1 A man in the land of Uz was named Job. That man was honest, a person of absolute integrity; he feared God and avoided evil.
2 He had seven sons and three daughters,
3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a vast number of servants, so that he was greater than all the people of the east.
4 Each of his sons hosted a feast in his own house on his birthday. They invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
5 When the days of the feast had been completed, Job would send word and purify his children. Getting up early in the morning, he prepared entirely burned offerings for each one of them, for Job thought, Perhaps my children have sinned and then cursed God in their hearts. Job did this regularly. Job's motives questioned
6 One day the divine beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Adversary also came among them.
7 The LORD said to the Adversary, "Where did you come from?" The Adversary answered the LORD, "From wandering throughout the earth."
8 The LORD said to the Adversary, "Have you thought about my servant Job; surely there is no one like him on earth, a man who is honest, who is of absolute integrity, who reveres God and avoids evil?"
9 The Adversary answered the LORD, "Does Job revere God for nothing?
10 Haven't you fenced him in--his house and all he has--and blessed the work of his hands so that his possessions extend throughout the earth?
11 But stretch out your hand and strike all he has. He will certainly curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to the Adversary, "Look, all he has is within your power; only don't stretch out your hand against him." So the Adversary left the LORD's presence. Job passes the test
13 One day Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house.
14 A messenger came to Job and said: "The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were grazing nearby
15 when the Sabeans took them and killed the young men with swords. I alone escaped to tell you."
16 While this messenger was speaking, another arrived and said: "A raging fire fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and devoured the young men. I alone escaped to tell you."
17 While this messenger was speaking, another arrived and said: "Chaldeans set up three companies, raided the camels and took them, killing the young men with swords. I alone escaped to tell you."
18 While this messenger was speaking, another arrived and said: "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,
19 when a strong wind came from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people, and they died. I alone escaped to tell you."
20 Job arose, tore his clothes, shaved his head, fell to the ground, and worshipped.
21 He said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb; naked I will return there. The LORD has given; the LORD has taken; bless the LORD's name."
22 In all this, Job didn't sin or blame God. Job's Adversary refuses to give up
1 One day the divine beings came to present themselves before the LORD. The Adversary also came among them to present himself before the LORD.
2 The LORD said to the Adversary, "Where have you come from?" The Adversary answered the LORD, "From wandering throughout the earth."
3 The LORD said to the Adversary, "Have you thought about my servant Job, for there is no one like him on earth, a man who is honest, who is of absolute integrity, who reveres God and avoids evil? He still holds on to his integrity, even though you incited me to ruin him for no reason."
4 The Adversary responded to the LORD, "Skin for skin--people will give up everything they have in exchange for their lives.
5 But stretch out your hand and strike his bones and flesh. Then he will definitely curse you to your face."
6 The LORD answered the Adversary, "There he is--within your power; only preserve his life." The test intensifies
7 The Adversary departed from the LORD's presence and struck Job with severe sores from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.
8 Job took a piece of broken pottery to scratch himself and sat down on a mound of ashes.
9 Job's wife said to him, "Are you still clinging to your integrity? Curse God, and die."
10 Job said to her, "You're talking like a foolish woman. Will we receive good from God but not also receive bad?" In all this, Job didn't sin with his lips. Job's three friends come to comfort him
11 When Job's three friends heard about all this disaster that had happened to him, they came, each one from his home--Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah. They agreed to come so they could console and comfort him.
12 When they looked up from a distance and didn't recognize him, they wept loudly. Each one tore his garment and scattered dust above his head toward the sky.
13 They sat with Job on the ground seven days and seven nights, not speaking a word to him, for they saw that he was in excruciating pain. Job responds differently
1 Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born.
2 Job said:
3 Perish the day I was born, the night someone said, "A boy has been conceived."
4 That day--let it be darkness; may God above ignore it, and light not shine on it.
5 May deepest darkness claim it and a cloud linger over it; may all that darkens the day terrify it.
6 May gloom seize that night; may it not be counted in the days of a year; may it not appear in the months.
7 May that night be childless; may no happy singing come in it.
8 May those who curse the day curse it, those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
9 May its evening stars stay dark; may it wait in vain for light; may it not see dawn's gleam,
10 because it didn't close the doors of my mother's womb, didn't hide trouble from my eyes. Job laments his misfortune
11 Why didn't I die at birth, come forth from the womb and die?
12 Why did knees receive me and breasts let me nurse?
13 For now I would be lying down quietly; I'd sleep; rest would be mine
14 with kings and earth's advisors, who rebuild ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver.
16 Or why wasn't I like a buried miscarried infant, like babies who never see light?
17 There the wicked rage no more; there the weak rest.
18 Prisoners are entirely at ease; they don't hear a boss's voice.
19 Both small and great are there; a servant is free from his masters.
20 Why is light given to the hard worker, life to those bitter of soul,
21 those waiting in vain for death, who search for it more than for treasure,
22 who rejoice excitedly, who are thrilled when they find a grave?
23 Why is light given to the person whose way is hidden, whom God has fenced in?
24 My groans become my bread; my roars pour out like water.
25 Because I was afraid of something awful, and it arrived; what I dreaded came to me.
26 I had no ease, quiet, or rest, and trembling came. Eliphaz tries to comfort Job
1 Then Eliphaz, a native of Teman, responded:
2 If one tries to answer you, will you be annoyed? But who can hold words back?
3 Look, you've instructed many and given strength to drooping hands.
4 Your words have raised up the falling; you've steadied failing knees.
5 But now it comes to you, and you are dismayed; it has struck you, and you are frightened.
6 Isn't your religion the source of your confidence; the integrity of your conduct, the source of your hope? Sinners don't live long
7 Think! What innocent person has ever perished? When have those who do the right thing been destroyed?
8 As I've observed, those who plow sin and sow trouble will harvest it.
9 When God breathes deeply, they perish; by a breath of his nostril they are annihilated.
10 The roar of a lion and snarl of the king of beasts-- yet the teeth of lions are shattered;
11 the lion perishes without prey, and its cubs are scattered. A frightening dream
12 But a word sneaked up on me; my ears caught a hint of it.
13 In profound thoughts, visions of night, when deep sleep falls on people,
14 fear and dread struck me; all of my bones shook.
15 A breeze swept by my face; the hair of my skin bristled.
16 It stopped. I didn't recognize its visible form, although a figure was in front of my eyes. Silence! Then I heard a voice:
17 "Can a human be more righteous than God, a person purer than their maker?" Its interpretation
18 If he doesn't trust his servants and levels a charge against his messengers,
19 how much less those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in dust, and who are crushed like a moth?
20 They are smashed between morning and evening; they perish forever without anyone knowing.
21 Isn't their tent cord pulled up? They die without wisdom. Life's problems
1 Call out. Will anyone answer you? To which holy one will you turn?
2 Surely anger can kill the foolish; fury can kill the simple.
3 I've seen the foolish take root and promptly curse their house.
4 Their children are far from safety, crushed in the gate without a deliverer.
5 The hungry devour their crops; it's taken even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after their yield.
6 Surely trouble doesn't come from dust, nor does distress sprout from the ground.
7 Surely humans are born to distress, just as sparks rise up. The answer is God
8 But I would seek God, put my case to God,
9 who does great things beyond comprehension, wonderful things without number;
10 who provides rain over the earth's surface, sends water to the open country,
11 exalts the lowly, raises mourners to victory;
12 who frustrates the schemes of the clever so that their hands achieve no success,
13 trapping the wise in their cleverness so that the plans of the devious don't succeed.
14 They encounter darkness during the day, and at noon they fumble about as at night.
15 Yet he rescues the orphan from the sword of their mouth, the needy from the grip of the strong;
16 so the poor have hope and violence shuts its mouth. Divine favor
17 Look, happy is the person whom God corrects; so don't reject the Almighty's instruction.
18 He injures, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal.
19 From six adversities he will deliver you; from seven harm won't touch you.
20 In famine he will ransom you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the tongue's sting, and you won't fear destruction when it comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and hunger; you won't be afraid of wild beasts;
23 for you will make an agreement with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure. You will examine your home and miss nothing.
25 You will know that you'll have many children. Your offspring will be like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to your grave in old age as bundles of grain stacked up at harvesttime.
27 Look, we've searched this out, and so it is; listen and find out for yourself. Job defends his anger
1 Job responded:
2 Oh, that my grief were actually weighed, all of it were lifted up in scales;
3 for now it's heavier than the sands of the sea; therefore, my words are rash.
4 The Almighty's arrows are in me; my spirit drinks their poison, and God's terrors are arrayed against me.
5 Does a donkey bray over grass or an ox bellow over its fodder?
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or does egg white have taste?
7 I refuse to touch them; they resemble food for the sick. He wishes to die
8 Oh, that what I've requested would come and God grant my hope;
9 that God be willing to crush me, release his hand and cut me off.
