or pierce his head with a harpoon?
8 Touch him once and you'll never try it again;
you'll never forget the fight!
9 Anyone who sees Leviathan
loses courage and falls to the ground.
10 When he is aroused, he is fierce;
no one would dare to stand before him.
11 Who can attack him and still be safe?
No one in all the world can do it.[bz]
12 Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs
and describe how great and strong he is.
13 No one can tear off his outer coat
or pierce the armor[ca] he wears.
14 Who can make him open his jaws,
ringed with those terrifying teeth?
Footnotes
- Job 1:1 UZ: An area whose exact location is unknown.
- Job 1:6 Supernatural beings who serve God in heaven.
- Job 1:6 A supernatural being whose name indicates he was regarded as the opponent of human beings.
- Job 1:15 A tribe of wandering raiders from the south.
- Job 1:17 A tribe of wandering raiders from the north.
- Job 3:8 Some take this to be the crocodile, others a legendary monster. Magicians were thought to be able to make him cause eclipses of the sun.
- Job 4:17 righteous in the sight of; or more righteous than.
- Job 4:17 be pure before; or be more pure than.
- Job 5:5 Probable text even … thorns; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 5:7 sparks fly up from a fire; or birds fly up to the sky.
- Job 5:15 Probable text poor; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 6:7 Probable text sick; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 6:14 Probable text trouble; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 6:21 Probable text like; Hebrew because.
- Job 6:21 Some ancient translations and one; Hebrew manuscript to me; most Hebrew manuscripts have two different expressions: nothing in the text and to him in the margin.
- Job 7:6 A small device in the loom which carries threads back and forth rapidly in weaving cloth.
- Job 7:12 A reference to ancient stories in which sea monsters had to be guarded so that they would not escape and do damage.
- Job 8:17 Probable text hold fast to; Hebrew see.
- Job 9:3 He can ask … answer; or Someone could ask him a thousand questions, and he would not answer.
- Job 9:8 A reference to ancient stories in which a sea monster was killed and then trampled (see also 26.13).
- Job 9:13 A legendary sea monster which represented the forces of chaos and evil.
- Job 9:19 Probable text make him go; Hebrew make me go.
- Job 10:8 Some ancient translations and now; Hebrew together.
- Job 10:9 One ancient translation from clay; Hebrew like clay.
- Job 10:15 Probable text covered with shame; Hebrew see my shame.
- Job 13:14 One ancient translation I am; Hebrew Why am I.
- Job 14:6 One Hebrew manuscript and leave us alone; most Hebrew manuscripts so that we may rest.
- Job 14:6 let us … can; or until we finish our day of hard work.
- Job 15:23 One ancient translation vultures; Hebrew where is he?
- Job 15:23 One ancient translation are waiting; Hebrew he wanders.
- Job 15:29 One ancient translation shadows; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 15:30 One ancient translation blossoms; Hebrew mouth.
- Job 15:32 Some ancient translations wither; Hebrew be filled.
- Job 16:8 Verses 7-8 in Hebrew are unclear.
- Job 17:5 someone … suffer for it; or someone entertains his friends while his children go hungry.
- Job 17:16 One ancient translation with me; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 18:15 Now anyone may live in their tents; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 18:15 Sulfur was used in the ancient world as a disinfectant and to clean rooms that had contained corpses.
- Job 19:20 Verse 20 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 19:24 last forever; or be on record.
- Job 19:26 while still in this body; or although not in this body.
- Job 19:26 Verse 26 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 19:29 one who judges; or a judgment.
- Job 20:17 Probable text They will … oil; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 22:23 One ancient translation humbly; Hebrew be built up.
- Job 22:29 Probable text proud; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 22:30 Some ancient translations innocent; Hebrew not innocent.
- Job 22:30 Verse 30 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 23:7 he would declare me innocent; or then my rights would be safe.
- Job 24:6 Having been cheated out of their own land, the poor are forced to work for others for very small pay.
- Job 24:18 Zophar is not named in the text, but this speech is usually assigned to him.
- Job 26:5 Bildad is not named in the text, but this speech is usually assigned to him.
- Job 26:12 A reference to an ancient story in which the sea fought against God.
- Job 26:12 See 9.13.
- Job 26:13 See 9.8.
- Job 27:13 Zophar is not named in the text, but this speech is usually assigned to him.
- Job 27:18 Some ancient translations spider's web; Hebrew moth or bird's nest.
- Job 27:19 Some ancient translations One last time; Hebrew They will not be gathered.
- Job 28:1 The Hebrew text does not indicate who is speaking in this chapter.
- Job 28:11 Some ancient translations dig to the sources of; Hebrew bind from trickling.
- Job 30:13 Probable text stop; Hebrew help.
- Job 30:24 Verse 24 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 31:18 All my life … them; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 34:23 Probable text a time; Hebrew yet.
- Job 36:25 but we can only watch from a distance; or no one understands it all.
- Job 36:31 Probable text feeds; Hebrew judges.
- Job 37:7 One ancient translation us what he can do; Hebrew this to those whom he has made.
- Job 37:11 Verse 11 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 38:7 See 1.6.
- Job 38:8 See 26.12.
- Job 38:36 A bird in ancient Egypt that was believed to announce the flooding of the Nile River.
- Job 38:36 Verse 36 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 39:13 Verse 13 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 39:18 Probable text run; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 40:15 Some identify this with the hippopotamus, others with a legendary creature.
- Job 40:20 Verse 20 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 41:1 See 3.8.
- Job 41:11 Verse 11 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Job 41:13 One ancient translation armor; Hebrew bridle.
Job 1-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job and His Family
1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.(A) 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.(B) 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.(C) 4 His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.(D)
Attack on Job’s Character
6 One day the heavenly beings[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser[b] also came among them.(E) 7 The Lord said to the accuser,[c] “Where have you come from?” The accuser[d] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.”(F) 8 The Lord said to the accuser,[e] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.”(G) 9 Then the accuser[f] answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?(H) 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.(I) 11 But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”(J) 12 The Lord said to the accuser,[g] “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So the accuser[h] went out from the presence of the Lord.
Job Loses Property and Children
13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(K) 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(L) 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(M) 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,(N) 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(O)
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped.(P) 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”(Q)
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.(R)
Attack on Job’s Health
2 One day the heavenly beings[i] came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser[j] also came among them to present himself before the Lord.(S) 2 The Lord said to the accuser,[k] “Where have you come from?” The accuser[l] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.”(T) 3 The Lord said to the accuser,[m] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.”(U) 4 Then the accuser[n] answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that the man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”(V) 6 The Lord said to the accuser,[o] “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”(W)
7 So the accuser[p] went out from the presence of the Lord and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.(X) 8 Job[q] took a potsherd with which to scrape himself and sat among the ashes.(Y)
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse[r] God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive good from God and not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.(Z)
Job’s Three Friends
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him.(AA) 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads.(AB) 13 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.(AC)
Job Curses the Day He Was Born
3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 Job said:
3 “Let the day perish in which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A male is conceived.’(AD)
4 Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it
or light shine on it.
5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds settle upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.(AE)
6 That night—let thick darkness seize it!
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.(AF)
7 Yes, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry be heard[s] in it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the Sea,[t]
those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.(AG)
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but have none;
may it not see the eyelids of the morning—(AH)
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb
and hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not die at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?(AI)
12 Why were there knees to receive me
or breasts for me to suck?(AJ)
13 Now I would be lying down and quiet;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest
14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who rebuild ruins for themselves,(AK)
15 or with princes who have gold,
who fill their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,
like an infant that never sees the light?(AL)
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest.(AM)
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are free from their masters.
20 “Why is light given to one in misery
and life to the bitter in soul,(AN)
21 who long for death, but it does not come,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;(AO)
22 who rejoice exceedingly
and are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,
whom God has fenced in?(AP)
24 For my sighing comes like[u] my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.(AQ)
25 Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes.”
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Has Sinned
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
But who can keep from speaking?(AR)
3 See, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened the weak hands.(AS)
4 Your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.(AT)
5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.(AU)
6 Is not your fear of God your confidence
and the integrity of your ways your hope?(AV)
7 “Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?(AW)
8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.(AX)
9 By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.(AY)
10 The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.(AZ)
11 The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.(BA)
12 “Now a word came stealing to me;
my ear received the whisper of it.(BB)
13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 dread came upon me and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.(BC)
15 A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
16 It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence; then I heard a voice:
17 ‘Can mortals be righteous before[v] God?
Can humans be pure before[w] their Maker?(BD)
18 Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;(BE)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth.(BF)
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.(BG)
21 Their tent cord is plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.’(BH)
Job Is Corrected by God
5 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?(BI)
2 Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.(BJ)
3 I have seen fools taking root,
but suddenly I cursed their dwelling.(BK)
4 Their children are far from safety,
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.(BL)
5 The hungry eat their harvest,
and they take it even out of the thorns,[x]
and the thirsty[y] pant after their wealth.(BM)
6 For misery does not come from the earth,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
7 but humans are born to trouble
just as sparks[z] fly upward.(BN)
8 “As for me, I would seek God,
and to God I would commit my cause.(BO)
9 He does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number.(BP)
10 He gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;(BQ)
11 he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.(BR)
12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.(BS)
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime
and grope at noonday as in the night.(BT)
15 But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth,
from the hand of the mighty.(BU)
16 So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.(BV)
17 “How happy is the one whom God reproves;
therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[aa](BW)
18 For he wounds, but he binds up;
he strikes, but his hands heal.(BX)
19 He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no harm shall touch you.(BY)
20 In famine he will redeem you from death
and in war from the power of the sword.(BZ)
21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.(CA)
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh
and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.(CB)
23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.(CC)
24 You shall know that your tent is safe;
you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.(CD)
25 You shall know that your descendants will be many
and your offspring like the grass of the earth.(CE)
26 You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.(CF)
27 See, we have searched this out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for yourself.”
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
6 Then Job answered:
2 “O that my vexation were weighed
and all my calamity laid in the balances!(CG)
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.(CH)
4 For the arrows of the Almighty[ab] are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.(CI)
5 Does the wild ass bray over its grass
or the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?[ac]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are like food that is loathsome to me.[ad]
8 “O that I might have my request
and that God would grant my desire,(CJ)
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!(CK)
10 This would be my consolation;
I would even exult[ae] in unrelenting pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.(CL)
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?(CM)
12 Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
13 In truth I have no help in me,
and any resource is driven from me.(CN)
14 “Those who withhold[af] kindness from a friend
forsake the fear of the Almighty.[ag]
15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent bed,
like swollen streams that pass away,(CO)
16 that run dark with ice,
turbid with melting snow.
17 In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.(CP)
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look;
the travelers of Sheba hope.(CQ)
20 They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come there and are confounded.(CR)
21 Such you have now become to me;[ah]
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’?
Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone wrong.
25 How forceful are honest words!
But your reproof, what does it reprove?(CS)
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
as if the speech of the desperate were wind?(CT)
27 You would even cast lots over the orphan
and bargain over your friend.(CU)
28 “But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.(CV)
29 Turn, I pray; let no wrong be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any wrong on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?(CW)
Job: My Suffering Is without End
7 “Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,
and are not their days like the days of a laborer?(CX)
2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like laborers who look for their wages,(CY)
3 so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.(CZ)
4 When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I rise?’
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing until dawn.(DA)
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out again.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.[ai](DB)
7 “Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.(DC)
8 The eye that beholds me will see me no more;
while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.(DD)
9 As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;(DE)
10 they return no more to their houses,
nor do their places know them any more.(DF)
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.(DG)
12 Am I the Sea or the Dragon
that you set a guard over me?(DH)
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,(DI)
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.(DJ)
17 What are humans, that you make so much of them,
that you set your mind on them,(DK)
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?(DL)
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.”(DM)
Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
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[aj] pervert the right?(DN)
4 If your children sinned against him,
he delivered them into the power of their transgression.(DO)
5 If you will seek God
and make supplication to the Almighty,[ak](DP)
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore to you your rightful place.(DQ)
7 Though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.(DR)
8 “For inquire now of bygone generations
and consider what their ancestors have found,(DS)
9 for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing,
for our days on earth are but a shadow.(DT)
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.(DU)
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless shall perish.(DV)
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.(DW)
16 The wicked thrive[al] before the sun,
and their shoots spread over the garden.(DX)
17 Their roots twine around the stoneheap;
they live among the rocks.[am]
18 If they are destroyed from their place,
then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’(DY)
19 See, these are their happy ways,[an]
and out of the earth still others will spring.
20 “See, God will not reject the blameless,
nor take the hand of evildoers.(DZ)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.(EA)
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”(EB)
Job Replies: There Is No Mediator
9 Then Job answered:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is so,
but how can a mortal be just before God?(EC)
3 If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand.(ED)
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?(EE)
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;(EF)
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;[ao](EG)
9 he made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;(EH)
10 he does great things beyond understanding
and marvelous things without number.(EI)
11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.(EJ)
12 He snatches away; who can stop him?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’(EK)
13 “God will not turn back his anger;
the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.(EL)
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.(EM)
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;(EN)
18 he will not let me get my breath
but fills me with bitterness.(EO)
19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?[ap]
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.(EP)
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(EQ)
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity[aq] of the innocent.(ER)
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?(ES)
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.(ET)
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?(EU)
30 If I wash myself with soap
and cleanse my hands with lye,(EV)
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.(EW)
33 There is no mediator[ar] between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.(EX)
34 If he would take his rod away from me
and not let dread of him terrify me,(EY)
35 then I would speak without fear of him,
for I know I am not what I am thought to be.[as]
Job: I Loathe My Life
10 “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.(EZ)
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.(FA)
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the schemes of the wicked?(FB)
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as humans see?(FC)
5 Are your days like the days of mortals
or your years like human years,(FD)
6 that you seek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
7 although you know that I am not guilty,
and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?(FE)
8 Your hands fashioned and made me,
and now you turn and destroy me.[at](FF)
9 Remember that you fashioned me like clay,
and will you turn me to dust again?(FG)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?(FH)
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.(FI)
13 Yet these things you hid in your heart;
I know that this was your purpose.
14 If I sin, you watch me
and do not acquit me of my iniquity.(FJ)
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and look upon my affliction.(FK)
16 Bold as a lion you hunt me;
you repeat your exploits against me.(FL)
17 You renew your witnesses against me
and increase your vexation toward me;
you bring fresh troops against me.[au](FM)
18 “ ‘Why did you bring me forth from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me(FN)
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?[av]
Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort[aw](FO)
21 before I go, never to return,
to the land of gloom and deep darkness,
22 the land of gloom[ax] and chaos,
where light is like darkness.’ ”
Zophar Speaks: Job’s Guilt Deserves Punishment
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
and should one full of talk be vindicated?(FP)
3 Should your babble put others to silence,
and when you mock, shall no one shame you?(FQ)
4 For you say, ‘My conduct[ay] is pure,
and I am clean in God’s[az] sight.’(FR)
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.[ba]
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.(FS)
7 “Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?[bb](FT)
8 It is higher than heaven[bc]—what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?(FU)
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?(FV)
11 For he knows those who are worthless;
when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?(FW)
12 But the stupid will get understanding
when a wild ass is born human.[bd]
13 “If you direct your heart rightly,
you will stretch out your hands toward him.(FX)
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.(FY)
15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
you will be secure and will not fear.(FZ)
16 You will forget your misery;
you will remember it as waters that have passed away.(GA)
17 And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
its darkness will be like the morning.(GB)
18 And you will have confidence because there is hope;
you will be protected[be] and take your rest in safety.(GC)
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.”(GD)
Job Replies: I Am a Laughingstock
12 Then Job answered:
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.(GE)
5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,[bf]
but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.(GF)
6 The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hands.[bg](GG)
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,[bh] 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?(GH)
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.(GI)
11 Does not the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?(GJ)
12 Is wisdom with the aged
and understanding in length of days?(GK)
13 “With God[bi] are wisdom and strength;
he has counsel and understanding.(GL)
14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.(GM)
15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.(GN)
16 With him are strength and wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.(GO)
17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.(GP)
18 He looses the sash of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their loins.(GQ)
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.(GR)
21 He pours contempt on princes
and looses the belt of the strong.(GS)
22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness
and brings deep darkness to light.(GT)
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.(GU)
24 He strips understanding from the leaders[bj] of the earth
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.(GV)
25 They grope in the dark without light;
he makes them stagger like a drunkard.(GW)
13 “Look, my eye has seen all this;
my ear has heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 But I would speak to the Almighty,[bk]
and I desire to argue my case with God.(GX)
4 As for you, you whitewash with lies;
all of you are worthless physicians.(GY)
5 If you would only keep silent,
that would be your wisdom!(GZ)
6 Hear now my reasoning,
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will you speak falsely for God
and speak deceitfully for him?
8 Will you show partiality toward him;
will you plead the case for God?
9 Will it be well with you when he searches you out?
Or can you deceive him as one person deceives another?(HA)
10 He will surely rebuke you
if in secret you show partiality.
11 Will not his majesty terrify you
and the dread of him fall upon you?
12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.(HB)
13 “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
and let come on me what may.
14 I will take my flesh in my teeth
and put my life in my hand.[bl](HC)
15 See, he will kill me; I have no hope;[bm]
but I will defend my ways to his face.(HD)
16 This will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.(HE)
17 Listen carefully to my words,
and let my declaration be in your ears.(HF)
18 I have indeed prepared my case;
I know that I shall be vindicated.
19 Who is there who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.(HG)
Job’s Despondent Prayer
20 “Only grant two things to me;
then I will not hide myself from your face:
21 withdraw your hand far from me,
and do not let dread of you terrify me.(HH)
22 Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.(HI)
23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.(HJ)
24 Why do you hide your face
and count me as your enemy?(HK)
25 Will you frighten a windblown leaf
and pursue dry chaff?(HL)
26 For you write bitter things against me
and make me reap[bn] the iniquities of my youth.(HM)
27 You put my feet in the stocks
and watch all my paths;
you set a bound to the soles of my feet.
