Chronological
6 But Iyov answered and said,
2 Oh that my ka’as (vexation) were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the scales together!
3 For now it would be heavier than the chol of the seas; therefore my words are impetuous.
4 For the khitzim (arrows) of Shaddai are in me, the poison whereof drinketh my ruach; the terrors of Eloah do set themselves in array against me.
5 Doth the pereh (wild donkey) bray when he hath desheh? Or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without melach? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 The things that my nefesh refused to touch are like my loathsome lechem.
8 Who will grant that I might have my she’elah (request); oh that Eloah would grant me my tikveh!
9 Even that it would please Eloah to crush me; that He would let loose His yad, and cut me off!
10 Then should I yet have nechamah (consolation); yea, I would exult in chilah (pain); let him not spare; for I have not concealed the imrei Kadosh (words of the Holy One).
11 What is my koach, that I should wait? And what is mine end, that I should make patient my nefesh?
12 Is my koach the koach of avanim? Or is my basar bronze?
13 Is it that my help is not within me? And is tushiyyah (success) driven from me?
14 To him that is afflicted, chesed should be shown from his friend; otherwise, he forsaketh the fear of Shaddai.
15 Achai (my brethren) have dealt deceitfully as a wadi, and as the torrents of wadis they vanish away;
16 Which are blackish muddy by reason of the kerakh (ice), and wherein the sheleg (snow) is melted.
17 What season they become warm, they vanish; when it is hot, they disappear from their makom.
18 The paths of their derech wind about; they go up to tohu [Gn 1:2], and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked for them; the halichot (traveling companies) of Sheva hoped for them.
20 They were disappointed because of their bitachon; they come there and are confounded.
21 For now ye are become such; ye see my chatat (casting down), and are afraid.
22 Did I say, Bring unto me? Or, Give a present for me of your ko’ach (power, wealth)?
23 Or, Deliver me from the yad tzar (hand of the enemy, oppressor)? Or, Redeem me with a ransom from the yad of the tyrants?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue, and cause me to have binah wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are the imrei yosher (words of rectitude)! But what doth your hokhiach (reproof) reprove?
26 Do ye think to reprove words? The words of one in despair, which are as ruach?
27 Yea, ye cast lots for the yatom, and over your friend ye barter.
28 Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; for it is evident unto you if in me there is kazav (falsity).
29 Turn, now, let there be no iniquity; yea, turn again; at issue is my tzedek (righteousness).
30 Is there iniquity on my leshon? Cannot my palate discern havvot (perverse things)?
7 Is there not a tzava (forced hard service in the army) to enosh (man) upon earth? Are not his days also like the yamim of a sachir (hired laborer)?
2 As an eved earnestly longeth for tzel (shade), and as a sachir waiteth for the wage of his work,
3 So am I made to possess months of shav (vanity, futility), and lailot amal (nights of weariness) are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say, Mosai (how long) till I arise? But the erev drags on, and I am full of tossings to and fro unto dawn.
5 My basar is clothed with worm and clod of aphar; my ohr (skin) is broken, and become loathsome.
6 My yamim are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without tikveh.
7 O remember that my life is ruach (wind); mine eye shall no more see tov.
8 The ayin (eye) of him that hath seen me shall see me no longer; thine eyes are upon me, and I am no more.
9 Like the anan that fades and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.
10 He shall return no more to his bais, neither shall his makom know him any more.
11 Therefore I will not curb my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my ruach; I will complain in the mar (bitterness) of my nefesh.
12 Am I a yam, or a tannin (monster of the yam [sea]), that Thou settest a mishmar (guard watch) over me?
13 When I say, My bed shall give me nachamah (comfort), my couch shall ease my complaint,
14 Then Thou frightenest me with chalomot (dreams), and terrifiest me through chezyonot (visions),
15 So that my nefesh chooseth machanak (strangling) and mavet (death) rather than this skeleton.
16 I loathe it; I would not live l’olam, let me alone; for my yamim are hevel (vanity, meaningless).
17 What is enosh (man), that Thou shouldest make much of him? And that Thou shouldest set Thine lev upon him?
18 And that Thou shouldest visit him every boker, and try him every moment?
19 How long dost Thou not look away from me? Nor let me alone till I swallow down my rok (spittle)?
20 Chatati (I have sinned); what shall I do unto Thee, O Thou Notzer HaAdam (Observer of men)? Why hast Thou set me as a mifgah (mark, target, something to be hit) to Thee, so that I am a massa (burden) to Thee?
21 And why dost Thou not pardon my peysha (transgression), and take away my avon (iniquity)? For now shall I sleep in the aphar; and Thou shalt search for me, but I shall be no more.
8 Then answered Bildad the Shuchi, and said,
2 How long wilt thou speak these things? And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a raging ruach (wind)?
3 Doth El pervert mishpat (justice)? Or doth Shaddai pervert tzedek?
4 If thy banim have sinned against Him, and He have cast them away for their peysha (transgression);
5 If thou wouldest seek El (G-d) earnestly, and make thy techinnah (supplication) to Shaddai;
6 If thou wert pure and yashar; surely now He would rouse Himself for thee, and restore the habitation of thy tzedek.
7 Though thy reshit (beginning) was small, yet thy acharit (end) shall be exceedingly great.
8 For inquire, now, of the dor rishon (former age), and consider the research of their avot;
9 —For we are but of temol (yesterday, etmol) and know nothing, because yameinu (our days) upon earth are a tzel (shadow)—
10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and bring forth words out of their lev?
11 Can the papyrus grow up without marsh? Can the reed grow without mayim?
12 Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before kol khatzir (all grass).
13 So are the paths of all that forget El (G-d), and the tikvat chanef (hope of the hypocrite, the irreligious, the secretly wicked profane person) shall perish,
14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose reliance shall be a bais akavish (spider’s web).
15 He shall lean upon his bais, but it shall not stand, he shall cling to it, but it shall not hold.
16 He is like a green plant before the shemesh, and its branch shooteth forth in its gan (garden).
17 Its shorashim (roots) are wrapped about the rock heap, and it looks on the bais avanim (place of stones).
18 But when cast away from its makom, then its place shall deny it, saying, Loh re’iticha (I never saw thee).
19 Behold, thus was the joy of its derech, and others spring forth from the aphar (dust).
20 Surely El (G-d) will not cast away a blameless man, neither will He help the resha’im (evil-doers);
21 Till He fill thy mouth with sechok (laughter), and thy lips with teruah (shouts of joy).
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with bushah (shame), and the ohel resha’im shall be no more.
9 Then Iyov answered and said,
2 I know it is indeed thus, but how should yitzdak Enosh im El (Man be in the right, justified, before G-d)?
3 If he will contend with Him, once of a thousand can Man not answer G-d back.
4 G-d is chochom in lev, and mighty in ko’ach; who hath hardened himself to defy Him and remained unhurt?
5 Which removeth the harim (mountains), and they know not; which overturneth them in His anger;
6 Which shaketh eretz out of its place, and the ammudim thereof tremble;
7 Which commandeth the cheres (sun), and it riseth not; and sealeth up the kokhavim;
8 Which spreadeth out Shomayim by Himself alone, and treadeth upon the waves of the yam;
9 Which maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the constellations on the south side of the heavens;
10 Which doeth gedolot past finding out; yea, and nifla’ot (wonders) without number.
11 Hen (lo), He passeth by me, and I see Him not; He goeth on also, but I perceive Him not.
12 Hinei, He taketh away, who can stop Him? Who will say unto Him, Mah ta’aseh (what are You doing)?
13 If Eloah restraineth not His anger, the helpers of Rahab must bow themselves under Him.
14 How much less shall I dispute with Him, and choose my dvarim with Him?
15 Whom, though I were tzaddik (righteous, innocent, in the right), yet would I not answer, but I would make techinnah (supplication, plea for mercy) for my mishpat (right).
16 If I had summoned, and He had responded to me, yet would I not believe that He had paid heed unto my kol (voice);
17 For He breaketh me in a sa’arah (tempest, storm), and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to take my ruach (breath), but filleth me with bitterness.
19 If I speak of ko’ach, hinei, He is mighty, and if of mishpat, who can give Him a court summons?
20 If etzdak (I am justified, in the right), mine own mouth would condemn me; if I say, I am blameless, He would prove me perverse.
21 Though I were blameless, yet would I not know my nefesh; I would despise my life.
22 This is one thing; therefore I said it, He destroyeth the tam (blameless) and the rasha (wicked).
23 If the shot (scourge) slay suddenly, He laugheth at the melting away [in anguish] of the nekiyim (innocent ones, the guiltless ones).
24 Eretz is given into the yad of the resha; He blindfoldeth the faces of the shofetim (judges) thereof; if not, then, who doeth it?
25 Now my yamim are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no tovah.
26 They slip by like oniyyot (boats) of reed; as the nesher that swoopeth down on the prey.
27 If I say, I will forget my si’akh (complaint), I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself,
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows; I have da’as that Thou wilt not hold me innocent.
29 If I be wicked, why then labor I in hevel (vain)?
30 If I wash myself with sheleg (snow), and make my hands clean with lye,
31 Yet shalt Thou plunge me in the shachat (slime pit), and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
32 For He is not an ish, as I am, that I should answer Him, and we should come together in mishpat (in the court).
33 Neither is there any mochiach (arbitrator) between us, that might lay his yad upon us both.
34 Let Him take His shevet (rod) away from me, and let not His fear terrify me.
35 Then would I speak, and not fear Him; but it is not ken (so) with me.
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