10 I'd still take comfort, relieved even though in persistent pain; for I've not denied the words of the holy one.
11 What is my strength, that I should hope; my end, that my life should drag on?
12 Is my strength that of rocks, my flesh bronze?
13 I don't have a helper for myself; success has been taken from me. He accuses his friends
14 Are friends loyal to the one who despairs, or do they stop fearing the Almighty?
15 My companions are treacherous like a stream in the desert, like channels that overrun their streambeds,
16 like those darkened by thawing ice, in which snow is obscured
17 but that stop flowing in dry times and vanish from their channels in heat.
18 Caravans turn aside from their paths; they go up into untamed areas and perish.
19 Caravans from Tema look; merchants from Sheba hope for it.
20 They are ashamed that they trusted; they arrive and are dismayed.
21 That's what you are like; you see something awful and are afraid. He appeals to his friends
22 Have I said, "Give me something? Offer a bribe from your wealth for me?
23 Rescue me from the hand of my enemy? Ransom me from the grip of the ruthless?"
24 Instruct me and I'll be quiet; inform me how I've erred.
25 How painful are truthful words, but what do your condemnations accomplish?
26 Do you intend to correct my words, to treat the words of a hopeless man as wind?
27 Would you even gamble over an orphan, barter away your friend?
28 Now look at me-- would I lie to your face?
29 Turn! Don't be faithless. Turn now! I am righteous.
30 Is there wrong on my tongue, or can my mouth not recognize disaster? The human condition
1 Isn't slavery everyone's condition on earth, our days like those of a hired worker?
2 Like a slave we pant for a shadow, await our task like a hired worker.
3 So I have inherited months of emptiness; nights of toil have been measured out for me.
4 If I lie down and think--When will I get up?-- night drags on, and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.
5 My flesh is covered with worms and crusted earth; my skin hardens and oozes.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; they reach their end without hope.
7 Remember that my life is wind; my eyes won't see pleasure again.
8 The eye that sees me now will no longer look on me; your eyes will be on me, and I won't exist.
9 A cloud breaks apart and moves on-- like the one who descends to the grave and won't rise,
10 won't return home again, won't be recognized in town anymore. Job wants to be left alone
11 But I won't keep quiet; I will speak in the adversity of my spirit, groan in the bitterness of my life.
12 Am I Sea or the Sea Monster that you place me under guard?
13 If I say, "My couch will comfort me," my bed will diminish my murmuring.
14 You scare me with dreams, frighten me with visions.
15 I would choose strangling and death instead of my bones.
16 I reject life; I don't want to live long; leave me alone, for my days are empty. A parody of Psalm 8
17 What are human beings, that you exalt them, that you take note of them,
18 visit them each morning, test them every moment?
19 Why not look away from me; let me alone until I swallow my spit?
20 If I sinned, what did I do to you, guardian of people? Why have you made me your target so that I'm a burden to myself?
21 Why not forgive my sin, overlook my iniquity? Then I would lie down in the dust; you would search hard for me, and I would not exist. Bildad defends God
1 Bildad from Shuah responded:
2 How long will you mouth such things such that your utterances become a strong wind?
3 Does God pervert justice, or does the Almighty distort what is right?
4 If your children sinned against him, then he delivered them into the power of their rebellion.
5 If you will search eagerly for God, plead with the Almighty.
6 If you are pure and do the right thing, then surely he will become active on your behalf and reward your innocent dwelling.
7 Although your former state was ordinary, your future will be extraordinary. Tradition
8 Ask a previous generation and verify the findings of your ancestors,
9 for we are only recently here and don't know because our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Won't they instruct you and tell you; will words not proceed from their hearts? Examples from nature
11 Does papyrus grow apart from a marsh? Does a reed flourish without water?
12 While still tender, uncut, it will wither before every other grass.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God. Hope perishes for the godless,
14 whose confidence is a fragile thing, their trust, a spider's web.
15 He leans on its web, and it doesn't stand; grasps it, and it can't remain in place.
16 It's like a well-watered plant in the sun; its runners spread over its gardens.
17 Its roots are entwined over a pile of rocks, for it sees a home among stones.
18 If it's uprooted from its place, it lies, saying, "I can't see you."
19 Surely its way is a joy, for from the dust other plants sprout. God's faithfulness
20 Surely God won't reject integrity, won't strengthen the hand of the wicked.
21 He will still fill your mouth with joy, your lips with a victorious shout.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will vanish. Hymnic praise
1 Job responded:
2 I know for certain that this is so; and how can anyone be innocent before God?
3 If one wants to contend with him, he won't answer one in a thousand.
4 He is wise and powerful; who can resist him and prosper?
5 Who removes mountains, and they are unaware; who overthrows them in anger?
6 Who shakes the earth from its place, and its pillars shudder?
7 Who commands the sun, and it does not rise, even seals up the stars;
8 stretched out the heavens alone and trod on the waves of the Sea;
9 made the Bear and Orion, Pleiades and the southern constellations;
10 does great and unsearchable things, wonders beyond number? A mismatch
11 If God goes by me, I can't see him; he glides past, and I can't perceive him.
12 If he seizes, who can bring back? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?"
13 God won't retract his anger; the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
14 Yet I myself will answer him; I'll choose my words in a contest with him.
15 Even if I'm innocent, I can't answer; I must plead for justice.
16 If I were to call and he answered me, I couldn't believe that he heard my voice.
17 Who bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds for no reason?
18 He doesn't let me catch my breath, for he fills me with bitterness.
19 If the issue is strength--behold power! If justice--who calls God to meet me? There is no justice
20 If I'm innocent, my mouth condemns me; I have integrity; but God declares me perverse.
21 I'm blameless, yet don't know myself; I reject my life.
22 It's all the same; therefore, I say God destroys the blameless and the sinners.
23 If calamity suddenly kills, he mocks at the slaying of innocents.
24 The earth is handed over to the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges. If not God, then who does? Job wants an arbitrator
25 My days are swifter than a runner; they flee and don't experience good.
26 They sweep by like ships made of reeds, as an eagle swoops on prey.
27 If I say, "I'll forget my lament, put on a different face so I can smile,"
28 I'm still afraid of all my suffering; I know that you won't declare me innocent.
29 I myself am thought guilty; why have I tried so hard in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow, purify my hands with soap,
31 then you'll hurl me into a slimy pit so that my clothes detest me.
32 God is not a man like me--someone I could answer-- so that we could come together in court.
33 Oh, that there were a mediator between us; he would lay his hand on both of us,
34 remove his rod from me, so his fury wouldn't frighten me.
35 Then I would speak--unafraid-- for I'm not that way. Complaint to God
1 I loathe my life; I will let loose my complaint; I will speak out of my own bitterness.
2 I will say to God, Don't declare me guilty; tell me what you are accusing me of doing.
3 Does it seem good to you that you oppress me, that you reject the work of your hands and cause the purpose of sinners to shine?
4 Do you have physical eyes; do you see like a human?
5 Are your days like those of a human, your years like years of a human,
6 that you search for my wrongdoing and seek my sin?
7 You know that I'm not guilty, yet no one delivers me from your power. Creator
8 Your hands fashioned and made me; yet you want to destroy me utterly.
9 Remember that you made me from clay, and you will return me to dust.
10 Didn't you pour me out like milk, curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, wove me from bones and sinews.
12 Life and kindness you gave me, and you oversaw and preserved my breath. No hiding place
13 These things you hid in your heart; I know this is the case with you.
14 If I sin and you observe me, you won't consider me innocent of wrongdoing.
15 If I were guilty, doom to me; I'm innocent, but can't lift my head, full of shame and facing my misery.
16 I could boast like a lion, and you would hunt me; you would do awesome things to me again.
17 You contine to send your witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me, a swift army against me. Death wish
18 Why did you let me emerge from the womb? I wish I had died without any eye seeing me.
19 Then I would be just as if I hadn't existed, taken from the belly to the grave.
20 Aren't my few days coming to an end? Look away from me so I can brighten up a little
21 before I go and don't return to a land of deepest darkness,
22 a land whose light is like gloom, utter darkness and confusion, such that light shines like gloom. Zophar's rebuke
1 Zophar from Naamah responded:
2 Should all these words go unanswered or a wordy man be justified?
3 Will your idle talk silence everyone; will you mock and not be put to shame?
4 You've said, "My teaching is pure, and I'm clean in God's eyes." Divine secrecy
5 But oh, that God would speak, open his lips against you
6 and tell you secrets of wisdom; for sound insight has two sides. Know that God lets some of your sin be forgotten.
7 Can you find the secret of God or find the extent of the Almighty?
8 They are higher than the heavens--what can you do? Deeper than the underworld --what can you know?
9 Its measurement is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.
10 If God passes by, imprisons someone, and calls a trial, who can stop him?
11 He knows worthless people, sees sin, and certainly takes note.
12 A stupid person becomes intelligent when a wild ass of a person is born tame. Abiding hope
13 If you make your mind resolute and spread your palms to him,
14 if you throw out the sin in your hands and don't let injustice dwell in your tents,
15 then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and not fear.