28 One wastes away like a rotten thing,
like a garment that is moth-eaten.(HN)
14 “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,(HO)
2 comes up like a flower and withers,
flees like a shadow and does not last.(HP)
3 Do you fix your eyes on such a one?
Do you bring me into judgment with you?(HQ)
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one can.(HR)
5 Since their days are determined,
and the number of their months is known to you,
and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,(HS)
6 look away from them and desist,[bo]
that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.(HT)
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
if it is cut down, that it will sprout again
and that its shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root grows old in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.(HU)
10 But mortals die and are laid low;
humans expire, and where are they?(HV)
11 As waters fail from a lake
and a river wastes away and dries up,(HW)
12 so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
or be roused out of their sleep.(HX)
13 O that you would hide me in Sheol,
that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!(HY)
14 If mortals die, will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait
until my release should come.(HZ)
15 You would call, and I would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hands.
16 For then you would not[bp] number my steps;
you would not keep watch over my sin;(IA)
17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity.(IB)
18 “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,
and the rock is removed from its place;(IC)
19 the waters wear away the stones;
the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of mortals.
20 You prevail forever against them, and they pass away;
you change their countenance and send them away.(ID)
21 Their children come to honor, and they do not know it;
they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.(IE)
22 They feel only the pain of their own bodies
and mourn only for themselves.”
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Undermines Religion
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Should the wise answer with windy knowledge
and fill themselves with the east wind?(IF)
3 Should they argue in unprofitable talk
or in words that can do no good?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God
and hindering meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.(IG)
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.(IH)
7 “Are you the firstborn of the human race?
Were you brought forth before the hills?(II)
8 Have you listened in the council of God?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?(IJ)
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?(IK)
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
those older than your father.(IL)
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you
or the word that deals gently with you?(IM)
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,[bq]
13 so that you turn your spirit against God,
and let such words go out of your mouth?(IN)
14 What are mortals, that they can be clean?
Or those born of woman, that they can be righteous?(IO)
15 God puts no trust even in his holy ones,
and the heavens are not clean in his sight;(IP)
16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
one who drinks iniquity like water!(IQ)
17 “I will show you; listen to me;
what I have seen I will declare—
18 what sages have told
and their ancestors have not hidden,(IR)
19 to whom alone the land was given,
and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked writhe in pain all their days,
through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.(IS)
21 Terrifying sounds are in their ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.(IT)
22 They despair of returning from darkness,
and they are destined for the sword.(IU)
23 They wander abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;(IV)
24 distress and anguish terrify them;
they prevail against them like a king prepared for battle.
25 Because they stretched out their hands against God
and bid defiance to the Almighty,[br](IW)
26 running stubbornly against him
with a thickly bossed shield;
27 because they have covered their faces with their fat
and gathered fat upon their loins,(IX)
28 they will live in desolate cities,
in houses that no one should inhabit,
houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
29 they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure,
nor will they strike root in the earth;[bs](IY)
30 they will not escape from darkness;
the flame will dry up their shoots,
and their blossom[bt] will be swept away by the wind.(IZ)
31 Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves,
for emptiness will be their recompense.(JA)
32 It will be paid in full before their time,
and their branch will not be green.(JB)
33 They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine,
and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.(JC)
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribery.(JD)
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil,
and their belly prepares deceit.”(JE)
Job Reaffirms His Innocence
16 Then Job answered:
2 “I have heard many such things;
miserable comforters are you all.
3 Have windy words no limit?
Or what provokes you that you keep on talking?(JF)
4 I also could talk as you do,
if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
and shake my head at you.(JG)
5 I could encourage you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
6 “If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,
and if I refrain, how much of it leaves me?
7 Surely now God has worn me out;
he has[bu] made desolate all my company.(JH)
8 And he has[bv] shriveled me up,
which is a witness against me;
my leanness has risen up against me,
and it testifies to my face.(JI)
9 He has torn me in his wrath and hated me;
he has gnashed his teeth at me;
my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.(JJ)
10 They have gaped at me with their mouths;
they have struck me insolently on the cheek;
they mass themselves together against me.(JK)
11 God gives me up to the evil
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.(JL)
12 I was at ease, and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;(JM)
13 his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys and shows no mercy;
he pours out my gall on the ground.(JN)
14 He bursts upon me again and again;
he rushes at me like a warrior.(JO)
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin
and have laid my strength in the dust.(JP)
16 My face is red with weeping,
and deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 though there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.(JQ)
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood;
let my outcry find no resting place.(JR)
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is on high.(JS)
20 My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God,
as[bw] one does for a neighbor.(JT)
22 For when a few years have come,
I shall go the way from which I shall not return.(JU)
Job Prays for Relief
17 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct;
the grave is ready for me.(JV)
2 Surely there are mockers around me,
and my eye dwells on their provocation.(JW)
3 “Lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is there who will give surety for me?(JX)
4 Since you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not let them triumph.(JY)
5 Those who denounce friends for reward—
the eyes of their children will fail.(JZ)
6 “He has made me a byword of the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.(KA)
7 My eye has grown dim from grief,
and all my members are like a shadow.(KB)
8 The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent stir themselves up against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous hold to their way,
and they who have clean hands grow stronger and stronger.(KC)
10 But you, come back now, all of you,
and I shall not find a sensible person among you.
11 My days are past; my plans are broken off,
the desires of my heart.(KD)
12 They make night into day;
‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’[bx]
13 If I look for Sheol as my house,
if I spread my couch in darkness,(KE)
14 if I say to the Pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’(KF)
15 where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?(KG)
16 Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
Shall we descend together into the dust?”(KH)
Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Consider, and then we shall speak.
3 Why are we counted as cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?(KI)
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
shall the earth be forsaken because of you
or the rock be removed out of its place?(KJ)
5 “Surely the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of their fire does not shine.(KK)
6 The light is dark in their tent,
and the lamp above them is put out.
7 Their strong steps are shortened,
and their own schemes throw them down.(KL)
8 For they are thrust into a net by their own feet,
and they walk into a pitfall.(KM)
9 A trap seizes them by the heel;
a snare lays hold of them.(KN)
10 A rope is hid for them in the ground,
a trap for them in the path.(KO)
11 Terrors frighten them on every side
and chase them at their heels.(KP)
12 Their strength is consumed by hunger,[by]
and calamity is ready for their stumbling.(KQ)
13 By disease their skin is consumed;[bz]
the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.
14 They are torn from the tent in which they trusted
and are brought to the king of terrors.(KR)
15 In their tents nothing remains;
sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.(KS)
16 Their roots dry up beneath,
and their branches wither above.(KT)
17 Their memory perishes from the earth,
and they have no name in the street.(KU)
18 They are thrust from light into darkness
and driven out of the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendant among their people
and no survivor where they used to live.(KV)
20 They of the west are appalled at their fate,
and horror seizes those of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly;
such is the place of those who do not know God.”(KW)
Job Replies: I Know That My Vindicator Lives
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
4 And even if it is true that I have erred,
my error remains with me.(KX)
5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
and make my humiliation an argument against me,(KY)
6 know then that God has put me in the wrong
and closed his net around me.(KZ)
7 Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I am not answered;
I call aloud, but there is no justice.(LA)
8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.(LB)
9 He has stripped my glory from me
and taken the crown from my head.(LC)
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.(LD)
11 He has kindled his wrath against me
and counts me as his adversary.(LE)
12 His troops come on together;
they have thrown up siegeworks[ca] against me
and encamp around my tent.(LF)
13 “He has put my family far from me,
and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives and my close friends have failed me;
15 the guests in my house have forgotten me;
my female servants count me as a stranger;
I have become an alien in their eyes.(LG)
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
I must myself plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me;
when I rise, they talk against me.(LH)
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I love have turned against me.(LI)
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.(LJ)
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!(LK)
22 Why do you, like God, pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?(LL)
23 “O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!(LM)
24 O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!(LN)
25 For I know that my vindicator[cb] lives
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth;(LO)
26 and after my skin has been destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,(LP)
27 whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!(LQ)
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’(LR)
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment.”(LS)
Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Just Retribution
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Listen! My thoughts urge me to answer
because of the agitation within me.
3 I hear censure that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.(LT)
4 Do you not know this from of old,
ever since mortals were placed on earth,(LU)
5 that the exulting of the wicked is short
and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?(LV)
6 Even though they mount up high as the heavens
and their head reaches to the clouds,(LW)
7 they will perish forever like their own dung;
those who have seen them will say, ‘Where are they?’
8 They will fly away like a dream and not be found;
they will be chased away like a vision of the night.(LX)
9 The eye that saw them will see them no more,
nor will their place behold them any longer.(LY)
10 Their children will seek the favor of the poor,
and their hands will give back their wealth.(LZ)
11 Their bodies, once full of youth,
will lie down in the dust with them.(MA)
12 “Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
though they hide it under their tongues,(MB)
13 though they are loath to let it go
and hold it in their mouths,
14 yet their food is turned in their stomachs;
it is the venom of asps within them.
15 They swallow down riches and vomit them up again;
God casts them out of their bellies.
16 They will suck the poison of asps;
the tongue of a viper will kill them.(MC)
17 They will not look on the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and curds.(MD)
18 They will give back the fruit of their toil
and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading
they will get no enjoyment.(ME)
19 For they have crushed and abandoned the poor;
they have seized a house that they did not build.(MF)
20 “For they knew no quiet in their bellies;
in their greed they let nothing escape.(MG)
21 There was nothing left after they had eaten;
therefore their prosperity will not endure.(MH)
22 In full sufficiency they will be in distress;
all the force of misery will come upon them.
23 To fill their belly to the full,
God[cc] will send his fierce anger into them
and rain it upon them as their food.(MI)
24 They will flee from an iron weapon;
a bronze arrow will strike them through.(MJ)
25 It is drawn forth and comes out of their body,
and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
terrors come upon them.(MK)
26 Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures;
a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
what is left in their tent will be consumed.(ML)
27 The heavens will reveal their iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against them.(MM)
28 The possessions of their house will be carried away,
dragged off in the day of God’s[cd] wrath.(MN)
29 This is the portion of the wicked from God,
the heritage decreed for them by God.”(MO)
Job Replies: The Wicked Often Go Unpunished
21 Then Job answered:
2 “Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak;
then after I have spoken, mock on.(MP)
4 As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals?
Why should I not be impatient?(MQ)
5 Look at me and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.(MR)
6 When I think of it I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?(MS)
8 Their children are established in their presence
and their offspring before their eyes.(MT)
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.(MU)
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and never miscarries.(MV)
11 They send out their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.(MW)
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.(MX)
14 They say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We do not desire to know your ways.(MY)
Footnotes
- 1.6 Heb sons of God
- 1.6 Heb the satan
- 1.7 Heb the satan
- 1.7 Heb the satan
- 1.8 Heb the satan
- 1.9 Heb the satan
- 1.12 Heb the satan
- 1.12 Heb the satan
- 2.1 Heb sons of God
- 2.1 Heb the satan
- 2.2 Heb the satan
- 2.2 Heb The satan
- 2.3 Heb the satan
- 2.4 Heb the satan
- 2.6 Heb the satan
- 2.7 Heb the satan
- 2.8 Heb He
- 2.9 Heb Bless
- 3.7 Heb come
- 3.8 Cn: Heb day
- 3.24 Heb before
- 4.17 Or more righteous than
- 4.17 Or more pure than
- 5.5 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 5.5 Aquila Symmachus Syr Vg: Heb snare
- 5.7 Or birds; Heb sons of Resheph
- 5.17 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 6.4 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 6.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.14 Syr Vg Compare Tg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.14 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 6.21 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 7.6 Or as the thread runs out
- 8.3 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 8.5 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 8.16 Heb He thrives
- 8.17 Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 8.19 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.8 Or trampled the back of the sea dragon
- 9.19 Compare Gk: Heb me
- 9.23 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.33 Another reading is Would that there were a mediator
- 9.35 Cn: Heb for I am not so in myself
- 10.8 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb made me together all around, and you destroy me
- 10.17 Cn Compare Gk: Heb toward me; changes and a troop are with me
- 10.20 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb Are not my days few? Let him cease!
- 10.20 Heb that I may brighten up a little
- 10.22 Heb gloom as darkness, deep darkness
- 11.4 Gk: Heb teaching
- 11.4 Heb your
- 11.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 11.7 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 11.8 Heb The heights of heaven
- 11.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 11.18 Or you will look around
- 12.5 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 12.6 Or whom God brought forth by his hand; meaning of Heb uncertain
- 12.8 Or speak to the earth
- 12.13 Heb him
- 12.24 Heb adds of the people
- 13.3 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 13.14 Gk: Heb Why should I take . . . in my hand?
- 13.15 Or Though he kill me, yet I will trust in him
- 13.26 Heb inherit
- 14.6 Cn: Heb that they may desist
- 14.16 Syr: Heb lacks not
- 15.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 15.25 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 15.29 Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 15.30 Gk: Heb mouth
- 16.7 Heb you have
- 16.8 Heb you have
- 16.21 Syr Vg Tg: Heb and
- 17.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 18.12 Or Disaster is hungry for them
- 18.13 Cn: Heb It consumes the limbs of his skin
- 19.12 Cn: Heb their way
- 19.25 Or redeemer
- 20.23 Heb he
- 20.28 Heb his
Job 1-21
Complete Jewish Bible
1 There was a man in the land of ‘Utz whose name was Iyov. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 pairs of oxen and 500 female donkeys, as well as a great number of servants; so that he was the wealthiest man in the east.
4 It was the custom of his sons to give banquets, each on his set day in his own house; and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 After a cycle of banquets, Iyov would send for them to come and be consecrated; then he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings for each of them, because Iyov said, “My sons might have sinned and blasphemed God in their thoughts.” This is what Iyov did every time.
6 It happened one day that the sons of God came to serve Adonai, and among them came the Adversary [a]. 7 Adonai asked the Adversary, “Where are you coming from?” The Adversary answered Adonai, “From roaming through the earth, wandering here and there.” 8 Adonai asked the Adversary, “Did you notice my servant Iyov, that there’s no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil?” 9 The Adversary answered Adonai, “Is it for nothing that Iyov fears God? 10 You’ve put a protective hedge around him, his house and everything he has. You’ve prospered his work, and his livestock are spread out all over the land. 11 But if you reach out your hand and touch whatever he has, without doubt he’ll curse you to your face!” 12 Adonai said to the Adversary, “Here! Everything he has is in your hands, except that you are not to lay a finger on his person.” Then the Adversary went out from the presence of Adonai.
13 One day when Iyov’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to him and said, “The oxen were plowing, with the donkeys grazing near them, 15 when a raiding party from Sh’va came and carried them off; they put the servants to the sword too, and I’m the only one who escaped to tell you.”
16 While he was still speaking, another one came and said, “Fire from God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants; it completely destroyed them, and I’m the only one who escaped to tell you.”
17 While he was still speaking, another one came and said, “The Kasdim, three bands of them, fell on the camels and carried them off; they put the servants to the sword too, and I’m the only one who escaped to tell you.”
18 While he was still speaking, another one came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a strong wind blew in from over the desert. It struck the four corners of the house, so that it fell on the young people; they are dead, and I’m the only one who escaped to tell you.”
20 Iyov got up, tore his coat, shaved his head, fell down on the ground and worshipped; 21 he said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will return there.
Adonai gave; Adonai took;
blessed be the name of Adonai.”
22 In all this Iyov neither committed a sin nor put blame on God.
2 Another day came when the sons of God came to serve Adonai, and among them came the Adversary to serve Adonai. 2 Adonai asked the Adversary, “Where are you coming from?” The Adversary answered Adonai, “From roaming through the earth, wandering here and there.” 3 Adonai asked the Adversary, “Did you notice my servant Iyov, that there’s no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil, and that he still holds on to his integrity, even though you provoked me against him to destroy him for no reason?” 4 The Adversary answered Adonai, “Skin for skin! A person will give up everything he has to save his life. 5 But if you reach out your hand and touch his flesh and bone, without doubt he’ll curse you to your face!” 6 Adonai said to the Adversary, “Here! He is in your hands, except that you are to spare his life.”
7 Then the Adversary went out from the presence of Adonai and struck Iyov down with horrible infected sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 He took a piece of a broken pot to scratch himself and sat down in the pile of ashes. 9 His wife asked him, “Why do you still hold on to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” 10 But he answered her, “You’re talking like a low-class woman! Are we to receive the good at God’s hands but reject the bad?” In all this Iyov did not say one sinful word.
11 Now when Iyov’s three friends heard of all the calamities that had overwhelmed him, they all came. Each came from his own home — Elifaz from Teiman, Bildad from Shuach and Tzofar from Na‘amah. They had agreed to meet together in order to come and offer him sympathy and comfort. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they couldn’t even recognize him. They wept aloud, tore their coats and threw dust over their heads toward heaven. 13 Then they sat down with him on the ground. For seven days and seven nights, no one spoke a word to him; because they saw how much he was suffering. 14 (3:1) At length, Iyov broke the silence and cursed the day of his [birth].
3 (2) Iyov said,
2 (3) “Perish the day I was born
and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’
3 (4) May that day be darkness,
may God on high not seek it,
may no light shine on it,
4 (5) may gloom dark as death defile it,
may clouds settle on it,
may it be terrified by its own blackness.
5 (6) “As for that night, may thick darkness seize it,
may it not be joined to the days of the year,
may it not be numbered among the months;
6 (7) may that night be desolate,
may no cry of joy be heard in it;
7 (8) may those who curse days curse it,
those who[se curses] could rouse Livyatan;
8 (9) may the stars of its twilight be dark,
may it look for light but get none,
may it never see the shimmer of dawn —
9 (10) because it didn’t shut the doors of the womb I was in
and shield my eyes from trouble.
10 (11) “If I had been stillborn,
if I had died at birth,
11 (12) had there been no knees to receive me
or breasts for me to suck.
12 (13) Then I would be lying still and in peace,
I would have slept and been at rest,
13 (14) along with kings and their earthly advisers,
who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
14 (15) or with princes who had [plenty of] gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
15 (16) Or I could have been like a hidden, miscarried
child that never saw light.
16 (17) “There the wicked cease their raging,
there the weary are at rest,
17 (18) prisoners live at peace together
without hearing a taskmaster’s yells.
18 (19) Great and small alike are there,
and the slave is free of his master.
19 (20) “So why must light be given to the miserable
and life to the bitter in spirit?
20 (21) They long for death, but it never comes;
they search for it more than for buried treasure;
21 (22) when at last they find the grave,
they are so happy they shout for joy.
22 (23) [Why give light] to a man who wanders blindly,
whom God shuts in on every side?
