Chronological
14 (A)We are all born weak and helpless.
All lead the same short, troubled life.
2 We grow and wither as quickly as flowers;
we disappear like shadows.
3 Will you even look at me, God,
or put me on trial and judge me?
4 Nothing clean can ever come
from anything as unclean as human beings.
5 The length of our lives is decided beforehand—
the number of months we will live.
You have settled it, and it can't be changed.
6 Look away from us and leave us alone;[a]
let us enjoy our hard life—if we can.[b]
7 There is hope for a tree that has been cut down;
it can come back to life and sprout.
8 Even though its roots grow old,
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 with water it will sprout like a young plant.
10 But we die, and that is the end of us;
we die, and where are we then?
11 Like rivers that stop running,
and lakes that go dry,
12 people die, never to rise.
They will never wake up while the sky endures;
they will never stir from their sleep.
13 I wish you would hide me in the world of the dead;
let me be hidden until your anger is over,
and then set a time to remember me.
14 If a man dies, can he come back to life?
But I will wait for better times,
wait till this time of trouble is ended.
15 Then you will call, and I will answer,
and you will be pleased with me, your creature.
16 Then you will watch every step I take,
but you will not keep track of my sins.
17 You will forgive them and put them away;
you will wipe out all the wrongs I have done.
18 There comes a time when mountains fall
and solid cliffs are moved away.
19 Water will wear down rocks,
and heavy rain will wash away the soil;
so you destroy our hope for life.
20 You overpower us and send us away forever;
our faces are twisted in death.
21 Our children win honor, but we never know it,
nor are we told when they are disgraced.
22 We feel only the pain of our own bodies
and the grief of our own minds.
The Second Dialogue(B)
15 1-2 Empty words, Job! Empty words!
3 No one who is wise would talk the way you do
or defend himself with such meaningless words.
4 If you had your way, no one would fear God;
no one would pray to him.
5 Your wickedness is evident by what you say;
you are trying to hide behind clever words.
6 There is no need for me to condemn you;
you are condemned by every word you speak.
7 Do you think you were the first person born?
Were you there when God made the mountains?
8 Did you overhear the plans God made?
Does human wisdom belong to you alone?
9 There is nothing you know that we don't know.
10 We learned our wisdom from gray-haired people—
those born before your father.
11 God offers you comfort; why still reject it?
We have spoken for him with calm, even words.
12 But you are excited and glare at us in anger.
13 You are angry with God and denounce him.
14 (C)Can any human being be really pure?
Can anyone be right with God?
15 Why, God does not trust even his angels;
even they are not pure in his sight.
16 And we drink evil as if it were water;
yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.
17 Now listen, Job, to what I know.
18 Those who are wise have taught me truths
which they learned from their ancestors,
and they kept no secrets hidden.
19 Their land was free from foreigners;
there was no one to lead them away from God.
20 The wicked who oppress others
will be in torment as long as they live.
21 Voices of terror will scream in their ears,
and robbers attack when they think they are safe.
22 They have no hope of escaping from darkness,
for somewhere a sword is waiting to kill them,
23 and vultures[c] are waiting[d] to eat their corpses.
They know their future is dark;
24 disaster, like a powerful king,
is waiting to attack them.
25 That is the fate of those
who shake their fists at God
and defy the Almighty.
26-27 They are proud and rebellious;
they stubbornly hold up their shields
and rush to fight against God.
28 They are the ones who captured cities
and seized houses whose owners had fled,
but war will destroy those cities and houses.
29 They will not remain rich for long;
nothing they own will last.
Even their shadows[e] will vanish,
30 and they will not escape from darkness.
They will be like trees
whose branches are burned by fire,
whose blossoms[f] are blown away by the wind.
31 If they are foolish enough to trust in evil,
then evil will be their reward.
32 Before their time is up they will wither,[g]
wither like a branch and never be green again.
33 They will be like vines that lose their unripe grapes;
like olive trees that drop their blossoms.
34 There will be no descendants for godless people,
and fire will destroy the homes built by bribery.
35 These are the ones who plan trouble and do evil;
their hearts are always full of deceit.
16 1-2 I have heard words like that before;
the comfort you give is only torment.
3 Are you going to keep on talking forever?
Do you always have to have the last word?
4 If you were in my place and I in yours,
I could say everything you are saying.
I could shake my head wisely
and drown you with a flood of words.
5 I could strengthen you with advice
and keep talking to comfort you.
6 But nothing I say helps,
and being silent does not calm my pain.
7 You have worn me out, God;
you have let my family be killed.
8 You have seized me; you are my enemy.
I am skin and bones,
and people take that as proof of my guilt.[h]
9 In anger God tears me limb from limb;
he glares at me with hate.
10 People sneer at me;
they crowd around me and slap my face.
11 God has handed me over to evil people.
12 I was living in peace,
but God took me by the throat
and battered me and crushed me.
God uses me for target practice
13 and shoots arrows at me from every side—
arrows that pierce and wound me;
and even then he shows no pity.
14 He wounds me again and again;
he attacks like a soldier gone mad with hate.
15 I mourn and wear clothes made of sackcloth,
and I sit here in the dust defeated.
16 I have cried until my face is red,
and my eyes are swollen and circled with shadows,
17 but I am not guilty of any violence,
and my prayer to God is sincere.
18 O Earth, don't hide the wrongs done to me!
Don't let my call for justice be silenced!
19 (D)There is someone in heaven
to stand up for me and take my side.
20 My friends scorn me;
my eyes pour out tears to God.
21 I want someone to plead with God for me,
as one pleads for a friend.
22 My years are passing now,
and I walk the road of no return.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.