16 You will forget trouble; you will remember it as water that flows past.
17 A life span will rise brighter than noon; darkness will be like morning.
18 You will be secure, for there is hope; you will look around and rest safely.
19 You will lie down without anyone to scare you; many will beg for your favor.
20 The eyes of the wicked will grow faint; flight has vanished from them; their hope is a dying gasp. A living joke
1 Job responded:
2 Surely you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3 I am also intelligent; I'm not inferior to you. Who isn't like these people?
4 I'm a joke to friends who called to God and he answered; the innocent and blameless one is a joke,
5 a torch of contempt to one who is idle, a fixed point for slipping feet. Proverbial wisdom
6 Raiders' tents are prosperous and God's provokers secure, who carry God in their hands.
7 But ask Behemoth, and he will teach you, the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8 or talk to earth, and it will teach you; the fish of the sea will recount it for you.
9 Among all these, who hasn't known that the LORD's hand did this?
10 In whose grasp is the life of every thing, the breath of every person?
11 Doesn't the ear test words and the palate taste food?
12 "In old age is wisdom; understanding in a long life." God's majesty
13 With him are wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
14 If he tears down, it can't be rebuilt; if he ties a person up, he can't be set free.
15 If he restricts water, they have drought; if he lets it loose, it overturns the land.
16 With him are might and success; the deceiver and the deceived are his.
17 He leads advisors away barefoot; makes madmen of judges;
18 unties the belt of kings, binds a garment around their loins;
19 leads priests away barefoot; overthrows the well-established;
20 silences the talk of trusted people; takes away elders' discernment;
21 pours contempt on royalty; loosens the belt of the strong;
22 discloses deep secrets of darkness, makes utter darkness enter the light;
23 makes nations prominent and destroys them, expands nations and leads them astray;
24 takes away the power to think from earth's leaders, making them wander in untraveled wastelands.
25 They feel their way in the dark without light; he makes them stumble like drunks. Self-defense
1 Look, my eye has seen it all; my ear has heard and understood it.
2 Just as you know, I also know; I'm not inferior to you.
3 But I want to speak to the Almighty; I would gladly present my case to God. Friends attacked
4 You, however, are plasterers of lies; ineffective healers, all of you.
5 Would that you were completely quiet; that would be your wisdom.
6 Hear my teaching and pay attention to the arguments of my lips.
7 Will you speak injustice for God, speak deceit on his behalf?
8 Will you be partial or contend for God?
9 Will it go well when he searches you, or can you fool him as you fool people?
10 He will certainly correct you if you've been secretly partial.
11 Wouldn't his majesty scare you and dread of him fall on you?
12 Your old sayings are proverbs made of ashes, your sayings defenses made of clay. Job will speak out
13 Be quiet and I will speak, come what may.
14 For what reason will I take my flesh in my teeth, put my life in jeopardy?
15 He will slay me; I'm without hope; I will surely prove my way to his face.
16 Also this will be my vindication, that a godless person won't come before him.
17 Listen closely to my words so that my remarks will be in your ears. Against God
18 Look, I have laid out my case; I know that I'm innocent.
19 Who would dare contend with me, for then I would be quiet and die.
20 Only don't do two things to me, then I won't hide from your face.
21 Remove your hand far from me and don't terrify me with your anger.
22 Then call and I'll answer, or I'll speak and you can reply.
23 How many are my offenses and sins? Inform me about my rebellions and sins.
24 Why hide your face from me and consider me your enemy?
25 Will you cause a wind-tossed leaf to tremble, or will you pursue dry straw?
26 You even write bitter things about me, make me inherit my youthful indiscretions.
27 You tie up my feet and restrict all actions; you stamp marks on the bottom of my feet. Human destiny
28 Surely a person wastes away like refuse, like clothing that a moth eats.
1 All of us are born of women, have few days, and are full of turmoil.
2 Like a flower, we bloom, then wither, flee like a shadow, and don't last. (
3 Yes, you open your eyes on this one; you bring me into trial against you.)
4 Who can make pure from impure? Nobody.
5 If our days are fixed, the number of our months with you, you set a statute and we can't exceed it.
6 Look away from us that we may rest, until we are satisfied like a worker at day's end. Trees versus humans
7 Indeed there is hope for a tree. If it's cut down and still sprouting and its shoots don't fail,
8 if its roots age in the ground and its stump dies in the dust,
9 at the scent of water, it will bud and produce sprouts like a plant.
10 But a human dies and lies there; a person expires, and where is he?
11 Water vanishes from the sea; a river dries up completely.
12 But a human lies down and doesn't rise until the heavens cease; they don't get up and awaken from sleep. Momentary hope
13 I wish you would hide me in the underworld, conceal me until your anger passes, set a time for me, and remember me.
14 If people die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until my restoration took place.
15 You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for your handiwork.
16 Though you now number my steps, you would not keep a record of my sin.
17 My rebellion is sealed in a bag; you would cover my sin. God crushes hope
18 But an eroding mountain breaks up, and rock is displaced.
19 Water wears away boulders; floods carry away soil; you destroy a people's hope.
20 You overpower them relentlessly, and they die; you change their appearance and send them away.
21 Their children achieve honor, and they don't know it; their children become insignificant, and they don't see it.
22 They only feel the pain of their body, and they mourn for themselves. Job's intelligence questioned
1 Eliphaz answered:
2 Will the wise respond with windy knowledge and fill their belly with the east wind?
3 Will they argue with a word that has no benefit and with unprofitable words?
4 You are truly making religion ineffective and restraining meditation before God.
5 Your mouth multiplies your sins a thousand times; you opt for a clever tongue.
6 Your mouth condemns you, not I; your lips argue against you.
7 Were you born the first Adam, brought forth before the hills?
8 Did you listen in God's council; is wisdom limited to you?
9 What do you know that we don't know; what do you understand that isn't among us?
10 Both the graybeard and the aged are with us; those much older than your father.
11 Are God's comforts not enough for you, a word spoken gently with you?
12 Why has your mind seized you, why have your eyes flashed,
13 so that you return your breath to God and utter such words from your mouth?
14 What are humans that they might be pure, and those born of woman that they might be innocent?
15 If he doesn't trust his holy ones and the heavens aren't pure in his eyes,
16 how much less those who are abominable and corrupt, for they drink sin like water. The wicked's downfall
17 Listen to me; I will argue with you; what I've seen, I will declare to you;
18 what the wise have told and have not concealed from their family,
19 to whom alone the earth was given and no stranger passed in their midst.
20 All the days of the wicked are painful; the number of years reserved for the hateful;
21 a sound of terror pierces their ears; when safe, raiders overtake them.
22 They can't count on turning away from darkness; they are destined for a sword.
23 They wander about for bread. "Where is it?" They know that their day of darkness is fixed.
24 Adversity and stress scare them, master them like a king ready to strike;
25 for they raise a fist against God and try to overpower the Almighty.
26 They run toward him aggressively, with a massive and strong shield.
27 They cover their face with grease and make their loins gross.
28 They lived in ruined cities, unoccupied houses that turn to rubble.
29 They won't get rich; their wealth won't last; their property won't extend over the earth.
30 They can't turn away from darkness; a flame will dry out their shoots, and they will be taken away by the wind from his mouth.
31 They shouldn't trust in what has no worth, for their reward will be worthless.
32 Before their branch is formed, before it is green,
33 like the vine, they will drop early grapes and cast off their blossoms like the olive.
34 The ruthless gang is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribers.
35 They conceive toil and give birth to sorrow; their belly establishes deceit. Job's response
1 Then Job answered:
2 I've heard many things like these. All of you are sorry comforters.
3 Will windy talk ever cease; what bothers you that you must argue?
4 In your situation I could speak like you; I could put words together to oppose you, shake my head over you.
5 I could heap up words, strengthen you with my speech; my trembling lips would be held in check.
6 If I speak, my pain is not eased; if I hold back, what have I lost? The innocent are God's targets
7 Now God has surely worn me out. You have destroyed my entire group,
8 seized me, which became grounds for an accusation. My leanness rises to bear witness against me.
9 His anger tears me and afflicts me; he slashes at me with his teeth. My enemy pierces me with his eyes.
10 They open their mouths at me and strike my cheek in a taunt; they gang up on me.
11 God delivers me to a criminal and forces me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at rest, but he shattered me, seized me by the back of my neck, dashed me into pieces; he raised me up for his target.
13 His archers surround me; he cuts my kidneys open without pity and doesn't care, pours my gall on the ground,
14 bursts me open over and over, runs against me like a strong man.
