Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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Job
Job 1
¶1. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was perfect and upright, and he feared God and eschewed evil.
Job 1:1 - 62. And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3. And he owned seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a great many slaves. And this man was greater than any of the sons of the east.
4. And his sons went and made a feast at the house of each one on his day, and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5. It came to pass that when the days of their feasting had gone round, that Job sent and sanctified them. And he arose early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did like this all the time.
¶6. Now, it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came in to present themselves before the Lord that Satan also came in among them.
7. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” And Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”
8. And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one who fears God and eschews evil?”
9. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
10.Have you not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11.But stretch out your hand now and strike all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
12. Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not put your hand on him.” So, Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
¶13. Now, there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn,
14.and a messenger came to Job, and he said, “The oxen were plowing and the she-asses were grazing nearby them.
15.And Sheba fell on them and took them, and they killed the young men with the edge of the sword, and I alone escaped, I alone, to bring the report to you.”
16. Moreover, as this man was speaking, another man came in and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up both the sheep and the young men and consumed them, and I alone escaped, I alone, to bring the report to you.”
17. Moreover, as this man was speaking, another man came in and said, “The Chaldeans formed three companies and made a raid upon the camels and took them, and they killed the young men with the edge of the sword, and I alone escaped, I alone, to bring the report to you.”
18. Moreover, as this man was speaking, another man came in and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn,
19.and, behold, a great wind came from across the desert and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men and they died, and I alone escaped, I alone, to bring the report to you.”
20. And Job arose and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell to the earth, and worshipped.
21. And he said, “Naked, I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked, I will return there. Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away. Blessed be the name of Jehovah!”
22. In all this, Job did not sin, nor did he charge God foolishly.
Job 2
¶1. Again, it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came in to present themselves before the Lord, that Satan also came in among them to present himself before the Lord.
2. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” And Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”
3. And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one who fears God and eschews evil? And still, he holds fast his integrity, even though you moved me against him to destroy him without cause.”
4. And Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life.
5.Stretch out your hand now and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”
6. And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. But spare his life.”
7. So, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he struck Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.
8. And he took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in ashes.
9. And his wife said to him, “Are you still clinging to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10. But he said to her, “You talk as one of the foolish women talk. What? Shall we receive good from God, and not receive evil?” In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.
11. And three friends of Job heard of all this evil that had come upon him, and they came, each one from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. Now, they had made an appointment together to come and condole with him and to comfort him.
12. And they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and they did not recognize him, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they tore, each man, his robe, and they threw dust toward heaven over their heads.
13. And they sat seven days and seven nights on the ground with him. And they spoke not a word to him because they saw that his pain was very great.
Job 3
¶1. After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
2. And Job answered, saying,
3.“Perish the day on which I was born, and the night which said, ‘A man is conceived!’
4.Let that day be darkness! Let God above not regard it, and let not daylight shine upon it.
5.Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it! Let a cloud settle upon it! Let a day of deep gloom overwhelm it!
6.Let thick darkness take that night away! Let it not rejoice among the days of the year! Let it not enter into the number of the months!
7.Behold! Let that night be barren! Let no joyful shout enter it!
8.Let them curse it who curse the day, those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan!
9.Let the stars of its twilight be dark! Let it long for light, and let there be none. Nor let it see the eyelids of dawn
10.because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
11.Why did I not die in the womb and perish before I came out of the belly?
12.Why did knees greet me, and for what did breasts give me suck?
13.For now I would be lying down and be undisturbed; I would be asleep. Then, I would have rest
14.with kings and counsellors of the earth who built desolate places for themselves,
15.or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16.Or like a hidden, untimely birth, I had not existed, like infants who did not see the light.
17.There, the wicked cease causing trouble, and there, the weary are at rest.
18.The prisoners are at peace together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19.The small and the great there are one, and the slave is free from his master.
¶20.Why is light given to a suffering man, and life to a bitter soul?
21.They wait for death, but they cannot have it; they seek it more than for hidden treasures;
22.they rejoice greatly and are glad when they find a grave.
23.Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has hedged in?
24.Truly my sighing comes before my food, and my groanings pour forth like water,
25.for the thing I greatly feared has come upon me; yea, what I dreaded has happened to me.
26.I was not at ease, nor was I doing nothing, nor was I at rest; yet, trouble came.”
Job 4
¶1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2.“If one should venture a word to you, you may grow weary, but who can restrain from speaking?
3.Behold, you have instructed very many; you have strengthened weak hands;
4.your words upheld the man who was stumbling and strengthened tottering knees.
5.But now, it has come upon you, and you grow faint; it touches you, and you fall apart.
6.Was not your fear of God and the perfection of your ways your confidence and your hope?
¶7. “Think back, now. Who has perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright brought to ruin?
8.Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow mischief reap the same.
9.By the breath of God, they perish; yea, by the breath of His nostrils do they perish.
10.The roar of the lion, even the sound of the lion, and the teeth of young lions, are confounded.
11.The lion perishes without prey, and the offspring of the lioness are scattered.
¶12. “Now, a word was subtly brought to me, and my ear caught the whisper of it.
13.Amid disquieting thoughts of night visions, when deep sleep falls upon men,
14.a dread came over me, and trembling; yea, it made all my bones shake.
15.Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up!
16.It stood still, but I did not recognize its form; it was just a shape before my eyes. There was silence. And then I heard a voice:
17.‘Is a man more just than God? Or is a man purer than his Maker?
18.Behold, He puts no trust in His servants, and charges His angels with folly.
19.How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dirt, who are crushed before a moth!
20.They are stricken from morning to evening; unnoticed, they vanish forever.
21.Is not their tent-cord pulled up within them? They die, but with no wisdom.’
Job 5
Eliphaz continues
¶1. “Call, if you want. Is there anyone who will answer you? And to whom among saints will you turn?
2.For wrath slays the fool, and envy kills the simple-minded man.
3.I have seen a foolish man take root, but suddenly, I cursed his dwelling.
4.His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer,
5.whose harvest a hungry man will eat, taking it even from among thorns; yea, a snare eagerly awaits their wealth.
6.Affliction certainly does not come from the dust, and trouble does not sprout up from the ground;
7.yet, man is born unto trouble, as surely as sparks fly upward.
¶8. “As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.
9.He does great things, and they are beyond finding out, wonders without number.
10.He gives rain upon the face of the earth, and sends waters upon the face of the fields,
11.to set on high those who are lowly, so that those who are heavy-hearted might be exalted to salvation.
12.He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot achieve success.
13.He takes the wise in their own craftiness; yea, the counsel of wily men is anticipated.
14.By day, they encounter darkness; even at noon, they feel about as in the night.
15.But He saves the needy one from the sword of their mouth and the power of the mighty man.
16.And so, the poor man has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
17.Behold, blessed is the man whom God corrects. Yea, do not refuse the chastisement of the Almighty!
18.For He inflicts pain, and He binds up; He wounds, and His hands heal.
19.He will deliver you in six troubles; yea, in seven, evil shall not touch you.
20.In famine, He will redeem you from death, and in war, from the power of the sword.
21.You will be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and you will not fear destruction when it comes.
22.At destruction and hunger will you laugh, and you will not fear the beast of the earth.
23.For you will be in league with the stones of the field, and the beast of the field will be at peace with you.
24.And you will know that your tent is at peace, and you will visit your fold and find nothing missing.
25.And you will know that your seed will be many; yea, your offspring will be like the grass of the earth.
26.You will come in full strength to the grave, like a shock of grain gathered in its season.
¶27. “Behold, we have searched this out. It is so. Hear it, and know it for yourself!”
Job 6
¶1. Then Job answered and said,
2.“O that my grief and my calamity were thoroughly weighed and laid in balances together!
3.Yea, it would now be heavier than the sand of the sea. That is why my words have been fervent.[1]
4.For the arrows of the Almighty are stuck in me, whose poison my spirit drinks; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5.Does the wild ass bray over grass, or an ox low over his fodder?
6.Is what is tasteless eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the white of an egg?[2]
7.My soul refuses to touch them; they are like contaminated food to me.
¶8.Who will take my petition in, so that God would grant the thing I hope for,
9.that God would assent to crush me? Let Him unleash His power and cut me off!
10.And yet, it is still a comfort to me – even in unrelenting agony do I leap for joy – that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11.What strength do I have, that I should continue to hope? And what end do I have, that my soul should continue to wait?
12.Oh, that the strength of stones were my strength! Oh, that my flesh were of bronze!
13.Is it not that there is no help with me? Yea, sound wisdom is driven away from me!
14.Lovingkindness from his companion belongs to the one in despair, but he[3] has forsaken the fear of the Almighty.
¶15. “My brothers are treacherous, like a wadi. The wadis that flow in the channel
16.are dark because of the ice over them, in which the snow hides itself.
