II. Job’s Dialogue With His Friends
(3:1-27:33)
3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 3:2 Job spoke up and said:
3:3 “Let the day on which I was born perish,
and the night that said,
‘A man has been conceived!’
3:4 That day – let it be darkness;
let not God on high regard it,
nor let light shine on it!
3:5 Let darkness and the deepest
shadow claim it;
let a cloud settle on it;
let whatever blackens the day terrify it!
3:6 That night – let darkness seize it;
let it not be included among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months!
3:7 Indeed, let that night be barren;
let no shout of joy penetrate it!
3:8 Let those who curse the day curse it –
those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.
3:9 Let its morning stars be darkened;
let it wait for daylight but find none,
nor let it see the first rays of dawn,
3:10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb on me,
nor did it hide trouble from my eyes!
3:11 “Why did I not die at birth,
and why did I not expire
as I came out of the womb?
3:12 Why did the knees welcome me,
and why were there two breasts
that I might nurse at them?
3:13 For now I would be lying down
and would be quiet,
I would be asleep and then at peace
3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who built for themselves places now desolate,
3:15 or with princes who possessed gold,
who filled their palaces with silver.
3:16 Or why was I not buried
like a stillborn infant,
like infants who have never seen the light?
3:17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.
3:18 There the prisoners relax together;
they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
3:19 Small and great are there,
and the slave is free from his master.
3:20 “Why does God give light to one who is in misery,
and life to those whose soul is bitter,
3:21 to those who wait for death that does not come,
and search for it
more than for hidden treasures,
3:22 who rejoice even to jubilation,
and are exultant when they find the grave?
3:23 Why is light given to a man
whose way is hidden,
and whom God has hedged in?
3:24 For my sighing comes in place of my food,
and my groanings flow forth like water.
3:25 For the very thing I dreaded has happened to me,
and what I feared has come upon me.
3:26 I have no ease, I have no quietness;
I cannot rest; turmoil has come upon me.”
4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
4:2 “If someone should attempt a word with you,
will you be impatient?
But who can refrain from speaking?
4:3 Look, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened feeble hands.
4:4 Your words have supported those
who stumbled,
and you have strengthened the knees
that gave way.
4:5 But now the same thing comes to you,
and you are discouraged;
it strikes you,
and you are terrified.
4:6 Is not your piety your confidence,
and your blameless ways your hope?
4:7 Call to mind now:
Who, being innocent, ever perished?
And where were upright people ever destroyed?
4:8 Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and those who sow trouble reap the same.
4:9 By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
4:10 There is the roaring of the lion
and the growling of the young lion,
but the teeth of the young lions are broken.
4:11 The mighty lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
4:12 “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
and my ear caught a whisper of it.
4:13 In the troubling thoughts of the dreams in the night
when a deep sleep falls on men,
4:14 a trembling gripped me – and a terror! –
and made all my bones shake.
4:15 Then a breath of air passes by my face;
it makes the hair of my flesh stand up.
4:16 It stands still,
but I cannot recognize its appearance;
an image is before my eyes,
and I hear a murmuring voice:
4:17 “Is a mortal man righteous before God?
Or a man pure before his Creator?
4:18 If God puts no trust in his servants
and attributes folly to his angels,
4:19 how much more to those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth?
4:20 They are destroyed between morning and evening;
they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
4:21 Is not their excess wealth taken away from them?
They die, yet without attaining wisdom.
5:1 “Call now! Is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
5:2 For wrath kills the foolish person,
and anger slays the silly one.
5:3 I myself have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his place of residence.
5:4 His children are far from safety,
and they are crushed at the place where judgment is rendered,
nor is there anyone to deliver them.
5:5 The hungry eat up his harvest,
and take it even from behind the thorns,
and the thirsty swallow up their fortune.
5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust,
nor does trouble spring up from the ground,
5:7 but people are born to trouble,
as surely as the sparks fly upward.
5:8 “But as for me, I would seek God,
and to God I would set forth my case.
5:9 He does great and unsearchable things,
marvelous things without number;
5:10 he gives rain on the earth,
and sends water on the fields;
5:11 he sets the lowly on high,
that those who mourn are raised to safety.
5:12 He frustrates the plans of the crafty
so that their hands cannot accomplish
what they had planned!
5:13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the counsel of the cunning is brought to a quick end.
5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime,
and grope about in the noontime as if it were night.
5:15 So he saves from the sword that comes from their mouth,
even the poor from the hand of the powerful.
5:16 Thus the poor have hope,
and iniquity shuts its mouth.