15 I've sewed rough cloth over my skin and buried my dignity in the dust.
16 My face is red from crying, and dark gloom hangs on my eyelids.
17 But there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. Lingering hope
18 Earth, don't cover my blood; let my outcry never cease.
19 Surely now my witness stands in heaven; my advocate is on high;
20 my go-between, my friend. While my eyes drip tears to God,
21 let him plead with God for a human being, like a person pleads for a friend.
22 A number of years will surely pass, and then I'll walk a path that I won't return. Another lament
1 My spirit is broken, my days extinguished, the grave, mine.
2 Surely mockers are with me, and my eye looks on their rebellion.
3 Take my guarantee. Who else is willing to make an agreement?
4 You've closed their mind to insight; therefore, you won't be exalted.
5 He denounces his friends for gain, and his children's eyes fail.
6 He makes me a popular proverb; I'm like spit in people's faces.
7 My eye is weak from grief; my limbs like a shadow--all of them.
8 Those who do the right thing are amazed at this; the guiltless become troubled about the godless.
9 The innocent clings to his way; the one whose hands are clean grows stronger.
10 But you can bring all of them again, and I won't find a wise one among you.
11 My days have passed; my goals are destroyed, my heart's desires.
12 They turn night into day; light is near because of the darkness.
13 If I hope for the underworld as my dwelling, lay out my bed in darkness,
14 I've called corruption "my father," the worm, "my mother and sister."
15 Where then is my hope? My hope--who can see it?
16 Will they go down with me to the underworld; will we descend together to the dust? Attack from a friend
1 Bildad from Shuah answered:
2 How long? Would you all stop talking. Try to understand and then we can speak.
3 Why are we considered beasts, ignorant in your sight?
4 To you who tear yourself in rage-- will earth be forsaken for your sake, a rock be dislodged from its place? Evil people's fate
5 To be sure, the light of the wicked goes out; the blaze of their fire doesn't shine.
6 The light in their tent becomes dark, and their lamp above doesn't shine.
7 Their strong strides slow down; their plans trip themselves.
8 They are caught by their feet in a net; they walk on mesh.
9 A trap grabs them by the heel; a snare tightens on them.
10 A rope is hidden on the ground for them; a trap for them along the path.
11 Terrors round about scare them; they follow their steps.
12 Their offspring hunger; calamity is ready for their spouses.
13 It eats some of their skin. Death's firstborn consumes their limbs.
14 They are snatched from the safety of their tent; it parades them before the king of terrors.
15 Nothing they own remains in their tent; sulfur is scattered over their home.
16 Their roots dry out below; their branches wither above.
17 The memory of them will perish from the earth; they will achieve no recognition abroad.
18 They are thrust from light into darkness, banished from the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendants among their people, no survivor in their dwelling place.
20 Their successors are appalled at what happens to them; their predecessors pull their hair.
21 These are surely the dwelling places of the evil; this is the place of the one who doesn't know God. Failed friendship
1 Then Job responded:
2 How long will you harass me and crush me with words?
3 These ten times you've humiliated me; shamelessly you insult me.
4 Have I really gone astray? If so, my error remains hidden inside me.
5 If you look down on me and use my disgrace to criticize me,
6 know then that God has wronged me and enclosed his net over me. God's treatment of Job
7 If I cry "Violence!" I'm not answered; I shout--but there is no justice.
8 He walled up my path so I can't pass and put darkness on my trail,
9 stripped my honor from me, removed the crown from my head,
10 tore me down completely so that I'll die, and uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me; he considers me his enemy.
12 His troops come as one and construct their siege ramp against me; they camp around my tent. Social ostracism
13 He has distanced my family from me; my acquaintances are also alienated from me.
14 My visitors have ceased; those who know me have forgotten me.
15 My guests and female servants think me a stranger; I'm a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call my servant, and he doesn't answer; I myself must beg him.
17 My breath stinks to my wife; I am odious to my children.
18 Even the young despise me; I get up, and they rail against me.
19 All my closest friends despise me; the ones I have loved turn against me. Misery
20 My bones cling to my skin and flesh; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me. Pity me. You're my friends. God's hand has truly struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me like God does, always hungry for my flesh? Brief hope
23 Oh, that my words were written down, inscribed on a scroll
24 with an iron instrument and lead, forever engraved on stone.
25 But I know that my redeemer is alive and afterward he'll rise upon the dust.
26 After my skin has been torn apart this way-- then from my flesh I'll see God,
27 whom I'll see myself-- my eyes see, and not a stranger's. I am utterly dejected. Warning
28 You say, "How will we pursue him so that the root of the matter can be found in him?"
29 You ought to fear the sword yourselves, for wrath brings punishment by the sword. You should know that there is judgment. Traditional belief
1 Zophar from Naamah said:
2 Therefore, my troubled thoughts make me turn back-- because of my inner turmoil.
3 I hear teaching that insults me, but I am forced to answer based on my own understanding.
4 Do you know this from long ago-- from when humans were placed on earth--
5 that the rejoicing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless, brief?
6 Though their height reaches heaven and their heads touch the clouds,
7 they will perish forever like their dung; those who saw them will say, "Where are they?"
8 They will disappear like a dream, and none will find them, carried away like a nighttime vision.
9 The eye that saw them will do so no more; they won't be seen again at home.
10 Their children will repay the poor; their hands will give back their wealth.
11 Vigor filled their bones and now sleeps with them in the dust.
12 Though wickedness is sweet in their mouths, they hide it under their tongues;
13 they like it, won't let it go; they hold it in their cheeks.
14 Food turns their stomachs, becoming a cobra's poison inside.
15 They swallow wealth and vomit it; God dislodges it from their belly.
16 They suck cobra's poison; a viper's tongue kills them.
17 They won't experience streams, rivers of honey, and brooks of cream.
18 They won't receive the reward for their labor; they won't enjoy the wealth from their business.
19 They crushed and abandoned the poor; stole a house they didn't build;
20 didn't know contentment in their belly; couldn't escape with their treasure.
21 Nothing remained of their food, so their riches will not endure.
22 Even in their plenty, they are hard-pressed; all sorts of trouble come on them.
23 Let God fill their belly, unleash his burning anger on them, rain punishing blows on them.
24 If they flee an iron weapon, a bronze bow pierces them.
25 They pull it out, but it sticks out from their backs; its shaft in their liver brings terror.
26 Complete darkness waits for their treasured possessions; fire that no one stoked consumes them; what's left in their tent is ruined.
27 Heaven exposes their guilt; earth opposes them.
28 Their household wealth will be carried off by rushing streams on the day of his anger.
29 This is a wicked person's lot from God, their heritage decreed by God. Grant me a hearing
1 Then Job answered:
2 Listen carefully to my remarks and let that comfort you.
3 Bear with me so I can speak, I myself; and after my reply you can mock.
4 Are my complaints against another human; why is my patience short?
5 Turn to me and be appalled; lay your hand over your mouth.
6 If I recall it, I'm scared; shaking seizes my body. The success of the wicked
7 Why do the wicked live, grow old, and even become strong?
8 Their children are always with them, their offspring in their sight,
9 their houses safe from dread, God's punishing stick not upon them.
10 Their bull always breeds successfully; their cows give birth and never miscarry.
11 They send forth their little ones like sheep; their infants bounce around.
12 They raise drum and lyre, rejoice at the sound of a flute.
13 They spend their days contentedly, go down to the grave peacefully.
14 They say to God, "Turn away from us; we take no pleasure in knowing your ways;
15 who is the Almighty that we should serve him, and what can we gain if we meet him?"
16 Look, isn't their well-being the work of their own hands? A sinner's logic is beyond me. Desired vindication
17 How often does the lamp of the wicked flicker or disaster come upon them, with its fury inflicting pain on them?
18 Let them be like straw in the wind, like dry grass stolen by a storm.
19 God stores up his punishment for his children. Let him destroy them so they know.
20 Let their own eyes witness their doom. Let them drink from the Almighty's wrath.
21 What do they care about their household after they die, when their numbered days are cut off? A common fate
22 Will they instruct God-- he who judges the most powerful?
23 Someone dies in wonderful health, completely comfortable and well,
24 their buckets full of milk, their bones marrow-filled and sound.
25 Another dies in bitter spirit, never having tasted the good things.
26 They lie together in the dust and worms cover them. Further disagreement
27 Look, I know your thoughts; your plans harm me.
28 You say, "Where is the official's house? Where is the tent, the dwelling of the wicked?"
29 Haven't you asked travelers or paid attention to their reports?
30 On the day of disaster the wicked are spared; on the day of fury they are rescued.
31 Who can criticize their behavior to their faces; they act, and who can avenge them?
32 They are carried to their graves; someone keeps guard over their tombs.
33 The soil near the desert streambed is sweet to them; everyone marches after them-- those before them, beyond counting.