23 (24) “My sighing serves in place of my food,
and my groans pour out in a torrent;
24 (25) for the thing I feared has overwhelmed me,
what I dreaded has happened to me.
25 (26) I have no peace, no quiet, no rest;
and anguish keeps coming.”
4 Then Elifaz the Teimani spoke up:
2 “If one tries to speak to you, will you mind?
Yet who could keep from speaking?
3 You have given moral instruction to many,
you have firmed up feeble hands,
4 your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have strengthened the weak-kneed.
5 “But now it comes to you, and you are impatient;
at the first touch, you are in shock.
6 Isn’t your fear of God your assurance,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 “Think back: what innocent person has perished?
Since when are the upright destroyed?
8 What I see is that those who plow sin
and sow trouble reap just that.
9 At a breath from God, they perish;
at a blast from his anger, they are consumed.
10 The lion may growl, the king lion may roar,
but that old lion’s teeth are broken;
11 so the lion succumbs from lack of prey,
and the lion’s cubs are scattered.
12 “For a word was stealthily brought to me,
my ear caught only a whisper of it.
13 In passing thoughts flashing through visions at night,
when sleep lies heavy on people,
14 a shiver of horror came over me;
it made all my bones tremble.
15 Then a spirit passed in front of my face;
the hair of my flesh stood on end.
16 It stood still,
but I couldn’t make out its appearance;
yet the form stayed there before my eyes.
Then I heard a subdued voice:
17 ‘Can a human be seen by God as righteous?
Can a mortal be pure before his maker?
18 [God] doesn’t trust his own servants,
he finds fault even with his angels;
19 much more those living in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust.
They are crushed more easily than a worm;
20 shattered between morning and evening;
they perish forever, and no one takes notice.
21 Their cord within them is pulled up;
then they die, without ever gaining wisdom.’
5 “Call if you like, but will anyone answer?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 For anger kills the fool,
and envy slays the silly.
3 I watch as a fool establishes roots,
but I curse his home with sudden [destruction] —
4 his children are far from help,
publicly humiliated, with no one to rescue;
5 the hungry eat up his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
while the thirsty are panting,
eager to swallow his wealth.
6 For misery does not come from the dust
or trouble spring from the ground.
7 No, people are born for trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 “If I were you, I would seek God;
I would make my plea to him.
9 For God does great deeds beyond investigation,
wonders beyond all reckoning.
10 He gives rain to the earth,
pours water down on the fields.
11 He raises the lowly on high
and lifts mourners to safety.
12 He frustrates the schemes of the cunning,
so that they achieve no success;
13 trapping the crafty in their own tricks
and foiling quickly the plans of the false.
14 They meet with darkness during the day,
groping at noon like at night.
15 But he saves the poor from the sword, their mouth,
and from the clutches of the strong;
16 so the poor can hope again;
and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “How happy the person whom God corrects!
So don’t despise Shaddai’s discipline.
18 For he wounds, but he bandages the sore;
his hands may strike, but they also heal.
19 He will rescue you from six disasters;
yes, in seven no harm will touch you.
20 In famine, he will save you from death,
and in war, from the power of the sword.
21 You will be shielded from the lash of the tongue,
and you won’t have to fear destruction when it comes —
22 you’ll be able to laugh at destruction and famine.
Also you won’t have to fear wild animals,
23 for you will be in league with the stones in the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is safe;
you will look round your home and miss nothing.
25 You will know that your descendants are many,
your offspring like grass [growing thick] in the fields.
26 You will come to your grave at a ripe old age,
like a pile of grain that arrives in season.
27 “We’ve looked into this, and that’s how it is;
listen, and know that it’s for your own good.”
6 Iyov responded:
2 “I wish my frustration could be weighed,
all my calamities laid on the scales!
3 They would outweigh the sands of the seas!
No wonder, then, that my words come out stammered!
4 For the arrows of Shaddai find their mark in me,
and my spirit is drinking in their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 “Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass?
Does an ox low when it has fodder?
6 Can food without flavor be eaten without salt?
Do egg whites have any taste?
7 I refuse to touch them;
such food makes me sick.
8 “If only I could have my wish granted,
and God would give me what I’m hoping for —
9 that God would decide to crush me,
that he would let his hand loose and cut me off!
10 Then I would feel consoled;
so that even in the face of unending pain,
I would be able to rejoice;
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 “Have I enough strength to go on waiting?
What end can I expect, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Is my flesh made of bronze?
13 Clearly, I have no help in myself;
common sense has been driven from me.
14 “A friend should be kind to an unhappy man,
even to one who abandons Shaddai.
15 But my brothers are as deceptive as vadis,
as vadi streams that soon run dry;
16 they may turn dark with ice
and be hidden by piled-up snow;
17 but as the weather warms up, they vanish;
when it’s hot, they disappear.
18 Their courses turn this way and that;
they go up into the confusing waste and are lost.
19 The caravans from Tema look for them,
the travelers from Sh’va hope to find them;
20 but they are disappointed, because they were confident;
on arrival there, they are frustrated.
21 “For now, you have become like that —
just seeing my calamity makes you afraid.
22 Did I say to you, ‘Give me something,’
or, ‘From your wealth, offer a bribe on my behalf,’
23 or, ‘Save me from the enemy’s grip,’
or, ‘Redeem me from the clutches of oppressors’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent.
Make me understand how I am at fault.
25 Honest words are forceful indeed,
but what do your arguments prove?
26 Do you think [your own] words constitute argument,
while the speech of a desperate man is merely wind?
27 I suppose you would even throw dice for an orphan
or barter away your friend!
28 “So now, I beg you, look at me!
Would I lie to your face?
29 Think it over, please; don’t let wrong be done.
Think it over again: my cause is just.
30 Am I saying something wrong?
Can’t I recognize trouble when I taste it?
7 “Human life on earth is like serving in the army;
yes, we drudge through our days like a hired worker,
2 like a slave longing for shade,
like a worker thinking only of his wages.
3 So I am assigned months of meaninglessness;
troubled nights are my lot.
4 When I lie down, I ask,
‘When can I get up?’
But the night is long, and I keep tossing
to and fro until daybreak.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt,
my skin forms scabs that ooze pus.
6 My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.
7 “Remember that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never again see good times.
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no more;
while your eyes are on me, I will be gone.
9 Like a cloud dissolving and disappearing,
so he who descends to Sh’ol won’t come back up.
10 He will not return again to his house,
and his home will know him no more.
11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth
but will speak in my anguish of spirit
and complain in my bitterness of soul.
12 Am I the sea, or some sea monster,
that you put a guard over me?
13 When I think that my bed will comfort me,
that my couch will relieve my complaint,
14 then you terrify me with dreams
and frighten me with visions.
15 I would rather be strangled;
death would be better than these bones of mine.
16 I hate it! I won’t live forever,
so leave me alone, for my life means nothing.
17 “What are mere mortals, that you make so much of them?
Why do you keep them on your mind?
18 Why examine them every morning
and test them every moment?
19 Won’t you ever take your eyes off of me,
at least long enough for me to swallow my spit?
20 “Suppose I do sin — how do I harm you,
you scrutinizer of humanity?
Why have you made me your target,
so that I am a burden to you?
21 Why don’t you pardon my offense
and take away my guilt?
For soon I will lie down in the dust;
you will seek me, but I will be gone.”
8 Bildad the Shuchi spoke next:
2 “How long will you go on talking like this?
What you are saying is raging wind!
3 Does God distort judgment?
Does Shaddai pervert justice?
4 If your children sinned against him,
he left them to be victims of their own offense.
5 “If you will earnestly seek God
and plead for Shaddai’s favor,
6 if you are pure and upright;
then he will rouse himself for you
and fulfill your needs.
7 Then, although your beginnings were small,
your future will be very great indeed.
8 “Ask the older generation,
and consider what their ancestors found out;
9 for we who were born yesterday know nothing,
our days on earth are but a shadow.
10 They will teach you, they will tell you,
they will say what is in their hearts:
11 ‘Can papyrus grow except in a marsh?
Can swamp grass flourish without water?
12 While still green, before being cut down,
it dries up faster than any other plant.
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of a hypocrite will perish —
14 his confidence is mere gossamer,
his trust a spider’s web.
15 He can lean on his house, but it won’t stand;
he can hold on to it, but it won’t last;
16 [for its destruction will come] like the lush growth
of a plant in the sun,
its shoots may spread out all over its garden,
17 but meanwhile its roots cause the stone house
to collapse, as it seizes hold of the rocks;
18 someone who tears it away from its place
denies he has ever seen it.
19 Yes, this is the “joy” of the way [of the godless],
and out of the dust will spring up others [like him].’
20 “Look, God will not reject a blameless man;
nor will he uphold wrongdoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will cease to exist.”
9 Then Iyov responded:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is so;
but how can a human win a case against God?
3 Whoever might want to argue with him
could not answer him one [question] in a thousand.
4 His heart is so wise, his strength so great —
who can resist him and succeed?
5 “He moves the mountains, although they don’t know it,
when he overturns them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth from its place;
its supporting pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun, and it fails to rise;
he shuts up the stars under his seal.
8 He alone spreads out the sky
and walks on the waves in the sea.
9 He made the Great Bear, Orion, the Pleiades
and the hidden constellations of the south.
10 He does great, unsearchable things,
wonders beyond counting.
11 He can go right by me, and I don’t see him;
he moves past without my being aware of him.
12 If he kills [people], who will ask why?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not withdraw his anger —
even Rahav’s supporters submit to him.
14 “How much less can I answer him
and select my arguments against him!
15 Even if I were right, I wouldn’t answer;
I could only ask for mercy from my judge.
16 If I summoned him, and he answered me,
I still can’t believe he would listen to my plea.
17 He could break me with a storm;
he could multiply my wounds for no reason,
18 to the point where I couldn’t even breathe —
with such bitterness he could fill me!
19 If it’s a matter of force, look how mighty he is;
if justice, who can summon him to court?
20 Even if I’m right, my own mouth will condemn me;
if I’m innocent, it would pronounce me guilty.
21 “I am innocent. Don’t I know myself?
But I’ve had enough of this life of mine!
22 So I say it’s all the same —
he destroys innocent and wicked alike.
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
he laughs at the plight of the innocent.
24 The earth has been given to the power of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges —
if it isn’t he, then who is it?
25 My days pass on more swiftly than a runner;
they flee without seeing anything good.
26 They skim by like skiffs built of reeds,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
27 “If I say, ‘I’ll forget my complaining,
I’ll put off my sad face and be cheerful,’
28 then I’m still afraid of all my pain,
and I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 I will be condemned,
so why waste my efforts?
30 Even if I washed myself in melted snow
and cleansed my hands with lye,
31 you would plunge me into the muddy pit,
till my own clothes would detest me.
32 “For he is not merely human like me;
there is no answer that I could give him
if we were to come together in court.
33 There is no arbitrator between us
who could lay his hand on us both.
34 If he would remove his rod from me
and not let his terrors frighten me,
35 then I would speak without fear of him;
for when I’m alone, I’m not afraid.
10 “I am just worn out.
“By my life [I swear],
I will never abandon my complaint;
I will speak out in my soul’s bitterness.
2 I will say to God, ‘Don’t condemn me!
Tell me why you are contending with me.
3 Do you gain some advantage from oppressing,
from spurning what your own hands made,
from shining on the schemes of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as humans see?
5 Are your days like the days of mortals?
Are your years like human years,
6 that you have to seek my guilt
and search out my sin?
7 You know that I won’t be condemned,
yet no one can rescue me from your power.
8 Your own hands shaped me, they made me;
so why do you turn and destroy me?
9 Please remember that you made me, like clay;
will you return me to dust?
10 Didn’t you pour me out like milk,
then let me thicken like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh
you knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You granted me life and grace;
your careful attention preserved my spirit.
13 “‘Yet you hid these things in your heart;
I know what your secret purpose was —
14 to watch until I would sin
and then not absolve me of my guilt.
15 If I am wicked, woe to me! —
but if righteous, I still don’t dare raise my head,
because I am so filled with shame,
so soaked in my misery.
16 You rise up to hunt me like a lion,
and you keep treating me in such peculiar ways.
17 You keep producing fresh witnesses against me,
your anger against me keeps growing,
your troops assail me, wave after wave.
18 “‘Why did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died there where no eye could see me.
19 I would have been as if I had never existed,
I would have been carried from womb to grave.
20 Aren’t my days few? So stop!
Leave me alone, so I can cheer up a little
21 before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of darkness and death-dark gloom,
22 a land of gloom like darkness itself,
of dense darkness and utter disorder,
where even the light is dark.’”
11 Next Tzofar the Na‘amati spoke up:
2 “Shouldn’t this torrent of words be answered?
Does talking a lot make a person right?
3 Is your babble supposed to put others to silence?
When you mock, is no one to make you ashamed?
4 “You claim that your teaching is pure;
you tell [God], ‘I am clean in your sight.’
5 I wish that God would speak,
would open his mouth to answer you,
6 would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
which is worth twice as much as common sense.
Understand that God is demanding of you
less than your guilt deserves.
7 “Can you penetrate God’s depths?
Can you find out Shaddai’s limits?
8 They’re as high as heaven; what can you do?
They’re deeper than Sh’ol; what can you know?
9 Their extent is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 If he passes through, puts in prison
and assembles [for judgment], who can prevent him?
11 For he knows when people are worthless;
so if he sees iniquity, won’t he look into it?
12 “An empty man can gain understanding,
even if he was born like a wild donkey.
13 If you will set your heart right,
if you will spread out your hands toward him,
14 if you will put your iniquity at a distance
and not let unrighteousness remain in your tents,
15 then when you lift up your face, there will be no defect;
you will be firm and free from fear.
16 “For you will forget your misery;
you’ll remember it like a flood that passed through long ago;
17 your life will be brighter than noon;
even its darkness will be like morning.
18 You will be confident, because there is hope;
you will look around you and lie down secure;
19 you will rest, and no one will make you afraid.
Many will seek your favor;
20 but the eyes of the wicked will fail [to find comfort].
They will find no way to escape,
and their hope will turn to complete disappointment.”
12 Iyov responded:
2 “No doubt you are [the only] people [that matter];
and when you die, so will wisdom.
3 But I too have a brain, as much as you,
In no way am I inferior to you.
Besides, who doesn’t know things like these?
4 “Anyone who calls on God,
and he answers him,
becomes a laughingstock to his friends —
they make fun of an innocent, blameless man.
5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,
for the blow that strikes somebody already staggering.
6 The tents of robbers prosper,
[the homes of] those who anger God are secure,
those who carry their gods in their hands.
7 “But ask the animals — they will teach you —
and the birds in the air — they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth — it will teach you —
and the fish in the sea will inform you:
9 every one of them knows
that the hand of Adonai has done this!
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the spirit of every human being.
11 Shouldn’t the ear test words,
just as the palate tastes food?
12 Is wisdom [only] with aged men?
discernment [only] with long life?
13 “With God are wisdom and power;
he has [good] counsel and understanding.
14 When he breaks something down, it can’t be rebuilt;
when he imprisons someone, he can’t be released.
15 When he holds back water, there is drought;
when he sends it out, it overruns the land.
16 With him are strength and common sense;
both the misled and those who mislead are his.
17 He leads counselors away captive,
he makes fools of judges.
18 He removes authority from kings,
then binds them up [as prisoners].
19 He leads cohanim away captive
and overthrows those long in power.
20 Those who are trusted he deprives of speech,
and he removes the discernment of the aged.
21 He pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He discloses the deepest recesses of darkness
and brings light into shadows dark as death.
23 He makes nations great and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
24 He removes understanding from a country’s leaders
and makes them wander in trackless deserts.
25 They grope in unlit darkness;
he makes them stagger like drunks.
13 “All this I have seen with my own eyes;
with my own ears I have heard and understood it.
2 Whatever you know, I know too;
I am not inferior to you.
3 However, it’s Shaddai I want to speak with;
I want to prove my case to God.
4 But you, what you do is whitewash with lies;
you are all witch doctors!
5 I wish you would just stay silent;
for you, that would be wisdom!
6 “Now listen to my reasoning,
pay attention to how I present my dispute.
7 Is it for God’s sake that you speak so wickedly?
for him that you talk deceitfully?
8 Do you need to take his side
and plead God’s case for him?
9 If he examines you, will all go well?
Can you deceive him, as one man deceives another?
10 If you are secretly flattering [him],
he will surely rebuke you.
11 Doesn’t God’s majesty terrify you?
Aren’t you overcome with dread of him?
12 Your maxims are garbage-proverbs;
your answers crumble like clay.
13 “So be quiet! Let me be! I’ll do the talking,
come on me what may!
14 Why am I taking my flesh in my teeth,
taking my life in my hands?
15 Look, he will kill me — I don’t expect more,
but I will still defend my ways to his face.
16 And this is what will save me —
that a hypocrite cannot appear before him.
17 “Listen closely, then, to my words;
pay attention to what I am saying.
18 Here, now, I have prepared my case;
I know I am in the right.
19 If anyone can contend with me,
I will be quiet and die!
20 “Only grant two things to me, God;
then I won’t hide myself from your face —
21 take your hand away from me,
and don’t let fear of you frighten me.
22 Then, if you call, I will answer.
Or let me speak, and you, answer me!
23 How many crimes and sins have I committed?
Make me know my transgression and sin.
24 Why do you hide your face
and think of me as your enemy?
25 Do you want to harass a wind-driven leaf?
do you want to pursue a dry straw?
26 Is this why you draw up bitter charges against me
and punish me for the faults of my youth?
27 You put my feet in the stocks,
you watch me closely wherever I go,
you trace out each footprint of mine —
28 though [my body] decays like something rotten
or like a moth-eaten garment.
14 “A human being, born from a woman,
lives a short, trouble-filled life.
2 He comes up like a flower and withers away,
flees like a shadow, doesn’t last.
3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this?
You drag him to court with you?
4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure?
No one!
5 Since his days are fixed in advance,
the number of his months is known to you,
and you have fixed the limits which he can’t cross;
6 look away from him, and let him be;
so that, like a hired worker,
he can finish his day in peace.
7 “For a tree, there is hope
that if cut down, it will sprout again,
that its shoots will continue to grow.
8 Even if its roots grow old in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a human being grows weak and dies,
he expires; and then where is he?