5:17 “Therefore, blessed is the man whom God corrects,
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
5:18 For he wounds, but he also bandages;
he strikes, but his hands also heal.
5:19 He will deliver you from six calamities;
yes, in seven no evil will touch you.
5:20 In time of famine he will redeem you from death,
and in time of war from the power of the sword.
5:21 You will be protected from malicious gossip,
and will not be afraid of the destruction when it comes.
5:22 You will laugh at destruction and famine
and need not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
5:23 For you will have a pact with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
5:24 And you will know that your home
will be secure,
and when you inspect your domains,
you will not be missing anything.
5:25 You will also know that your children will be numerous,
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
5:26 You will come to your grave in a full age,
As stacks of grain are harvested in their season.
5:27 Look, we have investigated this, so it is true.
Hear it, and apply it for your own good.”
6:1 Then Job responded:
6:2 “Oh, if only my grief could be weighed,
and my misfortune laid on the scales too!
6:3 But because it is heavier than the sand of the sea,
that is why my words have been wild.
6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
God’s sudden terrors are arrayed against me.
6:5 “Does the wild donkey bray when it is near grass?
Or does the ox low near its fodder?
6:6 Can food that is tasteless be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
6:7 I have refused to touch such things;
they are like loathsome food to me.
6:8 “Oh that my request would be realized,
and that God would grant me what I long for!
6:9 And that God would be willing to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand
and kill me.
6:10 Then I would yet have my comfort,
then I would rejoice,
in spite of pitiless pain,
for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
and what is my end,
that I should prolong my life?
6:12 Is my strength like that of stones?
or is my flesh made of bronze?
6:13 Is not my power to help myself nothing,
and has not every resource been driven from me?
6:14 “To the one in despair, kindness should come from his friend
even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
6:15 My brothers have been as treacherous as a seasonal stream,
and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams
that flow away.
6:16 They are dark because of ice;
snow is piled up over them.
6:17 When they are scorched, they dry up,
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
6:18 Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go into the wasteland and perish.
6:19 The caravans of Tema looked intently for these streams;
the traveling merchants of Sheba hoped for them.
6:20 They were distressed,
because each one had been so confident;
they arrived there, but were disappointed.
6:21 For now you have become like these streams that are no help;
you see a terror, and are afraid.
6:22 “Have I ever said, ‘Give me something,
and from your fortune make gifts in my favor’?
6:23 Or ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s power,
and from the hand of tyrants ransom me’?
6:24 “Teach me and I, for my part, will be silent;
explain to me how I have been mistaken.
6:25 How painful are honest words!
But what does your reproof prove?
6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words,
and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?
6:27 Yes, you would gamble for the fatherless,
and auction off your friend.
6:28 “Now then, be good enough to look at me;
and I will not lie to your face!
6:29 Relent, let there be no falsehood;
reconsider, for my righteousness is intact!
6:30 Is there any falsehood on my lips?
Can my mouth not discern evil things?
7:1 “Does not humanity have hard service on earth?
Are not their days also
like the days of a hired man?
7:2 Like a servant longing for the evening shadow,
and like a hired man looking for his wages,
7:3 thus I have been made to inherit
months of futility,
and nights of sorrow
have been appointed to me.
7:4 If I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise?’,
and the night stretches on
and I toss and turn restlessly
until the day dawns.
7:5 My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs;
my skin is broken and festering.
7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and they come to an end without hope.
7:7 Remember that my life is but a breath,
that my eyes will never again see happiness.
7:8 The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more;
your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.
7:9 As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears,
so the one who goes down to the grave
does not come up again.
7:10 He returns no more to his house,
nor does his place of residence know him any more.
7:11 “Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
7:12 Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep,
that you must put me under guard?
7:13 If I say, “My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,”
7:14 then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
7:15 so that I would prefer strangling,
and death more than life.
7:16 I loathe it; I do not want to live forever;
leave me alone, for my days are a vapor!
7:17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
and that you pay attention to them?
7:18 And that you visit them every morning,
and try them every moment?
7:19 Will you never look away from me,
will you not let me alone
long enough to swallow my spittle?
7:20 If I have sinned – what have I done to you,
O watcher of men?
Why have you set me as your target?
Have I become a burden to you?
7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression,
and take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
and you will seek me diligently,
but I will be gone.”
8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:
8:2 “How long will you speak these things,
seeing that the words of your mouth
are like a great wind?
8:3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
8:4 If your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
8:5 But if you will look to God,
and make your supplication to the Almighty,
8:6 if you become pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself for you,
and will restore your righteous abode.
8:7 Your beginning will seem so small,
since your future will flourish.