34 How empty is your comfort to me; only deceit remains in your responses. Job's sins
1 Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:
2 Can a human being be useful to God? Can an intelligent person bring profit?
3 Does the Almighty delight in your innocence? Does he gain when you perfect your ways?
4 Does he rebuke you for your piety, bring you in for judgment?
5 Isn't your wickedness massive, your iniquity endless?
6 You have taken payments from your family for no reason; stripped the naked, leaving no clothes;
7 denied water to the thirsty, withheld bread from the starving.
8 T(he powerful own land; the favored live in it.)
9 You have sent widows away empty; crushed orphans' resources.
10 For this reason, snares surround you; sudden dread brings panic to you
11 or a darkness that you can't see; rushing water will cover you. God's activity
12 Isn't God in the heights of heaven; see how high the topmost stars are?
13 You say: "What does God know? Can he judge through thick clouds?
14 Clouds conceal him so he can't see while he walks on heaven's rim."
15 Will you keep the ancient way traveled by sinful persons,
16 who were snatched prematurely when a river flooded their foundations,
17 who say to God, "Turn away from us; what can the Almighty do to us?"
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things; a sinner's logic is beyond me.
19 The righteous see and rejoice; the innocent mock them:
20 our enemies are certainly cut off; fire will devour what's left of them. Turn to God
21 Get along well with God and be at peace; from this something good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth; put his words in your mind.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; if you keep wrongdoing out of your tent.
24 Lay your prized possession in the dust, your gold from Ophir on a rock in a desert streambed.
25 The Almighty will be your prized possession, silver piled up for you.
26 Then you will take pleasure in the Almighty; lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you; you will fulfill your solemn promises.
28 If you decree something, it will stand; light will shine on your ways.
29 When they're humbled, you will say: "Cheer up; God will rescue the lowly.
30 He will deliver the guilty; they will be saved by your pure hands. "Grant me a trial
1 Job answered:
2 Today my complaint is again bitter; my strength is weighed down because of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I could know how to find him-- come to his dwelling place;
4 I would lay out my case before him, fill my mouth with arguments,
5 know the words with which he would answer, understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me through brute force? No, he would surely listen to me.
7 There those who do the right thing can argue with him; I could escape from my judge forever. God's hiddenness
8 Look, I go east; he's not there, west, and don't discover him;
9 north in his activity, and I don't grasp him; he turns south, and I don't see.
10 Surely he knows my way; when he tests me, I will emerge as gold.
11 My feet have stayed right in his tracks. I have kept his way and not left it,
12 kept the commandments from his lips and not departed, valued the words from his mouth more than my food. Dread
13 He is of one mind; who can reverse it? What he desires, he does.
14 He carries out what is decreed for me and can do many similar things with me.
15 Therefore, I am scared by his presence; I think and become afraid of him.
16 God has weakened my mind; the Almighty has frightened me.
17 Still I'm not annihilated by darkness; he has hidden deep darkness from me. Absence of justice
1 Why doesn't the Almighty establish times for punishment? Why can't those who know him see his days?
2 People move boundary stones, herd flocks they've stolen,
3 drive off an orphan's donkey, take a widow's ox as collateral,
4 thrust the poor out of the way, make the land's needy hide together.
5 They are like the wild donkeys in the desert; they go forth at dawn searching for prey; the wasteland is food for their young.
6 They gather their food in the field, glean in unproductive vineyards,
7 spend the night naked, unclothed, in the cold without a cover,
8 wet from mountain rains, with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
9 The orphan is stolen from the breast; the infant of the poor is taken as collateral.
10 The poor go around naked, without clothes, carry bundles of grain while hungry,
11 crush olives between millstones, tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
12 From the city, the dying cry out; the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame. Sinners' conduct
13 They rebel against light, don't acknowledge its direction, don't dwell in its paths.
14 The murderer rises at twilight, kills the poor and needy; at night, they are like a thief.
15 The adulterer's eye watches for twilight, thinking, No eye can see me, and puts a mask over his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses; they shut themselves in by day; they don't know the light.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them because they recognize the horror of darkness.
18 They are scum on the water's surface; their portion of the land is cursed; no one walks down a path in the vineyards.
19 Drought and heat steal melted snow, just as the underworld steals sinners.
20 The womb forgets them; the worm consumes them; they aren't remembered, and so wickedness is shattered like a tree.
21 They prey on the barren, the childless, do nothing good for the widow.
22 They drag away the strong by force; they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
23 They make themselves secure; they are at ease. His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a short time, but no longer. They are humbled then gathered in like everyone else; cut off like heads of grain.
25 If this isn't so, who can prove me a liar and make my words disappear? Inferior humans
1 Bildad from Shuah replied:
2 Supreme power and awe belong to God; he establishes peace on his heights.
3 Can his troops be counted? On whom does his light not rise?
4 How can a person be innocent before God; one born of a woman be pure?
5 If even the moon is not bright and the stars not pure in his eyes,
6 how much less a human, a worm, a person's child, a grub. Sarcasm
1 Then Job said:
2 How well you have helped the weak, saved those with frail arms,
3 advised one lacking wisdom, informed many with insight!
4 With whom have you spoken; whose breath was expelled from you? Truth about God
5 The dead writhe, the inhabitants beneath the waters as well.
6 The grave is naked before God; the underworld lacks covering.
7 He stretched the North over chaos, hung earth over nothing;
8 wrapped up water in his clouds, yet they didn't burst out below;
9 hid the face of the full moon, spreading his cloud over it;
10 traced a circle on the water's surface, at the limit of light and darkness.
11 Heaven's pillars shook, terrified by his blast.
12 By his power he stilled the Sea; split Rahab with his cleverness.
13 Due to his wind, heaven became clear; his hand split the fleeing serpent.
14 Look, these are only the outer fringe of his ways; we hear only a whispered word about him. Who can understand his thunderous power? Job rejects Bildad's argument
1 Then Job took up his topic again:
2 As God lives, who rejected my legal claim, the Almighty, who made me bitter,
3 as long as breath is in me and God's breath is in my nostrils--
4 my lips will utter no wickedness; my tongue will mumble no deceit.
5 I will not agree that you are right. Until my dying day, I won't give up my integrity.
6 I will insist on my innocence, never surrendering it; my conscience will never blame me for what I have done. Job curses his enemies
7 Let my enemy be like the wicked, my opposition like the vicious.
8 For what hope has the godless when God cuts them off, when he takes them away.
9 Will God hear their cries when distress comes to them;
10 will they delight in the Almighty, call God at any time? Job's view of his enemies' fate
11 I will teach you God's power, not hide what pertains to the Almighty.
12 Look, those of you who recognize this-- why then this empty talk?
13 This is the wicked's portion with God, the inheritance that the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
14 If their children increase, they belong to the sword; their offspring won't have enough bread.
15 Their survivors will be buried with the dead; their widows won't weep.
16 If they store up silver like dust, amass clothing like clay,
17 they may amass, but the righteous will wear it; the innocent will divide the silver.
18 They built their houses like nests, like a hut made by a watchman.
19 They lie down rich, but no longer; open their eyes, but it's missing.
20 Terrors overtake them like waters; a tempest snatches them by night;
21 an east wind lifts them, and they are gone, removes them from their places,
22 throws itself on them without mercy; they flee desperately from its force.
23 It claps its hands over them, hisses at them from their place. Expertise in mining
1 There is a sure source of silver, a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth; rock is smelted into copper.
3 Humans put an end to darkness, dig for ore to the farthest depths, into stone in utter darkness,
4 open a shaft away from any inhabitant, places forgotten by those on foot, apart from any human they hang and sway.
5 Earth--from it comes food-- is turned over below ground as by fire.
6 Its rocks are the source for lapis lazuli; there is gold dust in it.
7 A path-- no bird of prey knows it; a hawk's eye hasn't seen it;
8 proud beasts haven't trodden on it; a lion hasn't crossed over it.
9 Humans thrust their hands into flint, pull up mountains from their roots,
10 cut channels into rocks; their eyes see everything precious.
11 They dam up the sources of rivers; hidden things come to light. Wisdom's value
12 But wisdom, where can it be found; where is the place of understanding?
13 Humankind doesn't know its value; it isn't found in the land of the living.
14 The Deep says, "It's not with me"; the Sea says, "Not alongside me!"
15 It can't be bought with gold; its price can't be measured in silver,
16 can't be weighed against gold from Ophir, with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
17 Neither gold nor glass can compare with it; she can't be acquired with gold jewelry.
18 Coral and jasper shouldn't be mentioned; the price of wisdom is more than rubies.
19 Cushite topaz won't compare with her; she can't be set alongside pure gold.
20 But wisdom, where does she come from? Where is the place of understanding?
21 She's hidden from the eyes of all the living, concealed from birds of the sky.
22 Destruction and Death have said, "We've heard a report of her."
23 God understands her way; he knows her place;
24 for he looks to the ends of the earth and surveys everything beneath the heavens.