17.When they are heated, they evaporate; they vanish from their place because of the heat.
¶18. “The travelers veered off their course; they came up into the wasteland, and they will perish.
19.The travelers of Tema looked; the travelers from Sheba waited for him.
20.They were disappointed (though he was confident); they came there and were disappointed.
21.Surely, you have now become such to me. You are not seeing brokenness, and you are afraid.
¶22. “Have I ever said, ‘Give me something,’ or ‘Give me a gift from your wealth,’
23.or ‘Deliver me from the hand of an adversary,’ or ‘Redeem me out of the hand of ruthless men’?
¶24. “Show me! I will make myself quiet. You men, make me to understand how I have gone astray!
25.How grievous are the words of an upright man! What exactly is your reproof reproving?
26.Do you men intend to sit in judgment on words and cast the words of a despairing man to the wind?
27.You would even cast lots for an orphan and make merchandise of your friend.
28.But be so kind now as to look at me! May God damn me if I would lie to your faces![4]
29.Relent, I beseech you! Let there be no injustice! Yea, let it provoke my righteousness to keep opposing it!
30.Is there injustice in my tongue? Or does my palate not discern ruinous things?
Job 7
Job continues
¶1. “Does not man on earth do hard service? Yea, his days are like the days of a hireling.
2.Like a slave, he pants for a shadow, and like a hireling, he longs for his wages.
3.Just so, I am given months of emptiness as my portion, and nights of hard labor are appointed to me.
4.When I lie down, I think, ‘How long will I last?’ Then He extends the evening, and I am filled with tossings until dawn.
5.He clothes my flesh with worms and lumps of dust; my skin scabs over and then oozes again.
6.My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they keep ending without hope.
7.Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye shall not again see good.
8.The eye of him who sees me will see me no more. Your eyes are on me, but I will be gone.
9.As a cloud dissipates and goes away, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.
10.He does not return again to his house; nor does his place know him any more.
11.No! I will not refrain my mouth! I will speak in the distress of my spirit! I will complain in the bitterness of my soul!
To God
¶12. “Am I the sea or a dragon, that you would set a guard over me?
13.When I think my couch will comfort me, my bed will ease my complaint,
14.then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions
15.so that my soul prefers strangling – death more than my life.
16.I despise life. I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a vapor!
17.What is a man, that you should magnify him, or even think about him?
18.Yet, you visit him every morning; every moment, you try him.
19.Why will you not turn your gaze away from me nor leave me alone, until I swallow down my own spittle?
20.I have sinned. What shall I do for you, O Watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your target, so that I am a burden to myself?
21.And why will you not pardon my transgression or take my iniquity away? I am even now lying in the dust. You, too, will search for me, and I will be gone.”
Job 8
¶1. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2.“How long will you utter these things? Yea, the words of your mouth are a big wind.
3.Does God pervert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4.If your children sinned against Him, and He cast them away because of their transgression,
5.if you had diligently sought God and earnestly implored the favor of the Almighty,
6.if you had been pure and upright, then He would have roused Himself for you and made your righteous abode prosperous.
7.Yea, though your beginning be small, your end would increase greatly.
¶8.Do inquire, if you will, of the previous generation, and consider carefully what their fathers discovered,
9.for we are but lately come, and we do not know, for our days on earth are a shadow.
10.Will they not teach you? They will speak to you and bring forth words from their understanding.
¶11.Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh, or reeds flourish without water?
12.When it is yet in flower, not picked, it withers before any plant.
13.So are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the profane man perishes;
14.he comes to loathe his own stupidity, for his trust was in a spider’s web.
15.He leans upon his web, but it will not stand; he clings to it, but it will not hold up.
16.It is moist in the sunshine, and in his garden, its thread goes out.
17.On a pile of stones, its radials are woven; it gives the appearance of a web of stones.
¶18.If He destroys him from his place, then it will deny him, saying, ‘I did not see you.’
19.Behold, this is the joy of His way; yet, out of the dust, others will come up.
20.Behold, God will not reject a perfect man, and He will not strengthen the hand of wicked men,
21.until He fills your mouth with laughter, and your lips shout for joy.
22.Those who hate you will be clothed in shame, and the tent of wicked men shall be no more.”
Job 9
¶1. And Job answered and said,
2.“I truly know that is so. But how is a man righteous before God?
3.If he wants to contend with Him, He will not answer him one time in a thousand.
4.He is wise of heart and mighty in strength. Who has been stubborn against Him and done well?
5.He moves mountains, and in His wrath, men do not know who overturned them.
6.He makes the earth to quake out of its place, and its pillars tremble.
7.He commands the sun, and it does not rise, and He sets a seal upon the stars.
8.He stretched out the heavens by Himself, and treads upon the heights of the sea.
9.He made Ursa Major, Orion, and Pleiades,[5] and the chambers of the south.
10.He does great things that are unsearchable and wonders beyond number.
¶11.Behold! He passes over me, but I cannot see Him, and He passes on, but I cannot perceive Him.
12.Behold! He snatches away. Who will make Him repent? Who will say to Him, ‘What are you doing‽’
13. God is not turning away His anger! Rahab’s helpers[6] are bowing to Him.
14.How much less can I present a defense to Him or choose my words with Him!
15.Though I am righteous, I cannot present a defense. I am pleading with my Judge for mercy!
16. If I cried out and He answered me, I would not believe that He had listened to my voice.
¶17.He is crushing me with a tempest and has multiplied my wounds without cause.
18.He is not letting me draw in my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
19.If it were a matter of strength, behold, He is mighty! And if it were a legal case, who would subpoena me?
20.Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me. I am blameless, but He has declared me crooked.
21.I am blameless! I do not know myself. I despise my life.
22.It is all the same. That is why I say that He destroys the blameless along with the wicked man.
23.If with a calamity He causes sudden death, He mocks the despair of innocent people!
24.The earth has been given into the hand of a wicked one. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not so, then who is the one who has done it?
To God
¶25. “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away without seeing goodness.
26.They sail away like reed ships, like an eagle swooping upon its prey.
27.Were I to say, ‘I will forget my complaint; I will change my expression, and smile,’
28.I would fear all my pains. I know that you would not hold me innocent.
29.I am already condemned. Why should I labor in vain?
30.If I washed myself in snow and cleansed my hands with lye,
31.you would still plunge me into the Pit, and my own garments would abhor me.
Job’s Plea for an Arbiter
¶32. “There is certainly no man like me. Oh, let me respond to Him! Let us come together in court!
33.There is no arbiter between us. Let someone lay his hand upon us both!
34.Let him make His rod turn away from me so that the dread of Him will stop terrifying me.
35.Then I would speak and not be afraid of Him. But that is not how it is. I am on my own.
Job 10
Job continues
¶1. “My soul loathes my life. I will give vent to my complaint! I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2.I would say to God, ‘Do not condemn me! Make me understand why you are contending with me!’
To God
3.Is it good for you to be an oppressor, that you should despise the work of your own hands and shine upon the counsel of wicked men?
4.Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a man sees?
5.Are your days like the days of a man? Or your years like the years of a man,
6.that you search for my iniquity? But you seek for my sin
7.even though you know I am not guilty! And there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.
8.Your hands shaped me; yea, they altogether made me, yet you swallow me up!
9.Remember, I pray, that you created me as clay and will return me to dirt!
10.Have you not poured me out like milk and curdled me like cheese?
11.You clothed me with skin and flesh and wove me together with bones and sinews.
12.You granted me life and lovingkindness, and your providence preserved my spirit.
13.Oh, you have treasured up these things in your heart. I know that this is within you!
14.If I do sin, you watch me, and you will not acquit me of my iniquity.
15.If I be wicked, woe be unto me. But I am righteous! I am not lifting up my own head. I am full of disgrace. Oh, see my affliction!
16.When it was exalted like a lion, you hunted me down. Yea, you turned and made yourself bewildering to me.
17.You keep producing your fresh witnesses against me, and you magnify your indignation against me. Vicissitudes and war are against me.
18.Oh, why did you bring me out of the womb? Would that I had died and eye had not seen me!
19.I should have been as though I had not lived, just carried from the womb to the grave.
20.Are not my days few? Stop it! Leave me alone,[7] that I might find a little cheer
21.before I go – and I shall not return – to the land of darkness and shadow of death,
22.the land of darkness like the darkness of the shadow of death, without order; yea, even the light is like darkness.’”
Job 11
¶1. Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2.“Should not a multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be justified?
3.Should your vain speech make men silent? And when you mock God, should no one put you to shame?
4.For you have said, ‘My doctrine is pure,’ and ‘I am clean in your sight.’
