Chronological
Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
6 Then[a] Job answered and said,
2 “If only my vexation could be well weighed,
and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,
3 for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
therefore my words have been rash,
4 for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild ass bray over grass,
or the ox bellow over its fodder?
6 Can tasteless food be eaten without[b] salt,
or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?
7 I refused[c] to touch them;
they are like food that will make me ill.[d]
8 “O that[e] my request may come,
and that God may grant my hope,
9 that[f] God would decide that[g] he would crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and kill me.[h]
10 But[i] it will still be my consolation,
and I would recoil in unrelenting[j] pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should hold out?[k]
12 Or is my strength like the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh bronze?
13 Indeed,[l] my help is not in me,
and any success is driven from me.
14 “Loyal love[m] should come for the afflicted from his friend,
even if[n] he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.
15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed;
like a streambed of wadis[o] they flow away,
16 which are growing dark because of ice upon them,
it will pile up snow.
17 In time they dry up, they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The paths of their way wind around;
they go up into the wasteland, and they perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked;
the traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.
20 They are disappointed, because they trusted;
they came here[p] and they are confounded.
21 “For now you[q] have become such;[r]
you see terrors, and you fear.
22 Is it because I have said, ‘Give to me,’
or,[s] ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?
23 or,[t] ‘Save me from the foe’s hand,’
or,[u] ‘Ransom me from the tyrants’ hand’?
24 Teach me, and I myself[v] will be silent;
and make me understand how I have gone astray.
25 How painful are upright words![w]
But[x] what does your reproof[y] reprove?
26 Do you intend to reprove my words[z]
and consider the words of a desperate man as wind?
27 Even over the orphan you would cast the lot,
and you would bargain over your friend.
28 “Therefore[aa] be prepared, turn to me,
and I surely will not lie to your face.[ab]
29 Please turn, let no injustice happen;
indeed,[ac] turn, my righteousness is still intact.[ad]
30 Is there injustice on my tongue?
Or can my palate not discern calamity?[ae]
Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
7 “Does not a human being[af] have hard service[ag] on earth?
And are not his[ah] days like the days of a laborer?
2 Like a slave he longs for the shadow,
and like a laborer he waits for his wages.
3 So I had to inherit[ai] months of worthlessness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 When I lie down, I say,[aj] ‘When shall I rise?’
But[ak] the night is long,
and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.
5 My body is clothed with maggots and clods of dust;
my skin hardens, then[al] it gives way again.
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.[am]
7 Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will not return to see good.
8 The eye of the one seeing me will not see me;
your eyes are upon me, but[an] I will be gone.[ao]
9 A cloud vanishes, and it goes away,
so he who goes down to Sheol will not come up.
10 He does not return again to his house,
and his place does not recognize him again.
11 “Even[ap] I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in my spirit’s anguish;
I will complain in my inner self’s[aq] bitterness.
12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
and my couch[ar] will ease my complaint,’
14 then[as] you terrify me with dreams,[at]
and with visions you terrify[au] me.
15 So[av] my inner self[aw] will choose[ax] strangling—
death more than my existence.[ay]
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever;
depart from me, for my days are a breath.
17 “What is a human being that you make him great
and that you fix your mind on him,[az]
18 so that[ba] you visit him every morning,[bb]
you test him every moment?[bc]
19 How long[bd] will you not turn away from me?
Or not leave me alone until I swallow[be] my spit?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me as a target for yourself,
so that[bf] I have become a burden to myself?[bg]
21 And why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my guilt?
For now I shall lie in the dust,
and you will seek me, but[bh] I will be no more.”[bi]
Bildad’s First Response to Job
8 Then[bj] Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,[bk]
2 “How long[bl] will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice,
or[bm] Shaddai pervert righteousness?
4 If your children sinned against him,
then[bn] he sent them into the power[bo] of their transgression.
5 If you yourself[bp] would seek God,
then[bq] you would plead to Shaddai for grace.
6 If you are pure and upright,
indeed,[br] now he will rouse himself for you,
and he will restore your righteous abode.
7 Though[bs] your beginning was small,
your end[bt] will be very great.
8 “Indeed,[bu] please inquire of former generations,
and consider what their ancestors have found,[bv]
9 for we are of yesterday, and we do not know,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they themselves[bw] not teach you and tell you[bx]
and utter[by] words from their heart?
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is not a marsh?
Will reeds flourish without water?[bz]
12 While it is in its flower and is not plucked,
yet[ca] it withers before[cb] all grass.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God;
and the hope of the godless will perish,
14 whose confidence is cut off
and whose trust[cc] is a spider’s house.
15 He will lean himself against his house, but[cd] it will not stand;
he will take hold of it, but[ce] it will not endure.
16 He is thriving[cf] before[cg] the sun,
and his plant shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots twine over a stone heap;
he sees a house of stone.
18 If he destroys him from his place,
then[ch] it deceives him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
19 Look, this is the joy of his way,
and from dust others will spring up.
20 “Look, God will not reject the blameless,
and he will not uphold the hand of evildoers.
21 Yet he will fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”[ci]
Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad
9 Then[cj] Job answered and said,
2 “Truly I know that it is so,
but[ck] how can a human being be just before God?
3 If he wants to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
4 He is wise in[cl] heart and mighty in[cm] strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?[cn]
5 “He is the one who moves mountains, and they do not know how,
who overturns them in his anger.
6 He is the one who shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
7 He is the one who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.[co]
8 He is the one who alone stretches out the heavens
and who tramples on the waves of the sea.
9 He is the one who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He is the one who does great things beyond understanding[cp]
and marvelous things beyond number.[cq]
11 “If[cr] he passes by me, I would not see him;[cs]
and if he should move on, I would not recognize him.[ct]
12 If[cu] he would snatch away, who could turn him?
Who could say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.
14 How much less[cv] can I myself[cw] answer him?
How can I choose my words with him,
15 whom I cannot answer, even though I am righteous?
From[cx] my judge I must implore grace.
16 If I summon him, and he should answer me,
I do not believe that he will listen to my voice—
17 who crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies[cy] my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to catch[cz] my breath;
rather, he will fill me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of[da] strength, look, he is mighty.
But[db] if it is a matter of[dc] justice, who can summon me?[dd]
20 Even though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;
even though I am blameless, yet[de] it would pronounce me guilty.
21 “I am blameless; I do not care about myself;[df]
I loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When the whip[dg] kills suddenly,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the face of its judge—
if it is not he, then who is it?
25 “And my days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they do not see good.
26 They go by like papyrus skiffs,
like an eagle swoops down on its prey.
27 Though[dh] I say,[di] ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will change my expression, and I will rejoice,’
28 I become afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that you do not consider me innocent.
29 If I shall be declared guilty,
why then should I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with soap,[dj]
and I cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you plunge me into the slime pit,
and my clothes abhor me.
32 “For[dk] he is not a mortal like me that I can answer him,
that we can come to trial together.[dl]
33 There is no arbiter between us
that he might lay his hand on both of us.
34 May he remove his rod from me,
and let his dread not terrify me;
35 then I would speak and not fear him,[dm]
for in myself I am not fearful.[dn]
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