25 In order to weigh the wind, to prepare a measure for waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain, a path for thunderbolts,
27 then he observed it, spoke of it, established it, searched it out,
28 and said to humankind: "Look, the fear of the LORD is wisdom; turning from evil is understanding. "Job's previous blessing
1 Job took up his subject again:
2 Oh, that life was like it used to be, like days when God watched over me;
3 when his lamp shone on my head, I walked by his light in the dark;
4 when I was in my prime; when God's counsel was in my tent;
5 when the Almighty was with me, my children around me;
6 when my steps were washed with cream and a rock poured out pools of oil for me. Previous honor
7 When I went out to the city gate, took my seat in the square,
8 the young saw me and drew back; the old rose and stood;
9 princes restrained speech, put their hand on their mouth;
10 the voices of officials were hushed, their tongue stuck to their palate. Job's implementation of justice
11 Indeed, the ear that heard blessed me; the eye that looked commended me,
12 because I rescued the weak who cried out, the orphans who lacked help.
13 The blessing of the perishing reached me; I made the widow's heart sing;
14 I put on justice, and it clothed me, righteousness as my coat and turban;
15 I was eyes to the blind, feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy; the case I didn't know, I examined.
17 I shattered the fangs of the wicked, rescued prey from their teeth. Job's expected blessing
18 I thought, I'll die in my nest, multiply days like sand,
19 my roots opening to water, dew lingering on my branches,
20 my honor newly with me, my bow ever successful in my hand. Previous honor
21 People listened to me and waited, were silent for my advice.
22 After my speech, they didn't respond. My words fell gently on them;
23 they waited for me as for rain, opened their mouth as for spring rain.
24 I smiled on them; they couldn't believe it. They never showed me disfavor.
25 I decided their path, sat as chief. I lived like a king with his troops, like one who comforts mourners. Mockers
1 But now those younger than I mock me, whose fathers I refused to put beside my sheepdogs.
2 Their strength, what's it to me, their energy having perished?
3 Stiff from want and hunger, those who gnaw dry ground, yesterday's desolate waste,
4 who pluck off the leaves on a bush, the root of the broom-- a shrub is their food.
5 People banish them from society, shout at them as if to a thief;
6 so they live in scary ravines, holes in the ground and rocks.
7 Among shrubs, they make sounds like donkeys; they are huddled together under a bush,
8 children of fools and the nameless, whipped out of the land. Specific mocking behavior
9 And now I'm their song; I'm their cliche!
10 They detest me, keep their distance, don't withhold spit from my face.
11 Because he loosened my bowstring and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On the right, upstarts rise and target my feet, build their siege ramps against me,
13 destroy my road, profit from my fall, with no help.
14 They advance as if through a destroyed wall; they roll along beneath the ruin.
15 Terrors crash upon me; they sweep away my honor like wind; my safety disappears like a cloud. Accusation against God
16 Now my life is poured out on me; days of misery have seized me.
17 At night he bores my bones; my gnawing pain won't rest.
18 With great force he grasps my clothing; it binds me like the neck of my shirt.
19 He hurls me into mud; I'm a cliche, like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, and you don't answer; I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You are cruel to me, attack me with the strength of your hand.
22 You lift me to the wind and make me ride; you melt me in its roar.
23 I know you will return me to death, the house appointed for all the living. Job's agony
24 Surely he won't strike someone in ruins if in distress he cries out to him,
25 if I didn't weep for those who have a difficult day or my soul grieve for the needy;
26 for I awaited good, but evil came; I expected light, but gloom arrived.
27 My insides, churning, are never quiet; days of affliction confront me.
28 I walk in the dark, lacking sunshine; I rise in the assembly and cry out.
29 I have become a brother to jackals, a companion to young ostriches.
30 My skin is charred; my bones are scorched by the heat.
31 My lyre is for mourning, my flute, a weeping sound. Lust
1 I've made a covenant with my eyes; how could I look at a virgin?
2 What is God's portion for me from above, the Almighty's inheritance from on high?
3 Isn't it disaster for the wicked, destruction for workers of iniquity?
4 Doesn't he see my ways, count all my steps? Deceit
5 If I have walked with frauds or my feet have hurried to deceit,
6 let him weigh me on accurate scales; let God know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned from the way, if my heart has followed my eyes or a blemish has clung to my hands,
8 then let me sow and another reap; let my offspring be uprooted. Adultery
9 If my heart has been drawn to a woman and I have lurked at my neighbor's door,
10 then may my wife grind for another and others kneel over her;
11 for that's a crime; it's a punishable offense;
12 indeed, it's a fire that consumes to the underworld, uprooting all my harvest. Slaves
13 If I've rejected the just cause of my male or female servant when they contended with me,
14 what could I do when God rises; when he requires an account, what could I answer?
15 Didn't the one who made me in the belly make them; didn't the same one fashion us in the womb? The defenseless
16 If I have denied what the poor wanted, made a widow's eyes tired,
17 eaten my morsel alone, and not shared any with an orphan (
18 for from my youth I raised the orphan as a father, and from my mother's womb I led the widow);
19 if I ever saw someone dying without clothes, the needy naked;
20 if they haven't blessed me fervently, or if they weren't warmed by the wool from my sheep;
21 if I have lifted my hand against the orphans, when I saw that I had help in the city gate--
22 may my arm fall from my shoulder, my forearm be broken at the elbow--
23 for God's calamity is terror to me; I couldn't endure his splendor. False worship
24 If I've made gold my trust, said to fine gold: "My security!"
25 if I've rejoiced because my wealth was great, when my hand found plenty;
26 if I've looked at the sun when it shone, the moon, splendid as it moved;
27 and my mind has been secretly enticed, and threw a kiss with my hand,
28 that also is a punishable offense, because I would then be disloyal to God above. Other's misfortune
29 If I have rejoiced over my foes' ruin or was excited when evil found them,
30 I didn't let my mouth sin by asking for their life with a curse.
31 Surely those in my tent never said: "Who has been filled by Job's food?"
32 A stranger didn't spend the night in the street; I opened my doors to the road. Concealing sin
33 If I have hidden my transgressions like Adam, concealing my offenses inside me
34 because I feared the large crowd; the clan's contempt frightened me; I was quiet and didn't venture outside. Sealing the solemn pledge
35 Oh, that I had someone to hear me! Here's my signature; let the Almighty respond, and let my accuser write an indictment.
36 Surely I would bear it on my shoulder, tie it around me like a wreath.
37 I would give him an account of my steps, approach him like a prince. Abuse of the land
38 If my land has cried out against me, its rows wept together;
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment and caused its owners grief,
40 may briars grow instead of wheat, poisonous weeds instead of barley. Job's words are complete. Introduction of Elihu
1 These three men stopped answering Job because he thought he was righteous.
2 Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the clan of Ram was angry, angry with Job because he considered himself more righteous than God.
3 He was also angry with his three friends because they hadn't found an answer but nevertheless thought Job wicked.
4 Elihu had waited while Job spoke, for they were older than he.
5 When Elihu saw that there had been no response in the speeches of the three men, he became very angry. Elihu's justification for speaking
6 Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite said: I'm young and you're old, so I held back, afraid to express my opinion to you.
7 I thought, Let days speak; let multiple years make wisdom known.
8 But the spirit in a person, the Almighty's breath, gives understanding.
9 The advanced in days aren't wise; the old don't understand what's right.
10 Therefore, I say: "Listen to me; I'll state my view, even I."
11 Look, I waited while you spoke, listened while you reasoned, while you searched for words.
12 I was attentive to you, but you offered no rebuke to Job, no answer from you for his words.
13 Be careful you don't say, "We've found wisdom; God, not a person, will defeat him."
14 Now Job hasn't addressed me, and I won't quote you to him.
15 They are troubled, no longer answer; words now escape them.
16 I waited, but they didn't speak, for they stood but answered no more.
17 I will answer. Indeed, I will state my piece; I too will declare my view,
18 for I'm full of words. The spirit in my belly compels me.
19 Look, my belly is like unopened wine; like new wineskins it will burst.
20 I will speak and get relief; I will open my lips and respond.
21 I won't be partial to anyone, won't flatter a person;
22 for I don't know flattery; otherwise my maker would quickly whisk me away. Elihu's appeal to be heard
1 But now, listen to me, Job; pay attention to all my words.
2 Notice that I am opening my mouth; my tongue is speaking in my mouth.
3 My words come from a virtuous heart; my lips speak knowledge clearly.
4 God's spirit made me; the Almighty's breath enlivens me.
5 If you are able, answer me; lay out your case before me and take a stand.
6 Notice that I'm just like you to God; I also was pinched from clay.
7 Surely fear of me shouldn't scare you; my pressure on you shouldn't be heavy. The argument
8 You certainly said in my hearing; I heard the sound of your words:
9 "I'm pure, without sin; I'm innocent, without offense.
10 Notice that he invents arguments against me; he considers me his enemy,
11 ties up my feet, watches all my paths."