8:8 “For inquire now of the former generation,
and pay attention to the findings
of their ancestors;
8:9 For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge,
since our days on earth are but a shadow.
8:10 Will they not instruct you and speak to you,
and bring forth words
from their understanding?
8:11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish without water?
8:12 While they are still beginning to flower
and not ripe for cutting,
they can wither away
faster than any grass!
8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless perishes,
8:14 whose trust is in something futile,
whose security is a spider’s web.
8:15 He leans against his house but it does not hold up,
he takes hold of it but it does not stand.
8:16 He is a well-watered plant in the sun,
its shoots spread over its garden.
8:17 It wraps its roots around a heap of stones
and it looks for a place among stones.
8:18 If he is uprooted from his place,
then that place will disown him, saying,
‘I have never seen you!’
8:19 Indeed, this is the joy of his way,
and out of the earth others spring up.
8:20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man,
nor does he grasp the hand
of the evildoers.
8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with gladness.
8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
9:1 Then Job answered:
9:2 “Truly, I know that this is so.
But how can a human be just before God?
9:3 If someone wishes to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
9:4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength –
who has resisted him and remained safe?
9:5 He who removes mountains suddenly,
who overturns them in his anger;
9:6 he who shakes the earth out of its place
so that its pillars tremble;
9:7 he who commands the sun and it does not shine
and seals up the stars;
9:8 he alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea;
9:9 he makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
and the constellations of the southern sky;
9:10 he does great and unsearchable things,
and wonderful things without number.
9:11 If he passes by me, I cannot see him,
if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
9:12 If he snatches away, who can turn him back?
Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
9:13 God does not restrain his anger;
under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed.
9:14 “How much less, then, can I answer him
and choose my words to argue with him!
9:15 Although I am innocent,
I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my judge for mercy.
9:16 If I summoned him, and he answered me,
I would not believe
that he would be listening to my voice –
9:17 he who crushes me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
9:18 He does not allow me to recover my breath,
for he fills me with bitterness.
9:19 If it is a matter of strength,
most certainly he is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice,
he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’
9:20 Although I am innocent,
my mouth would condemn me;
although I am blameless,
it would declare me perverse.
9:21 I am blameless. I do not know myself.
I despise my life.
9:22 “It is all one! That is why I say,
‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
9:23 If a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
9:24 If a land has been given
into the hand of a wicked man,
he covers the faces of its judges;
if it is not he, then who is it?
9:25 “My days are swifter than a runner,
they speed by without seeing happiness.
9:26 They glide by like reed boats,
like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
9:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression and be cheerful,’
9:28 I dread all my sufferings,
for I know that you do not hold me blameless.
9:29 If I am guilty,
why then weary myself in vain?
9:30 If I wash myself with snow water,
and make my hands clean with lye,
9:31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit
and my own clothes abhor me.
9:32 For he is not a human being like I am,
that I might answer him,
that we might come together in judgment.
9:33 Nor is there an arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both,
9:34 who would take his rod away from me
so that his terror would not make me afraid.
9:35 Then would I speak and not fear him,
but it is not so with me.
10:1 “I am weary of my life;
I will complain without restraint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
tell me why you are contending with me.’
10:3 Is it good for you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands,
while you smile
on the schemes of the wicked?
10:4 “Do you have eyes of flesh,
or do you see as a human being sees?
10:5 Are your days like the days of a mortal,
or your years like the years of a mortal,
10:6 that you must search out my iniquity,
and inquire about my sin,
10:7 although you know that I am not guilty,
and that there is no one who can deliver
out of your hand?
10:8 “Your hands have shaped me and made me,
but now you destroy me completely.
10:9 Remember that you have made me as with the clay;
will you return me to dust?
10:10 Did you not pour me out like milk,
and curdle me like cheese?
10:11 You clothed me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
10:12 You gave me life and favor,
and your intervention watched over my spirit.
10:13 “But these things you have concealed in your heart;
I know that this is with you:
10:14 If I sinned, then you would watch me
and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.
10:15 If I am guilty, woe to me,
and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head;
I am full of shame,
and satiated with my affliction.
10:16 If I lift myself up,
you hunt me as a fierce lion,
and again you display your power against me.
10:17 You bring new witnesses against me,
and increase your anger against me;
relief troops come against me.
10:18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?
I should have died
and no eye would have seen me!
10:19 I should have been as though I had never existed;
I should have been carried
right from the womb to the grave!
10:20 Are not my days few?