5.Oh! Would that God would speak and open His lips against you,
6.and show you the secrets of wisdom, that sound wisdom has two sides! Know then that God is exacting of you less than your iniquity deserves!
7.Can you by searching find out God? Or can you find the limit of the Almighty?
8.It is beyond the heights of heaven. What can you do? It is deeper than Sheol. What can you know?
9.Its measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
10.If He passes through and imprisons or summons an assembly, who will make Him repent?
11.For He knows men’s worthlessness, and He beholds iniquity, though a man may not discern it.
12.For an empty-headed man will be wise when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.
13.When you prepare your heart and spread out your hands to Him,
14.if there is iniquity in your hand, put it far away, and do not allow injustice to dwell in your tents.
15.For then, you would lift up your face without blemish, and you would be established and have no fear.
16.Yea, you would forget trouble; you would remember it as waters that have passed by.
17.Life would be brighter than noonday; darkness would be as the morning.
18.You would also be confident because there would be hope; you would look around and lie down in safety.
19.Yea, you would stretch yourself out, for there would be nothing to cause terror, and multitudes would court your favor.
20.But the eyes of wicked men fail, and there is no escape for them, and their hope is that they might expire.”
Job 12
Job scolds Zophar for his shallowness.
¶1. Then Job answered and said,
2.“No doubt, you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3.I have understanding, just as you do. I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things?
4.A laughingstock to his friend am I – one who has called on God and He answered him – a righteous, perfect laughingstock!
5.The one who is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
6.Tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God are secure in what God has brought them by His hand.
7.Just ask the beasts, if you will, and let them teach you, or the birds of the sky, and let him make it clear to you.
8.Or talk to the earth and let it teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.
9.Who among these does not know that the hand of Jehovah has done this,
10.in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of every man’s flesh?
¶11. “Does not the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
12.Wisdom belongs to old men, and understanding to length of days.
¶13. “With Him is wisdom and might; counsel and understanding are His.
14.Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt. He shuts a man in, and it cannot be opened.
15.Behold, He withholds the waters, and they dry up; then He sends them forth, and they overwhelm the earth.
16.With Him are strength and sound wisdom; to Him belong the deceiver and the deceived.
17.He leads counsellors away barefoot, and turns judges into fools.
18.He undoes the girding of kings, and binds a waist-cloth on their loins.
19.He leads priests away barefoot, and He brings to ruin those who are established.
20.He deprives faithful men of speech and takes away the discernment of old men.
21.He pours contempt upon nobles and loosens the girdle of strong men.
22.He uncovers deep things from the darkness and brings the shadow of death to the light.
23.He makes nations great and then destroys them; He enlarges the nations and then leads them away.
24.He takes away the understanding of the leaders of the people of earth and causes them to wander about in a trackless wasteland.
25.They grope in darkness with no light, and He makes them stagger about like a drunkard.
Job 13
Job continues
¶1. “Behold, my eye has seen all this; my ear has heard and understood it.
2.I know what you men know. I am not inferior to you.
3.But I would speak to the Almighty; yea, I want to argue my case with God!
4.But you! You spreaders of lies are worthless physicians, all of you.
5.If only you would shut up, and let that be your wisdom!
6.Hear, I pray, my argument, and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7.Will you speak falsehood for God and utter deceit on His behalf?
8.Will you show Him partiality? Will you argue God’s case?
9.Will it go well with you when He examines you? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive Him?
10.He will certainly censure you if you secretly show partiality.
11.Does not His rising up terrify you? And the dread of Him fall on you?
12.Your platitudes are parables of ashes, and your defenses are defenses of mud.
¶13. “Be silent! Leave me alone, and let me speak. Then, let come upon me what will.
14.Why would I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my own hand?
15.Behold, He is killing me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will defend my ways before Him.
16.Moreover, He will be my salvation, for a profane man shall not enter into His presence.
17.Listen carefully to what I am saying, and take my declaration into your ears!
18.Behold now, I have laid out my case. I know that I am righteous.
19.Who is he that has a case against me? For then, I would be hold my peace and die.
To God
¶20. “Just do not do two things to me. Then, I will not hide myself from your face.
21.Remove your hand far from me, and let not your dread terrify me.
22.Just call, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me.
23.What are my iniquities or sins? Show me my transgression and my sin!
24.Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?
25.Would you make a driven leaf to tremble, or pursue dry chaff?
26.But you write down bitter things against me and cause me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.
27.Yea, you have put my feet in stocks and watch all my ways; you have carved a mark into the soles of my feet.
28.So, he wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.
Job 14
Job continues. More to God
¶1. “Man who is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
2.He comes forth like a flower, and then withers away. Yea, he flees like a shadow and does not last.
3.Upon this man have you certainly set your eyes, that you might bring me into judgment with you.
4.Who can make a clean man out of an unclean man? No one.
5.Though his days are determined, the number of his months are with you. You have made a boundary for him, and he cannot cross it.
6.Remove your gaze from him, that he might rest until he is refreshed, as a hired man ending his day.
7.Truly, there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it might sprout again and that its shoot will not fail.
8.For if its root in the earth grows old and its stump dies in the dirt,
9.through the scent of water, it may sprout and put forth branches like a seedling.
10.But when a man dies, he lies prostrate. Yea, man breathes his last, and where is he?
11.Waters evaporate from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dries up,
12.and man lies down and will not rise until heaven is no more. They shall not awake nor be roused from their sleep.
13.Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until your anger is passed, that you would appoint me a time and remember me!
14.If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service, I will hope until my change comes.
15.You will call, and I will answer you. You will desire the work of your hands.
16.And then, you will take into account my steps; you will not be watching for my sin.
17.My transgression will be sealed up in a bag, and you will put a cover over my iniquity.
18.But as it is, the falling mountain sinks, and the rock is moved from its place.
19.Water wears away the stones; you wash away the soil of the earth with its torrents. Thus, you cause the hope of man to perish.
20.You always prevail against him, and then, he goes away. You change his countenance and send him away.
21.His sons are honored, but he does not know it. Or they are brought low, and he has no knowledge of it.
22.But until then, his flesh on him feels pain, and his soul within him mourns.”
Job 15
¶1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2.“Should a wise man respond to vain knowledge and fill his belly with the east wind?
3.Should he argue with worthless talk, and words in which he finds no good?
4.Yea, you have repudiated fear and withheld devotion from God,
5.for your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of crafty men.
6.Your own mouth condemns you, and not I. Yea, your own lips testify against you!
7.Are you the first man born, or were you brought forth before the hills?
8.Have you listened in on the privy council of God, or do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
9.What do you know that we do not know? What understanding do you have that is not in us?
10.Both the hoary-headed and aged are with us, much older than your father.
11.Were the consolations of God too little for you, or the word He spoke gently to you?
12.Why does your heart take you away, and what do your eyes wink at,
13.that your spirit should turn against God and that you allow such words to come out of your mouth?
¶14.What is man, that he should be clean, or that one born of woman should be righteous?
15.Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in His sight.
16.How much less a vile and corrupt man, who drinks iniquity like water!
¶17.I will teach you. Listen to me, for I have seen this, and I will declare
18.that which wise men have reported from their fathers and have not hidden.
19.To them, to them alone, was the earth given, and no strange thing passed through their midst.
20.All the days of a wicked man, he writhes in pain [like you, Job]. Though a number of years is laid up for the ruthless man,
21.the sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity, the Destroyer comes upon him.
22.He does not have faith to turn from darkness, and so, he is marked for the sword.
23.He wanders about for bread, asking, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that the day of darkness has been prepared by His hand.
24.Distress terrifies him; anguish, like a king prepared for the attack, overpowers him,
25.for he stretched out his hand against God and vaunted himself against the Almighty,
26.running at Him, stiff-necked, with his bossed shields.
27.Yea, he covered his face with his fatness and added blubber about his loins.
28.But he dwells in devastated cities, with its houses which men do not occupy, ordained to be heaps of rubble.
29.He will not be rich, nor will his wealth last, nor will their possessions spread over the land.
30.He will not depart from darkness. A flame shall dry out his branch, and he will depart along with the breath of his mouth.
31.Oh, that he would not trust in vanity! He is deceiving himself, but his reward will be vanity.
32.It shall be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.
33.He will shake off his unripe grapes like a vine, and He will cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
34.Yea, a profane congregation is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35.He conceived trouble and gave birth to iniquity, for their inward part was preparing treachery.”
Job 16
¶1. Then Job answered and said,
2.“I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters are you all!
3.Will there ever be an end to long-winded speeches? Or what illness do you have, that you would even give an answer?
4.I could also speak as you do if your souls were in my soul’s place. I could string words together against you and shake my head at you.
5.But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips would bring you relief.
¶6.If I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I forbear, what pain of mine leaves?