12 Now you're wrong about this; I'll answer you, for God is greater than anybody.
13 Why do you contend with him, saying that he doesn't answer all your words?
14 God speaks in one way, in two ways, but no one perceives it.
15 In the dream, a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon humans, during their slumber on a bed,
16 then he opens people's ears, scares them with warnings,
17 to turn them from a deed and to smother human pride.
18 He keeps one from the pit, a life from perishing by the sword.
19 Or a person may be disciplined by pain while in bed, bones ever aching
20 until a person loathes food, an appetite rejects a delicacy;
21 the flesh wastes away, no longer visible; the bones, once hidden, protrude.
22 A life approaches the pit; its very being draws near the death dealers.
23 Surely there's a messenger for this person, a mediator, one out of a thousand to declare one's integrity to another
24 so that God has compassion on that person and says, "Rescue this one from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom."
25 That person's flesh is renewed like a child's; they regain their youth.
26 They pray to God, and God is pleased with them; they behold God's presence with a joyful shout. God rewards a person's righteousness.
27 They sing before people and say: "I have sinned, perverted justice, but didn't experience the consequences.
28 He ransomed me from crossing into the pit; my life beholds light."
29 Look, God does all this, twice, three times with persons
30 to bring them back from the pit, to shine with life's light.
31 Listen, Job; hear me; be quiet, and I will speak.
32 If you have words, answer me; speak, for I want to be innocent.
33 If not, you must hear me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.
1 Elihu continued:
2 Hear my words, wise ones; knowledgeable ones, listen to me,
3 for the ear tests words like the palate tastes food.
4 Let's choose for us what's right; let's determine among ourselves what's good;
5 for Job has said, "I'm innocent; God has denied my just cause;
6 because of my cause I'm thought a liar; my wound from an arrow is incurable, even though I didn't rebel."
7 Who is a man like Job? He drinks mockery like water
8 and travels a path with wrongdoers, walking with evil persons.
9 Indeed he said, "No one is rewarded for delighting in God."
10 Therefore, intelligent ones, hear me; far be it from God to do evil and the Almighty to sin,
11 for he repays people based on what they do, paying back everyone according to their ways.
12 Surely God doesn't act wickedly; the Almighty doesn't distort justice.
13 Who placed earth in his care, and who gave him dominion over the entire world?
14 If he were to decide to do it-- to gather his spirit and breath back to himself--
15 all flesh would die together, and humans would return to dust.
16 But if you have understanding, hear this; pay attention to the sound of my words.
17 Will one who hates justice rule; will you condemn the most righteous one?
18 Will you say to a king, "Worthless!" to royalty, "Evil!"
19 Who shows no favor to princes nor regards the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of God's hands?
20 In the middle of the night they suddenly die; people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are removed, not by a human hand.
21 God's eyes are on human ways, and he sees all their steps.
22 There's no darkness, no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide themselves;
23 surely no time is set for a person to appear before God in judgment.
24 He shatters the mighty without examining them; makes others take their place.
25 Thus he regards their deeds, overturns them at night, and they are crushed.
26 He strikes them because of their wickedness at a place where people can see it.
27 Because they turned from following him and didn't value all his ways,
28 causing the cry of the poor to reach him, he hears the cry of the afflicted.
29 Still, if he remains quiet, who can condemn; if he hides his face, who can see him?
30 He prevents a lawless person from ruling, from capturing people.
31 Has Job said to God, "I have borne punishment; I won't sin again?
32 You teach me what I can't see; if I've sinned, I won't do it again."
33 Will he repay you because you reject sin, for you must choose, not I; declare what you know.
34 Smart people say to me, the wise who hear me,
35 "Job speaks without knowledge; his words aren't astute."
36 I wish Job would be tested to the limit because he responds like evil people.
37 He adds rebellion to his sin; mocks us openly and adds to his words against God. Sin's impact
1 Elihu continued:
2 Do you think it right? You say, "I'm more just than God."
3 Yet you ask, "What does it benefit you? What have I gained by avoiding sin?"
4 I'll answer you, and your friends along with you.
5 Look at the heavens and see; scan the clouds high over you.
6 If you've sinned, how have you affected God? Your offenses have multiplied; what have you done to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your evil affects others like you, and your righteousness affects fellow human beings.
9 People cry out because of heavy oppression; shout under the power of the mighty.
10 But no one says, "Where is God my maker; who gives songs in the night;
11 who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?"
12 Then they cry out; but he doesn't answer, because of the pride of the wicked.
13 God certainly doesn't respond to a deceitful cry; the Almighty doesn't pay attention to it.
14 Although you say that you don't see him, the case is before him; so wait anxiously for him.
15 Even though his anger is now held back, a person doesn't know it's only delayed.
16 So Job mouths emptiness; he piles up ignorant words. Reason for continuing
1 Continuing, Elihu said,
2 Wait a little while so I can demonstrate for you that there is still something more to say about God.
3 I will draw from my broad knowledge, attribute justice to my maker.
4 My words are certainly truthful; one with total knowledge is present with you. Divine discipline
5 Look, God is mighty and doesn't reject anyone; he is mighty in strength and mind.
6 He doesn't let the wicked live, but grants justice to the poor.
7 He doesn't avert his eyes from the righteous; he seats kings on thrones forever, and they are lifted up.
8 If they are tied with ropes, caught in cords of affliction,
9 he informs them about their offenses and their grave sins.
10 He opens their ears with discipline and commands them to turn from wrong.
11 If they listen and serve, they spend their days in plenty, their years contentedly.
12 But if they don't listen, they perish by the sword, breathe their last without understanding.
13 Those with impious hearts become furious; they don't cry out even though he binds them.
14 They die young; they are among the holy ones.
15 He saves the weak in their affliction, opens their ears through oppression.
16 Surely he draws you up from the brink of trouble to a wide place without distress; your table is set with rich food.
17 You are overly concerned about the case of the wicked; justice will be upheld in it.
18 Don't let them lure you with wealth; don't let a huge bribe mislead you.
19 Will he arrange your rescue from distress or from all your exertions of strength?
20 Don't wish for the night when people vanish from their place.
21 Take care; don't turn to evil because you've chosen it over affliction.
22 Look, God is inaccessible due to his power; who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has repaid him for his action, and who would ever say, "You've done wrong"?
24 Remember to praise his work that all of us have seen.
25 Every person has seen him; people can observe at great distance. God's control of the storm
26 Look, God is exalted and unknowable; the number of his years is beyond counting.
27 He draws up drops of water that distill rain from his flood;
28 the clouds pour moisture and drip continually on humans.
29 Even if one perceives a spreading cloud and the thunder of his pavilion,
30 look how he spreads lightning across it and covers the seabed;
31 for by water he judges peoples and gives food in abundance.
32 He conceals lightning in his palms and orders it to its target.
33 His thunder announces it; even cattle proclaim its rising.
1 Oh, my mind is disturbed by this and is more troubled than usual.
2 Listen closely to the rumble of his voice, the roar issuing from his mouth.
3 He looses it under the whole sky, his lightning on earth's edges.
4 After it, a voice roars; he thunders with a mighty voice, and no one can stop it when his voice is heard.
5 God roars with his wondrous voice; he does great things we can't know.
6 He says to the snow, "Fall to earth," and to the downpour of rain, "Be a mighty shower."
7 He stamps the hand of every person so all can know his work.
8 The wild beast enters its lair, lies down in its den.
9 The storm comes from its chamber, the cold from the north wind.
10 By God's breath ice forms; water's expanse becomes solid.
11 He also fills clouds with moisture; his lightning scatters clouds.
12 He overturns the circling clouds; by his guidance they do their work, doing everything he commands over the entire earth.
13 Whether for punishment, for his world, or for kindness, God makes it all happen.
14 Hear this, Job; stop and ponder God's mighty deeds.
15 Do you realize that when God commands them, his clouds produce lightning?
16 Do you understand the positioning of the clouds, the amazing deeds of one with perfect knowledge,
17 you whose clothes are hot when earth is calmed by the south wind?
18 Can you form the sky with him, hard like a mirror made of metal?
19 Tell us what we should say to him; we can't present our case due to darkness.
20 Should someone inform him that I wish to speak, or would anyone say he wants to be devoured? Divine splendor
21 For now, no one can look at the sun; it is bright in the sky; the wind has passed and cleared away the clouds.
22 From the north comes golden light, the awesome splendor of God.
23 As for the Almighty, we can't find him-- he is powerful and just, abundantly righteous-- he won't respond.
24 Therefore, people fear him; none of the wise can see him. The LORD answers from a whirlwind
1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
2 Who is this darkening counsel with words lacking knowledge?
3 Prepare yourself like a man; I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me. The establishing of order
4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me if you know.
5 Who set its measurements? Surely you know. Who stretched a measuring tape on it?
6 On what were its footings sunk; who laid its cornerstone,
7 while the morning stars sang in unison and all the divine beings shouted?
