Chronological
Round One: Job’s Second Speech
6 Then Job responded:
2 If only my grief could be weighed,
and my devastation placed on the scales with it!
3 They would certainly weigh more than the sand of the sea!
No wonder my words have been rash.[a]
4 The arrows of the Almighty stick in me.
My spirit drinks in their poison.
The terrors of God are lined up against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when it has green grass?
Does the ox bellow when it is near its fodder?
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt?
Is there flavor in the white of an egg?[b]
7 I absolutely refuse to touch it.
It is no better than sickening food.
8 If only my request would be granted.
If only God would grant me what I hope for:
9 that God would decide to crush me,
that he would unleash his hand and cut me off.
10 For then I would still have this comfort:
Even as I writhe in relentless pain,[c]
I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What strength do I have to wait hopefully?
What end awaits me that would make me want to prolong my life?
12 Is my strength like stone,
or is my flesh bronze?
13 Certainly I have no power to help myself,
since the hope that I can recover has been driven far away from me.
14 A despairing person should receive loyalty[d] from his friends,
even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers are as undependable as gullies that dry up,
undependable as seasonal streams which overflow
16 when they are darkened by ice and swollen with melting snow,
17 but as quickly as they flood, they dry up in the scorching winds.[e]
When it gets hot, they vanish from their channels.
18 Caravans turn aside from their routes.
They go off into the empty wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema search for these streams.
The travelers of Sheba hope to find them,
20 but despite being confident, they are disappointed.
They arrive there only to be frustrated.
21 Now that is what you are like!
You have seen something dreadful and you panic.
22 Have I said, “Give me something,
or offer a payment on my behalf from your wealth”?
23 Have I said, “Save me from the hand of my enemy,
or redeem me from the hand of the ruthless”?
24 Teach me and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I have done wrong.
25 How painful honest words are!
But what does your rebuke prove?
26 Do you intend to attack me for mere words
by treating things said by a despairing man like wind?[f]
27 No doubt you would even cast lots for a fatherless child
and barter away your friend!
28 But now, please look at me.
I would not lie to your face!
29 Turn to me,[g] and get rid of injustice.
Turn to me. My righteousness is still intact.[h]
30 Is there any injustice on my tongue?
Wouldn’t my mouth detect it if I were speaking destructive words?[i]
7 Isn’t man’s time on earth like being compelled to serve in the army? Aren’t his days like those of a hired man?
2 Like a slave, he longs for shade,
or like a day laborer, he waits for his pay.
3 In the same way, I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of agony have been assigned to me.
4 When I lie down, I think, “How long before I get up?”
But the night drags on,
and I am filled with restlessness until dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and caked with dirt.
My skin scabs over and then oozes again.
6 My days pass by more swiftly than the shuttle of a weaver’s loom.
They come to an end without hope.
Job Addresses God
7 Remember that my life is just a breath.[j]
My eyes will never again see good fortune.
8 The eyes that see me now will no longer watch me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will not be there.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so does the one who goes down to the grave.[k]
He does not come back up again.
10 He never again returns to his home,
and his place will no longer know him.
11 That is why I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit.
I will lament in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea or a great creature of the deep
that you need to put me under guard?
13 When I say that my bed will comfort me,
and my couch will help me with my lament,
14 then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so I would prefer to be strangled,
and I prefer death more than my current existence.[l]
16 I reject my life. I do not want to live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are just a vanishing vapor.
17 What is man that you make so much of him,
that you pay so much attention to him,
18 that you inspect[m] him every morning
and test him every minute?
19 Why do you never stop watching me?
Why don’t you leave me alone long enough for me to swallow my spit?
20 If I have sinned, what harm has it done to you,
you who keep watch on mankind?
Why have you set me up as your target?
How have I become a burden to you?[n]
21 Why do you not forgive my rebellion?
Why do you not take away my guilt?
Soon I will lie down in the dust.
You will search for me, but I will not be there.