7.Surely, He has now exhausted me.
To God
¶ “You have made all my company desolate!
8.You have shriveled me up; it has become a witness against me. Yea, my own leanness has risen up against me. On my face, it testifies.
Job’s case against God
¶9. “His anger has ripped me to shreds, and yet, He continues to hate me. He has gnashed on me with His teeth. My Adversary keeps sharpening His eyes at me.
10.Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have struck my cheeks with contempt; they mass together against me.
11.God has handed me over to an unjust one and thrust me into the clutches of wicked men.
12.I was prospering, yet He tore me apart. Yea, He seized me by my neck and dashed me to pieces. Then, He set me up as His target.
13.His archers are around me! He slices open my kidneys; yet, He shows no pity. He pours out my gall to the earth.
14.He breaks me open with breach upon breach; He runs me over like a mighty man.
15.I have sewn sackcloth upon my skin and buried my horn in the dust.
16.My face is contorted from my weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death,
17.even though there is no cruelty in my hands. My prayer is pure!
18.O earth, do not cover over my blood! And let there be no place for my cry!
19.Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven, and my Advocate is on high.
20.My friends ridicule me. To God, my eyes pour out tears.
21.Oh, that one might argue for a man with God, as a man does for his fellow.
22.When the number of years are come, then I shall go the way from which I shall not return.
Job 17
Job continues. To God
¶1. “My spirit is broken; my days are snuffed out; the graves are ready for me.
2.Let God damn me if deceivers are not here with me! Yea, my eye passes the night with their disputations.
3.Put up a pledge, I pray, for me with you! Who else can strike hands with me?
4.For you have hidden their hearts from understanding; therefore, you will not exalt them.
5.He keeps friends informed for a reward, but the eyes of his sons shall fail.
6.Yea, he has made me a by-word of people; I am one whose face is used for spitting.
7.My eye has grown dim with grief; my members are like a shadow, all of them.
8.The upright will be appalled at this, and the innocent will rouse himself against the profane man.
9.The righteous man holds fast to his way, and clean hands increase in strength.
10.Nevertheless, you will come back (all of them!); so come on, if you want! But I will not find a wise man among you.
11.My days are passed; my hopes have been torn away, my dearest possessions,
12.yet they would transform night to day, saying in the face of darkness, ‘Light is at hand!’
13.Though I yearn for Sheol to be my home, though I spread out my bed in the darkness,
14.though I say to the Pit, ‘You are my father,’ or to the worm, ‘You are my mother’ or ‘my sister,’
15.where, O where is my hope? But who will see my hope?
16.The bars of Sheol will collapse if we rest together in the dust!”
Job 18
¶1. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2.“How long will you lay verbal traps? Be sensible,[8] and then we can talk.
3.Why are we thought of as beasts? In your eyes, we are stupid –
4.as He tears apart his soul in His anger! Has the earth been abandoned – according to you – and the Rock removed from His place?
5.Truly, He extinguishes the light of wicked men so that the flame of his fire does not shine.
6.The light in his tent will go dark; yea, his lamp beside him will He extinguish.
7.His vigorous steps will be shortened, and his own counsel will cast him down.
8.Yea, he is cast into a net by his own feet; he walks on a mesh.
9.A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare grabs him.
10.His own cord is what is hidden in the earth, and his own trap on the path.
11.Terrors on every side frighten him and hound him at his every step.
12.His strength is famished, and calamity is at his side, ready.
13.It will devour his body parts; the firstborn of death will devour his members.
14.He will be torn away from his tent, his security, and marched off to the king of terrors.
15.Nothing he owns will remain in his tent; brimstone will be scattered upon his habitation.
16.Underneath, his roots will dry up, and above, his branches will wither.
17.His memory will perish from the earth, and he will have no name abroad.
18.They will drive him from the light into darkness and chase him away from the world.
19.He will have no progeny or posterity among his people, nor any survivor in the places he lived.
20.Those to the west will be appalled at his day, and those to the east will be gripped with horror.
21.Surely, such are the dwellings of an unjust man, and such is the place of him who does not know God.”
Job 19
¶1. Then Job answered and said,
2.“How long will you make my soul suffer and crush me with words!
3.These ten times, you have insulted me. You shamelessly wrong me.
4.But even if I have truly erred, my error would remain with me.
5.Though you indeed magnify yourselves against me and use my disgrace against me,
6.know now that God has subverted me and wrapped His net around me.
7.Behold, I cry out, “This is wrong!” But I receive no answer. I cry out for help, but there is no justice!
8.He has walled up my path, and I cannot go on; upon my paths has He laid darkness.
9.He has stripped me of my glory and removed the crown from my head.
10.He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11.His anger burns against me; He counts me as one of His enemies.
12.His troops come together and build up their ramp against me; they encamp round about my tent.
13.He has removed my brothers far from me, and those who know me are wholly estranged from me.
14.My kinsmen have ceased from me, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15.Those who stay in my home, even my maidservants, think of me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their eyes.
16.I summon my servant and he does not answer; with my mouth, I implore him.
17.My breath is loathsome to my wife, and I am disgusting to the children of my mother’s womb.
18.Even little boys despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me.
19.All my intimate friends abhor me, and those I love have turned against me.
20.My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21.Have pity on me! Have pity on me, you, my friends! For the hand of God has touched me!
22.Why are you hounding me like God and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23.Oh, that my words were written down! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book,
24.with iron stylus and lead, that they might be forever engraved in rock!
25.Yet, I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end, he shall stand upon the earth!
26.And afterward, when this skin they have destroyed, though without my flesh, I shall see God,
27.whom I shall see for myself! Yea, my own eyes shall see Him and none other. My reins within my bosom fail,
28.though you men think, ‘How have we hounded him?’ and that the root of the matter is found with me.
29.You yourselves should be afraid of the sword! For wrath brings the punishments of the sword, so that you might know what judgment is.”
Job 20
¶1. Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2.“To that end, my troubled thoughts compel me to answer; yea, I am provoked within.
3.I keep hearing, ‘Correction is an insult to me,’ but a spirit beyond my understanding is giving me a reply:
4.Do you not know this, that from old, from when man was placed upon the earth,
5.the joyful shouting of wicked men is short, and the gladness of a profane man is but for a moment?
6.Though his arrogance mount up to heaven and his head touch the clouds,
7.he will perish, like his own dung, forever. Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8.Like a dream, he will fly away, and they will not find him; yea, he is chased away like a vision of the night.
9.The eye that gazed on him will not again do so. Yea, it will no longer behold him in his place.
10.His children will seek favor from the poor, for his hands relinquish his wealth.
11.His bones may be full of youthful vigor, but they will lie down with him in the dust.
12.Though evil is sweet in his mouth, he hides it under his tongue.
13.He cherishes it and will not forsake it, but holds it on his palate.
14.His food in his bowels is turned within him into the poison of venomous serpents.
15.He swallows down wealth, but vomits it up out of his belly. God dispossesses him.
16.He sucks down the poison of venomous serpents; the viper’s tongue will kill him.
To God
¶17.Let him not see the streams, the flowing rivers of honey and curds!
¶18.He will give back his labor; yea, he will not swallow it down. Nor will he rejoice in his wealth gained by trade,
19.for he has crushed, he has abandoned destitute people. He has taken violent possession of a house, and will not build it up.
20.Yea, he will know no quietness in his belly; with his selfish desire, he will not escape.
21.Nothing will remain for him to eat. Because his prosperity is not secure,
22.at the height of his boasting, he will be distressed; all the power of misery will come upon him.
23.When he would fill his belly, He sends His burning anger into him, and it rains upon him, in his very bowels.
24.He will flee from a weapon of iron; a bronze bow will pierce him through.
25.He drew it out, and it has gone through his body; yea, the glittering point has gone through his gallbladder. Terrors come over him.
26.Every darkness is laid up for his treasures! An unfanned fire will feed on him; it will consume what remains in his tent.
27.Heaven will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
28.The possessions in his house will be carried off, flowing away in the day of His wrath.
29.This is an evil man’s portion from God, and the inheritance decreed for him by God.”
Job 21
¶1. Then Job answered and said,
2.“Listen keenly to my speech, and let it be your consolation!
3.Put up with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, continue your mockery.
4.Is my complaint to a man? Then, why should my spirit not be vexed?
5.Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hands upon your mouth!
6.If I even think on it, I am dismayed, and trembling seizes my flesh.
7.Why do the wicked keep living? They grow old; they grow mighty in power.
8.Their seed are established with them, in their presence, and their offspring, before their eyes.
9.Their houses are safe from fear, and the rod of God is not upon them.
10.His bull breeds without fail. His cow bears calves and does not miscarry.
11.They send out their little ones like a flock; yea, their offspring skip about.