8 Who enclosed the Sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment, the dense clouds its wrap,
10 when I imposed my limit for it, put on a bar and doors
11 and said, "You may come this far, no farther; here your proud waves stop"?
12 In your lifetime have you commanded the morning, informed the dawn of its place
13 so it would take hold of earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?
14 Do you turn it over like clay for a seal, so it stands out like a colorful garment?
15 Light is withheld from the wicked, the uplifted arm broken. The vast beyond
16 Have you gone to the sea's sources, walked in the chamber of the deep?
17 Have death's gates been revealed to you; can you see the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you surveyed earth's expanses? Tell me if you know everything about it.
19 Where's the road to the place where light dwells; darkness, where's it located?
20 Can you take it to its territory; do you know the paths to its house?
21 You know, for you were born then; you have lived such a long time!
22 Have you gone to snow's storehouses, seen the storehouses of hail
23 that I have reserved for a time of distress, for a day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where light is divided up; the east wind scattered over earth? Meteorological facts
25 Who cut a channel for the downpours and a way for blasts of thunder
26 to bring water to uninhabited land, a desert with no human
27 to saturate dry wasteland and make grass sprout?
28 Has the rain a father who brought forth drops of dew?
29 From whose belly does ice come; who gave birth to heaven's frost?
30 Water hardens like stone; the surface of the deep thickens.
31 Can you bind Pleiades' chains or loosen the reins of Orion?
32 Can you guide the stars at their proper times, lead the Bear with her cubs?
33 Do you know heaven's laws, or can you impose its rule on earth?
34 Can you issue an order to the clouds so their abundant waters cover you?
35 Can you send lightning so that it goes and then says to you, "I'm here"?
36 Who put wisdom in remote places, or who gave understanding to a rooster?
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds, and who can tilt heaven's water containers
38 so that dust becomes mud and clods of dirt adhere? Lion and raven
39 Can you hunt prey for the lion or fill the cravings of lion cubs?
40 They lie in their den, lie in ambush in their lair.
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry to God, move about without food? Mountain goat and doe
1 Do you know when mountain goats give birth; do you observe the birthing of does?
2 Can you count the months of pregnancy; do you know when they give birth?
3 They crouch, split open for their young, send forth their offspring.
4 Their young are healthy; they grow up in the open country, leave and never return. Wild donkey
5 Who freed the wild donkey, loosed the ropes of the onager
6 to whom I gave the desert as home, his dwelling place in the salt flats?
7 He laughs at the clamor of the town, doesn't hear the driver's shout,
8 searches the hills for food and seeks any green sprout. Wild ox
9 Will the wild ox agree to be your slave, or will it spend the night in your crib?
10 Can you bind it with a rope to a plowed row; will it plow the valley behind you?
11 Will you trust it because its strength is great so that you can leave your work to it?
12 Can you rely on it to bring back your grain to gather into your threshing floor? Ostrich
13 The ostrich's wings flap joyously, but her wings and plumage are like a stork.
14 She leaves her eggs on the earth, lets them warm in the dust,
15 then forgets that a foot may crush them or a wild animal trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly as if they were not hers, without worrying that her labor might be in vain;
17 God didn't endow her with sense, didn't give her some good sense.
18 When she flaps her wings high, she laughs at horse and rider. Horse
19 Did you give strength to the horse, clothe his neck with a mane,
20 cause him to leap like a locust, his majestic snorting, a fright?
21 He paws in the valley, prances proudly, charges at battle weapons,
22 laughs at fear, unafraid. He doesn't turn away from the sword;
23 a quiver of arrows flies by him, flashing spear and dagger.
24 Excitedly, trembling, he swallows the ground; can't stand still at a trumpet's blast.
25 At a trumpet's sound, he says, "Aha!" smells the battle from afar, hears officers' shouting and the battle cry. Hawk and eagle
26 Is it due to your understanding that the hawk flies, spreading its wings to the south?
27 Or at your command does the eagle soar, the vulture build a nest on high?
28 They dwell on an outcropping of rock, their fortress on rock's edge.
29 From there they search for food; their eyes notice it from afar,
30 and their young lap up blood; where carcasses lie, there they are. The LORD speaks and Job answers
1 The LORD continued to respond to Job:
2 Will the one who disputes with the Almighty correct him? God's instructor must answer him.
3 Job responded to the LORD:
4 Look, I'm of little worth. What can I answer you? I'll put my hand over my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, I won't answer; twice, I won't do it again. A challenge from the LORD
6 The LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
7 Prepare yourself like a man; I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
8 Would you question my justice, deem me guilty so you can be innocent?
9 Or do you have an arm like God; can you thunder with a voice like him?
10 Adorn yourself with splendor and majesty; clothe yourself with honor and esteem.
11 Unleash your raging anger; look on all the proud and humble them.
12 Look on all the proud and debase them; trample the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them together in the dust; bind their faces in a hidden place.
14 Then I, even I, will praise you, for your strong hand has delivered you. Behemoth
15 Look at Behemoth, whom I made along with you; he eats grass like cattle.
16 Look, his strength is in his thighs, his power in stomach muscles.
17 He stiffens his tail like a cedar; the tendons in his thighs are tightly woven.
18 His bones are like bronze tubes, his limbs like iron bars.
19 He is the first of God's acts; only his maker can come near him with a sword.
20 Indeed, the hills bring him tribute, places where all the wild animals play.
21 He lies under the lotuses, under the cover of reed and marsh.
22 The lotuses screen him with shade; poplars of the stream surround him.
23 If the river surges, he doesn't hurry; he is confident even though the Jordan gushes into his mouth.
24 Can he be seized by his eyes? Can anyone pierce his nose by hooks? Leviathan
1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, restrain his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose, pierce his jaw with a barb?
3 Will he beg you at length or speak gentle words to you?
4 Will he make a pact with you so that you will take him as a permanent slave?
5 Can you play with him like a bird, put a leash on him for your girls?
6 Will merchants sell him; will they divide him among traders?
7 Can you fill his hide with darts, his head with a fishing spear?
8 Should you lay your hand on him, you would never remember the battle.
9 Such hopes would be delusional; surely the sight of him makes one stumble.
10 Nobody is fierce enough to rouse him; who then can stand before me?
11 Who opposes me that I must repay? Everything under heaven is mine.
12 I'm not awed by his limbs, his strength, and impressive form.
13 Who can remove his outer garment; who can come with a bridle for him?
14 Who can open the doors of his mouth, surrounded by frightening teeth?
15 His matching scales are his pride, closely locked and sealed.
16 One touches another; even air can't come between them.
17 Each clings to its pair; joined, they can't be separated.
18 His sneezes emit flashes of light; his eyes are like dawn's rays.
19 Shafts of fire shoot from his mouth; like fiery sparks they fly out.
20 Smoke pours from his nostrils like a boiling pot over reeds.
21 His breath lights coals; a flame shoots from his mouth.
22 Power resides in his neck; violence dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh stick together; on him they are tough and unyielding.
24 His heart is solid like a rock, hard like a lower millstone.
25 The divine beings dread his rising; they withdraw before his thrashing.
26 The sword that touches him won't prevail; neither will the dart, spear, nor javelin.
27 He treats iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood.
28 Arrows can't make him flee; slingstones he turns to straw.
29 He treats a club like straw; he laughs at the lance's rattle.
30 His abdomen is like jagged pottery shards; its sharp edges leave a trail in the mud.
31 He causes the depths to churn like a boiling pot, stirs up the sea like a pot of scented oils,
32 leaves a bright wake behind him; the frothy deep seems white-haired.
33 None on earth can compare to him; he is made to be without fear.
34 He looks on all the proud; he is king over all proud beasts. Job's second response
1 Job answered the LORD:
2 I know you can do anything; no plan of yours can be opposed successfully.
3 You said, "Who is this darkening counsel without knowledge?" I have indeed spoken about things I didn't understand, wonders beyond my comprehension.
4 You said, "Listen and I will speak; I will question you and you will inform me."
5 My ears had heard about you, but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore, I relent and find comfort on dust and ashes. Epilogue
7 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz from Teman, "I'm angry at you and your two friends because you haven't spoken about me correctly as did my servant Job.
8 So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and prepare an entirely burned offering for yourselves. Job my servant will pray for you, and I will act favorably by not making fools of you because you didn't speak correctly, as did my servant Job."
9 Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah did what the LORD told them; and the LORD acted favorably toward Job.
10 Then the LORD changed Job's fortune when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD doubled all Job's earlier possessions.
11 All his brothers, sisters, and acquaintances came to him and ate food with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him concerning all the disaster the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a qesitah and a gold ring.
12 Then the LORD blessed Job's latter days more than his former ones. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.
14 He named one Jemimah, a second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.
15 No women in all the land were as beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave an inheritance to them along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived 140 years and saw four generations of his children.
17 Then Job died, old and satisfied.