Cease, then, and leave me alone,
that I may find a little comfort,
10:21 before I depart, never to return,
to the land of darkness
and the deepest shadow,
10:22 to the land of utter darkness,
like the deepest darkness,
and the deepest shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”
11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:
11:2 “Should not this abundance of words be answered,
or should this talkative man
be vindicated?
11:3 Will your idle talk reduce people to silence,
and will no one rebuke you when you mock?
11:4 For you have said, ‘My teaching is flawless,
and I am pure in your sight.’
11:5 But if only God would speak,
if only he would open his lips against you,
11:6 and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom –
for true wisdom has two sides –
so that you would know
that God has forgiven some of your sins.
11:7 “Can you discover the essence of God?
Can you find out
the perfection of the Almighty?
11:8 It is higher than the heavens – what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol – what can you know?
11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth,
and broader than the sea.
11:10 If he comes by and confines you
and convenes a court,
then who can prevent him?
11:11 For he knows deceitful men;
when he sees evil, will he not consider it?
11:12 But an empty man will become wise,
when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being.
11:13 “As for you, if you prove faithful,
and if you stretch out your hands toward him,
11:14 if iniquity is in your hand – put it far away,
and do not let evil reside in your tents.
11:15 For then you will lift up your face
without blemish;
you will be securely established
and will not fear.
11:16 For you will forget your trouble;
you will remember it
like water that has flowed away.
11:17 And life will be brighter than the noonday;
though there be darkness,
it will be like the morning.
11:18 And you will be secure, because there is hope;
you will be protected
and will take your rest in safety.
11:19 You will lie down with no one to make you afraid,
and many will seek your favor.
11:20 But the eyes of the wicked fail,
and escape eludes them;
their one hope is to breathe their last.”
12:1 Then Job answered:
12:2 “Without a doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
12:3 I also have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
12:4 I am a laughingstock to my friends,
I, who called on God and whom he answered –
a righteous and blameless man
is a laughingstock!
12:5 For calamity, there is derision
(according to the ideas of the fortunate) –
a fate for those whose feet slip!
12:6 But the tents of robbers are peaceful,
and those who provoke God are confident –
who carry their god in their hands.
12:7 “But now, ask the animals and they will teach you,
or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.
12:8 Or speak to the earth and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea declare to you.
12:9 Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
12:10 in whose hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all the human race.
12:11 Does not the ear test words,
as the tongue tastes food?
12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?
12:13 “With God are wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.
12:14 If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;
if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.
12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up;
if he releases them, they destroy the land.
12:16 With him are strength and prudence;
both the one who goes astray
and the one who misleads are his.
12:17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes judges into fools.
12:18 He loosens the bonds of kings
and binds a loincloth around their waist.
12:19 He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the potentates.
12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the discernment of elders.
12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen
and disarms the powerful.
12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness,
and brings deep shadows into the light.
12:23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;
he extends the boundaries of nations
and disperses them.
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth
of their understanding;
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste.
12:25 They grope about in darkness without light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.
13:1 “Indeed, my eyes have seen all this,
my ears have heard and understood it.
13:2 What you know, I know also;
I am not inferior to you!
13:3 But I wish to speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to argue my case with God.
13:4 But you, however, are inventors of lies;
all of you are worthless physicians!
13:5 If only you would keep completely silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.
13:6 “Listen now to my argument,
and be attentive to my lips’ contentions.
13:7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for him?
13:8 Will you show him partiality?
Will you argue the case for God?
13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine you?
Or as one deceives a man would you deceive him?
13:10 He would certainly rebuke you
if you secretly showed partiality!
13:11 Would not his splendor terrify you
and the fear he inspires fall on you?
13:12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
13:13 “Refrain from talking with me so that I may speak;
then let come to me what may.
13:14 Why do I put myself in peril,
and take my life in my hands?
13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him;
I will surely defend my ways to his face!
13:16 Moreover, this will become my deliverance,
for no godless person would come before him.
13:17 Listen carefully to my words;
let your ears be attentive to my explanation.
13:18 See now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I am right.
13:19 Who will contend with me?
If anyone can, I will be silent and die.
13:20 Only in two things spare me, O God,
and then I will not hide from your face:
13:21 Remove your hand far from me
and stop making me afraid with your terror.
13:22 Then call, and I will answer,
or I will speak, and you respond to me.
13:23 How many are my iniquities and sins?
Show me my transgression and my sin.
13:24 Why do you hide your face
and regard me as your enemy?
13:25 Do you wish to torment a windblown leaf
and chase after dry chaff?
13:26 For you write down bitter things against me
and cause me to inherit the sins of my youth.
13:27 And you put my feet in the stocks
and you watch all my movements;
you put marks on the soles of my feet.