11 Just as water in a lake disappears,
as a river shrinks and dries up;
12 so a person lies down and doesn’t arise —
until the sky no longer exists;
it will not awaken,
it won’t be roused from its sleep.
13 “I wish you would hide me in Sh’ol,
conceal me until your anger has passed,
then fix a time and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my life
for my change to come.
15 You will call, and I will answer you;
you will long to see what you made again.
16 Whereas now you count each step of mine,
then you will not keep watch for my sin.
17 You will seal up my crime in a bag
and cover over my iniquity.
18 “Just as a mountain erodes and falls away,
its rock is removed from its place,
19 the water wears away its stones,
and the floods wash away its soil,
so you destroy a person’s hope.
20 You overpower him, and he passes on;
you change his appearance and send him away.
21 His children earn honor, but he doesn’t know it;
or they are brought low, but he doesn’t notice.
22 He feels pain only for his own flesh;
he laments only for himself.”
15 Then Elifaz the Teimani spoke:
2 “Should a wise man answer with hot-air arguments?
Should he fill up his belly with the hot east wind?
3 Should he reason with useless talk
or make speeches that do him no good?
4 “Why, you are abolishing fear of God
and hindering prayer to him!
5 Your iniquity is teaching you how to speak,
and deceit is your language of choice.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.
7 “Were you the firstborn of the human race,
brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on God’s secrets?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we don’t know?
What discernment do you have that we don’t?
10 With us are gray-haired men, old men,
men much older than your father.
11 Are the comfortings of God not enough for you,
or a word that deals gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash angrily,
13 so that you turn your spirit against God
and let such words escape your mouth?
14 “What is a human being, that he could be innocent,
someone born from a woman, that he could be righteous?
15 God doesn’t trust even his holy ones;
no, even the heavens are not innocent in his view.
16 How much less one loathesome and corrupt,
a human being, who drinks iniquity like water.
17 “I will tell you — hear me out!
I will recount what I have seen;
18 wise men have told it,
and it wasn’t hidden from their fathers either,
19 to whom alone the land was given —
no foreigner passed among them.
20 “The wicked is in torment all his life,
for all the years allotted to the tyrant.
21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears;
in prosperity, robbers swoop down on him.
22 He despairs of returning from darkness —
he is destined to meet the sword.
23 He wanders and looks for food, which isn’t there.
He knows the day of darkness is ready, at hand.
24 Distress and anguish overwhelm him,
assaulting him like a king about to enter battle.
25 “He raises his hand against God
and boldly defies Shaddai,
26 running against him with head held high
and thickly ornamented shield.
27 “He lets his face grow gross and fat,
and the rest of him bulges with blubber;
28 he lives in abandoned cities,
in houses no one would inhabit,
houses about to become ruins;
29 therefore he will not remain rich,
his wealth will not endure,
his produce will not bend
[the grain stalks] to the earth.
30 “He will not escape from darkness.
The flame will dry up his branches.
By a breath from the mouth of [God],
he will go away.
31 Let him not rely on futile methods,
thereby deceiving himself;
for what he will receive in exchange
will be only futility.
32 This will be accomplished in advance of its day.
His palm frond will not be fresh and green;
33 he will be like a vine that sheds its unripe grapes,
like an olive tree that drops its flowers.
34 “For the community of the ungodly is sterile;
fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
their womb prepares deceit.”
16 In response Iyov said:
2 “I have heard this stuff so often!
Such sorry comforters, all of you!
3 Is there no end to words of wind?
What provokes you to answer this way?
4 “If I were in your place,
I too could speak as you do —
I could string phrases together against you
and shake my head at you.
5 I could ‘strengthen’ you with my mouth,
with lip service I could ‘ease your grief.’
6 If I speak, my own pain isn’t eased;
and if I don’t speak, it still doesn’t leave.
7 “But now he has worn me out;
you have desolated this whole community of mine.
8 Besides, you have shriveled me up;
and this serves to witness against me.
My being so thin rises up against me
and testifies to my face.
9 He tears me apart in his anger;
he holds a grudge against me;
he gnashes on me with his teeth.
“My enemies look daggers at me.
10 Wide-mouthed, they gape at me;
with scorn, they slap my cheeks;
they gather themselves together against me.
11 “God delivers me to the perverse,
throws me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at peace, and he shook me apart.
Yes, he grabbed me by the neck and dashed me to pieces.
He set me up as his target —
13 his archers surrounded me.
He slashes my innards and shows no mercy,
he pours my gall on the ground.
14 He breaks in on me again and again,
attacking me like a warrior.
15 “I sewed sackcloth together to cover my skin
and laid my pride in the dust;
16 my face is red from crying,
and on my eyelids is a death-dark shadow.
17 Yet my hands are free from violence,
and my prayer is pure.
18 “Earth, don’t cover my blood;
don’t let my cry rest [without being answered].
19 Even now, my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is there on high.
20 With friends like these as intercessors,
my eyes pour out tears to God,
21 that he would arbitrate between a man and God,
just as one does for his fellow human being.
22 For I have but few years left
before I leave on the road of no return.
17 “My spirit is broken, my days are quenched,
I am marked for the grave.
2 Mockers are all around me;
my eye meets only their hostility.
3 Be my guarantor, yourself!
Who else will put up a pledge for me?
4 For you have shut their minds to common sense;
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 Should people share with their friends
when their own children’s eyes are so sad?
6 “He has made me a byword among the peoples,
a creature in whose face they spit.
7 I am nearly blind with grief,
my limbs reduced to a shadow.
8 The upright are perplexed at this,
the innocent aroused against the hypocrites.
9 Yet the righteous hold on to their way,
and those with clean hands grow stronger and stronger.
10 “But as for you all, turn around! Come back! —
yet I won’t find a wise man among you.
11 My days are over, my plans cut off,
which I had cherished so;
12 but they [try to] turn [my] night into day,
[saying,] ‘Light is near!’ — in the face of darkness.
13 “If I hope for Sh’ol to be my house;
if I spread my couch in the dark;
14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to worms, ‘You are my mother and sister,’
15 then where is my hope?
And that hope of mine, who will see it?
16 Only those who go down with me
to the bars of Sh’ol,
when we rest together in the dust.”
18 Bildad the Shuchi said,
2 “When will you put an end to words?
Think about it — then we’ll talk!
3 Why are we thought of as cattle,
stupid in your view?
4 You can tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
but the earth won’t be abandoned just for your sake;
not even a rock will be moved from its place.
5 “The light of the wicked will flicker and die,
not a spark from his fire will shine,
6 the light in his tent is darkened,
the lamp over him will be snuffed out.
7 His vigorous stride is shortened,
his own plans make him trip and fall.
8 For his own feet plunge him into a net,
he wanders into its meshes.
9 A trap grabs him by the heel,
a snare catches hold of him.
10 A noose is hidden for him in the ground;
pitfalls lie in his path.
11 Terrors overwhelm him on every side
and scatter about his feet.
12 “Trouble is hungry for him,
calamity ready for his fall;
13 disease eats away at his skin;
the first stages of death devour him gradually.
14 What he relied on will be torn from his tent,
and he will be marched before the king of terrors.
15 “What isn’t his at all will live in his tent;
sulfur will be scattered on his home.
16 His roots beneath him will dry up;
above him, his branch will wither.
17 Memory of him will fade from the land,
while abroad his name will be unknown.
18 He will be pushed from light into darkness
and driven out of the world.
19 “Without son or grandson among his people,
no one will remain in his dwellings.
20 Those who come after will be appalled at his fate,
just as those there before were struck with horror.
21 “This is how things are in the homes of the wicked,
and this is the place of those who don’t know God.”
19 Then Iyov answered:
2 “How long will you go on making me angry,
crushing me with words?
3 You’ve insulted me ten times already;
aren’t you ashamed to treat me so badly?
4 Even if it’s true that I made a mistake,
my error stays with me.
5 “You may take a superior attitude toward me
and cite my disgrace as proof against me;
6 but know that it’s God who has put me in the wrong
and closed his net around me.
7 If I cry, ‘Violence!’ no one hears me;
I cry aloud, but there is no justice.
8 “He has fenced off my way, so that I can’t pass;
he has covered my paths with darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my glory
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears every part of me down — I am gone;
he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 “Inflamed with anger against me,
he counts me as one of his foes.
12 His troops advance together,
they make their way against me
and encamp around my tent.
13 “He has made my brothers keep their distance,
those who know me are wholly estranged from me,
14 my kinsfolk have failed me,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those living in my house consider me a stranger;
my slave-girls too — in their view I’m a foreigner.
16 I call my servant, and he doesn’t answer,
even if I beg him for a favor!
17 “My wife can’t stand my breath,
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me —
if I stand up, they start jeering at me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and flesh;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, friends of mine, pity me!
For the hand of God has struck me!
22 Must you pursue me as God does,
never satisfied with my flesh?
23 I wish my words were written down,
that they were inscribed in a scroll,
24 that, engraved with iron and filled with lead,
they were cut into rock forever!
25 “But I know that my Redeemer lives,
that in the end he will rise on the dust;
26 so that after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then even without my flesh, I will see God.
27 I will see him for myself,
my eyes, not someone else’s, will behold him.
My heart grows weak inside me!
28 “If you say, ‘How will we persecute him?’ —
the root of the matter is found in me.
29 You had best fear the sword,
for anger brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you will know there is judgment!”
20 Tzofar the Na‘amati replied,
2 “My thoughts are pressing me to answer;
I feel such an urge to speak!
3 I have heard reproof that outrages me,
but a spirit past my understanding gives me a reply.
4 “Don’t you know that ever since time began,
ever since humans were placed on earth,
5 that the triumph of the wicked is always short-lived,
and the joy of the ungodly is gone in a moment?
6 His pride may mount to the heavens,
his head may touch the clouds;
7 but he will vanish completely, like his own dung —
those who used to see him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
8 Like a dream he flies off and is not found again;
like a vision in the night he is chased away.
9 The eye which once saw him will see him no more,
his place will not behold him again.
10 His children will have to pay back the poor;
his hands will restore their wealth.
11 His bones may be filled with [the vigor of] his youth,
but it will join him lying in the dust.
12 “Wickedness may taste sweet in his mouth,
he may savor and roll it around on his tongue,
13 he may linger over it and not let it go
but keep it there in his mouth —
14 yet in his stomach his food goes bad,
it works inside him like snake venom;
15 the wealth he swallows he vomits back up;
God makes him disgorge it.
16 He sucks the poison of asps,
the viper’s fangs will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and cream.
18 He will have to give back what he toiled for;
he won’t get to swallow it down —
to the degree that he acquired wealth,
he won’t get to enjoy it.
19 “For he crushed and abandoned the poor,
seizing houses he did not build,
20 because his appetite would not let him rest,
in his greed he let nothing escape;
21 nothing is left that he did not devour;
therefore his well-being will not last.
22 With all needs satisfied, he will be in distress;
the full force of misery will come over him.
23 “This is what will fill his belly! —
[God] will lay on him all his burning anger
and make it rain over him, into his insides.
24 If he flees from the weapon of iron,
the bow of bronze will pierce him through —
25 he pulls the arrow out of his back,
the shining tip comes out from his innards;
terrors come upon him.
26 “Total darkness is laid up for his treasures,
a fire fanned by no one will consume him,
and calamity awaits what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will reveal his guilt,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The income of his household will be carried off;
his goods will flow away on the day of his wrath.
29 This is God’s reward for the wicked,
the heritage God decrees for him.”
21 Then Iyov responded:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the comfort you give me.
3 Bear with me as I speak;
then, after I have spoken, you can go on mocking.
4 “As for me, is my complaint merely to other people?
Don’t I have grounds for being short-tempered?
5 Look at me, and be appalled;
cover your mouth with your hand!
6 Whenever I recall it, I am in shock;
my whole body shudders.
7 “Why do the wicked go on living,
grow old and keep increasing their power?
8 They see their children settled with them,
their posterity assured.
9 Their houses are safe, with nothing to fear;
God’s rod is not on them.
10 Their bulls are fertile without fail,
their cows get pregnant and don’t miscarry.
11 They produce flocks of babies,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing with tambourines and lyres
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14 “Yet to God they said, ‘Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know about your ways.
Footnotes
- Job 1:6 Hebrew: Satan
Job 1-42
The Message
A Man Devoted to God
1 1-3 Job was a man who lived in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was also very wealthy—seven thousand head of sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servants—the most influential man in all the East!
4-5 His sons used to take turns hosting parties in their homes, always inviting their three sisters to join them in their merrymaking. When the parties were over, Job would get up early in the morning and sacrifice a burnt offering for each of his children, thinking, “Maybe one of them sinned by defying God inwardly.” Job made a habit of this sacrificial atonement, just in case they’d sinned.
The First Test: Family and Fortune
6-7 One day when the angels came to report to God, Satan, who was the Designated Accuser, came along with them. God singled out Satan and said, “What have you been up to?”
Satan answered God, “Going here and there, checking things out on earth.”
8 God said to Satan, “Have you noticed my friend Job? There’s no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil.”
9-10 Satan retorted, “So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can’t lose!
11 “But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He’d curse you right to your face, that’s what.”
12 God replied, “We’ll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.” Then Satan left the presence of God.
13-15 Sometime later, while Job’s children were having one of their parties at the home of the oldest son, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing in the field next to us when Sabeans attacked. They stole the animals and killed the field hands. I’m the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened.”
16 While he was still talking, another messenger arrived and said, “Bolts of lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and fried them—burned them to a crisp. I’m the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened.”
17 While he was still talking, another messenger arrived and said, “Chaldeans coming from three directions raided the camels and massacred the camel drivers. I’m the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened.”
18-19 While he was still talking, another messenger arrived and said, “Your children were having a party at the home of the oldest brother when a tornado swept in off the desert and struck the house. It collapsed on the young people and they died. I’m the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened.”
20 Job got to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell to the ground and worshiped:
21 Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
naked I’ll return to the womb of the earth.
God gives, God takes.
God’s name be ever blessed.
22 Not once through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame God.
The Second Test: Health
2 1-3 One day when the angels came to report to God, Satan also showed up. God singled out Satan, saying, “And what have you been up to?” Satan answered God, “Oh, going here and there, checking things out.” Then God said to Satan, “Have you noticed my friend Job? There’s no one quite like him, is there—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn’t work.”
4-5 Satan answered, “A human would do anything to save his life. But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health? He’d curse you to your face, that’s what.”
6 God said, “All right. Go ahead—you can do what you like with him. But mind you, don’t kill him.”
7-8 Satan left God and struck Job with terrible sores. Job was ulcers and scabs from head to foot. They itched and oozed so badly that he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, then went and sat on a trash heap, among the ashes.
9 His wife said, “Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!”
10 He told her, “You’re talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?”
Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God.
Job’s Three Friends
11-13 Three of Job’s friends heard of all the trouble that had fallen on him. Each traveled from his own country—Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuhah, Zophar from Naamath—and went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him. When they first caught sight of him, they couldn’t believe what they saw—they hardly recognized him! They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. Then they sat with him on the ground. Seven days and nights they sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt, how deeply he was suffering.
Job Cries Out
What’s the Point of Life?
3 1-2 Then Job broke the silence. He spoke up and cursed his fate:
3-10 “Obliterate the day I was born.
Blank out the night I was conceived!
Let it be a black hole in space.
May God above forget it ever happened.
Erase it from the books!
May the day of my birth be buried in deep darkness,
shrouded by the fog,
swallowed by the night.
And the night of my conception—the devil take it!
Rip the date off the calendar,
delete it from the almanac.
Oh, turn that night into pure nothingness—
no sounds of pleasure from that night, ever!
May those who are good at cursing curse that day.
Unleash the sea beast, Leviathan, on it.
May its morning stars turn to black cinders,
waiting for a daylight that never comes,
never once seeing the first light of dawn.
And why? Because it released me from my mother’s womb
into a life with so much trouble.
11-19 “Why didn’t I die at birth,
my first breath out of the womb my last?
Why were there arms to rock me,
and breasts for me to drink from?
I could be resting in peace right now,
asleep forever, feeling no pain,
In the company of kings and statesmen
in their royal ruins,
Or with princes resplendent
in their gold and silver tombs.
Why wasn’t I stillborn and buried
with all the babies who never saw light,
Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone
and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest?
Prisoners sleep undisturbed,
never again to wake up to the bark of the guards.
The small and the great are equals in that place,
and slaves are free from their masters.
20-23 “Why does God bother giving light to the miserable,
why bother keeping bitter people alive,
Those who want in the worst way to die, and can’t,
who can’t imagine anything better than death,
Who count the day of their death and burial
the happiest day of their life?
What’s the point of life when it doesn’t make sense,
when God blocks all the roads to meaning?
24-26 “Instead of bread I get groans for my supper,
then leave the table and vomit my anguish.
The worst of my fears has come true,
what I’ve dreaded most has happened.
My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed.
No rest for me, ever—death has invaded life.”
Eliphaz Speaks Out
Now You’re the One in Trouble
4 1-6 Then Eliphaz from Teman spoke up:
“Would you mind if I said something to you?
Under the circumstances it’s hard to keep quiet.
You yourself have done this plenty of times, spoken words
that clarify, encouraged those who were about to quit.
Your words have put stumbling people on their feet,
put fresh hope in people about to collapse.
But now you’re the one in trouble—you’re hurting!
You’ve been hit hard and you’re reeling from the blow.
But shouldn’t your devout life give you confidence now?
Shouldn’t your exemplary life give you hope?
7-11 “Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap?
Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end?
It’s my observation that those who plow evil
and sow trouble reap evil and trouble.
One breath from God and they fall apart,
one blast of his anger and there’s nothing left of them.
The mighty lion, king of the beasts, roars mightily,
but when he’s toothless he’s useless—
No teeth, no prey—and the cubs
wander off to fend for themselves.
12-16 “A word came to me in secret—
a mere whisper of a word, but I heard it clearly.
It came in a scary dream one night,
after I had fallen into a deep, deep sleep.
Dread stared me in the face, and Terror.
I was scared to death—I shook from head to foot.
A spirit glided right in front of me—
the hair on my head stood on end.
I couldn’t tell what it was that appeared there—
a blur . . . and then I heard a muffled voice:
17-21 “‘How can mere mortals be more righteous than God?
