Beginning
Job Seeks Hope
17 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished;
The [a](A)grave is ready for me.
2 (B)Surely mockers are with me,
And my eye [b]gazes on their provocation.
3 “Establish, now, a pledge (C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will clap my hand in pledge?
4 For You have (D)hidden their heart from insight,
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who (E)informs against friends for a share of the spoil,
The (F)eyes of his children also will come to an end.
6 “But He has made me a (G)byword of the people,
And I am [c]one at whom men (H)spit.
7 My eye has also grown (I)dim because of grief,
And all my (J)members are as a shadow.
8 The upright will be appalled at this,
And the (K)innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
9 Nevertheless (L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And (M)he who has clean hands will grow mightier and mightier.
10 But come again all of [d]you now,
For I (N)do not find a wise man among you.
11 My (O)days are past; my plans are torn apart,
Even the wishes of my heart.
12 They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 If I hope for (P)Sheol as my home,
I [e]make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the (Q)pit, ‘You are my father’;
To the (R)worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where now is (S)my hope?
And who beholds my hope?
16 [f]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together (T)go down into the dust?”
Bildad Speaks of the Downfall of the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 “How long until you put an end to your words?
Show understanding and then we can talk.
3 Why are we (U)regarded as beasts,
As dense in your eyes?
4 O [g]you who tear yourself in your anger—
For your sake is the earth to be forsaken,
Or the rock to be moved from its place?
5 “Indeed, the (V)light of the wicked goes out,
And the [h]flame of his fire gives no light.
6 The light in his tent is (W)darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
7 His [i]vigorous stride is shortened,
And his (X)own counsel brings him down.
8 For he is (Y)thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the netting.
9 A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a device snaps shut on him.
10 A rope for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.
11 All around (Z)terrors frighten him,
And (AA)harass him at every step.
12 His vigor is (AB)famished,
And disaster is ready at his side.
13 The firstborn of death eats parts of his skin;
It (AC)eats parts of him.
14 He is (AD)torn from [j]the security of his tent,
And [k]they march him in step before the king of (AE)terrors.
15 [l]There dwells in his tent nothing of his;
(AF)Brimstone is scattered on his abode.
16 His (AG)roots are dried below,
And his (AH)branch is cut off above.
17 (AI)Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 [m]He is driven from light (AJ)into darkness,
And (AK)chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has neither (AL)offspring nor posterity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
20 Those [n]in the west are appalled at (AM)his [o]fate,
And those [p]in the east are seized with horror.
21 Surely such are the (AN)dwellings of the unjust,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”
My Redeemer Lives
19 Then Job answered and said,
2 “How long will you torment my soul
And crush me with words?
3 These ten times you have dishonored me;
You are not ashamed that you wrong me.
4 [q]Even if I have truly erred,
My error lodges with me.
5 If truly you (AO)magnify yourselves against me
And argue my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that (AP)God has wronged me
And has closed (AQ)His net around me.
7 “Behold, (AR)I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has (AS)walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put (AT)darkness on my paths.
9 He has (AU)stripped my honor from me
And removed the (AV)crown from my head.
10 He (AW)breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my (AX)hope (AY)like a tree.
11 He has also (AZ)kindled His anger against me
And (BA)counted me as His adversary.
12 His (BB)troops come together,
And (BC)build up their [r]way against me
And camp around my tent.
13 “He has (BD)removed my brothers far from me,
And my (BE)acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my (BF)familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who sojourn in my house and my maidservants count me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.
17 My breath is [s]offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children reject me;
I rise up, and they speak against me.
19 All the men of my (BG)counsel abhor me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My (BH)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
For the (BI)hand of God has smitten me.
22 Why do you (BJ)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (BK)inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that (BL)my [t]Redeemer lives,
And [u]at the last He will rise up over the dust of this world.
26 Even after my skin [v]is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall (BM)behold God,
27 Whom I [w]myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My [x]heart (BN)faints [y]within me!
28 If you say, ‘How shall we (BO)persecute him?’
‘And the root of the matter is found in [z]him?’
29 Then be afraid of (BP)the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know (BQ)there is judgment.”
Zophar Says the Joy of the Wicked Is Short
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 “Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me [aa]respond,
Even because of my haste within me.
3 I listened to (BR)the discipline which dishonors me,
And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
4 Do you know this from (BS)of old,
From the establishment of man on earth,
5 That the (BT)shouts of joy of the wicked are short,
And (BU)the gladness of the godless momentary?
6 Though his loftiness (BV)goes up to the heavens,
And his head touches the clouds,
7 He (BW)perishes forever like his refuse;
Those who have seen him (BX)will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 He flies away like a (BY)dream, and they cannot find him;
Even like a vision of the night he is (BZ)chased away.
9 The (CA)eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And (CB)his place no longer beholds him.
10 His (CC)sons seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands (CD)give back his wealth.
11 His (CE)bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it lies down with him [ab]in the dust.
12 “Though (CF)evil is sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,
13 Though he [ac]desires it and will not forsake it,
And holds it (CG)to his palate,
14 Yet his food in his stomach is changed
To the [ad]venom of cobras within him.
15 He swallows up wealth,
But will (CH)vomit it up;
God will expel it from his belly.
16 He sucks (CI)the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue kills him.
17 He does not look at (CJ)the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and curds.
18 He (CK)returns what he has attained
And cannot swallow it;
As to the wealth of his trading,
He cannot even enjoy it.
19 For he has (CL)crushed and forsaken the poor;
He has seized a house which he has not built.
20 “Because he knew no ease within his belly,
In his covetousness, he does (CM)not let anything escape.
21 Nothing remains [ae]for him to devour;
Therefore (CN)his prosperity does not endure.
22 In the fullness of his plenty he will be confined;
The (CO)hand of everyone who is troubled will come against him.
23 So it will be that he (CP)fills his belly,
And God will send His burning anger on him
And will (CQ)rain it on him [af]while he is eating.
24 He may (CR)flee from the iron weapon,
But the bronze bow will pierce him.
25 It is drawn forth and comes out of his back,
Even the glittering point from (CS)his gall;
(CT)Bouts of dread come upon him.
26 Complete (CU)darkness is held in reserve for his treasures;
A (CV)fire unfanned will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.
27 The (CW)heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
28 The (CX)increase of his house will depart;
His possessions will flow away (CY)in the day of His anger.
29 This is the wicked man’s (CZ)portion from God,
Even the inheritance decreed to him by God.”
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