12.They sing to the timbrel and lyre, and rejoice to the sound of a pipe.
13.They spend their days in plenteousness, and then go down to Sheol in an instant.
14.And yet, they say to God, ‘Leave us! We have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.
15.What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’
16.Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of wicked men is far from me!
¶17.How often the lamp of wicked men is put out, and their calamity comes upon them! He distributes pains in His anger.
18.They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm-wind sweeps away.
19.God stores up his iniquity for his children. He recompenses him, that he might consider.
20.His own eyes will see his ruin.[9] Yea, he will drink the wrath of the Almighty.
21.And what will he care about his house after him when the number of his months are cut short?
¶22.Would he teach God knowledge, seeing He judges those on high?
23.One may die in his full strength, altogether at ease and prosperous,
24.his buckets full of milk, and the marrow of his bones, moist,
25.while another may die in bitterness of soul, not having tasted prosperity.
26.Together do they lie in the dust, and the worm covers them.
¶27.Behold, I know your thoughts, and you do great wrong with your imaginations against me.
28.For you say, ‘Where is the house of the princely man?’ and ‘Where is the tent where the wicked live?’
29.Have you not asked those who travel the road? Or do you not accept their reports,
30.that in the day of calamity, an evil man may be spared, and in the day of wrath, they may be brought safely out?
31.Who exposes his way to his face? And who recompenses him for what he has done?
32.And then he is borne to a stately grave, and vigil is kept at his tomb.
33.The clods of the valley are pleasant to him. And all mankind will follow after him, as there were innumerable before him.
34.So, how can you comfort me with empty nothings? Yea, falsehood remains in your answers!”
Job 22
¶1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2.“Is a man profitable to God? No, he who is wise is profitable to himself.
3.Is it the Almighty’s delight that you are righteous, or is it a benefit to Him that you make your ways perfect?
4.Is He reproving you out of fear of you? He has entered into judgment with you!
5.Are you not very evil? Yea, there is no end to your iniquities!
6.For you have taken a pledge from your brothers for nothing, and have stripped the naked of their garments.
7.You have not given drink to the weary, and have withheld food from the hungry,
8.for the earth belongs to the mighty man, and the privileged man occupies it.
9.You have sent widows away empty, leaving the arms of orphans shattered.
10.That is why snares are all about you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11.or darkness so that you cannot see, and a flood of waters covers you.
12.Is not God in the height of heaven? Then, look at the high stars, how lofty they are!
13.But you say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge from behind a cloud?
14.Clouds are a veil to Him, so that He does not see. He just walks about on the vault of heaven.’
15.Will you keep to the old path which wicked men walked
16.who were snatched away when, before the time, their foundation was taken away by a flood,
17.who were saying to God, ‘Depart from us.’ But what was the Almighty doing to them?
18.Yea, He filled their houses with good. The counsel of evil men is also far from me![10]
19.The righteous see and rejoice, and the innocent man mocks them.
20.May God damn me if our adversary will not be destroyed! And fire will consume their remnant.
¶21.Acquaint yourself with Him, I beseech you, and be at peace. Thereby, prosperity will come to you!
22.Receive instruction, I beg you, from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart!
23.If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, if you put wrong far from your tent.
24.Just lay your gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the wadis.
25.Then the Almighty will be your gold pieces and your heaps of silver.
26.Yea, then you will take great delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.
27.You will make supplication to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows.
28.You will decide a matter, and He will confirm it for you, and light will shine on your ways.
29.When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up,’ then He will save the humble man.
30.He will even deliver one who is not innocent. Even he will be delivered because of the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 23
¶1. Then Job answered and said,
2.“Today also my complaint is bitter. My hand is heavy because of my groaning.
3.Oh, that I knew where I might find Him! I would go to His house!
4.I would lay out my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments!
5.I would know the words that He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me!
6.Would He contend against me with His great power? No! But He would pay attention to me.
7.There, this upright man might reason with Him and be delivered forever from my Judge.
8.Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
9.on the left hand where He is working, but I cannot behold Him; He is hiding Himself on the right hand so that I cannot see Him.
10.Still, He knows how it is with me, and when He has tried me, I will come forth like gold.
11.My foot has held fast to His steps. I have kept His way and have not turned aside.
12.Nor have I departed from the commandment of His lips. I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
13.But He is of one mind, and who can turn Him? Truly, He does whatever He desires.
14.Yea, He will finish what is appointed for me, and many such things are with Him.
15.That is why I am dismayed at His presence; I think on it and fear before Him.
16.Yea, God has made my heart faint. Yea, the Almighty has terrified me.
17.Nevertheless, I am not silenced by the darkness, though He has covered my face with thick darkness.
Job 24
Job continues
¶1. “Why, seeing that times are not hidden from the Almighty, does he who knows Him not live out his days?
2.Rich men move boundary markers; they steal and then pasture flocks;
3.they drive away the orphans’ donkey; they take in pledge a widow’s ox;
4.they shove needy people out of the way. The poor of earth all hide themselves.
5.Behold, like wild asses in the desert, they go out to their toil, searching desperately for food; the steppe provides him bread for the children.
6.In the field, they gather in his fodder and glean the vineyard of the evil man.
7.They pass the night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
8.They are wet from mountain rains, and for want of shelter, they huddle against cliffs.
9.Rich men tear the orphan from the breast, and take a pledge from a poor man.
10.The poor walk about naked, without clothing; hungry, they gather up sheaves.
11.Within the walls of those men, they press out oil; they tread the presses, but suffer thirst.
12.Poor men groan from the city, and their wounded soul cries out for help, but God attributes wrong to no one.
13.These are among those who rebel against the light; they are not acquainted with its ways, nor do they stay in its paths.
14.The murderer rises before the light. He slays the poor and needy man, and at night, he is like a thief.
15.The eye of the adulterer also watches for twilight, thinking, ‘No eye will recognize me,’ as he puts a covering on his face.
16.In the dark, he digs into houses; by day, they seal themselves up. They do not know the light.
17.For to them, morning is the same as the shadow of death; yea, he is acquainted with the terrors of darkness.
18.He is a fleeting thing on the surface of waters; their portion in the earth is cursed; no one will take the way to their vineyards.
19.Drought and heat snatch away snow waters; Sheol, those who have sinned.
20.The womb will forget him; the worm will feed sweetly upon him; he will no longer be remembered. Injustice will be broken like a tree.
21.He devours the barren, childless woman, and does no good for the widow,
22.and yet, He preserves powerful men by His power; one rises, even though he does not trust in the living God.
23.He gives him security, and he relies on it; nevertheless, His eyes are on their ways.
24.They are exalted a little while, and then they are gone and brought low. Like all others, they will be gathered; yea, like heads of grain, they will be cut off.
25.And if it is not so, who will prove me a liar and make what I say of no account?”
Job 25
¶1. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2.“Dominion and fear are with Him; He makes peace in His high places.
3.Is there any number to His troops? And upon whom does His light not rise?
4.Moreover, how can a man be righteous with God? And how can one born of woman be pure?
5.Behold, in His sight, even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure.
6.How much less a man, who is a worm; yea, the son of man, who is a worm?”
Job 26
¶1. Then Job answered and said,
2.“How have you helped him who has no strength? How have you delivered the arm that is without strength?
3.How you have counseled him who lacks wisdom, and made sound wisdom known to many!
4.Who moved you to speak those words, and whose spirit came forth from you?
¶5.The shades writhe beneath the waters and their inhabitants.
6.Sheol is naked before Him, and there is no covering to Abaddon.
7.He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothingness.
8.He wraps up waters with His dark clouds, and yet, the cloud does not burst open under them.
9.He obscures the face of His throne, spreading His cloud over it.
10.He has drawn a circle as a statute over the surface of the waters, at the boundary of light with darkness.
11.The pillars of heaven tremble and are dumbfounded at His rebuke.
12.By His power, He stirs up the sea, and by His understanding, He strikes through Rahab.[11]
13.By His Spirit, heaven will be clean, for His power will have pierced the fleeing Serpent.
14.Behold, these are but the fringes of His ways. And, oh, how small a whisper do we hear of Him! So, who can comprehend His mighty thunder?”
Job 27
Job continues
¶1. Again, Job took up his parable and said,
2.“By the life of God, He has turned away my justice! Yea, the Almighty has embittered my soul.
3.As long as my breath is in me and the breath of God is in my nostrils,
4.my lips shall never speak falsehood, nor shall my tongue utter deceit!
5.I will never justify you! Until I die, I will not forsake my integrity!
6.I will hold fast my righteousness and I will not let it go! My heart will not condemn me so long as I live!
7.My enemy is like a wicked man, and he who rises up against me is like an unrighteous one.