13:28 So I waste away like something rotten,
like a garment eaten by moths.
14:1 “Man, born of woman,
lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.
14:2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away;
he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
14:3 Do you fix your eye on such a one?
And do you bring me before you for judgment?
14:4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean?
No one!
14:5 Since man’s days are determined,
the number of his months is under your control;
you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.
14:6 Look away from him and let him desist,
until he fulfills his time like a hired man.
14:7 “But there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
14:8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump begins to die in the soil,
14:9 at the scent of water it will flourish
and put forth shoots like a new plant.
14:10 But man dies and is powerless;
he expires – and where is he?
14:11 As water disappears from the sea,
or a river drains away and dries up,
14:12 so man lies down and does not rise;
until the heavens are no more,
they will not awake
nor arise from their sleep.
14:13 “O that you would hide me in Sheol,
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
O that you would set me a time
and then remember me!
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait
until my release comes.
14:15 You will call and I – I will answer you;
you will long for the creature you have made.
14:16 “Surely now you count my steps;
then you would not mark my sin.
14:17 My offenses would be sealed up in a bag;
you would cover over my sin.
14:18 But as a mountain falls away and crumbles,
and as a rock will be removed from its place,
14:19 as water wears away stones,
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy man’s hope.
14:20 You overpower him once for all,
and he departs;
you change his appearance
and send him away.
14:21 If his sons are honored,
he does not know it;
if they are brought low,
he does not see it.
14:22 Only his flesh has pain for himself,
and he mourns for himself.”
15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge,
or fill his belly with the east wind?
15:3 Does he argue with useless talk,
with words that have no value in them?
15:4 But you even break off piety,
and hinder meditation before God.
15:5 Your sin inspires your mouth;
you choose the language of the crafty.
15:6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.
15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we don’t know?
What do you understand that we don’t understand?
15:10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
men far older than your father.
15:11 Are God’s consolations too trivial for you;
or a word spoken in gentleness to you?
15:12 Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
15:13 when you turn your rage against God
and allow such words to escape from your mouth?
15:14 What is man that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt,
who drinks in evil like water!
15:17 “I will explain to you;
listen to me,
and what I have seen, I will declare,
15:18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of their ancestors,
15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
15:20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
throughout the number of the years
that are stored up for the tyrant.
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
in a time of peace marauders attack him.
15:22 He does not expect to escape from darkness;
he is marked for the sword;
15:23 he wanders about – food for vultures;
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
15:24 Distress and anguish terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready to launch an attack,
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God,
and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield!
15:27 Because he covered his face with fat,
and made his hips bulge with fat,
15:28 he lived in ruined towns
and in houses where no one lives,
where they are ready to crumble into heaps.
15:29 He will not grow rich,
and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the land.
15:30 He will not escape the darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots
and he will depart
by the breath of God’s mouth.
15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless,
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward.
15:32 Before his time he will be paid in full,
and his branches will not flourish.
15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall,
and like an olive tree
he will shed his blossoms.
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.
15:35 They conceive trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly prepares deception.”
16:1 Then Job replied:
16:2 “I have heard many things like these before.
What miserable comforters are you all!
16:3 Will there be an end to your windy words?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
16:4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could pile up words against you
and I could shake my head at you.
16:5 But I would strengthen you with my words;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
16:6 “But if I speak, my pain is not relieved,
and if I refrain from speaking
– how much of it goes away?
16:7 Surely now he has worn me out,
you have devastated my entire household.
16:8 You have seized me,
and it has become a witness;
my leanness has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
16:9 His anger has torn me and persecuted me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks his eyes on me.
16:10 People have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn;
they unite together against me.
16:11 God abandons me to evil men,
and throws me into the hands of wicked men.
16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me.
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
16:13 his archers surround me.
Without pity he pierces my kidneys
and pours out my gall on the ground.
16:14 He breaks through against me, time and time again;
he rushes against me like a warrior.
16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,
and buried my horn in the dust;
16:16 my face is reddened because of weeping,
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,
16:17 although there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.
16:18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,
nor let there be a secret place for my cry.
16:19 Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.
16:20 My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
16:21 and he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man pleads for his friend.
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few,
and then I will go on the way of no return.
17:1 My spirit is broken,
my days have faded out,
the grave awaits me.
17:2 Surely mockery is with me;
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
17:3 Make then my pledge with you.
Who else will put up security for me?
17:4 Because you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not exalt them.
17:5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain,
the eyes of his children will fail.
17:6 He has made me a byword to people,
I am the one in whose face they spit.
17:7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.
17:8 Upright men are appalled at this;
the innocent man is troubled with the godless.
