Chronological
Job Wishes for the Old Days
29 Then Job continued with his discourse:
2 “I wish I could go back to how things were a few months ago;
when God used to watch over me,
3 when his lamp used to shine over my head,
so I could walk through the dark,
4 like when I was in my prime
and God trusted me with his secrets![a]
5 “The Almighty was still with me back then,
and my children were still around me.
6 I was successful wherever I went,[b]
and even the rocks poured out streams of olive oil for me.”
Job Remembers His Respected Position
7 “Whenever I went out to the city gate,
a seat had been reserved for me in the plaza.[c]
8 The young men would see me and withdraw,
and the aged would rise and stand.
9 Nobles would refrain from speaking,
covering their mouths with their hands.
10 The voices of the commanders-in-chief[d] were hushed,
and their tongues would cling to the roofs of their mouths.”
Job Remembers His Acts of Kindness
11 “When people heard me speak, they blessed me;
when people saw me, they approved me,
12 because I delivered the poor who were crying for help,
along with orphans who had no one to help them.
13 Those who were about to die blessed me,
and I made widows sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness like clothing;
my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.
15 I served as eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy;
I diligently inquired into the case of those I didn’t know.
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked,
and made him drop the prey.”
Job Remembers His Previous Condition
18 “I used to say: ‘I will die in my home.[e]
I’m going to live as many days
as there are grains of sand on the shore.[f]
19 My roots have spread out and have found water,
and dew settles at night on my branches.
20 My glory renews for me
and my bow is as good as new in my hand.’
21 “They listened and waited for me,
as they remained in silence for my counsel.
22 After I spoke, they had nothing to say,
when what I said hit them.
23 They waited for me as one waits for rain,
as one opens his mouth to drink in a spring rain shower.
24 I smiled at them when they had no confidence,
and no one could discourage me.
25 I set an example of the way to live,[g] as a leader would;
I lived like a king among his army;
like one who comforts mourners.”
Job Describes His Current Status in Life
30 “But now they mock me;
men who are far younger than I,
whose fathers I would have hated
to entrust with my own sheep dogs.
2 Furthermore, what could I have gained
from men whose strength is gone?
3 Unproductive due to poverty[h] and hunger,
they could only scratch in parched soil,
devastated and desolated.
4 “They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat;
and roots of the broom shrub[i] for food.
5 Driven away from human company,
they were shouted at as though they were thieves.
6 They lived in the most dangerous of ravines,
in holes in the ground, and among rocks.
7 They bray like donkeys[j] among the bushes
and huddle together under the desert weeds.
8 Sons of fools and of uncertain reputation,[k]
they have been driven from the land by scourging.”
Job Presents the Actions of the Mockers
9 “Now, I’ve become the object of their mocking melodies;[l]
I’m nothing but a fool’s proverb to them!
10 They abhor me—they keep their distance from me;
but they don’t refrain from spitting at the sight of me.
11 But God[m] has loosened his cord and afflicted me;
so they’ve cast off all restraints in my presence.
12 “A wretched crowd ambushes me to my right;
they trip my feet;
they build up their path of calamity for me.
13 They tear up my pathways;
they profit from my destruction,
and they need no help to do this!
14 They come like those who breach through a wall;
as everything crashes around me they’ll roll on and on!
15 My greatest fears have overcome me;
my honor is assaulted as though by a wind storm;
my prosperity evaporates like a morning cloud.”
Job Accuses God of Mistreating Him
16 “Now, my soul pours itself out;
the time of my affliction has taken control of me.
17 The night racks my bones;
and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest.
18 My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me;[n]
he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak.
19 “He tossed me into the mire;
I’ve become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry for help to you,
but you won’t answer me;
I stand still,
but you only look at me.
21 You changed toward me, and now you’re cruel to me;
with your mighty hand you are persecuting me;
22 you carried me off in a wind storm,
making me ride on it
while you toss me about as the storm roars around me.
23 I know that you’re about to kill me,
so I’m about to go to the house that’s appointed for all the living.”
Job Lists His Hopes Despite His Deplorable Condition
24 “Surely he won’t stretch his hand against the needy, will he,
especially if they cry to him in their calamity?
25 Haven’t I wept for the one who is going through hard times?
Haven’t I grieved for the needy?
26 I have hoped for good, but evil came instead;
I have hoped for light, but darkness came.