8.For what hope does the profane man have, though he has gained by wrong, when God takes his soul away?
9.Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?
10.If he had taken delight in the Almighty, he would have called upon God continually.
11.I am teaching you by the power of God; what is with the Almighty, I will not conceal.
12.Behold, all of you have seen this yourselves; so, how have you become so utterly worthless?
13.This is an evil man’s portion from God, and the inheritance which ruthless men will receive from the Almighty:
14.if his children multiply, it is for the sword, and his descendants will not have enough food.
15.Any who survive him will be buried in death, and their widows will not weep.
16.If he heaps up silver like dust and piles up clothing like clay,
17.he may pile it up, but a righteous man will wear it, and a guiltless man will divide up the silver.
18.His house that he built is like a moth’s, or like a shelter a watchman makes.
19.He may lie down in wealth, but it will not be gathered with him. He opens his eyes, and it is not.
20.Terrors overtake him like the Flood; a storm-wind steals him away by night.
21.An east wind carries him off, and he shall go. Yea, it sweeps him away from his place.
22.It hurls upon him and shows no pity; he would fain flee from its power.
23.It claps its hands at him and hisses at him from its place.
Job 28
Job continues.
¶1. “When there is a mine with silver and a place with gold, men will refine it.
2.Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is smelted for copper.
3.He has made an end of the darkness, for he searches for ore to the utmost limit in gloom and deep darkness.
4.Away from where people live, he breaks open a shaft in places forgotten by feet. Away from men, they dangle and sway.
5.Food comes forth from the earth, and yet, beneath it, it churns like fire.
6.Its stones are a place for sapphire, and the dirt has gold.
7.That path, no bird of prey knows, nor has falcon’s eye seen it.
8.Proud beasts have not trodden upon it; the lion has not passed over it.
9.He puts forth his hand to the flint; he overturns mountains by the root.
10.He hews out channels in the rocks, and then his eye beholds every precious thing.
11.He dams up streams to keep them from flowing, and brings to light what has been hidden.
¶12.But wisdom, where is it found? And where is the place of understanding?
13.Man does not know its worth, for it is not found in the land of the living.
14.The deep says, ‘It is not in me.’ And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15.Fine gold cannot be given for it, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16.Nor can it be weighed against the gold of Ophir, or against the precious onyx or sapphire.
17.Neither gold nor glass is equal to it, nor can it be exchanged for a vessel of fine gold.
18.Coral and crystal are not even mentioned, for the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19.The topaz of Ethiopia is not comparable to it; it cannot be valued with pure gold.
¶20.Yea, wisdom, from where does it come? And where is the place of understanding?
21.It is concealed from the eyes of all living, hidden even from the fowl of heaven.
22.Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears have we heard talk of it.’
23.God grants understanding of its way, for He knows its place.
24.Yea, He alone can see to the ends of the earth. He sees everything under heaven
25.to make a weight for the wind, and He apportions water by measure
26.when He makes His decree for the rain and a path for the thunder-bolts.
27.The moment He saw it, He declared its glory; He established it, for He had also searched it out.
28.Then He said to man, ‘Behold! The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn from evil is understanding.’”
Job 29
¶1. And Job continued to utter his parable and said,
2.“Oh, that I was as in months past, as in the days when God protected me,
3.when His lamp shined upon my head, and by His light, I walked through darkness,
4.as when I was in my strength, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle,
5.when the Almighty was still with me, when my boys were around me,
6.when my steps were bathed with cream and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,
7.when I went out to the gate of the city, when I set up my seat in the public square!
8.The young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged rose and stood still.
9.Princes refrained from speaking; yea, they laid their hand on their mouth.
10.The voice of rulers was hushed; their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
11.When the ear heard me, it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it bore me witness,
12.for I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the orphan, and him who had no helper.
13.The blessing of the one about to perish came upon me, and I made the widow’s heart to cry aloud with joy.
14.I put on righteousness, and it wrapped me about like a robe, and my judgment was a turban.
15.I was eyes for the blind man, and I was feet for the lame.
16.I was a father to needy people, and I searched out the cause I did not know.
17.I also crushed the jaws of the unjust and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18.And I thought, ‘I will die in my nest, and I will multiply my days like the sand.
19.My root will spread out to the waters, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
20.My glory is ever new with me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21.Men gave heed to me; yea, they waited in silence for my counsel.
22.After my words, they would not speak again, for my speech dropped like rain upon them.
23.Yea, they waited for me like the rain, and they opened wide their mouth as for the latter rain.
24.If I laughed at them, they had no confidence, and they did not disregard the light of my countenance.
25.I chose their course and sat as chief; yea, I lived like a king with an army, as one who comforted the mournful.
Job 30
¶1. “But now, those younger than I mock me, whose fathers I would have refused to put among the dogs of my flock.
2.Of what use to me was the strength of their hands in whom spiritual strength had died,
3.who, in want and in severe famine, gnaw on an old, dry thing amid desolation and waste,
4.who pull up mallows by the bushes and roots of the broom bush for their food?
5.They are driven away from behind; men shout at them as at a thief.
6.In dreadful wadis, they make their homes in holes in the ground and rocks.
7.Among bushes they bray; they gather together under nettles.
8.Fools, worthless people, they are driven out of the land with whips.
9.But now, I have become their song. I am a byword to them.
10.They loathe me; they keep far from me and do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11.Because He has let loose His bowstring and brought me low, they throw off the bridle at the sight of me.
12.A rabble is at my right hand. They rise up; they shove my feet away; they cast up against me their calamitous ways.
13.They tear up my path; they benefit from my ruin. There is no helper for it.
14.They come as through a wide breach; amid the destruction, they roll on.
15.Terrors are turned loose upon me; my honor is chased down as by the wind, and my prosperity is passed away like a cloud.
16.And now, my life is poured out beside me; the days of my affliction hold me fast.
17.The night pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest.
18.With great power, He has disfigured my garment; it binds me like the opening of my tunic.
19.He has cast me down into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
To God
20.I cry out to you for help, but you will not answer me. I stand up, and you just stare at me.
21.You have become cruel to me; with your mighty hand, you abuse me.
22.You used to lift me up; you used to make me ride on the wind. But you are melting me down to nothing.[12]
23.I have assuredly come to understand that you are refusing me death and the house appointed to all the living.
24.But none would stretch out a hand against a ruined man if in his ruin, he cried out to them for help.
25.May God damn me if I did not weep for him whose day was hard! My soul grieved for the needy man!
26.But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I expected light, darkness came.
27.My bowels are made to boil, and do not rest. Days of affliction have come upon me.
28.I walk about darkened, without sunlight; I rise up in the Assembly and cry for help.
29.I am a brother to serpents and a friend to owls.
30.My skin is black and comes off me, and my bones burn with heat.
31.Yea, my lyre is now for mourning, and my pipe, for the voices of those who weep.
Job 31
Job insists he is righteous.
¶1. “I made a covenant with my eyes. How, then, could I ogle a virgin?
2.So, what should be the portion from God above, and the lot from the Almighty on high?
3.Does not calamity belong to an unjust man, and misfortune to the workers of iniquity?
4.Does He not see my ways and number every one my steps?
5.Let God damn me if I have walked with vanity or if my foot has hastened to deceit.
6.Let Him weigh me in just balances, that God may know my integrity!
7.If my step has deviated from the Way, or my heart gone after my eyes, or a stain clung to my hands,
8.then let me sow and another eat, and let my offspring be uprooted!
9.If my heart has been enticed by a woman and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
10.then let my wife grind for another and let others bow down upon her!
11.For that is wickedness. Yea, that is an iniquity to the judges.
12.Yea, that is a fire that consumes unto Abaddon, and it would root up all my increase.
13.If I have denied justice to my manservant or maidservant in their complaint against me,
14.then what will I do when God arises? And when He calls for an accounting, what will I answer Him?
15.Did not He who made me in the womb make him? Yea, did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
16.Let God damn me if I have withheld from the poor what they desired, or if I have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17.or have eaten my morsel alone and the orphan did not eat some of it!
18.On the contrary, from my youth, he grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb, I was her guide.
19.Let God damn me if when I saw one dying because of a lack of clothing or a needy man who had no covering,
20.if his loins have not blessed me, being warmed by the fleece of my sheep.
21.If I have raised my hand against an orphan because I had my support in the gate,
22.then let my shoulder blade fall from its shoulder and my arm break off from its socket!
23.For calamity from God is dreadful to me; yea, because of His majesty, I would not.
24.Let God damn me if I have put my trust in gold or said to gold, ‘You are my confidence,’
25.if I have rejoiced for the greatness of my wealth or because of how much my hand had gained.