17:9 But the righteous man holds to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
17:10 “But turn, all of you, and come now!
I will not find a wise man among you.
17:11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered,
even the desires of my heart.
17:12 These men change night into day;
they say, ‘The light is near
in the face of darkness.’
17:13 If I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
17:14 If I cry to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
17:15 where then is my hope?
And my hope, who sees it?
17:16 Will it go down to the barred gates of death?
Will we descend together into the dust?”
18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
18:2 “How long until you make an end of words?
You must consider, and then we can talk.
18:3 Why should we be regarded as beasts,
and considered stupid in your sight?
18:4 You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
will the earth be abandoned for your sake?
Or will a rock be moved from its place?
18:5 “Yes, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished;
his flame of fire does not shine.
18:6 The light in his tent grows dark;
his lamp above him is extinguished.
18:7 His vigorous steps are restricted,
and his own counsel throws him down.
18:8 For he has been thrown into a net by his feet
and he wanders into a mesh.
18:9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare grips him.
18:10 A rope is hidden for him on the ground
and a trap for him lies on the path.
18:11 Terrors frighten him on all sides
and dog his every step.
18:12 Calamity is hungry for him,
and misfortune is ready at his side.
18:13 It eats away parts of his skin;
the most terrible death devours his limbs.
18:14 He is dragged from the security of his tent,
and marched off to the king of terrors.
18:15 Fire resides in his tent;
over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.
18:16 Below his roots dry up,
and his branches wither above.
18:17 His memory perishes from the earth,
he has no name in the land.
18:18 He is driven from light into darkness
and is banished from the world.
18:19 He has neither children nor descendants among his people,
no survivor in those places he once stayed.
18:20 People of the west are appalled at his fate;
people of the east are seized with horror, saying,
18:21 ‘Surely such is the residence of an evil man;
and this is the place of one who has not known God.’”
19:1 Then Job answered:
19:2 “How long will you torment me
and crush me with your words?
19:3 These ten times you have been reproaching me;
you are not ashamed to attack me!
19:4 But even if it were true that I have erred,
my error remains solely my concern!
19:5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and plead my disgrace against me,
19:6 know then that God has wronged me
and encircled me with his net.
19:7 “If I cry out, ‘Violence!’
I receive no answer;
I cry for help,
but there is no justice.
19:8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass,
and has set darkness over my paths.
19:9 He has stripped me of my honor
and has taken the crown off my head.
19:10 He tears me down on every side until I perish;
he uproots my hope like one uproots a tree.
19:11 Thus his anger burns against me,
and he considers me among his enemies.
19:12 His troops advance together;
they throw up a siege ramp against me,
and they camp around my tent.
19:13 “He has put my relatives far from me;
my acquaintances only turn away from me.
19:14 My kinsmen have failed me;
my friends have forgotten me.
19:15 My guests and my servant girls
consider me a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their eyes.
19:16 I summon my servant, but he does not respond,
even though I implore him with my own mouth.
19:17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my brothers.
19:18 Even youngsters have scorned me;
when I get up, they scoff at me.
19:19 All my closest friends detest me;
and those whom I love have turned against me.
19:20 My bones stick to my skin and my flesh;
I have escaped alive with only the skin of my teeth.
19:21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me,
for the hand of God has struck me.
19:22 Why do you pursue me like God does?
Will you never be satiated with my flesh?
19:23 “O that my words were written down,
O that they were written on a scroll,
19:24 that with an iron chisel and with lead
they were engraved in a rock forever!
19:25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that as the last
he will stand upon the earth.
19:26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God,
19:27 whom I will see for myself,
and whom my own eyes will behold,
and not another.
My heart grows faint within me.
19:28 If you say, ‘How we will pursue him,
since the root of the trouble is found in him!’
19:29 Fear the sword yourselves,
for wrath brings the punishment by the sword,
so that you may know
that there is judgment.”
20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
20:2 “This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back –
because of my feelings within me.
20:3 When I hear a reproof that dishonors me,
then my understanding prompts me to answer.
20:4 “Surely you know that it has been from old,
ever since humankind was placed on the earth,
20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief,
the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
20:6 Even though his stature reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,
20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement;
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
20:8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found,
and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.
20:9 People who had seen him will not see him again,
and the place where he was
will recognize him no longer.
20:10 His sons must recompense the poor;
his own hands must return his wealth.
20:11 His bones were full of his youthful vigor,
but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.
20:12 “If evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue,
20:13 if he retains it for himself
and does not let it go,
and holds it fast in his mouth,
20:14 his food is turned sour in his stomach;
it becomes the venom of serpents within him.
