Chronological
Job’s Suffering is Grave
6 In rebuttal, Job replied:
2 “If only my grief could be weighed;
or my calamity piled together on a balance scale!
3 It would weigh more than the sand on the seashore![a]
Here’s why I’ve talked so rashly:
4 “The arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;
my spirit absorbs[b] their poison;[c]
God’s terrors have been arranged just for me!
5 “Will the wild donkey bray from hunger[d] if fresh grass is beside him?
Will the ox low from distress[e] if it is near its feed?
6 Tasteless food isn’t eaten without salt, is it?
Is there any taste in an egg white?
7 I cannot bring myself to touch them;[f]
food like this makes me sick.”
Job Desires Death
8 “Who will grant my wish?[g]
I wish God would grant what I’m hoping for:
9 that God would just be willing[h] to crush me;
that he would let loose[i] and eliminate me!
10 At least I could still take comfort
and rejoice in unceasing anguish,
for I didn’t conceal what the Holy One has to say.
11 “Do I have the strength to wait?
And why[j] should I be patient?
12 Am I as strong as a rock?
Am I some kind of iron man?[k]
13 There is no help within me, is there?
My resources have been driven away from me, haven’t they?
Job Accuses His Friends of Treachery
14 The friend shows gracious love for his friend,
even if he has forsaken the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers have acted treacherously like a cascading river,
like torrential rivers that overflow.
16 Filled with waters made cold[l] by ice,
they are where the snow goes to hide.
17 But then the snow melts, and they disappear;
when warmed, they evaporate from their stream beds.[m]
18 Travelers divert[n] in their route;
they go into a wasteland and die.
19 Travelers from Tema search intently;
caravans from Sheba hope to find them.
20 For all their expectations, they are doomed to disappointment;
even though they have come and searched this far.
21 “And now you’re all just like them, aren’t you?[o]
You see my terror and are terrified.
22 When did I ever ask you for anything,
say ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth?’
23 or say ‘Deliver me from my enemy’s control,’[p]
or ‘Redeem me from the domination[q] of ruthless people’?”
Job Requests Mercy from His Friends
24 “Instruct me, and I’ll remain silent.
Help me understand where I’ve gone astray.
25 The truth[r] can be painful,
but what has your argument proven?
26 Did you intend your words to reprove,
even though the speech of a desperate person is just wind?
27 Indeed, you would gamble to buy an orphan;
and barter to buy your friend!
28 Now be willing to face me,
and I won’t lie to your face.
29 Repent! Let there be no injustice;
Change your ways![s] My vindication[t] is at stake.
30 Have I said anything that’s unjust?
I can discern[u] evil, can’t I?”
Job Acknowledges the Brevity of Life
7 “Men have harsh servitude on earth, do they not?
His days are like those of a hired laborer, are they not?[v]
2 I’m like a servant who longs for the shade,
like a hired laborer who is looking for his wages.
3 Truly I’ve been allotted months of emptiness;
nights of trouble have been appointed for me.
4 “When I lie down I ask,
‘When will I wake up?’
But the night continues
and I keep tossing and turning until dawn.[w]
5 My skin[x] is covered with worms and clods of dirt;
my skin becomes rough and then breaks out afresh.
6 My days pass as swiftly as a hand-loom;
they come to their conclusion without hope.
7 Remember that my life is a breath;
my eyes won’t go back to seeing good things.[y]
8 The eyes of the one who sees me won’t see me anymore;
your eyes will look[z] for me
but I won’t be around![aa]
9 As a cloud fades away and vanishes,
the one who descends to the afterlife[ab] doesn’t return.[ac]
10 He doesn’t return again to his house,
and his place won’t recognize him anymore.”
Job Intends to Complain
11 “In addition, I won’t keep my opinion[ad] to myself;
I’ll speak from my distressed spirit;
I’ll complain with my bitter soul.
12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you keep watching me?
13 For I’ve said, ‘My bed will comfort me;
my couch will ease my burdens[ae] while I complain.’
14 But then you scared me with dreams;
you terrified me with visions.
15 I would rather die by strangulation
than continue living.[af]
16 I hate the thought of living forever!
Leave me alone, because my days are pointless.”
Job Acknowledges Humankind’s Insignificance
17 “What is a human being, that you make so much of him;
that you set your affections on him,
18 visit him every morning,
and test him continually?
19 Why won’t you look away from me?
Why don’t you leave me alone so I can swallow my saliva?
20 So what if I sin? What have I done against you,
you observer of humankind?
Why have you made me your target?
Why burden yourself with me?