26.If I have seen the light that shines or the moon moving in splendor,
27.and my heart was secretly deceived so that my hand kissed my mouth,
28.this also would be an iniquity to the Judge, for I will have been false to God above.
29.Let God damn me if I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me or exulted when evil found him!
30.No! I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for a curse upon his life.
31.Let God damn me if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can produce one who has not been filled with his meat?’
32.No stranger has lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler.
33.Let God damn me if I have concealed my transgressions as Adam did, hiding my iniquity in my bosom
34.because I feared a great multitude, or the contempt of people so dismayed me that I was silent, not going out the door.
35.Oh, who will grant me my hearing? Behold, my mark! Let the Almighty answer me, and let the One who is my Adversary write out an indictment!
36.Let God damn me if I would not carry it on my shoulder! I would bind it on me like a crown!
37.I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince would I approach Him.
38.If my land has cried out against me, or its furrows wept together,
39.if I have eaten its yield without money, or caused its owners to expire,
40.let briers come forth instead of wheat, and instead of barley, weeds!”
Job 32
¶1. Then those three men ceased answering Job, seeing he was righteous in his own eyes.
¶2. But Elihu ben-Barachel the Buzite, from the family of Ram, burned with anger against Job. His anger burned because he justified himself rather than God.
3. His anger also burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet, they had condemned Job.
4. Now, Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he in years,
5.but after Elihu saw there was no answer in the mouth of those three men, his anger was kindled.
¶6. Then Elihu ben-Barachel the Buzite answered and said, “I am young in years, and you are aged men. Therefore, I was afraid. Yea, I was too afraid to make my knowledge known to you.
7.I thought, ‘Days should speak, and a multitude of years should teach wisdom.’
8.But it is the spirit in men, even the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
9.Great men may not be wise, nor old men understand judgment.
10.Therefore, I say listen to me; I will make my knowledge known, even I.
11.Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasonings until you began searching for what to say.
12.Yea, I was paying close attention to you, and behold, not one of you confuted Job in responding to his words –
13.lest you think, ‘We have found out wisdom, but God will have to move him, not man.’
14.Now, he has not directed his speeches at me, nor will I answer him with your words.
¶15.They were dismayed; they no longer answered or proceeded with their words.
16.Yea, I waited, but they would not speak. Yea, they stood still, no longer answering.
17.I, even I, will answer with my part. I, even I, will make my knowledge known.
18.For I am full of words; the spirit in my belly constrains me.
19.Behold, my belly is like wine unvented, like new wineskins about to burst.
20.I will speak and relieve myself; I will open my lips and answer.
21.Let me not, I pray, be a respecter of persons, nor give flattering titles to a man.
22.For I know not to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.
Job 33
¶1. “So then, Job, hear my words, I pray, and give ear to all my words.
2.Behold now, I have opened my mouth. My tongue speaks in my mouth.
3.My words will show the uprightness of my heart, and my lips will speak pure knowledge.
4.The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life.
5.If you are able, answer me! Get ready, and take the stand before me!
6.Behold, I am going to be, as it were, your mouth to God. I, too, was nipped out of clay.
7.Behold, my terror will not terrify you, and pressure from me will not be heavy upon you.
8.You have certainly spoken in my ears; yea, the sound of your words I have heard:
9.‘I am pure, without transgression. I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
10.Behold, He finds occasions against me. He counts me as His enemy.
11.He puts my feet in the stocks. He keeps watch over my ways.’
12.Behold, in this, you are not just. I will answer you that God is greater than man.
13.Why do you contend with Him, seeing that He does not answer for any of His matters?
14.Though God speaks once, yea, twice, man does not regard it.
15.In a dream, a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men during their slumberings on a bed,
16.He then opens the ear of men and makes their instruction sure,
17.to turn man from his own way and to keep pride away from man.
18.He spares his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the arrow.
19.Or he is disciplined with pain upon his bed or with a persistent distress in his bones,
20.so that his being loathes food, and his soul, its favorite food.
21.His flesh wastes away from sight, so that bones of his that were not seen stick out.
22.Then his soul draws near the Pit, and his life, to those who bring on death.
23.If there is a messenger for him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show a man His uprightness,
24.then He will be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit! I have found a ransom.’
25.His flesh will be fresher than a child’s. He will return to the days of his youth.
26.He will pray to God, and He will accept him, and he will see His face with a shout of joy. And then, He will restore to the man his righteousness.
27.He shows regard to men when a man says, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it did not profit me.
28.He has redeemed my soul from going over into the Pit; yea, my life will see the light.’
29.Behold, all these things God works twice, three times, with man,
30.to turn his soul back from the Pit so that he might be enlightened with the light of life.
¶31.Pay attention, Job! Listen to me! Be silent, and I will speak!
32.If there is something to say, answer me! Speak! For I would be pleased to justify you.
¶33.If not, then listen to me! Be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
Job 34
¶1. And Elihu answered and said,
2.“Hear my words, O wise men; yea, give ear to me, you who have knowledge!
3.For an ear does try speech as a palate tastes food.
4.Let us prove for ourselves what is just; let us determine among ourselves what is good.
5.For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, and God has taken away my justice.
6.My justice notwithstanding, I am considered a liar; my wound is incurable, without transgression.’
7.What man is like Job, who drinks mockery like water?
8.Yea, he travels in company with workers of iniquity and walks with wicked men,
9.for he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing when he delights in God.’
10.Therefore, O men of understanding, listen to me! Far be it from God to do wickedness, and for the Almighty to act unjustly,
11.for He recompenses a man for his work; yea, He repays a man according to his ways.
12.God certainly does not do evil; nor does the Almighty pervert justice.
13.Who appointed Him to be over the earth? Yea, who made the whole world?
14.If He set His heart to it and gathered to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
15.all flesh would perish together, and mankind would return to the dust.
16.Then, if you have understanding, hear this! Give ear to the sound of my words!
17.Is it really so, that one who hates justice is governing? Yet, you condemn the Most Just Himself ‽
18.Should it be said to a king, ‘You are worthless,’ or to nobles, ‘You are evil’?
19.How much less to Him who shows no partiality to princes or regards a wealthy man more than a poor one. For they all are the work of His hands.
¶20.In a moment, men die, and in the middle of the night people are convulsed and pass away. Even mighty men are taken away without hand.
21.Surely, His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He sees every one of his steps.
22.There is no darkness, yea, there is no deep shadow where workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
23.Nor does He put too much upon a man, that he might come against God in the Judgment.
24.He breaks mighty men into pieces, without inquiry, and appoints others in their stead.
25.So it is that, having observed their works, He overthrows them in a night, and they are crushed
26.because they are wicked. He strikes them in a place where men can watch,
27.because they turned aside from following Him and thought upon none of His ways,
28.so that they caused the cry of the poor man to come to Him, and He heard the cry of the afflicted people.
¶29.When He orders peace, who can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who can see Him, whether it be a nation or a single man?
30.He does so, lest a profane man reign, lest there be seducers of the people.
31.When has he said to God, ‘I have exalted myself; I will not keep doing wrong.’
32.Or, ‘What I do not see, teach me. If I have done iniquity, I will not again’?
¶33. “Does He recompense as suits you? But you have rejected this. You must certainly choose, and not I. So then, declare what you know!
¶34.Men of understanding have been saying to me, even men of wisdom who are listening to me,
35.‘Job speaks without knowledge, and his words are not prudent.
36.Would that Job were tried to the end because his answers are like those of wicked men!
37.Yea, he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.’”
Job 35
¶1. Then Elihu answered and said,
2.“Do you consider this right, that you say, ‘My righteousness is greater than God’s’?
3.For you are asking what benefit is there to you, and ‘How am I better off than if I had sinned?’
4.I, even I, will answer you, and your friends with you.
5.Look at the heavens, and see! And behold the clouds, which are higher than you!
6.If you have sinned, what will you have done against Him? Even if your transgressions are many, what will you have done to Him?
7.If you are righteous, what have you benefitted Him? Or what has He received from your hand?
8.Your wickedness affects a man like yourself, and your righteousness, the son of man.
¶9. “Because of a multitude of oppressions, people cry out. They cry for help because of the power of great men,
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 earth and makes us wiser than the fowl of heaven?’
12.They may cry out, but He will not answer because of the pride of wicked men.
13.Surely, God will not regard empty speech; the Almighty will not even pay attention to it.
14.How much less when you say that you cannot behold Him, the case is before Him, and you are anxiously waiting for Him!
15.And now, because He has not visited in His anger nor taken notice of an abundance of transgression,
16.vain Job opens his mouth with empty talk and multiplies words without knowledge.”
Job 36
¶1. Then Elihu continued and said,
2.“Bear with me a little longer, and I will inform you, for there is more to be said on God’s behalf.