How can humans be purer than their Creator?
Why, God doesn’t even trust his own servants,
doesn’t even cheer his angels,
So how much less these bodies composed of mud,
fragile as moths?
These bodies of ours are here today and gone tomorrow,
and no one even notices—gone without a trace.
When the tent stakes are ripped up, the tent collapses—
we die and are never the wiser for having lived.’”
Don’t Blame Fate When Things Go Wrong
5 1-7 “Call for help, Job, if you think anyone will answer!
To which of the holy angels will you turn?
The hot temper of a fool eventually kills him,
the jealous anger of an idiot does her in.
I’ve seen it myself—seen fools putting down roots,
and then, suddenly, their houses are cursed.
Their children out in the cold, abused and exploited,
with no one to stick up for them.
Hungry people off the street plunder their harvests,
cleaning them out completely, taking thorns and all,
insatiable for everything they have.
Don’t blame fate when things go wrong—
trouble doesn’t come from nowhere.
It’s human! Mortals are born and bred for trouble,
as certainly as sparks fly upward.
What a Blessing When God Corrects You!
8-16 “If I were in your shoes, I’d go straight to God,
I’d throw myself on the mercy of God.
After all, he’s famous for great and unexpected acts;
there’s no end to his surprises.
He gives rain, for instance, across the wide earth,
sends water to irrigate the fields.
He raises up the down-and-out,
gives firm footing to those sinking in grief.
He aborts the schemes of conniving crooks,
so that none of their plots come to term.
He catches the know-it-alls in their conspiracies—
all that intricate intrigue swept out with the trash!
Suddenly they’re disoriented, plunged into darkness;
they can’t see to put one foot in front of the other.
But the downtrodden are saved by God,
saved from the murderous plots, saved from the iron fist.
And so the poor continue to hope,
while injustice is bound and gagged.
17-19 “So, what a blessing when God steps in and corrects you!
Mind you, don’t despise the discipline of Almighty God!
True, he wounds, but he also dresses the wound;
the same hand that hurts you, heals you.
From one disaster after another he delivers you;
no matter what the calamity, the evil can’t touch you—
20-26 “In famine, he’ll keep you from starving,
in war, from being gutted by the sword.
You’ll be protected from vicious gossip
and live fearless through any catastrophe.
You’ll shrug off disaster and famine,
and stroll fearlessly among wild animals.
You’ll be on good terms with rocks and mountains;
wild animals will become your good friends.
You’ll know that your place on earth is safe,
you’ll look over your goods and find nothing amiss.
You’ll see your children grow up,
your family lovely and graceful as orchard grass.
You’ll arrive at your grave ripe with many good years,
like sheaves of golden grain at harvest.
27 “Yes, this is the way things are—my word of honor!
Take it to heart and you won’t go wrong.”
Job Replies to Eliphaz
God Has Dumped the Works on Me
6 1-7 Job answered:
“If my misery could be weighed,
if you could pile the whole bitter load on the scales,
It would be heavier than all the sand of the sea!
Is it any wonder that I’m howling like a caged cat?
The arrows of God Almighty are in me,
poison arrows—and I’m poisoned all through!
God has dumped the whole works on me.
Donkeys bray and cows moo when they run out of pasture—
so don’t expect me to keep quiet in this.
Do you see what God has dished out for me?
It’s enough to turn anyone’s stomach!
Everything in me is repulsed by it—
it makes me sick.
Pressed Past the Limits
8-13 “All I want is an answer to one prayer,
a last request to be honored:
Let God step on me—squash me like a bug,
and be done with me for good.
I’d at least have the satisfaction
of not having blasphemed the Holy God,
before being pressed past the limits.
Where’s the strength to keep my hopes up?
What future do I have to keep me going?
Do you think I have nerves of steel?
Do you think I’m made of iron?
Do you think I can pull myself up by my bootstraps?
Why, I don’t even have any boots!
My So-Called Friends
14-23 “When desperate people give up on God Almighty,
their friends, at least, should stick with them.
But my brothers are fickle as a gulch in the desert—
one day they’re gushing with water
From melting ice and snow
cascading out of the mountains,
But by midsummer they’re dry,
gullies baked dry in the sun.
Travelers who spot them and go out of their way for a drink
end up in a waterless gulch and die of thirst.
Merchant caravans from Tema see them and expect water,
tourists from Sheba hope for a cool drink.
They arrive so confident—but what a disappointment!
They get there, and their faces fall!
And you, my so-called friends, are no better—
there’s nothing to you!
One look at a hard scene and you shrink in fear.
It’s not as though I asked you for anything—
I didn’t ask you for one red cent—
Nor did I beg you to go out on a limb for me.
So why all this dodging and shuffling?
24-27 “Confront me with the truth and I’ll shut up,
show me where I’ve gone off the track.
Honest words never hurt anyone,
but what’s the point of all this pious bluster?
You pretend to tell me what’s wrong with my life,
but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air.
Are people mere things to you?
Are friends just items of profit and loss?
28-30 “Look me in the eyes!
Do you think I’d lie to your face?
Think it over—no double-talk!
Think carefully—my integrity is on the line!
Can you detect anything false in what I say?
Don’t you trust me to discern good from evil?”
There’s Nothing to My Life
7 1-6 “Human life is a struggle, isn’t it?
It’s a life sentence to hard labor.
Like field hands longing for quitting time
and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday,
I’m given a life that meanders and goes nowhere—
months of aimlessness, nights of misery!
I go to bed and think, ‘How long till I can get up?’
I toss and turn as the night drags on—and I’m fed up!
I’m covered with maggots and scabs.
My skin gets scaly and hard, then oozes with pus.
My days come and go swifter than the click of knitting needles,
and then the yarn runs out—an unfinished life!
7-10 “God, don’t forget that I’m only a wisp of air!
These eyes have had their last look at goodness.
And your eyes have seen the last of me;
even while you’re looking, there’ll be nothing left to look at.
When a cloud evaporates, it’s gone for good;
those who go to the grave never come back.
They don’t return to visit their families;
never again will friends drop in for coffee.
11-16 “And so I’m not keeping one bit of this quiet,
I’m laying it all out on the table;
my complaining to high heaven is bitter, but honest.
Are you going to put a muzzle on me,
the way you quiet the sea and still the storm?
If I say, ‘I’m going to bed, then I’ll feel better.
A little nap will lift my spirits,’
You come and so scare me with nightmares
and frighten me with ghosts
That I’d rather strangle in the sheets
than face this kind of life any longer.
I hate this life! Who needs any more of this?
Let me alone! There’s nothing to my life—it’s nothing
but smoke.
17-21 “What are mortals anyway, that you bother with them,
that you even give them the time of day?
That you check up on them every morning,
looking in on them to see how they’re doing?
Let up on me, will you?
Can’t you even let me spit in peace?
Even suppose I’d sinned—how would that hurt you?
You’re responsible for every human being.
Don’t you have better things to do than pick on me?
Why make a federal case out of me?
Why don’t you just forgive my sins
and start me off with a clean slate?
The way things are going, I’ll soon be dead.
You’ll look high and low, but I won’t be around.”
Bildad’s Response
Does God Mess Up?
8 1-7 Bildad from Shuhah was next to speak:
“How can you keep on talking like this?
You’re talking nonsense, and noisy nonsense at that.
Does God mess up?
Does God Almighty ever get things backward?
It’s plain that your children sinned against him—
otherwise, why would God have punished them?
Here’s what you must do—and don’t put it off any longer:
Get down on your knees before God Almighty.
If you’re as innocent and upright as you say,
it’s not too late—he’ll come running;
he’ll set everything right again, reestablish your fortunes.
Even though you’re not much right now,
you’ll end up better than ever.
To Hang Your Life from One Thin Thread
8-19 “Put the question to our ancestors,
study what they learned from their ancestors.
For we’re newcomers at this, with a lot to learn,
and not too long to learn it.
So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what’s what,
instruct you in what they knew from experience?
Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil?
Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?
Blossoming flowers look beautiful before they’re cut or picked,
but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass.
That’s what happens to all who forget God—
all their hopes come to nothing.
They hang their life from one thin thread,
they hitch their fate to a spider web.
One jiggle and the thread breaks,
one jab and the web collapses.
Or they’re like weeds springing up in the sunshine,
invading the garden,
Spreading everywhere, overtaking the flowers,
getting a foothold even in the rocks.
But when the gardener rips them out by the roots,
the garden doesn’t miss them one bit.
The sooner the godless are gone, the better;
then good plants can grow in their place.
20-22 “There’s no way that God will reject a good person,
and there is no way he’ll help a bad one.
God will let you laugh again;
you’ll raise the roof with shouts of joy,
With your enemies thoroughly discredited,
their house of cards collapsed.”
Job Continues
How Can Mere Mortals Get Right with God?
9 1-13 Job continued by saying:
“So what’s new? I know all this.
The question is, ‘How can mere mortals get right with God?’
If we wanted to bring our case before him,
what chance would we have? Not one in a thousand!
God’s wisdom is so deep, God’s power so immense,
who could take him on and come out in one piece?
He moves mountains before they know what’s happened,
flips them on their heads on a whim.
He gives the earth a good shaking up,
rocks it down to its very foundations.
He tells the sun, ‘Don’t shine,’ and it doesn’t;
he pulls the blinds on the stars.
All by himself he stretches out the heavens
and strides on the waves of the sea.
He designed the Big Dipper and Orion,
the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.
We’ll never comprehend all the great things he does;
his miracle-surprises can’t be counted.
Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don’t see him;
quietly but surely he’s active, and I miss it.
If he steals you blind, who can stop him?
Who’s going to say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
God doesn’t hold back on his anger;
even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.
14-20 “So how could I ever argue with him,
construct a defense that would influence God?
Even though I’m innocent I could never prove it;
I can only throw myself on the Judge’s mercy.
If I called on God and he himself answered me,
then, and only then, would I believe that he’d heard me.
As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post,
beating me up, black-and-blue, for no good reason.
He won’t even let me catch my breath,
piles bitterness upon bitterness.
If it’s a question of who’s stronger, he wins, hands down!
If it’s a question of justice, who’ll serve him the subpoena?
Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me;
blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.
If God’s Not Responsible, Who Is?
21-24 “Believe me, I’m blameless.
I don’t understand what’s going on.
I hate my life!
Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude
that God destroys the good right along with the bad.
When calamity hits and brings sudden death,
he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.
He lets the wicked take over running the world,
he installs judges who can’t tell right from wrong.
If he’s not responsible, who is?
25-31 “My time is short—what’s left of my life races off
too fast for me to even glimpse the good.
My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail,
like an eagle plummeting to its prey.
Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me,
I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile,’
All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut
since it’s clear you’re not going to let up.
The verdict has already been handed down—‘Guilty!’—
so what’s the use of protests or appeals?
Even if I scrub myself all over
and wash myself with the strongest soap I can find,
It wouldn’t last—you’d push me into a pigpen, or worse,
so nobody could stand me for the stink.
32-35 “God and I are not equals; I can’t bring a case against him.
We’ll never enter a courtroom as peers.
How I wish we had an arbitrator
to step in and let me get on with life—
To break God’s death grip on me,
to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.
Then I’d speak up and state my case boldly.
As things stand, there is no way I can do it.”
To Find Some Skeleton in My Closet
10 “I can’t stand my life—I hate it!
I’m putting it all out on the table,
all the bitterness of my life—I’m holding back nothing.”
2-7 Job prayed:
“Here’s what I want to say:
Don’t, God, bring in a verdict of guilty
without letting me know the charges you’re bringing.
How does this fit into what you once called ‘good’—
giving me a hard time, spurning me,
a life you shaped by your very own hands,
and then blessing the plots of the wicked?
You don’t look at things the way we mortals do.
You’re not taken in by appearances, are you?
Unlike us, you’re not working against a deadline.
You have all eternity to work things out.
So what’s this all about, anyway—this compulsion
to dig up some dirt, to find some skeleton in my closet?
You know good and well I’m not guilty.
You also know no one can help me.
8-12 “You made me like a handcrafted piece of pottery—
and now are you going to smash me to pieces?
Don’t you remember how beautifully you worked my clay?
Will you reduce me now to a mud pie?
Oh, that marvel of conception as you stirred together
semen and ovum—
What a miracle of skin and bone,
muscle and brain!
You gave me life itself, and incredible love.
You watched and guarded every breath I took.
13-17 “But you never told me about this part.
I should have known that there was more to it—
That if I so much as missed a step, you’d notice and pounce,
wouldn’t let me get by with a thing.
If I’m truly guilty, I’m doomed.
But if I’m innocent, it’s no better—I’m still doomed.
My belly is full of bitterness.
I’m up to my ears in a swamp of affliction.
I try to make the best of it, try to brave it out,
but you’re too much for me,
relentless, like a lion on the prowl.
You line up fresh witnesses against me.
You compound your anger
and pile on the grief and pain!
18-22 “So why did you have me born?
I wish no one had ever laid eyes on me!
I wish I’d never lived—a stillborn,
buried without ever having breathed.
Isn’t it time to call it quits on my life?
Can’t you let up, and let me smile just once
Before I die and am buried,
before I’m nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground,
And banished for good to the land of the dead,
blind in the final dark?”
Zophar’s Counsel
How Wisdom Looks from the Inside
11 1-6 Now it was the turn of Zophar from Naamath:
“What a flood of words! Shouldn’t we put a stop to it?
Should this kind of loose talk be permitted?
Job, do you think you can carry on like this and we’ll say nothing?
That we’ll let you rail and mock and not step in?
You claim, ‘My doctrine is sound
and my conduct impeccable.’
How I wish God would give you a piece of his mind,
tell you what’s what!
I wish he’d show you how wisdom looks from the inside,
for true wisdom is mostly ‘inside.’
But you can be sure of this,
you haven’t gotten half of what you deserve.
7-12 “Do you think you can explain the mystery of God?
Do you think you can diagram God Almighty?
God is far higher than you can imagine,
far deeper than you can comprehend,
Stretching farther than earth’s horizons,
far wider than the endless ocean.
If he happens along, throws you in jail
then hauls you into court, can you do anything about it?
He sees through vain pretensions,
spots evil a long way off—
no one pulls the wool over his eyes!
Hollow men, hollow women, will wise up
about the same time mules learn to talk.
Reach Out to God
13-20 “Still, if you set your heart on God
and reach out to him,
If you scrub your hands of sin
and refuse to entertain evil in your home,
You’ll be able to face the world unashamed
and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless.
You’ll forget your troubles;
they’ll be like old, faded photographs.
Your world will be washed in sunshine,
every shadow dispersed by dawn.
Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again;
you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.
Expansive, without a care in the world,
you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing.
But the wicked will see none of this.
They’re headed down a dead-end road
with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”
Job Answers Zophar
Put Your Ear to the Earth
12 1-3 Job answered:
“I’m sure you speak for all the experts,
and when you die there’ll be no one left to tell us how to live.
But don’t forget that I also have a brain—
I don’t intend to play second fiddle to you.
It doesn’t take an expert to know these things.
4-6 “I’m ridiculed by my friends:
‘So that’s the man who had conversations with God!’
Ridiculed without mercy:
‘Look at the man who never did wrong!’
It’s easy for the well-to-do to point their fingers in blame,
for the well-fixed to pour scorn on the strugglers.
Crooks reside safely in high-security houses,
insolent blasphemers live in luxury;
they’ve bought and paid for a god who’ll protect them.
7-12 “But ask the animals what they think—let them teach you;
let the birds tell you what’s going on.
Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics.
Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.
Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree
that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand—
Every living soul, yes,
every breathing creature?
Isn’t this all just common sense,
as common as the sense of taste?
Do you think the elderly have a corner on wisdom,
that you have to grow old before you understand life?
From God We Learn How to Live
13-25 “True wisdom and real power belong to God;
from him we learn how to live,
and also what to live for.
If he tears something down, it’s down for good;
if he locks people up, they’re locked up for good.
If he holds back the rain, there’s a drought;
if he lets it loose, there’s a flood.
Strength and success belong to God;
both deceived and deceiver must answer to him.
He strips experts of their vaunted credentials,
exposes judges as witless fools.
He divests kings of their royal garments,
then ties a rag around their waists.
He strips priests of their robes,
and fires high officials from their jobs.
He forces trusted sages to keep silence,
deprives elders of their good sense and wisdom.
He dumps contempt on famous people,
disarms the strong and mighty.
He shines a spotlight into caves of darkness,
hauls deepest darkness into the noonday sun.
He makes nations rise and then fall,
builds up some and abandons others.
He robs world leaders of their reason,
and sends them off into no-man’s-land.
They grope in the dark without a clue,
lurching and staggering like drunks.”
I’m Taking My Case to God
13 1-5 “Yes, I’ve seen all this with my own eyes,
heard and understood it with my very own ears.
Everything you know, I know,
so I’m not taking a backseat to any of you.
I’m taking my case straight to God Almighty;
I’ve had it with you—I’m going directly to God.
You graffiti my life with lies.
You’re a bunch of pompous quacks!
I wish you’d shut your mouths—
silence is your only claim to wisdom.
6-12 “Listen now while I make my case,
consider my side of things for a change.
Or are you going to keep on lying ‘to do God a service’?
to make up stories ‘to get him off the hook’?
Why do you always take his side?
Do you think he needs a lawyer to defend himself?
How would you fare if you were in the witness stand?
Your lies might convince a jury—but would they convince God?
He’d reprimand you on the spot
if he detected a bias in your witness.
Doesn’t his splendor put you in awe?
Aren’t you afraid to speak cheap lies before him?
Your wise sayings are knickknack wisdom,
good for nothing but gathering dust.
13-19 “So hold your tongue while I have my say,
then I’ll take whatever I have coming to me.
Why do I go out on a limb like this
and take my life in my hands?
Because even if he killed me, I’d keep on hoping.
I’d defend my innocence to the very end.
Just wait, this is going to work out for the best—my salvation!
If I were guilt-stricken do you think I’d be doing this—
laying myself on the line before God?
You’d better pay attention to what I’m telling you,
listen carefully with both ears.
Now that I’ve laid out my defense,
I’m sure that I’ll be acquitted.
Can anyone prove charges against me?
I’ve said my piece. I rest my case.
Why Does God Stay Hidden and Silent?
20-27 “Please, God, I have two requests;
grant them so I’ll know I count with you:
First, lay off the afflictions;
the terror is too much for me.
