Job 8-10

New American Standard Bible

Bildad Says God Rewards the Good

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

²“How long will you say these things,
And the ^(A)words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
³Does ^(B)God pervert justice?
Or does ^[a]the Almighty pervert what is right?
⁴^(C)If your sons sinned against Him,
Then He turned them over to the ^[b]power of their wrongdoing.
⁵If you will ^(D)search for God
And implore the compassion of ^[c]the Almighty,
⁶If you are pure and upright,
Surely now ^(E)He will stir Himself for you
And restore your righteous ^[d]^(F)estate.
⁷Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your ^(G)end will increase greatly.

⁸“Please ^(H)inquire of past generations,
And consider the things searched out by their fathers.
⁹For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because ^(I)our days on earth are as a shadow.
¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you,
And bring forth words from their minds?

¹¹“Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh?
Can the rushes grow without water?
¹²While it is still green and not cut down,
Yet it withers before any other ^[e]plant.
¹³So are the paths of ^(J)all who forget God;
And the ^(K)hope of the godless will perish,
¹⁴His confidence is fragile,
And his trust is a ^(L)spider’s ^[f]web.
¹⁵He depends on his ^(M)house, but it does not stand;
He holds on to it, but it does not endure.
¹⁶He ^(N)flourishes before the sun,
And his ^(O)shoots spread out over his garden.
¹⁷His roots wrap around a rock pile,
He ^[g]grasps a house of stones.
¹⁸If he is ^[h]removed from ^(P)his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘^(Q)I never saw you.’
¹⁹Behold, ^(R)this is the joy of His way;
And out of the dust others will spring.
²⁰Behold, ^(S)God will not reject a person of integrity,
Nor ^(T)will He ^[i]help evildoers.
²¹He will yet fill ^(U)your mouth with laughter,
And your lips with joyful shouting.
²²Those who hate you will be ^(V)clothed with shame,
And the ^(W)tent of the wicked will no longer exist.”

Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Mankind

9 Then Job responded,

²“In truth I know that this is so;
But how can a ^(X)person be in the right with God?
³If one wished to ^(Y)dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
⁴^(Z)Wise in heart and ^(AA)mighty in strength,
Who has ^[j]^(AB)defied Him ^[k]without harm?
⁵^(AC)It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know how,
When He overturns them in His anger.
⁶It is He who ^(AD)shakes the earth from its place,
And its ^(AE)pillars tremble;
⁷Who commands the ^(AF)sun ^[l]not to shine,
And puts a seal on the stars;
⁸Who alone ^(AG)stretches out the heavens,
And ^[m]^(AH)tramples down the waves of the sea;
⁹Who makes the ^(AI)Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the ^[n]^(AJ)constellations of the south.
¹⁰It is He who ^(AK)does great things, ^[o]the unfathomable,
And wondrous works without number.
¹¹If He were to pass by me, ^(AL)I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
¹²If He were to snatch away, who could ^(AM)restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, ‘^(AN)What are You doing?’

¹³“God will not turn back His anger;
Beneath Him the helpers of ^[p]^(AO)Rahab cower.
¹⁴How then can ^(AP)I ^[q]answer Him,
And choose my words ^[r]before Him?
¹⁵For ^(AQ)though I were right, I could not ^[s]answer;
I would have to ^(AR)implore the mercy of my Judge.
¹⁶If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.
¹⁷For He ^(AS)bruises me with a storm
And multiplies my wounds without cause.
¹⁸He will ^(AT)not allow me to get my breath,
But He saturates me with ^(AU)bitterness.
¹⁹If it is a matter of power, ^(AV)behold, He is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon ^[t]Him?
²⁰^(AW)Though I am righteous, my mouth will ^(AX)condemn me;
Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.
²¹I am ^(AY)guiltless;
I do not take notice of myself;
I ^(AZ)reject my life.
²²It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He ^(BA)destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’
²³If the whip kills suddenly,
He ^(BB)mocks the despair of the innocent.
²⁴The earth ^(BC)is handed over to the wicked;
He ^(BD)covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵“Now ^(BE)my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, ^(BF)they see no good.
²⁶They slip by like ^(BG)reed boats,
Like an ^(BH)eagle that swoops on ^[u]its prey.
²⁷Though I say, ‘I will forget ^(BI)my complaint,
I will ^[v]put my face in order and be cheerful,’
²⁸I am ^(BJ)afraid of all my pains,
I know that ^(BK)You will not acquit me.
²⁹I am ^(BL)guilty,
Why then should I struggle in vain?
³⁰If I ^(BM)washed myself with snow,
And cleansed ^(BN)my hands with lye,
³¹Then You would plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes would loathe me.
³²For ^(BO)He is not a man, as I am, that ^(BP)I may answer Him—
That we may go to ^[w]court together!
³³There is no ^(BQ)arbitrator between us,
Who can place his hand upon us both.
³⁴Let Him ^(BR)remove His rod from me,
And let not the dread of Him terrify me.
³⁵Then I ^(BS)would speak and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

Job Despairs of God’s Dealings

10 “^[x]^(BT)I am disgusted with my own life;
I will express ^(BU)my complaint freely;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
²I will say to God, ‘^(BV)Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.
³Is it ^[y]right for You indeed to ^(BW)oppress,
To reject ^(BX)the work of Your hands,
And ^[z]to look favorably on ^(BY)the plan of the wicked?
⁴Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You ^(BZ)see as mankind sees?
⁵Are Your days like the days of a mortal,
Or ^(CA)Your years like a man’s year,
⁶That ^(CB)You should search for my guilt
And carefully seek my sin?
⁷According to Your knowledge ^(CC)I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is ^(CD)no one to save me from Your hand.

⁸‘^(CE)Your hands fashioned and made me ^[aa]altogether,
^(CF)Yet would You destroy me?
⁹Remember that You have made me as ^(CG)clay;
Yet would You ^(CH)turn me into dust again?
¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And intertwine me with bones and tendons?
¹²You have ^(CI)granted me life and ^[ab]goodness;
And Your care has guarded my spirit.
¹³Yet You have concealed ^(CJ)these things in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:
¹⁴If I have sinned, You will ^(CK)take note of me,
And ^(CL)will not acquit me of my guilt.
¹⁵If ^(CM)I am wicked, woe to me!
But if ^(CN)I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am full of shame, and ^[ac]conscious of my misery.
¹⁶And should my head be high, ^(CO)You would hunt me like a lion;
And You would show Your ^(CP)power against me again.
¹⁷You renew ^(CQ)Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
^[ad]^(CR)Hardship after hardship is with me.

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