Round One: Bildad’s Speech
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded:
2 How long will you say such things?
How long will the words of your mouth be like a blustery wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4 When your children sinned against him,
he handed them over to the consequences of their rebellion.
5 But if you will eagerly seek God
and plead for compassion from the Almighty,
6 if you are pure and upright,
then even now he will rouse himself on your behalf,
and he will restore your rightful dwelling place.
7 Then, though your beginnings were small,
your final days will be very great!
8 Yes, ask the previous generations,
and consider the discoveries of their fathers,
9 because we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are nothing but a shadow.
10 Aren’t our ancestors the ones who should teach you and inform you,
the ones who brought forth words from their hearts?
11 Does papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Do reeds thrive where there is no water?
12 While they are still growing and uncut,
they can wither faster than any other plant.
13 This is the way it will be for all those who forget God.
The hope of the godless man perishes.
14 His source of confidence is fragile.
He trusts in something as fragile as a spider’s web.
15 He leans on his web, but it does not support him.
He grasps it, but it does not hold him up.
16 He is a thriving plant flourishing in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden.
17 It wraps its roots around a heap of rocks.
It finds a home among the stones.
18 But if it is uprooted from its place,
that place disowns it, saying, “I have never seen you!”
19 Yes, the only good thing that comes from this situation is that
from the dust another plant sprouts.[o]
20 Certainly God does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hand of evildoers.
21 He will again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a joyful shout.
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.
Round One: Job’s Third Speech
9 Then Job responded:
2 Of course I know that this is true.
But how can a man be justified before God?
3 If someone wants to argue with God,
he could not refute one charge out of a thousand.[p]
4 God has a wise heart and great power,
so who can resist God and come out of it unharmed?
5 God removes mountains from their position,
and they don’t even realize it.
He overturns mountains in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth off its foundation.
He causes its pillars to quake.
7 He speaks to the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens.
He treads on the crests of the sea.
9 He made the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades,[q]
and the constellations in the southern sky.
10 He does great things that are beyond investigation.
He does miracles that are too many to be counted.
11 Though he passes by me, I do not see him.
He moves past me, but I do not detect him.
12 If he snatches something away, who can make him bring it back?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
13 God does not hold back his anger.
Even Rahab’s[r] helpers bow down beneath him.
14 How much less, then, will I be able to answer him?
I want to match words with him,
15 but even if I am in the right, I cannot answer him.
I can only plead to my judge for grace.
16 If I called and he responded to me,
I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
17 With a violent storm he would crush me,
and he would inflict many wounds on me for no reason.
18 He would not allow me to catch my breath.
Instead, he would fill me with bitter experiences.
19 If it is a question of strength, he definitely is the strong one.
If it is a question of jurisdiction, who can summon him?[s]
20 Even if I am righteous, my mouth would still condemn me.
If I am blameless, it would pronounce me crooked.
21 Although I am blameless, I cannot evaluate[t] myself.
I reject my own life.
22 Here is why I say, “It makes no difference.”
Blameless or wicked, he brings them all to the same end.
23 If a whip suddenly kills people,
he makes fun of[u] the despair of the innocent.
24 When a land is handed over to a wicked man,
God blinds the eyes of its judges.
If he is not the one, then who does it?
25 My days are swifter than a runner.
They fly away without bringing any happiness.
26 They glide by like reed boats,
like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
27 If I say, “I will forget my complaint.
I will put on a happy face and smile,”
28 even then I dread all my pain,
because I know that you will not acquit me.
29 I have already been declared guilty,
so why should I struggle for nothing.
30 If I wash myself with snow,
if I cleanse my hands with strong soap,
31 then you will plunge me into a cesspool,
and my clothes will detest me.
32 For he is not a man as I am,
so that I am able to answer him,
so that we may meet in court.
33 There is no one to mediate[v] between us,
no one who can lay his hand on both of us.
34 No one can make him take his rod away from me,
so that the dread of him would not fill me with terror!
35 If that happened, I would speak up and not be afraid.
But I have no such mediator. I am left on my own.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.