Second, address me directly so I can answer you,
or let me speak and then you answer me.
How many sins have been charged against me?
Show me the list—how bad is it?
Why do you stay hidden and silent?
Why treat me like I’m your enemy?
Why kick me around like an old tin can?
Why beat a dead horse?
You compile a long list of mean things about me,
even hold me accountable for the sins of my youth.
You hobble me so I can’t move about.
You watch every move I make,
and brand me as a dangerous character.
28 “Like something rotten, human life fast decomposes,
like a moth-eaten shirt or a mildewed blouse.”
If We Die, Will We Live Again?
14 1-17 “We’re all adrift in the same boat:
too few days, too many troubles.
We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt,
transient as the shadow of a cloud.
Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps?
Why even bother hauling me into court?
There’s nothing much to us to start with;
how do you expect us to amount to anything?
Mortals have a limited life span.
You’ve already decided how long we’ll live—
you set the boundary and no one can cross it.
So why not give us a break? Ease up!
Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off.
For a tree there is always hope.
Chop it down and it still has a chance—
its roots can put out fresh sprouts.
Even if its roots are old and gnarled,
its stump long dormant,
At the first whiff of water it comes to life,
buds and grows like a sapling.
But men and women? They die and stay dead.
They breathe their last, and that’s it.
Like lakes and rivers that have dried up,
parched reminders of what once was,
So mortals lie down and never get up,
never wake up again—never.
Why don’t you just bury me alive,
get me out of the way until your anger cools?
But don’t leave me there!
Set a date when you’ll see me again.
If we humans die, will we live again? That’s my question.
All through these difficult days I keep hoping,
waiting for the final change—for resurrection!
Homesick with longing for the creature you made,
you’ll call—and I’ll answer!
You’ll watch over every step I take,
but you won’t keep track of my missteps.
My sins will be stuffed in a sack
and thrown into the sea—sunk in deep ocean.
18-22 “Meanwhile, mountains wear down
and boulders break up,
Stones wear smooth
and soil erodes,
as you relentlessly grind down our hope.
You’re too much for us.
As always, you get the last word.
We don’t like it and our faces show it,
but you send us off anyway.
If our children do well for themselves, we never know it;
if they do badly, we’re spared the hurt.
Body and soul, that’s it for us—
a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of sorrow.”
Eliphaz Attacks Again
You Trivialize Religion
15 1-16 Eliphaz of Teman spoke a second time:
“If you were truly wise, would you sound so much like a
windbag, belching hot air?
Would you talk nonsense in the middle of a serious argument,
babbling baloney?
Look at you! You trivialize religion,
turn spiritual conversation into empty gossip.
It’s your sin that taught you to talk this way.
You chose an education in fraud.
Your own words have exposed your guilt.
It’s nothing I’ve said—you’ve incriminated yourself!
Do you think you’re the first person to have to deal with these things?
Have you been around as long as the hills?
Were you listening in when God planned all this?
Do you think you’re the only one who knows anything?
What do you know that we don’t know?
What insights do you have that we’ve missed?
Gray beards and white hair back us up—
old folks who’ve been around a lot longer than you.
Are God’s promises not enough for you,
spoken so gently and tenderly?
Why do you let your emotions take over,
lashing out and spitting fire,
Pitting your whole being against God
by letting words like this come out of your mouth?
Do you think it’s possible for any mere mortal to be sinless in God’s sight,
for anyone born of a human mother to get it all together?
Why, God can’t even trust his holy angels.
He sees the flaws in the very heavens themselves,
So how much less we humans, smelly and foul,
who lap up evil like water?
Always at Odds with God
17-26 “I’ve a thing or two to tell you, so listen up!
I’m letting you in on my views;
It’s what wise men and women have always taught,
holding nothing back from what they were taught
By their parents, back in the days
when they had this land all to themselves:
Those who live by their own rules, not God’s, can expect nothing but trouble,
and the longer they live, the worse it gets.
Every little sound terrifies them.
Just when they think they have it made, disaster strikes.
They despair of things ever getting better—
they’re on the list of people for whom things always turn out for the worst.
They wander here and there,
never knowing where the next meal is coming from—
every day is doomsday!
They live in constant terror,
always with their backs up against the wall
Because they insist on shaking their fists at God,
defying God Almighty to his face,
Always and ever at odds with God,
always on the defensive.
27-35 “Even if they’re the picture of health,
trim and fit and youthful,
They’ll end up living in a ghost town
sleeping in a hovel not fit for a dog,
a ramshackle shack.
They’ll never get ahead,
never amount to much of anything.
And then death—don’t think they’ll escape that!
They’ll end up shriveled weeds,
brought down by a puff of God’s breath.
There’s a lesson here: Whoever invests in lies,
gets lies for interest,
Paid in full before the due date.
Some investment!
They’ll be like fruit frost-killed before it ripens,
like buds sheared off before they bloom.
The godless are fruitless—a barren crew;
a life built on bribes goes up in smoke.
They have sex with sin and give birth to evil.
Their lives are wombs for breeding deceit.”
Job Defends Himself
If You Were in My Shoes
16 1-5 Then Job defended himself:
“I’ve had all I can take of your talk.
What a bunch of miserable comforters!
Is there no end to your windbag speeches?
What’s your problem that you go on and on like this?
If you were in my shoes,
I could talk just like you.
I could put together a terrific tirade
and really let you have it.
But I’d never do that. I’d console and comfort,
make things better, not worse!
6-14 “When I speak up, I feel no better;
if I say nothing, that doesn’t help either.
I feel worn down.
God, you have wasted me totally—me and my family!
You’ve shriveled me like a dried prune,
showing the world that you’re against me.
My gaunt face stares back at me from the mirror,
a mute witness to your treatment of me.
Your anger tears at me,
your teeth rip me to shreds,
your eyes burn holes in me—God, my enemy!
People take one look at me and gasp.
Contemptuous, they slap me around
and gang up against me.
And God just stands there and lets them do it,
lets wicked people do what they want with me.
I was contentedly minding my business when God beat me up.
He grabbed me by the neck and threw me around.
He set me up as his target,
then rounded up archers to shoot at me.
Merciless, they shot me full of arrows;
bitter bile poured from my gut to the ground.
He burst in on me, onslaught after onslaught,
charging me like a mad bull.
15-17 “I sewed myself a shroud and wore it like a shirt;
I lay facedown in the dirt.
Now my face is blotched red from weeping;
look at the dark shadows under my eyes,
Even though I’ve never hurt a soul
and my prayers are sincere!
The One Who Represents Mortals Before God
18-22 “O Earth, don’t cover up the wrong done to me!
Don’t muffle my cry!
There must be Someone in heaven who knows the truth about me,
in highest heaven, some Attorney who can clear my name—
My Champion, my Friend,
while I’m weeping my eyes out before God.
I appeal to the One who represents mortals before God
as a neighbor stands up for a neighbor.
“Only a few years are left
before I set out on the road of no return.”
17 1-2 “My spirit is broken,
my days used up,
my grave dug and waiting.
See how these mockers close in on me?
How long do I have to put up with their insolence?
3-5 “O God, pledge your support for me.
Give it to me in writing, with your signature.
You’re the only one who can do it!
These people are so useless!
You know firsthand how stupid they can be.
You wouldn’t let them have the last word, would you?
Those who betray their own friends
leave a legacy of abuse to their children.
6-8 “God, you’ve made me the talk of the town—
people spit in my face;
I can hardly see from crying so much;
I’m nothing but skin and bones.
Decent people can’t believe what they’re seeing;
the good-hearted wake up and insist I’ve given up on God.
9 “But principled people hold tight, keep a firm grip on life,
sure that their clean, pure hands will get stronger and stronger!
10-16 “Maybe you’d all like to start over,
to try it again, the bunch of you.
So far I haven’t come across one scrap
of wisdom in anything you’ve said.
My life’s about over. All my plans are shattered,
all my hopes are snuffed out—
My hope that night would turn into day,
my hope that dawn was about to break.
If all I have to look forward to is a home in the graveyard,
if my only hope for comfort is a well-built coffin,
If a family reunion means going six feet under,
and the only family that shows up is worms,
Do you call that hope?
Who on earth could find any hope in that?
No. If hope and I are to be buried together,
I suppose you’ll all come to the double funeral!”
Bildad’s Second Attack
Plunged from Light into Darkness
18 1-4 Bildad from Shuhah chimed in:
“How monotonous these word games are getting!
Get serious! We need to get down to business.
Why do you treat your friends like slow-witted animals?
You look down on us as if we don’t know anything.
Why are you working yourself up like this?
Do you want the world redesigned to suit you?
Should reality be suspended to accommodate you?
5-21 “Here’s the rule: The light of the wicked is put out.
Their flame dies down and is extinguished.
Their house goes dark—
every lamp in the place goes out.
Their strong strides weaken, falter;
they stumble into their own traps.
They get all tangled up
in their own red tape,
Their feet are grabbed and caught,
their necks in a noose.
They trip on ropes they’ve hidden,
and fall into pits they’ve dug themselves.
Terrors come at them from all sides.
They run dazed and confused.
The hungry grave is ready
to gobble them up for supper,
To lay them out for a gourmet meal,
a treat for ravenous Death.
They are snatched from their home sweet home
and marched straight to the death house.
Their lives go up in smoke;
acid rain soaks their ruins.
Their roots rot
and their branches wither.
They’ll never again be remembered—
nameless in unmarked graves.
They are plunged from light into darkness,
banished from the world.
And they leave empty-handed—not one single child—
nothing to show for their life on this earth.
Westerners are aghast at their fate,
easterners are horrified:
‘Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people.
This is how the God-ignorant end up!’”
Job Answers Bildad
I Call for Help and No One Bothers
19 1-6 Job answered:
“How long are you going to keep battering away at me,
pounding me with these harangues?
Time after time after time you jump all over me.
Do you have no conscience, abusing me like this?
Even if I have, somehow or other, gotten off the track,
what business is that of yours?
Why do you insist on putting me down,
using my troubles as a stick to beat me?
Tell it to God—he’s the one behind all this,
he’s the one who dragged me into this mess.
7-12 “Look at me—I shout ‘Murder!’ and I’m ignored;
I call for help and no one bothers to stop.
God threw a barricade across my path—I’m stymied;
he turned out all the lights—I’m stuck in the dark.
He destroyed my reputation,
robbed me of all self-respect.
He tore me apart piece by piece—I’m ruined!
Then he yanked out hope by the roots.
He’s angry with me—oh, how he’s angry!
He treats me like his worst enemy.
He has launched a major campaign against me,
using every weapon he can think of,
coming at me from all sides at once.
I Know That God Lives
13-20 “God alienated my family from me;
everyone who knows me avoids me.
My relatives and friends have all left;
houseguests forget I ever existed.
The servant girls treat me like a deadbeat off the street,
look at me like they’ve never seen me before.
I call my attendant and he ignores me,
ignores me even though I plead with him.
My wife can’t stand to be around me anymore.
I’m repulsive to my family.
Even street urchins despise me;
when I come out, they taunt and jeer.
Everyone I’ve ever been close to abhors me;
my dearest loved ones reject me.
I’m nothing but a bag of bones;
my life hangs by a thread.
21-22 “Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me.
God has come down hard on me!
Do you have to be hard on me, too?
Don’t you ever tire of abusing me?
23-27 “If only my words were written in a book—
better yet, chiseled in stone!
Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—
and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.
And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—
see God myself, with my very own eyes.
Oh, how I long for that day!
28-29 “If you’re thinking, ‘How can we get through to him,
get him to see that his trouble is all his own fault?’
Forget it. Start worrying about yourselves.
Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment,
for judgment is most certainly on the way.”
Zophar Attacks Job—The Second Round
Savoring Evil as a Delicacy
20 1-3 Zophar from Naamath again took his turn:
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!
You’ve put my teeth on edge, my stomach in a knot.
How dare you insult my intelligence like this!
Well, here’s a piece of my mind!
4-11 “Don’t you even know the basics,
how things have been since the earliest days,
when Adam and Eve were first placed on earth?
The good times of the wicked are short-lived;
godless joy is only momentary.
The evil might become world famous,
strutting at the head of the celebrity parade,
But still end up in a pile of dung.
Acquaintances look at them with disgust and say, ‘What’s that?’
They fly off like a dream that can’t be remembered,
like a shadowy illusion that vanishes in the light.
Though once notorious public figures, now they’re nobodies,
unnoticed, whether they come or go.
Their children will go begging on skid row,
and they’ll have to give back their ill-gotten gain.
Right in the prime of life,
and youthful and vigorous, they’ll die.
12-19 “They savor evil as a delicacy,
roll it around on their tongues,
Prolong the flavor, a dalliance in decadence—
real gourmets of evil!
But then they get stomach cramps,
a bad case of food poisoning.
They gag on all that rich food;
God makes them vomit it up.
They gorge on evil, make a diet of that poison—
a deadly diet—and it kills them.
No quiet picnics for them beside gentle streams
with fresh-baked bread and cheese, and tall, cool drinks.
They spit out their food half-chewed,
unable to relax and enjoy anything they’ve worked for.
And why? Because they exploited the poor,
took what never belonged to them.
20-29 “Such God-denying people are never content with what they have or who they are;
their greed drives them relentlessly.
They plunder everything
but they can’t hold on to any of it.
Just when they think they have it all, disaster strikes;
they’re served up a plate full of misery.
When they’ve filled their bellies with that,
God gives them a taste of his anger,
and they get to chew on that for a while.
As they run for their lives from one disaster,
they run smack into another.
They’re knocked around from pillar to post,
beaten to within an inch of their lives.
They’re trapped in a house of horrors,
and see their loot disappear down a black hole.
Their lives are a total loss—
not a penny to their name, not so much as a bean.
God will strip them of their sin-soaked clothes
and hang their dirty laundry out for all to see.
Life is a complete wipeout for them,
nothing surviving God’s wrath.
There! That’s God’s blueprint for the wicked—
what they have to look forward to.”
Job’s Response
Why Do the Wicked Have It So Good?
21 1-3 Job replied:
“Now listen to me carefully, please listen,
at least do me the favor of listening.
Put up with me while I have my say—
then you can mock me later to your heart’s content.
4-16 “It’s not you I’m complaining to—it’s God.
Is it any wonder I’m getting fed up with his silence?
Take a good look at me. Aren’t you appalled by what’s happened?
No! Don’t say anything. I can do without your comments.
When I look back, I go into shock,
my body is racked with spasms.
Why do the wicked have it so good,
live to a ripe old age and get rich?
They get to see their children succeed,
get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.
Their homes are peaceful and free from fear;
they never experience God’s disciplining rod.
Their bulls breed with great vigor
and their cows calve without fail.
They send their children out to play
and watch them frolic like spring lambs.
They make music with fiddles and flutes,
have good times singing and dancing.
They have a long life on easy street,
and die painlessly in their sleep.
They say to God, ‘Get lost!
We’ve no interest in you or your ways.
Why should we have dealings with God Almighty?
What’s there in it for us?’
But they’re wrong, dead wrong—they’re not gods.
It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!
17-21 “Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail,
or disaster strikes,
or they get their just deserts?
How often are they blown away by bad luck?
Not very often.
You might say, ‘God is saving up the punishment for their children.’
I say, ‘Give it to them right now so they’ll know what they’ve done!’
They deserve to experience the effects of their evil,
feel the full force of God’s wrath firsthand.
What do they care what happens to their families
after they’re safely tucked away in the grave?
Fancy Funerals with All the Trimmings
22-26 “But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs?
He’s dealing with matters that are way over our heads.
Some people die in the prime of life,
with everything going for them—
fat and sassy.
Others die bitter and bereft,
never getting a taste of happiness.
They’re laid out side by side in the cemetery,
where the worms can’t tell one from the other.
27-33 “I’m not deceived. I know what you’re up to,
the plans you’re cooking up to bring me down.
Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces,
that the achievements of the wicked collapse.
Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it?
Have you not listened to their stories
Of evil men and women who got off scot-free,
who never had to pay for their wickedness?
Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes?
Did they ever have to face the music?
Not likely—they’re given fancy funerals
with all the trimmings,
Gently lowered into expensive graves,
with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.
34 “So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense?
Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies.”
Eliphaz Attacks Job—The Third Round
Come to Terms with God
22 1-11 Once again Eliphaz the Temanite took up his theme:
“Are any of us strong enough to give God a hand,
or smart enough to give him advice?
So what if you were righteous—would God Almighty even notice?
Even if you gave a perfect performance, do you think
he’d applaud?
Do you think it’s because he cares about your purity
that he’s disciplining you, putting you on the spot?
Hardly! It’s because you’re a first-class moral failure,
because there’s no end to your sins.
When people came to you for help,
you took the shirts off their backs, exploited their helplessness.
You wouldn’t so much as give a drink to the thirsty,
or food, not even a scrap, to the hungry.
And there you sat, strong and honored by everyone,
surrounded by immense wealth!
You turned poor widows away from your door;
heartless, you crushed orphans.
Now you’re the one trapped in terror, paralyzed by fear.
Suddenly the tables have turned!
How do you like living in the dark, sightless,
up to your neck in flood waters?
12-14 “You agree, don’t you, that God is in charge?
He runs the universe—just look at the stars!
Yet you dare raise questions: ‘What does God know?
From that distance and darkness, how can he judge?
He roams the heavens wrapped in clouds,
so how can he see us?’
15-18 “Are you going to persist in that tired old line
that wicked men and women have always used?
Where did it get them? They died young,
flash floods sweeping them off to their doom.
They told God, ‘Get lost!
What good is God Almighty to us?’
And yet it was God who gave them everything they had.
It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!
19-20 “Good people see bad people crash, and call for a celebration.
Relieved, they crow,
‘At last! Our enemies—wiped out.
Everything they had and stood for is up in smoke!’
21-25 “Give in to God, come to terms with him
and everything will turn out just fine.
Let him tell you what to do;
take his words to heart.
Come back to God Almighty
and he’ll rebuild your life.
Clean house of everything evil.
Relax your grip on your money
and abandon your gold-plated luxury.
God Almighty will be your treasure,
more wealth than you can imagine.
26-30 “You’ll take delight in God, the Mighty One,
and look to him joyfully, boldly.
You’ll pray to him and he’ll listen;
he’ll help you do what you’ve promised.
