Beginning
Bildad Speaks to Job
8 Then Bildad from Shuah answered:
2 “How long will you talk like that?
Your words are nothing but hot air!
3 God is always fair.
God All-Powerful does what is right.
4 If your children sinned against God, he punished them.
They paid for their sins.
5 But now, look to God
and pray to the All-Powerful.
6 If you are pure and good,
he will quickly come to help you.
He will give your family back to you.
7 Then you will have a lot more
than you had in the beginning!
8 “Ask those who are now old.
Find out what their ancestors learned.
9 It seems as though we were born yesterday.
We are too young to know anything.
Our days on earth are very short, like a shadow.
10 Maybe the old people can tell you something.
Maybe they will teach you what they learned.
11 “Can papyrus grow tall on a dry land?
Can reeds grow without water?
12 No, they will dry up before harvest.
They will be too small to cut and use.
13 People who forget God are like that.
Those who oppose him have no hope.
14 They have put their trust in something weak.
It is like a spider’s web.
15 When they lean against it,
it will break.
When they reach out for it,
it will not hold them up.
16 Such people are like a vine that gets plenty of water and sunshine,
and its branches spread throughout the garden.
17 Its roots spread among the rocks,
searching for good soil.
18 But if you move it, it will die,
and no one can tell it was ever there.
19 Everything might have been going well,
but another vine will take its place.
20 God does not support evil people,
and he does not abandon the innocent.
21 So perhaps you might laugh again.
Maybe shouts of joy will come from your lips.
22 Maybe your enemies will be humiliated
and the homes of the wicked destroyed.”
Job Answers Bildad
9 Then Job answered:
2 “Of course, I know that this is true.
But how can a human being win an argument with God?
3 Anyone who chose to argue with him
could not answer one question in a thousand!
4 God is so wise and powerful that
no one could oppose him and survive.
5 When God is angry, he moves mountains before they know what happened.
6 He can shake the earth,
and it will tremble down to its foundations.
7 With one command he can stop the sun from rising.
He can lock up the stars and keep them from shining.
8 He alone made the skies,
and he walks on the ocean waves.
9 “God made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades.[a]
He made the planets that cross the southern sky.[b]
10 He does things too marvelous for people to understand.
He does too many miracles to count!
11 When he passes by, I cannot see him.
He goes right past me, and I don’t notice.
12 If he takes something away, no one can stop him.
No one can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not hold back his anger.
Even Rahab’s helpers are afraid of him.
14 So I cannot argue with God.
I would not know what to say to him.
15 I am innocent, but I cannot give him an answer.
All I can do is beg my Judge for mercy.
16 Even if I called and he answered,
I cannot believe he would listen to me.
17 He would just send storms to crush me.
He would give me more wounds for no reason.
18 He would not let me catch my breath again.
He would just give me more trouble.
19 I cannot defeat God.
He is too powerful!
I cannot take him to court for justice.
Who could force him to come?
20 I am innocent, but anything I say makes me seem guilty.
I am innocent, but if I speak, my mouth proves me wrong.
21 I am innocent, but I don’t know what to think.
I hate my own life.
22 So I say, ‘Does it make any difference?
God destroys the innocent as well as the guilty.’
23 Is it God who laughs when a disaster kills innocent people?
24 Is it God who keeps the leaders from seeing when an evil person takes control?
If it is not God, then who is it?
25 “My days are passing faster than a runner.
They are flying by without any joy.
26 They go by as quickly as papyrus boats,
as fast as an eagle swooping down on its prey.
27 “I could say, ‘I will not complain.
I will forget my pain and put a smile on my face.’
28 But the suffering still frightens me.
I know that God will not see me as innocent.
29 I will be found guilty,
so why should I even think about it?
30 Even if I scrubbed my hands with soap
and washed myself whiter than snow,
31 God would still push me into the slime pit,[c]
and even my clothes would hate to touch me.
32 God is not a human like me, so I cannot argue with him.
I cannot take him to court.
33 I wish there were someone who could listen to both sides,[d]
someone to judge both of us in a fair way.
34 I wish someone could take away the threat of God’s punishment.
Then he would not frighten me anymore.
35 Then I could say what I want without being afraid of him.
But I cannot do that now.
10 “I hate my own life, so I will complain freely.
I am very bitter, so now I will speak.
2 I will say to God, ‘Don’t just say I am guilty!
Tell me what you have against me.
3 Do you enjoy hurting me?
Do you enjoy ignoring me while smiling at what evil people say?
4 Do you have human eyes?
Do you see things the way people do?
5 Is your life as short as ours?
Is your life as short as a man’s life?
6 You look for my wrong
and search for my sin.
7 You know I am innocent,
but no one can save me from your power!
8 Your hands made me and shaped my body.
But now they are closing around me and squeezing me to death!
9 Remember, you molded me like clay.
Will you turn me into clay again?
10 You poured me out like milk.
You spun me around and squeezed me like someone making cheese.
11 You put me together with bones and muscles,
and then you clothed me with skin and flesh.
12 You gave me life and were very kind to me.
You cared for me and watched over my spirit.
13 But this is what you hid in your heart.
Now I know what you were planning for me.
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me
so that you could punish me for doing wrong.
15 If I sin, I am guilty
and should be cursed.
But even when I am innocent,
I cannot lift up my head.
I am so ashamed
because of all the troubles I have.
16 If I have any success and feel proud,
you hunt me down like a lion
and show your power over me.
17 You bring witness after witness
to prove that I am wrong.
Again and again you show your anger
as you send army after army against me.
18 So why did you let me be born?
I wish I had died before anyone saw me.
19 I wish I had never lived.
I wish they had carried me from my mother’s womb straight to the grave.
20 My life is almost finished.
So leave me alone!
Let me enjoy the little time I have left.
21 I am going soon to the land of no return,
the place of death and darkness—
22 that land of darkest night, of shadows and confusion,
where even the light is darkness.’”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International