20:15 The wealth that he consumed he vomits up,
God will make him throw it out of his stomach.
20:16 He sucks the poison of serpents;
the fangs of a viper kill him.
20:17 He will not look on the streams,
the rivers, which are the torrents
of honey and butter.
20:18 He gives back the ill-gotten gain
without assimilating it;
he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce.
20:19 For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them;
he has seized a house which he did not build.
20:20 For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite;
he does not let anything he desires escape.
20:21 “Nothing is left for him to devour;
that is why his prosperity does not last.
20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency,
distress overtakes him.
the full force of misery will come upon him.
20:23 “While he is filling his belly,
God sends his burning anger against him,
and rains down his blows upon him.
20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him.
20:25 When he pulls it out and it comes out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver,
terrors come over him.
20:26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures;
a fire which has not been kindled
will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.
20:27 The heavens reveal his iniquity;
the earth rises up against him.
20:28 A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
20:29 Such is the lot God allots the wicked,
and the heritage of his appointment from God.”
21:1 Then Job answered:
21:2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer me.
21:3 Bear with me and I will speak,
and after I have spoken you may mock.
21:4 Is my complaint against a man?
If so, why should I not be impatient?
21:5 Look at me and be appalled;
put your hands over your mouths.
21:6 For, when I think about this, I am terrified
and my body feels a shudder.
21:7 “Why do the wicked go on living,
grow old, even increase in power?
21:8 Their children are firmly established
in their presence,
their offspring before their eyes.
21:9 Their houses are safe and without fear;
and no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
21:10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
21:11 They allow their children to run like a flock;
their little ones dance about.
21:12 They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
21:13 They live out their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to know your ways.
21:15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray to him?’
21:16 But their prosperity is not their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
21:17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger?
21:18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind?
21:19 You may say, ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his children!’
Instead let him repay the man himself
so that he may know it!
21:20 Let his own eyes see his destruction;
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
21:21 For what is his interest in his home
after his death,
when the number of his months
has been broken off?
21:22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since he judges those that are on high?
21:23 “One man dies in his full vigor,
completely secure and prosperous,
21:24 his body well nourished,
and the marrow of his bones moist.
21:25 And another man dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted anything good.
21:26 Together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover over them both.
21:27 “Yes, I know what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
21:28 For you say,
‘Where now is the nobleman’s house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’
21:29 Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?
Do you not recognize their accounts –
21:30 that the evil man is spared
from the day of his misfortune,
that he is delivered
from the day of God’s wrath?
21:31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;
no one repays him for what he has done.
21:32 And when he is carried to the tombs,
and watch is kept over the funeral mound,
21:33 The clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him;
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
21:34 So how can you console me with your futile words?
Nothing is left of your answers but deception!”
22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?
Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?
22:3 Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty
that you should be righteous,
or is it any gain to him
that you make your ways blameless?
22:4 Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you
and goes to judgment with you?
22:5 Is not your wickedness great
and is there no end to your iniquity?
22:6 “For you took pledges from your brothers
for no reason,
and you stripped the clothing from the naked.
22:7 You gave the weary no water to drink
and from the hungry you withheld food.
22:8 Although you were a powerful man, owning land,
an honored man living on it,
22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of the orphans you crushed.
22:10 That is why snares surround you,
and why sudden fear terrifies you,
22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven?
And see the lofty stars, how high they are!
22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness?
22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us,
as he goes back and forth
in the vault of heaven.’
22:15 Will you keep to the old path
that evil men have walked –
22:16 men who were carried off before their time,
when the flood was poured out
on their foundations?
22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
22:18 But it was he who filled their houses
with good things –
yet the counsel of the wicked
was far from me.
22:19 The righteous see their destruction and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully, saying,
22:20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed,
and fire consumes their wealth.’
22:21 “Reconcile yourself with God,
and be at peace with him;
in this way your prosperity will be good.
22:22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and store up his words in your heart.
22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,
22:24 and throw your gold in the dust –
your gold of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines –
22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold,
and the choicest silver for you.
22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and will lift up your face toward God.
22:27 You will pray to him and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows to him.
22:28 Whatever you decide on a matter,
it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
22:29 When people are brought low and you say
‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast;
22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent,
who will escape through the cleanness of your hands.”
23:1 Then Job answered:
23:2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
23:3 O that I knew where I might find him,
that I could come to his place of residence!
23:4 I would lay out my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5 I would know with what words he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
23:6 Would he contend with me with great power?
No, he would only pay attention to me.