You’ll decide what you want and it will happen;
your life will be bathed in light.
To those who feel low you’ll say, ‘Chin up! Be brave!’
and God will save them.
Yes, even the guilty will escape,
escape through God’s grace in your life.”
Job’s Defense
I’m Completely in the Dark
23 1-7 Job replied:
“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.
My complaint is legitimate.
God has no right to treat me like this—
it isn’t fair!
If I knew where on earth to find him,
I’d go straight to him.
I’d lay my case before him face-to-face,
give him all my arguments firsthand.
I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking,
discover what’s going on in his head.
Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me?
No, he’d take me seriously.
He’d see a straight-living man standing before him;
my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.
8-9 “I travel East looking for him—I find no one;
then West, but not a trace;
I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks;
then South, but not even a glimpse.
10-12 “But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.
He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.
I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints,
not once swerving from his way.
I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken,
and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.
13-17 “But he is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him?
He does what he wants, when he wants to.
He’ll complete in detail what he’s decided about me,
and whatever else he determines to do.
Is it any wonder that I dread meeting him?
Whenever I think about it, I get scared all over again.
God makes my heart sink!
God Almighty gives me the shudders!
I’m completely in the dark,
I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”
An Illusion of Security
24 1-12 “But if Judgment Day isn’t hidden from the Almighty,
why are we kept in the dark?
There are people out there getting by with murder—
stealing and lying and cheating.
They rip off the poor
and exploit the unfortunate,
Push the helpless into the ditch,
bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
The poor, like stray dogs and cats,
scavenge for food in back alleys.
They sort through the garbage of the rich,
eke out survival on handouts.
Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street;
they’ve no place to lay their heads.
Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen,
they huddle in makeshift shelters.
Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them;
the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
They go about patched and threadbare;
even the hard workers go hungry.
No matter how backbreaking their labor,
they can never make ends meet.
People are dying right and left, groaning in torment.
The wretched cry out for help
and God does nothing, acts like nothing’s wrong!
13-17 “Then there are those who avoid light at all costs,
who scorn the light-filled path.
When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up—
kills the poor and robs the defenseless.
Sexual predators can’t wait for nightfall,
thinking, ‘No one can see us now.’
Burglars do their work at night,
but keep well out of sight through the day.
They want nothing to do with light.
Deep darkness is morning for that bunch;
they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.
18-25 “They are scraps of wood floating on the water—
useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.
As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun,
sinners disappear in the grave.
The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them—
nothing that is evil lasts.
Unscrupulous,
they prey on those less fortunate.
However much they strut and flex their muscles,
there’s nothing to them. They’re hollow.
They may have an illusion of security,
but God has his eye on them.
They may get their brief successes,
but then it’s over, nothing to show for it.
Like yesterday’s newspaper,
they’re used to wrap up the garbage.
You’re free to try to prove me a liar,
but you won’t be able to do it.”
Bildad’s Third Attack
Even the Stars Aren’t Perfect in God’s Eyes
25 1-6 Bildad the Shuhite again attacked Job:
“God is sovereign, God is fearsome—
everything in the cosmos fits and works in his plan.
Can anyone count his angel armies?
Is there any place where his light doesn’t shine?
How can a mere mortal presume to stand up to God?
How can an ordinary person pretend to be guiltless?
Why, even the moon has its flaws,
even the stars aren’t perfect in God’s eyes,
So how much less, plain men and women—
slugs and maggots by comparison!”
Job’s Defense
God Sets a Boundary Between Light and Darkness
26 1-4 Job answered:
“Well, you’ve certainly been a great help to a helpless man!
You came to the rescue just in the nick of time!
What wonderful advice you’ve given to a mixed-up man!
What amazing insights you’ve provided!
Where in the world did you learn all this?
How did you become so inspired?
5-14 “All the buried dead are in torment,
and all who’ve been drowned in the deep, deep sea.
Hell is ripped open before God,
graveyards dug up and exposed.
He spreads the skies over unformed space,
hangs the earth out in empty space.
He pours water into cumulus cloud-bags
and the bags don’t burst.
He makes the moon wax and wane,
putting it through its phases.
He draws the horizon out over the ocean,
sets a boundary between light and darkness.
Thunder crashes and rumbles in the skies.
Listen! It’s God raising his voice!
By his power he stills sea storms,
by his wisdom he tames sea monsters.
With one breath he clears the sky,
with one finger he crushes the sea serpent.
And this is only the beginning,
a mere whisper of his rule.
Whatever would we do if he really raised his voice!”
No Place to Hide
27 1-6 Having waited for Zophar, Job now resumed his defense:
“God-Alive! He’s denied me justice!
God Almighty! He’s ruined my life!
But for as long as I draw breath,
and for as long as God breathes life into me,
I refuse to say one word that isn’t true.
I refuse to confess to any charge that’s false.
There is no way I’ll ever agree to your accusations.
I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life.
I’m holding fast to my integrity and not loosening my grip—
and, believe me, I’ll never regret it.
7-10 “Let my enemy be exposed as wicked!
Let my adversary be proven guilty!
What hope do people without God have when life is cut short?
when God puts an end to life?
Do you think God will listen to their cry for help
when disaster hits?
What interest have they ever shown in the Almighty?
Have they ever been known to pray before?
11-12 “I’ve given you a clear account of God in action,
suppressed nothing regarding God Almighty.
The evidence is right before you. You can all see it for yourselves,
so why do you keep talking nonsense?
13-23 “I’ll quote your own words back to you:
“‘This is how God treats the wicked,
this is what evil people can expect from God Almighty:
Their children—all of them—will die violent deaths;
they’ll never have enough bread to put on the table.
They’ll be wiped out by the plague,
and none of the widows will shed a tear when they’re gone.
Even if they make a lot of money
and are resplendent in the latest fashions,
It’s the good who will end up wearing the clothes
and the decent who will divide up the money.
They build elaborate houses
that won’t survive a single winter.
They go to bed wealthy
and wake up poor.
Terrors pour in on them like flash floods—
a tornado snatches them away in the middle of the night,
A cyclone sweeps them up—gone!
Not a trace of them left, not even a footprint.
Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them;
they run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide—
Pummeled by the weather,
blown to smithereens by the storm.’”
Where Does Wisdom Come From?
28 1-11 “We all know how silver seams the rocks,
we’ve seen the stuff from which gold is refined,
We’re aware of how iron is dug out of the ground
and copper is smelted from rock.
Miners penetrate the earth’s darkness,
searching the roots of the mountains for ore,
digging away in the suffocating darkness.
Far from civilization, far from the traffic,
they cut a shaft,
and are lowered into it by ropes.
Earth’s surface is a field for grain,
but its depths are a forge
Firing sapphires from stones
and chiseling gold from rocks.
Vultures are blind to its riches,
hawks never lay eyes on it.
Wild animals are oblivious to it,
lions don’t know it’s there.
Miners hammer away at the rock,
they uproot the mountains.
They tunnel through the rock
and find all kinds of beautiful gems.
They discover the origins of rivers,
and bring earth’s secrets to light.
12-19 “But where, oh where, will they find Wisdom?
Where does Insight hide?
Mortals don’t have a clue,
haven’t the slightest idea where to look.
Earth’s depths say, ‘It’s not here’;
ocean deeps echo, ‘Never heard of it.’
It can’t be bought with the finest gold;
no amount of silver can get it.
Even famous Ophir gold can’t buy it,
not even diamonds and sapphires.
Neither gold nor emeralds are comparable;
extravagant jewelry can’t touch it.
Pearl necklaces and ruby bracelets—why bother?
None of this is even a down payment on Wisdom!
Pile gold and African diamonds as high as you will,
they can’t hold a candle to Wisdom.
20-22 “So where does Wisdom come from?
And where does Insight live?
It can’t be found by looking, no matter
how deep you dig, no matter how high you fly.
If you search through the graveyard and question the dead,
they say, ‘We’ve only heard rumors of it.’
23-28 “God alone knows the way to Wisdom,
he knows the exact place to find it.
He knows where everything is on earth,
he sees everything under heaven.
After he commanded the winds to blow
and measured out the waters,
Arranged for the rain
and set off explosions of thunder and lightning,
He focused on Wisdom,
made sure it was all set and tested and ready.
Then he addressed the human race: ‘Here it is!
Fear-of-the-Lord—that’s Wisdom,
and Insight means shunning evil.’”
When God Was Still by My Side
29 1-6 Job now resumed his response:
“Oh, how I long for the good old days,
when God took such very good care of me.
He always held a lamp before me
and I walked through the dark by its light.
Oh, how I miss those golden years
when God’s friendship graced my home,
When the Mighty One was still by my side
and my children were all around me,
When everything was going my way,
and nothing seemed too difficult.
7-20 “When I walked downtown
and sat with my friends in the public square,
Young and old greeted me with respect;
I was honored by everyone in town.
When I spoke, everyone listened;
they hung on my every word.
People who knew me spoke well of me;
my reputation went ahead of me.
I was known for helping people in trouble
and standing up for those who were down on their luck.
The dying blessed me,
and the bereaved were cheered by my visits.
All my dealings with people were good.
I was known for being fair to everyone I met.
I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame,
Father to the needy,
and champion of abused aliens.
I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of the neck
and made them give back what they’d stolen.
I thought, ‘I’ll die peacefully in my own bed,
grateful for a long and full life,
A life deep-rooted and well-watered,
a life limber and dew-fresh,
My soul soaked through with glory
and my body robust until the day I die.’
21-25 “Men and women listened when I spoke,
hung expectantly on my every word.
After I spoke, they’d be quiet,
taking it all in.
They welcomed my counsel like spring rain,
drinking it all in.
When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it;
their faces lit up, their troubles took wing!
I was their leader, establishing the mood
and setting the pace by which they lived.
Where I led, they followed.”
The Pain Never Lets Up
30 1-8 “But no longer. Now I’m the butt of their jokes—
young thugs! whippersnappers!
Why, I considered their fathers
mere inexperienced pups.
But they are worse than dogs—good for nothing,
stray, mangy animals,
Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys,
howling at the moon;
Homeless ragamuffins
chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans;
Outcasts from the community,
cursed as dangerous delinquents.
Nobody would put up with them;
they were driven from the neighborhood.
You could hear them out there at the edge of town,
yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards,
A gang of beggars and no-names,
thrown out on their ears.
9-15 “But now I’m the one they’re after,
mistreating me, taunting and mocking.
They abhor me, they abuse me.
How dare those scoundrels—they spit in my face!
Now that God has undone me and left me in a heap,
they hold nothing back. Anything goes.
They come at me from my blind side,
trip me up, then jump on me while I’m down.
They throw every kind of obstacle in my path,
determined to ruin me—
and no one lifts a finger to help me!
They violate my broken body,
trample through the rubble of my ruined life.
Terrors assault me—
my dignity in shreds,
salvation up in smoke.
16-19 “And now my life drains out,
as suffering seizes and grips me hard.
Night gnaws at my bones;
the pain never lets up.
I am tied hand and foot, my neck in a noose.
I twist and turn.
Thrown facedown in the muck,
I’m a muddy mess, inside and out.
What Did I Do to Deserve This?
20-23 “I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer!
I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!
You’ve turned into my tormenter—
you slap me around, knock me about.
You raised me up so I was riding high
and then dropped me, and I crashed.
I know you’re determined to kill me,
to put me six feet under.
24-31 “What did I do to deserve this?
Did I ever hit anyone who was calling for help?
Haven’t I wept for those who live a hard life,
been heartsick over the lot of the poor?
But where did it get me?
I expected good but evil showed up.
I looked for light but darkness fell.
My stomach’s in a constant churning, never settles down.
Each day confronts me with more suffering.
I walk under a black cloud. The sun is gone.
I stand in the congregation and protest.
I howl with the jackals,
I hoot with the owls.
I’m black-and-blue all over,
burning up with fever.
My fiddle plays nothing but the blues;
my mouth harp wails laments.”
What Can I Expect from God?
31 1-4 “I made a solemn pact with myself
never to undress a girl with my eyes.
So what can I expect from God?
What do I deserve from God Almighty above?
Isn’t calamity reserved for the wicked?
Isn’t disaster supposed to strike those who do wrong?
Isn’t God looking, observing how I live?
Doesn’t he mark every step I take?
5-8 “Have I walked hand in hand with falsehood,
or hung out in the company of deceit?
Weigh me on a set of honest scales
so God has proof of my integrity.
If I’ve strayed off the straight and narrow,
wanted things I had no right to,
messed around with sin,
Go ahead, then—
give my portion to someone who deserves it.
9-12 “If I’ve let myself be seduced by a woman
and conspired to go to bed with her,
Fine, my wife has every right to go ahead
and sleep with anyone she wants to.
For disgusting behavior like that,
I’d deserve the worst punishment you could hand out.
Adultery is a fire that burns the house down;
I wouldn’t expect anything I count dear to survive it.
13-15 “Have I ever been unfair to my employees
when they brought a complaint to me?
What, then, will I do when God confronts me?
When God examines my books, what can I say?
Didn’t the same God who made me, make them?
Aren’t we all made of the same stuff, equals before God?
16-18 “Have I ignored the needs of the poor,
turned my back on the indigent,
Taken care of my own needs and fed my own face
while they languished?
Wasn’t my home always open to them?
Weren’t they always welcome at my table?
19-20 “Have I ever left a poor family shivering in the cold
when they had no warm clothes?
Didn’t the poor bless me when they saw me coming,
knowing I’d brought coats from my closet?
21-23 “If I’ve ever used my strength and influence
to take advantage of the unfortunate,
Go ahead, break both my arms,
cut off all my fingers!
The fear of God has kept me from these things—
how else could I ever face him?
If Only Someone Would Give Me a Hearing!
24-28 “Did I set my heart on making big money
or worship at the bank?
Did I boast about my wealth,
show off because I was well-off?
Was I ever so awed by the sun’s brilliance
and moved by the moon’s beauty
That I let myself become seduced by them
and worshiped them on the sly?
If so, I would deserve the worst of punishments,
for I would be betraying God himself.
29-30 “Did I ever gloat over my enemy’s ruin?
Or get excited over my rival’s bad luck?
No, I never said a word of detraction,
never cursed them, even under my breath.
31-34 “Didn’t those who worked for me say,
‘He fed us well. There were always second helpings’?
And no stranger ever had to spend a night in the street;
my doors were always open to travelers.
Did I hide my sin the way Adam did,
or conceal my guilt behind closed doors
Because I was afraid what people would say,
fearing the gossip of the neighbors so much
That I turned myself into a recluse?
You know good and well that I didn’t.
35-37 “Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing!
I’ve signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer!
I want to see my indictment in writing.
Anyone’s welcome to read my defense;
I’ll write it on a poster and carry it around town.
I’m prepared to account for every move I’ve ever made—
to anyone and everyone, prince or pauper.
38-40 “If the very ground that I farm accuses me,
if even the furrows fill with tears from my abuse,
If I’ve ever raped the earth for my own profit
or dispossessed its rightful owners,
Then curse it with thistles instead of wheat,
curse it with weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job to his three friends were finished.
Elihu Speaks
God’s Spirit Makes Wisdom Possible
32 1-5 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch—wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God’s. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.
6-10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said:
“I’m a young man,
and you are all old and experienced.
That’s why I kept quiet
and held back from joining the discussion.
I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell.
The longer you live, the wiser you become.’
But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person,
the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible.
The experts have no corner on wisdom;
getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense.
So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well!
I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.
11-14 “I hung on your words while you spoke,
listened carefully to your arguments.
While you searched for the right words,
I was all ears.
And now what have you proved? Nothing.
Nothing you say has even touched Job.
And don’t excuse yourselves by saying, ‘We’ve done our best.
Now it’s up to God to talk sense into him.’
Job has yet to contend with me.
And rest assured, I won’t be using your arguments!
15-22 “Do you three have nothing else to say?
Of course you don’t! You’re total frauds!
Why should I wait any longer,
now that you’re stopped dead in your tracks?
I’m ready to speak my piece. That’s right!
It’s my turn—and it’s about time!
I’ve got a lot to say,
and I’m bursting to say it.
The pressure has built up, like lava beneath the earth.
I’m a volcano ready to blow.
I have to speak—I have no choice.
I have to say what’s on my heart,
And I’m going to say it straight—
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I was never any good at bootlicking;
my Maker would make short work of me if I started in now!”
33 1-4 “So please, Job, hear me out,
honor me by listening to me.
What I’m about to say
has been carefully thought out.
I have no ulterior motives in this;
I’m speaking honestly from my heart.
The Spirit of God made me what I am,
the breath of God Almighty gave me life!
God Always Answers, One Way or Another
5-7 “And if you think you can prove me wrong, do it.
Lay out your arguments. Stand up for yourself!
Look, I’m human—no better than you;
we’re both made of the same kind of mud.
So let’s work this through together;
don’t let my aggressiveness overwhelm you.
8-11 “Here’s what you said.
I heard you say it with my own ears.
You said, ‘I’m pure—I’ve done nothing wrong.
Believe me, I’m clean—my conscience is clear.
But God keeps picking on me;
he treats me like I’m his enemy.
He’s thrown me in jail;
he keeps me under constant surveillance.’
12-14 “But let me tell you, Job, you’re wrong, dead wrong!
God is far greater than any human.
So how dare you haul him into court,
and then complain that he won’t answer your charges?
God always answers, one way or another,
even when people don’t recognize his presence.
15-18 “In a dream, for instance, a vision at night,
when men and women are deep in sleep,
fast asleep in their beds—
God opens their ears
and impresses them with warnings
To turn them back from something bad they’re planning,
from some reckless choice,
And keep them from an early grave,
from the river of no return.
19-22 “Or, God might get their attention through pain,
by throwing them on a bed of suffering,
So they can’t stand the sight of food,
have no appetite for their favorite treats.
They lose weight, wasting away to nothing,
reduced to a bag of bones.
They hang on the cliff-edge of death,
knowing the next breath may be their last.
23-25 “But even then an angel could come,
a champion—there are thousands of them!—
to take up your cause,
A messenger who would mercifully intervene,
canceling the death sentence with the words:
‘I’ve come up with the ransom!’
Before you know it, you’re healed,
the very picture of health!
26-28 “Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God’s delight!
You’ll see God’s smile and celebrate,
finding yourself set right with God.