27 I’m boiling mad inside, and I won’t remain silent;
the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived.
28 “In growing darkness, I walked without sunlight;
I stood in the congregation to cry for help.
29 I’ve become a brother to jackals,
and a friend to ostriches.
30 My skin turns black all over me;
and my bones seem burned from the heat.
31 But my harp is in mourning;
my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping.”
Job Asserts His Moral Innocence
31 “I made a covenant with my eyes;
how, then, can I focus my attention on a virgin?
2 What would I have[o] from God above,
what heritage from the Almighty on high,
3 if not calamity that is due the unjust,
and misfortune that is due those who practice iniquity?
4 He watches my life,
observing every one of my actions,[p] does he not?”
No Lies and Deception
5 “If I’ve lived my life in the company of vanity,
or run quickly to embrace deception,
6 let my righteousness be weighed in honest scales,
and God will make known my integrity.
7 If I have stepped away from the way,
or if my heart covets whatever my eyes see,
or if some other blemish clings to my hands,
8 what I’ve planted, let another eat
or let my crops be uprooted.”
No Adultery
9 “If my heart has been seduced by a woman
and I’ve laid in wait at my friend’s door,
10 then let my wife cook[q] for another person
and may someone else sleep with her,
11 because something as lascivious as that
is an iniquity that should be judged.
12 The fires of Abaddon[r] will burn,[s]
disrupting every part of my eternal reward.”[t]
No Abuse of Servants
13 “If I’ve refused to help my male and female servants
when they complain against me,
14 what will I do when God stands up to act?
When he asks the questions, how will I answer him?
15 The one who made me in the womb made them,[u] too, didn’t he?
Didn’t the same one prepare each of us in the womb?”
No Injustice on the Poor
16 “If I refused to grant the desire of the poor
or exhausted the eyes of the widow,
17 if I ate my meals by myself
without feeding orphans,
18 (even a poor man had grown up with me as if I were his father,
and even though I had guided the widow[v]
from the time I was born),
19 if I’ve observed someone who is about to die for lack of clothes
or if I have no clothing to give to the poor,
20 if he hadn’t thanked me from the bottom of his heart,[w]
if he had not been warmed by wool from my sheep,
21 if I’ve raised my hand against an orphan
when I thought I would against him in court,[x]
22 then let my arm[y] fall from its socket;
and may my arm be torn off at the shoulder.
23 For I’m terrified of what calamity God may have in store for me;
and I cannot endure his grandeur.”
No Trust in Wealth and Heavenly Bodies
24 “If I’ve put my confidence in gold,
if I’ve told gold, ‘You’re my security,’
25 if I’ve found joy in great wealth that I own,
if I’ve earned a lot with my own hands,
26 if I look at the sun[z] when it shines
or the moon as it rises in steady splendor,
27 so that in the depths of my deceived heart
I worshipped them with my mouth and hands,
28 this is also a sin that deserves to be judged,
since I would have tried to deceive[aa] God above.”
No Rejoicing over the Plight of Adversary
29 “Have I rejoiced in the destruction of those who hate me,
or have I been happy that evil caught up with him?
30 No, I haven’t allowed my mouth to sin
by asking for his life[ab] with a curse.
31 People in my household have said,
‘We cannot find anyone who has not been satisfied with his meat,’ haven’t they?
32 No stranger ever spent the night in the street,
because I opened my doors to travelers.”
No Secret Sins
33 “Have I covered my transgression like other people,
to conceal iniquity within myself?[ac]
34 Have I feared large crowds?
Has my family’s contempt ever terrified me
so that I remained silent and wouldn’t go outside?”
Request for A Hearing
35 “Who will grant me a hearing?
Here’s my signature[ad]—let the Almighty answer!
Since my adversary indicted me,
36 I’ll wear it on my shoulder,
or tie it on my head for a crown!
37 I’ll give an account for every step I’ve taken;
I’ll approach him confidently like a Commander-in-Chief.”[ae]
No Abuse of the Land
38 “If my land were to cry out against me
or if all its furrows wept as one,
39 If I’ve consumed its produce[af] without paying for it
and snuffed out the life of its owners;
40 may thorns spring up instead of wheat,
and obnoxious weeds instead of barley.”
With this, Job’s discourse with his friends[ag] is completed.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.