23:7 There an upright person
could present his case before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
23:8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,
and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.
23:9 In the north when he is at work,
I do not see him;
when he turns to the south,
I see no trace of him.
23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take;
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.
23:11 My feet have followed his steps closely;
I have kept to his way and have not turned aside.
23:12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion.
23:13 But he is unchangeable, and who can change him?
Whatever he has desired, he does.
23:14 For he fulfills his decree against me,
and many such things are his plans.
23:15 That is why I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider, I am afraid because of him.
23:16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
23:17 Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,
because of the thick darkness
that covered my face.
24:1 “Why are times not appointed by the Almighty?
Why do those who know him not see his days?
24:2 Men move boundary stones;
they seize the flock and pasture them.
24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;
they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
24:4 They turn the needy from the pathway,
and the poor of the land hide themselves together.
24:5 Like wild donkeys in the desert
they go out to their labor,
seeking diligently for food;
the wasteland provides food for them
and for their children.
24:6 They reap fodder in the field,
and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
24:7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;
they have no covering against the cold.
24:8 They are soaked by mountain rains
and huddle in the rocks because they lack shelter.
24:9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast,
the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.
24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,
and go hungry while they carry the sheaves.
24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees;
they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty.
24:12 From the city the dying groan,
and the wounded cry out for help,
but God charges no one with wrongdoing.
24:13 There are those who rebel against the light;
they do not know its ways
and they do not stay on its paths.
24:14 Before daybreak the murderer rises up;
he kills the poor and the needy;
in the night he is like a thief.
24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,
thinking, ‘No eye can see me,’
and covers his face with a mask.
24:16 In the dark the robber breaks into houses,
but by day they shut themselves in;
they do not know the light.
24:17 For all of them, the morning is to them
like deep darkness;
they are friends with the terrors of darkness.
24:18 “You say, ‘He is foam on the face of the waters;
their portion of the land is cursed
so that no one goes to their vineyard.
24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away
the melted snow;
so the grave takes away those who have sinned.
24:20 The womb forgets him,
the worm feasts on him,
no longer will he be remembered.
Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.
24:21 He preys on the barren and childless woman,
and does not treat the widow well.
24:22 But God drags off the mighty by his power;
when God rises up against him, he has no faith in his life.
24:23 God may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but he is constantly watching all their ways.
24:24 They are exalted for a little while,
and then they are gone,
they are brought low like all others,
and gathered in,
and like a head of grain they are cut off.’
24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar
and reduce my words to nothing?”
25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
25:2 “Dominion and awesome might belong to God;
he establishes peace in his heights.
25:3 Can his armies be numbered?
On whom does his light not rise?
25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure?
25:5 If even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned,
25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot –
a son of man, who is only a worm!”
26:1 Then Job replied:
26:2 “How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the person who has no strength!
26:3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,
and abundantly revealed your insight!
26:4 To whom did you utter these words?
And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth?
26:5 “The dead tremble –
those beneath the waters
and all that live in them.
26:6 The underworld is naked before God;
the place of destruction lies uncovered.
26:7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth on nothing.
26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
26:9 He conceals the face of the full moon,
shrouding it with his clouds.
26:10 He marks out the horizon on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
26:11 The pillars of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke.
26:12 By his power he stills the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces.
26:13 By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways!
How faint is the whisper we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?”
27:1 And Job took up his discourse again:
27:2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter –
27:3 for while my spirit is still in me,
and the breath from God is in my nostrils,
27:4 my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will whisper no deceit.
27:5 I will never declare that you three are in the right;
until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
27:6 I will maintain my righteousness
and never let it go;
my conscience will not reproach me
for as long as I live.
27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,
my adversary like the unrighteous.
27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?
27:9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress overtakes him?
27:10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?
Will he call out to God at all times?
27:11 I will teach you about the power of God;
What is on the Almighty’s mind I will not conceal.
27:12 If you yourselves have all seen this,
Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk?
27:13 This is the portion of the wicked man
allotted by God,
the inheritance that evildoers receive
from the Almighty.
27:14 If his children increase – it is for the sword!
His offspring never have enough to eat.
27:15 Those who survive him are buried by the plague,
and their widows do not mourn for them.
27:16 If he piles up silver like dust
and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,
27:17 what he stores up a righteous man will wear,
and an innocent man will inherit his silver.
27:18 The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon,
like a hut that a watchman has made.
27:19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.
When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.
27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;
at night a whirlwind carries him off.
27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
27:22 It hurls itself against him without pity
as he flees headlong from its power.
27:23 It claps its hands at him in derision
and hisses him away from his place.