You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet,
testifying, ‘I messed up my life—
and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it.
But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.
I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’
29-30 “This is the way God works.
Over and over again
He pulls our souls back from certain destruction
so we’ll see the light—and live in the light!
31-33 “Keep listening, Job.
Don’t interrupt—I’m not finished yet.
But if you think of anything I should know, tell me.
There’s nothing I’d like better than to see your name cleared.
Meanwhile, keep listening. Don’t distract me with interruptions.
I’m going to teach you the basics of wisdom.”
Elihu’s Second Speech
It’s Impossible for God to Do Evil
34 1-4 Elihu continued:
“So, my fine friends—listen to me,
and see what you think of this.
Isn’t it just common sense—
as common as the sense of taste—
To put our heads together
and figure out what’s going on here?
5-9 “We’ve all heard Job say, ‘I’m in the right,
but God won’t give me a fair trial.
When I defend myself, I’m called a liar to my face.
I’ve done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway.’
Have you ever heard anything to beat this?
Does nothing faze this man Job?
Do you think he’s spent too much time in bad company,
hanging out with the wrong crowd,
So that now he’s parroting their line:
‘It doesn’t pay to try to please God’?
10-15 “You’re veterans in dealing with these matters;
certainly we’re of one mind on this.
It’s impossible for God to do anything evil;
no way can the Mighty One do wrong.
He makes us pay for exactly what we’ve done—no more, no less.
Our chickens always come home to roost.
It’s impossible for God to do anything wicked,
for the Mighty One to subvert justice.
He’s the one who runs the earth!
He cradles the whole world in his hand!
If he decided to hold his breath,
every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.
God Is Working Behind the Scenes
16-20 “So, Job, use your head;
this is all pretty obvious.
Can someone who hates order, keep order?
Do you dare condemn the righteous, mighty God?
Doesn’t God always tell it like it is,
exposing corrupt rulers as scoundrels and criminals?
Does he play favorites with the rich and famous and slight the poor?
Isn’t he equally responsible to everybody?
Don’t people who deserve it die without notice?
Don’t wicked rulers tumble to their doom?
When the so-called great ones are wiped out,
we know God is working behind the scenes.
21-28 “He has his eyes on every man and woman.
He doesn’t miss a trick.
There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough,
to hide those who do evil.
God doesn’t need to gather any more evidence;
their sin is an open-and-shut case.
He deposes the so-called high and mighty without asking questions,
and replaces them at once with others.
Nobody gets by with anything; overnight,
judgment is signed, sealed, and delivered.
He punishes the wicked for their wickedness
out in the open where everyone can see it,
Because they quit following him,
no longer even thought about him or his ways.
Their apostasy was announced by the cry of the poor;
the cry of the afflicted got God’s attention.
Because You Refuse to Live on God’s Terms
29-30 “If God is silent, what’s that to you?
If he turns his face away, what can you do about it?
But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling,
so that those who hate God won’t take over
and ruin people’s lives.
31-33 “So why don’t you simply confess to God?
Say, ‘I sinned, but I’ll sin no more.
Teach me to see what I still don’t see.
Whatever evil I’ve done, I’ll do it no more.’
Just because you refuse to live on God’s terms,
do you think he should start living on yours?
You choose. I can’t do it for you.
Tell me what you decide.
34-37 “All right-thinking people say—
and the wise who have listened to me concur—
‘Job is an ignoramus.
He talks utter nonsense.’
Job, you need to be pushed to the wall and called to account
for wickedly talking back to God the way you have.
You’ve compounded your original sin
by rebelling against God’s discipline,
Defiantly shaking your fist at God,
piling up indictments against the Almighty One.”
Elihu’s Third Speech
When God Makes Creation a Classroom
35 1-3 Elihu lit into Job again:
“Does this kind of thing make any sense?
First you say, ‘I’m perfectly innocent before God.’
And then you say, ‘It doesn’t make a bit of difference
whether I’ve sinned or not.’
4-8 “Well, I’m going to show you
that you don’t know what you’re talking about,
neither you nor your friends.
Look up at the sky. Take a long hard look.
See those clouds towering above you?
If you sin, what difference could that make to God?
No matter how much you sin, will it matter to him?
Even if you’re good, what would God get out of that?
Do you think he’s dependent on your accomplishments?
The only ones who care whether you’re good or bad
are your family and friends and neighbors.
God’s not dependent on your behavior.
9-15 “When times get bad, people cry out for help.
They cry for relief from being kicked around,
But never give God a thought when things go well,
when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts,
When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom,
using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.
People are arrogantly indifferent to God—
until, of course, they’re in trouble,
and then God is indifferent to them.
There’s nothing behind such prayers except panic;
the Almighty pays them no mind.
So why would he notice you
just because you say you’re tired of waiting to be heard,
Or waiting for him to get good and angry
and do something about the world’s problems?
16 “Job, you talk sheer nonsense—
nonstop nonsense!”
Those Who Learn from Their Suffering
36 1-4 Here Elihu took a deep breath, but kept going:
“Stay with me a little longer. I’ll convince you.
There’s still more to be said on God’s side.
I learned all this firsthand from the Source;
everything I know about justice I owe to my Maker himself.
Trust me, I’m giving you undiluted truth;
believe me, I know these things inside and out.
5-15 “It’s true that God is all-powerful,
but he doesn’t bully innocent people.
For the wicked, though, it’s a different story—
he doesn’t give them the time of day,
but champions the rights of their victims.
He never takes his eyes off the righteous;
he honors them lavishly, promotes them endlessly.
When things go badly,
when affliction and suffering descend,
God tells them where they’ve gone wrong,
shows them how their pride has caused their trouble.
He forces them to heed his warning,
tells them they must repent of their bad life.
If they obey and serve him,
they’ll have a good, long life on easy street.
But if they disobey, they’ll be cut down in their prime
and never know the first thing about life.
Angry people without God pile grievance upon grievance,
always blaming others for their troubles.
Living it up in sexual excesses,
virility wasted, they die young.
But those who learn from their suffering,
God delivers from their suffering.
Obsessed with Putting the Blame on God
16-21 “Oh, Job, don’t you see how God’s wooing you
from the jaws of danger?
How he’s drawing you into wide-open places—
inviting you to feast at a table laden with blessings?
And here you are laden with the guilt of the wicked,
obsessed with putting the blame on God!
Don’t let your great riches mislead you;
don’t think you can bribe your way out of this.
Did you plan to buy your way out of this?
Not on your life!
And don’t think that night,
when people sleep off their troubles,
will bring you any relief.
Above all, don’t make things worse with more evil—
that’s what’s behind your suffering as it is!
22-25 “Do you have any idea how powerful God is?
Have you ever heard of a teacher like him?
Has anyone ever had to tell him what to do,
or correct him, saying, ‘You did that all wrong!’?
Remember, then, to praise his workmanship,
which is so often celebrated in song.
Everybody sees it;
nobody is too far away to see it.
No One Can Escape from God
26 “Take a long, hard look. See how great he is—infinite,
greater than anything you could ever imagine or figure out!
27-33 “He pulls water up out of the sea,
distills it, and fills up his rain-cloud cisterns.
Then the skies open up
and pour out soaking showers on everyone.
Does anyone have the slightest idea how this happens?
How he arranges the clouds, how he speaks in thunder?
Just look at that lightning, his sky-filling light show
illumining the dark depths of the sea!
These are the symbols of his sovereignty,
his generosity, his loving care.
He hurls arrows of light,
taking sure and accurate aim.
The High God roars in the thunder,
angry against evil.”
37 1-13 “Whenever this happens, my heart stops—
I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath.
Listen to it! Listen to his thunder,
the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice.
He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon,
lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice,
powerful and majestic.
He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back.
No one can mistake that voice—
His word thundering so wondrously,
his mighty acts staggering our understanding.
He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth!’
and the rain, ‘Soak the whole countryside!’
No one can escape the weather—it’s there.
And no one can escape from God.
Wild animals take shelter,
crawling into their dens,
When blizzards roar out of the north
and freezing rain crusts the land.
It’s God’s breath that forms the ice,
it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.
And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater
and hurls lightning from them every which way.
He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that—
commands them to do what he says all over the world.
Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love,
he makes sure they make their mark.
A Terrible Beauty Streams from God
14-18 “Job, are you listening? Have you noticed all this?
Stop in your tracks! Take in God’s miracle-wonders!
Do you have any idea how God does it all,
how he makes bright lightning from dark storms,
How he piles up the cumulus clouds—
all these miracle-wonders of a perfect Mind?
Why, you don’t even know how to keep cool
on a sweltering hot day,
So how could you even dream
of making a dent in that hot-tin-roof sky?
19-22 “If you’re so smart, give us a lesson in how to address God.
We’re in the dark and can’t figure it out.
Do you think I’m dumb enough to challenge God?
Wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble?
No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun
on a clear and cloudless day.
As gold comes from the northern mountains,
so a terrible beauty streams from God.
23-24 “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach!
Unsurpassable in power and justice!
It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly.
So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all!
If you’re wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.”
God Confronts Job
Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?
38 1-11 And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:
“Why do you confuse the issue?
Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?
Pull yourself together, Job!
Up on your feet! Stand tall!
I have some questions for you,
and I want some straight answers.
Where were you when I created the earth?
Tell me, since you know so much!
Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that!
Who came up with the blueprints and measurements?
How was its foundation poured,
and who set the cornerstone,
While the morning stars sang in chorus
and all the angels shouted praise?
And who took charge of the ocean
when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb?
That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds,
and tucked it in safely at night.
Then I made a playpen for it,
a strong playpen so it couldn’t run loose,
And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place.
Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.’
12-15 “And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’
told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’
So you could seize Earth like a blanket
and shake out the wicked like cockroaches?
As the sun brings everything to light,
brings out all the colors and shapes,
The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked—
they’re caught in the very act!
16-18 “Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,
explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean?
Do you know the first thing about death?
Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries?
And do you have any idea how large this earth is?
Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer.
19-21 “Do you know where Light comes from
and where Darkness lives
So you can take them by the hand
and lead them home when they get lost?
Why, of course you know that.
You’ve known them all your life,
grown up in the same neighborhood with them!
22-30 “Have you ever traveled to where snow is made,
seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,
The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness
for times of trouble and battle and war?
Can you find your way to where lightning is launched,
or to the place from which the wind blows?
Who do you suppose carves canyons
for the downpours of rain, and charts
the route of thunderstorms
That bring water to unvisited fields,
deserts no one ever lays eyes on,
Drenching the useless wastelands
so they’re carpeted with wildflowers and grass?
And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,
the mother of ice and frost?
You don’t for a minute imagine
these marvels of weather just happen, do you?
31-33 “Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters,
or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way,
or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play?
Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations
and how they affect things on Earth?
34-35 “Can you get the attention of the clouds,
and commission a shower of rain?
Can you take charge of the lightning bolts
and have them report to you for orders?
What Do You Have to Say for Yourself?
36-38 “Who do you think gave weather-wisdom to the ibis,
and storm-savvy to the rooster?
Does anyone know enough to number all the clouds
or tip over the rain barrels of heaven
When the earth is cracked and dry,
the ground baked hard as a brick?
39-41 “Can you teach the lioness to stalk her prey
and satisfy the appetite of her cubs
As they crouch in their den,
waiting hungrily in their cave?
And who sets out food for the ravens
when their young cry to God,
fluttering about because they have no food?”
39 1-4 “Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth?
Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
Do you know how many months she is pregnant?
Do you know the season of her delivery,
when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own;
they leave and don’t come back.
5-8 “Who do you think set the wild donkey free,
opened the corral gates and let him go?
I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in,
the rolling plains and wide-open places.
He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried.
He’s oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
He grazes freely through the hills,
nibbling anything that’s green.
9-12 “Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you,
volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo
and getting him to till your fields?
He’s hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him,
would you dare turn the job over to him?
You wouldn’t for a minute depend on him, would you,
to do what you said when you said it?
13-18 “The ostrich flaps her wings futilely—
all those beautiful feathers, but useless!
She lays her eggs on the hard ground,
leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked
or trampled by some wild animal.
She’s negligent with her young, as if they weren’t even hers.
She cares nothing about anything.
She wasn’t created very smart, that’s for sure,
wasn’t given her share of good sense.
But when she runs, oh, how she runs,
laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.
19-25 “Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess
and adorned him with a shimmering mane?
Did you create him to prance proudly
and strike terror with his royal snorts?
He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited,
then charges into the fray.
He laughs at danger, fearless,
doesn’t shy away from the sword.
The banging and clanging
of quiver and lance don’t faze him.
He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast
races off at a gallop.
At the sound of the trumpet he neighs mightily,
smelling the excitement of battle from a long way off,
catching the rolling thunder of the war cries.
26-30 “Was it through your know-how that the hawk learned to fly,
soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?
Did you command the eagle’s flight,
and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
Perfectly at home on the high cliff face,
invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
From her perch she searches for prey,
spies it at a great distance.
Her young gorge themselves on carrion;
wherever there’s a roadkill, you’ll see her circling.”
40 1-2 God then confronted Job directly:
“Now what do you have to say for yourself?
Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?”
Job Answers God
I’m Ready to Shut Up and Listen
3-5 Job answered:
“I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me.
I should never have opened my mouth!
I’ve talked too much, way too much.
I’m ready to shut up and listen.”
God’s Second Set of Questions
I Want Straight Answers
6-7 God addressed Job next from the eye of the storm, and this is what he said:
“I have some more questions for you,
and I want straight answers.
8-14 “Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong?
Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?
Do you have an arm like my arm?
Can you shout in thunder the way I can?
Go ahead, show your stuff.
Let’s see what you’re made of, what you can do.
Unleash your outrage.
Target the arrogant and lay them flat.
Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees.
Stop the wicked in their tracks—make mincemeat of them!
Dig a mass grave and dump them in it—
faceless corpses in an unmarked grave.
I’ll gladly step aside and hand things over to you—
you can surely save yourself with no help from me!
15-24 “Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you.
Grazing on grass, docile as a cow—
Just look at the strength of his back,
the powerful muscles of his belly.
His tail sways like a cedar in the wind;
his huge legs are like beech trees.
His skeleton is made of steel,
every bone in his body hard as steel.
Most magnificent of all my creatures,
but I still lead him around like a lamb!
The grass-covered hills serve him meals,
while field mice frolic in his shadow.
He takes afternoon naps under shade trees,
cools himself in the reedy swamps,
Lazily cool in the leafy shadows
as the breeze moves through the willows.
And when the river rages he doesn’t budge,
stolid and unperturbed even when the Jordan goes wild.
But you’d never want him for a pet—
you’d never be able to housebreak him!”
I Run This Universe
41 1-11 “Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with a fly rod
and stuff him in your creel?
Can you lasso him with a rope,
or snag him with an anchor?
Will he beg you over and over for mercy,
or flatter you with flowery speech?
Will he apply for a job with you
to run errands and serve you the rest of your life?
Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish?
Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children?
Will you put him on display in the market
and have shoppers haggle over the price?
Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion,
or drive harpoons into his huge head?
If you so much as lay a hand on him,
you won’t live to tell the story.
What hope would you have with such a creature?
Why, one look at him would do you in!
If you can’t hold your own against his glowering visage,
how, then, do you expect to stand up to me?
Who could confront me and get by with it?
I’m in charge of all this—I run this universe!
12-17 “But I’ve more to say about Leviathan, the sea beast,
his enormous bulk, his beautiful shape.
Who would even dream of piercing that tough skin
or putting those jaws into bit and bridle?
And who would dare knock at the door of his mouth
filled with row upon row of fierce teeth?
His pride is invincible;
nothing can make a dent in that pride.
Nothing can get through that proud skin—
impervious to weapons and weather,
The thickest and toughest of hides,
impenetrable!
18-34 “He snorts and the world lights up with fire,
he blinks and the dawn breaks.
Comets pour out of his mouth,
fireworks arc and branch.
Smoke erupts from his nostrils
like steam from a boiling pot.
He blows and fires blaze;
flames of fire stream from his mouth.
All muscle he is—sheer and seamless muscle.
To meet him is to dance with death.
Sinewy and lithe,
there’s not a soft spot in his entire body—
As tough inside as out,
rock-hard, invulnerable.
Even angels run for cover when he surfaces,
cowering before his tail-thrashing turbulence.
Javelins bounce harmlessly off his hide,
harpoons ricochet wildly.
Iron bars are so much straw to him,
bronze weapons beneath notice.
Arrows don’t even make him blink;
bullets make no more impression than raindrops.
A battle ax is nothing but a splinter of kindling;
he treats a brandished harpoon as a joke.
His belly is armor-plated, inexorable—
unstoppable as a barge.
He roils deep ocean the way you’d boil water,
he whips the sea like you’d whip an egg into batter.
With a luminous trail stretching out behind him,
you might think Ocean had grown a gray beard!
There’s nothing on this earth quite like him,
not an ounce of fear in that creature!
He surveys all the high and mighty—
king of the ocean, king of the deep!”
Job Worships God
I Babbled On About Things Far Beyond Me
42 1-6 Job answered God:
“I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything.
Nothing and no one can upset your plans.
You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water,
ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’
I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me,
made small talk about wonders way over my head.
You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking.
Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’
I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!
I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”
God Restores Job
I Will Accept His Prayer
7-8 After God had finished addressing Job, he turned to Eliphaz the Temanite and said, “I’ve had it with you and your two friends. I’m fed up! You haven’t been honest either with me or about me—not the way my friend Job has. So here’s what you must do. Take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my friend Job. Sacrifice a burnt offering on your own behalf. My friend Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer. He will ask me not to treat you as you deserve for talking nonsense about me, and for not being honest with me, as he has.”
9 They did it. Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did what God commanded. And God accepted Job’s prayer.
10-11 After Job had interceded for his friends, God restored his fortune—and then doubled it! All his brothers and sisters and friends came to his house and celebrated. They told him how sorry they were, and consoled him for all the trouble God had brought him. Each of them brought generous housewarming gifts.
12-15 God blessed Job’s later life even more than his earlier life. He ended up with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand teams of oxen, and one thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first daughter Dove, the second, Cinnamon, and the third, Darkeyes. There was not a woman in that country as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance.
16-17 Job lived on another 140 years, living to see his children and grandchildren—four generations of them! Then he died—an old man, a full life.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson