Chronological

Job Speaks

6 Then Job answered, ² “If only my trials and troubles were weighed! ³ They would weigh more than the sand of the seas. My words have been spoken fast and without thought. ⁴ For the arrows of the All-powerful are in me. My spirit drinks their poison. The hard things from God are like an army against me. ⁵ Does the wild donkey make noise when it has grass? Or does the bull make noise when it has food? ⁶ Can something that has no taste be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg? ⁷ My soul will not touch them. They are like hated food to me.

⁸ “If only I might get what I ask for, and that God would give me what I desire! ⁹ If only God were willing to crush me, that He would let His hand loose and destroy me! ¹⁰ But this gives me comfort even though I suffer much pain because I have not turned away from the words of the Holy One. ¹¹ What strength have I, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should not give up? ¹² Do I have the strength of stones? Is my flesh brass? ¹³ I have no power to help myself, and a way out is far from me.

¹⁴ “Kindness from a friend should be shown to a man without hope, or he might turn away from the fear of the All-powerful. ¹⁵ My brothers have been like rivers that are not there when needed. ¹⁶ They are dark because of ice and snow turning into water. ¹⁷ When they have no water, there is no noise. When it is hot, they are not there. ¹⁸ The people on their camels turn away from them. They go into the waste places and die. ¹⁹ The people and camels of Tema looked. The travelers of Sheba hoped for them. ²⁰ They were troubled for they had trusted. They came there and their hope goes. ²¹ Yes, this is how you have been. You see my trouble and are afraid. ²² Have I said, ‘Give me something,’ or, ‘Pay something from your riches to help me’? ²³ Have I said, ‘Take me out from under the power of the one who hates me,’ or, ‘Save me from those who make it hard for me’?

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be quiet. Show me where I have been wrong. ²⁵ Honest words give pain. But what does your arguing prove? ²⁶ Do you think you can speak against my words, and act as if the words of a man without hope are wind? ²⁷ You would even draw names over those who have no father, and make trades over your friend. ²⁸ Now be pleased to look at me, and see if I lie to your face. ²⁹ I ask that you change your minds and let no wrong be done. Stop now, for I am still right and good. ³⁰ Is there wrong-doing on my tongue? Can I not taste trouble?

Job Keeps On Talking

7 “Is not man made to work on earth? Are not his days like the days of a man paid to work? ² Like a servant who desires to be out of the sun, and like a working man who waits for his pay, ³ I am given months of pain and nights of suffering for no reason. ⁴ When I lie down I say, ‘When will I get up?’ But the night is long, and I am always turning from side to side until morning. ⁵ My flesh is covered with worms and dirt. My skin becomes hard and breaks open. ⁶ My days are faster than a cloth-maker’s tool, and come to their end without hope.

⁷ “Remember that my life is only a breath. My eye will not again see good. ⁸ The eye of him who sees me will see me no more. Your eyes will be on me, but I will be gone. ⁹ When a cloud goes away, it is gone. And he who goes down to the place of the dead does not come back. ¹⁰ He will not return to his house, and his place will not know him any more.

¹¹ “So I will not keep my mouth shut. I will speak in the suffering of my spirit. I will complain because my soul is bitter. ¹² Am I the sea, or a large sea animal, that You put someone to watch me? ¹³ When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, and there I will find rest from my complaining,’ ¹⁴ then You send dreams to me which fill me with fear. ¹⁵ So a quick death by having my breath stopped would be better to me than my pains. ¹⁶ I hate my life. I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are only a breath. ¹⁷ What is man, that You make so much of him? Why do You care about him, ¹⁸ that You look at him every morning, and test him all the time? ¹⁹ How long will it be until You look away from me? Will You not let me alone until I swallow my spit? ²⁰ Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have you made me something to shoot at, so that I am a problem to myself? ²¹ Why then do You not forgive my wrong-doing and take away my sin? For now I will lie down in the dust. You will look for me, but I will not be.”

Bildad Talks

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, ² “How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a strong wind? ³ Does God make wrong what is fair? Does the All-powerful make wrong what is right? ⁴ If your children have sinned against Him, He has given them over to the power of their sin. ⁵ If you will look for God and pray to the All-powerful, ⁶ if you are pure and right and good, for sure He will help you. Because you are right and good He will put you back where you should be. ⁷ And even if your beginning was small, your end will be very great.

⁸ “Ask about those who have lived before. Think about what their fathers learned. ⁹ For we are only of yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as a shadow. ¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak words of wisdom?

¹¹ “Can the tall river grass grow up from dry ground? Can the grass that grows in wet places grow without water? ¹² While it is still green and not cut, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant. ¹³ So are the ways of all who forget God. The hope of the man without God is destroyed. ¹⁴ What he trusts in is easy to break, like the home of a spider. ¹⁵ The spider trusts in his house, but it falls apart. He holds on to it, but it does not hold. ¹⁶ He is full of strength in the sunshine, and his branches spread out over his garden. ¹⁷ His roots grow around rocks and they work their way among the stones. ¹⁸ If he is taken from his place, then it will turn away from him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’ ¹⁹ See, this is the joy of His way. And out of the dust others will come. ²⁰ See, God will not turn away from a man who is honest and faithful. And He will not help those who do wrong. ²¹ He will yet make you laugh and call out with joy. ²² Those who hate you will be dressed with shame. And the tent of the sinful will be no more.”

Job Talks

9 Then Job answered, ² “Yes, I know this is true. But how can a man be right and good before God? ³ If one wished to argue with Him, he would not be able to answer one out of a thousand of His questions. ⁴ He is wise in heart and powerful in strength. Who has ever stood against Him without being hurt? ⁵ It is He Who takes away the mountains without their knowing it, when He destroys them in His anger. ⁶ He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars shake. ⁷ He tells the sun not to shine, and He keeps the stars from shining. ⁸ He alone spreads out the heavens and walks upon the waves of the sea. ⁹ He makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades and the stars of the south. ¹⁰ He does things too great for us to understand, and more wonderful works than we can number. ¹¹ When He passes by me, I do not see Him. When He goes by me, I do not know Him. ¹² If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³ “God will not stop His anger. The helpers of Rahab bow under Him. ¹⁴ How then can I answer Him, and choose the right words to speak with Him? ¹⁵ Even if I am right, I cannot answer Him. I must beg Him who is against me to have pity. ¹⁶ If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice. ¹⁷ For He crushes me with a storm, and hurts me more and more without a reason. ¹⁸ He will not let me get my breath, but fills me with much that is bitter. ¹⁹ If it is a question of power, see, He is the strong one! If it is a question of what is right and fair, who can call Him to a trial? ²⁰ Even if I were right, my mouth would say that I am guilty. Even if I were without blame, He would say I am guilty. ²¹ Even though I am without blame, I do not care about myself. I hate my life. ²² It is all the same, so I say, ‘He destroys both those who are without blame and the sinful.’ ²³ If death comes fast by disease, He makes fun of the trouble of those who have done no wrong. ²⁴ The earth is given into the hand of the sinful. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵ “My days go faster than a runner. They fly away, and see no good. ²⁶ They go by like fast boats, like an eagle coming down to catch its food. ²⁷ If I say, ‘I will forget my complaining. I will put off my sad face and be happy,’ ²⁸ I am still afraid of all my pains for I know You will not take away my guilt. ²⁹ Because I am already guilty, why should I try for nothing? ³⁰ If I wash myself with snow and clean my hands using the best soap, ³¹ You would still throw me down into a deep hole. And my own clothes would hate me. ³² For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, that we might go to trial together. ³³ There is no one to decide between us, who might lay his hand upon us both. ³⁴ Let Him stop punishing me. And do not let fear of Him make me so afraid. ³⁵ Then I would speak and not be afraid of Him. But I am not like that in myself.