21 Why haven’t you pardoned my transgression
and taken away my iniquity?
Now I’m about to lie down in the dust.
You will seek me diligently,
but I won’t be around!”[ag]
Bildad: God Rewards the Godly
8 Then in response, Bildad from Shuah said:
2 “How long will you keep talking like this?
How long will you keep talking like a wind storm?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what’s right?
4 “If your children sin against him,
he’ll make them a prisoner[ah] of their sins.
5 If you seek God,
if you ask the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are clean and upright,
surely then, he’ll act on your behalf
and restore your rightful[ai] place.
7 Your beginning may be small,
but later years[aj] will be very great.
8 “Inquire of the previous generation, won’t you please?
Consider what their forefathers searched out.
9 Because we are of yesterday and we know nothing,
for our time on earth is only a shadow.
10 Won’t they instruct you, and tell you,
and bring out words from the heart?
11 “Can papyrus grow where there’s no marsh?
Can reeds flourish without water?
12 While they are still green
and not yet ready to be harvested,
they wither before any plant.
13 Such are the paths of everyone who forgets God—
the hope of the godless will be destroyed:
14 his confidence is shattered;
his trust is in a spider’s web.
15 He leans against his house,
but it won’t stand;
he grabs hold of it firmly,
but it doesn’t last.
16 He is a fresh sapling planted in the sunlight,
spreading out its branches over its garden.
17 Its roots weave around a pile of stones,
seeking to entrench itself among the rocks.
18 If he is uprooted[ak] from his place,
then it will deny him:
‘I never saw you.’
19 “Indeed, this is the benefit of God’s[al] way:
from the soil other plants[am] will sprout.
20 Surely God won’t reject those who are blameless
or hold hands with those who practice evil.
21 He will soon fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips will shout with joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will no longer exist.
Job Cannot Argue with His Creator
9 This was Job’s response:
2 “Indeed, I’m fully aware that this is so,
but how can a person become right with God?
3 If one were to seek to argue with him,
he won’t be able to answer him even once in a thousand times.
4 He is wise in heart and strong in will—
who can be stubborn against him and succeed?
5 “He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overthrowing them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth from its orbit,[an]
so that its foundations shudder.
7 He commands the sun so that it doesn’t shine[ao]
and seals up the stars.
8 He alone spreads out the heavens,
he walks on the waves[ap] of the sea.
9 He created Bear, Orion, the Pleiades,
and the southern constellations.
10 He does great things that cannot be explained,
and awesome deeds that cannot be counted.
11 “If he were to pass near me, I wouldn’t notice;
if he moves by, I wouldn’t perceive him.
12 Indeed, if he snatches someone[aq] away,
who could restrain him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God doesn’t restrain his anger.
Rahab’s assistants are humiliated under him.
14 So how am I to answer him,
choosing what I am to say to him?
15 Even if I’m in the right,
I cannot answer him.
I can only appeal for mercy.
16 “Were I to be summoned, and he were to answer me,
I wouldn’t even believe
that he was listening to what I have to say.[ar]
17 For he crushes me with a storm,
and keeps on wounding me for no reason.
18 He won’t let me catch my breath;
instead, he fills me with bitterness.
19 “Is this a contest of strength? He is obviously stronger!
Is this a matter of justice? Who can sue him?
20 Though I’m in the right, my own mouth will condemn me;
though I’m blameless, he’ll pronounce me as guilty.
21 “I’m blameless;
I don’t know myself;
I despise my life.
22 I say it’s all the same—
he destroys both the blameless and the guilty.[as]
23 If a calamity[at] causes sudden death,
he’ll mock at the despair of the innocent.
24 A land is given into the hands of a wicked person;[au]
he covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not God,[av] then who is it?”
Job Argues that God Won’t Acquit Him
25 “My days pass faster than a runner;
but they pass quickly without seeing anything good.
26 They pass by like a ship made of reeds,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
27 If I were to say, ‘Let me forget my complaint,’
change[aw] the expression on[ax] my face, and look cheerful,
28 then I still dread all of my suffering;
I know you still won’t acquit me.
29 I will be condemned,
so why should I wear myself out with this futility?
30 “If I wash myself with water from snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 you’ll still drop me into the Pit,[ay]
and my own clothes will despise me.
32 He’s not a man like me,
so that I can answer him,
or that we can enter into litigation[az] with one another.
33 There is not yet a mediator between us,
who would set his hand on the two of us,
34 removing his rod from me,
and not letting terror of him overwhelm me.
35 Otherwise, I would speak without being terrified of him,
because I’m not like that inside myself.”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.