3.I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and to my Maker will I ascribe righteousness.
4.Yea, truly, my words will not be a lie. One who has perfect knowledge is with you.
5.Behold, God is mighty, and He does not despise any. He is mighty in power and understanding.
6.He does not preserve the life of a wicked man, but grants justice to humble people.
7.He does not withdraw His eyes from a righteous man, but He sets them on a throne with kings forever, and they are exalted.
8.But if they are bound with chains, taken in cords of affliction,
9.then He declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.
10.Then He opens their ear to correction and says that they must repent of iniquity.
11.If they obey and serve Him, they will end their days in prosperity, and their years with pleasant things.
12.But if they do not obey, they will perish by the sword; yea, they will die as though without knowledge.
13.The profane in heart store up wrath; they do not cry for help when He binds them.
14.Their life ends in youth; yea, their life ends among the temple-sodomites.
15.He rescues the afflicted man by his affliction and opens their ears by the distress.
16.He certainly would have drawn you out of the jaws of distress instead, into a broad place where there was no distress, and the comfort of your table he would have filled with fatness,
17.but you are full of judgment for the wicked man. Judgment and justice take hold of the wicked
18.because of wrath, lest he entice you into mockery. Then, a great ransom would not avail you.
19.Has your plea to not be in distress set your life in order, or have any powerful forces?
20.Stop panting after the night in which people vanish from their place.
21.Watch yourself! Do not turn to iniquity, for this you have chosen rather than affliction.
¶22. “Behold, God is exalted by His power. Who is a teacher like Him?
23.Who can assign His way to Him? Or who can say, ‘You have done wrong!’
24.Remember that you magnify His work, of which men have sung!
25.All men have seen it; man observes it from afar.
26.Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know the number of His years. Yea, that is unsearchable.
27.For He draws up drops of water; they distill rain for His mist,
28.which clouds pour down; they drip down upon man in abundance.
29.Yea, who understands the spreadings of the clouds, the thunderings of His pavilion?
30.Behold, He spreads His light over it, though the roots of the sea He conceals.
31.For by them, He judges nations; He gives food in abundance.
32.He conceals the lightning in His hands, and then commands it to strike a spot.
33.Its noise declares Him, even to cattle, that He has arisen.
Job 37
¶1. “Indeed, at this, my heart trembles and leaps out of its place.
2.All of you! Pay close attention! His voice is in the noise, and the rumbling comes from His mouth.
3.He turns it loose under all of heaven, even His lightning, to the corners of the earth.
4.After it, a voice roars. He thunders with His majestic voice, and He does not restrain them when His voice is heard.
5.God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things we do not understand.
6.Yea, He says to the snow as well as the rain, even the heavy rain of His strength, ‘Fall to earth!’
7.He seals up the hand of every man, that all men of His creation might acknowledge Him.
8.Even the beast enters his lair and remains in his dwelling-place.
9.From His chamber, the storm-wind emerges, and from driving winds, the cold.
10.By the breath of God, ice is given and broad waters are frozen.
11.Moreover, He burdens the dark cloud with moisture; then He scatters the clouds with His light.
12.Then, at His direction, it turns about, this way and that, so that they do all that He commands them, over the face of the whole earth.
13.Whether for chastisement, or for His land, or for mercy, He causes it to happen.
¶14. “Give ear to this, O Job! Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.
15.Do you know when God established them and caused the light of His cloud to burst forth?
16.Do you understand the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in all knowledge,
17.you whose garments grow warm when He quietens the land with a south wind?
18.Did you, with Him, spread out the sky, which is firm as a cast mirror?
19.Teach us what we should say to Him! We cannot arrange our thoughts because of darkness.
20.Should it be told Him, ‘I would speak!’ if somebody thinks he has been swallowed up?
21.Yea, He is a bright light in the skies that men cannot now look at, once the wind has passed through and cleared them.
22.By the north wind comes golden, awe-inspiring majesty of God.
23.Oh, the Almighty! We cannot find Him out. He is highly exalted in power, and justice, and great righteousness. He does not answer to man.
24.That is why men fear Him. He does not regard any who are wise of heart.”
Job 38
¶1. Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
2.“Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge‽
3.Gird your loins now, like a man, and I will ask you, and you answer me!
4.Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding!
5.Who determined its size? Surely, you know. Or who stretched out a line upon it?
6.Upon what were its pedestals set? Or who laid its cornerstone
7.as the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8.Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb,
9.when I made the clouds its garment and dark clouds its swaddling cloth,
10.when I broke open for it my designated place, and set bars and doors
11.and said, ‘To here you may go, and no farther,’ and ‘Here your proud waves must stop’?
12.During your days, have you commanded the morning, informing the dawn of its place,
13.taking hold of the farthest reaches of the earth so that wicked men may be shaken off it?
14.It is transformed, like the clay of a seal, and they stand out like a garment.
15.Their light is withheld from wicked men, and the high arm will be broken.
16.Have you gone to the springs of the sea and walked about in search of the deep?
17.Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18.Do you comprehend the width of the earth? Tell me if you know it all!
19.Where is the path where light resides? And the darkness, where is its place,
20.so that you may lead it to its border and that you may descry the paths to its house?
21.You must know because you were born then, and the number of your days is great.
22.Have you entered into the storehouses of snow, or have you seen the storehouses of hail
23.which I have reserved for a time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
24.By what path is lightning distributed and the east wind spread over the earth?
25.Who clove a channel for the rain and a path for the thunder-bolts,
26.that it might rain on land where no man is, in a wilderness with no man in it,
27.to satisfy a waste and desolate place and to make sprigs of grass sprout up?
28.Does the rain have a father, or who fathered the dew-drops?
29.From whose womb did the ice come? And the frost of heaven, who gave it birth?
30.Waters become hard like a stone, and the surface of the deep is frozen.
31.Can you fasten the bonds of Pleiades or loosen the cords of Orion?
32.Can you bring Mazzaroth out in its time, and guide Ursa Major with her sons?
33.Do you know the statutes of heaven, or can you establish its dominion over the earth?
34.Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an abundance of water might cover you?
35.Can you send forth flashes of lightning, so that they go and say to you, ‘Behold, we are here!’
36.Who put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who gave understanding to the heart[13]?
37.Who numbers the clouds in wisdom, and who makes those wineskins of heaven tip over,
38.when dirt compacts into a mass and clods stick together?
39.Can you hunt prey for the lioness and satisfy the appetite of young lions
40.when they crouch in their dens? They tarry in a thicket for an ambush.
41.Who prepares for the raven its food when its offspring cry to God for help? They would wander about without food.
Job 39
¶1. “Do you know the time when mountain goats give birth? Do you watch over the calving of the hinds,
2.number the months for them to be full-term, or know the time for them to give birth?
3.They bow down; their offspring burst forth; they cast forth their cords.
4.Their sons become strong; they grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return to it.
5.Who let the wild ass go free, and who loosed the onager’s bonds,
6.to whom I gave the desert-plain for his house and the salt-plain for his dwelling places?
7.He scorns the tumult of a city; the shouts of a driver, he does not obey.
8.He scours the mountains for his pasturage; he searches for anything green.
9.Will the aurochs consent to serve you or to lodge by your feeding-trough?
10.Can you hold an aurochs in a furrow with his ropes, or will he harrow valleys behind you?
11.Can you depend on him because of his great strength or leave to him your labor?
12.Can you trust him, that he will return your seed or gather your threshing floor?
13.The wing of ostriches flaps joyfully. Is it the pinion and plumage of kindness?
14.For she abandons her eggs to the earth; she lets them warm in the dirt,
15.and she forgets that a foot might crush them; yea, a wild animal might trample them.
16.She treats her offspring harshly, as if they were not hers. And though her labor may be in vain, she is unconcerned,
17.for God has deprived her of wisdom and has not endowed her with understanding.
18.When she rises up[14] proudly, she laughs at the horse and his rider.
19.Did you give strength to the horse? Did you adorn his neck with a mane?
20.Can you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying.
21.They paw in the valley, and he greatly exults. He goes forth to confront weaponry.
22.He scorns fear and is not dismayed, and he does not turn back from the sword.
23.A quiver rattles at his side, the flashing spear and javelin.
24.He eats up the ground with trembling and excitement; no, he does not stand still at the sound of a shofar.
25.Whenever a shofar sounds, he thinks, ‘Aha!’ Even from far off, he senses a battle, the thunder of commanders, and a battle-cry.
26.Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?
27.Or is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?
28.He dwells on a cliff; yea, he lodges upon a crag of a cliff, even a stronghold.
29.From there, he spies out prey, for his eyes can see from afar.
30.And his young ones drink down blood, and where the slain are, there he is.”
Job 40
¶1. Then Jehovah answered Job and said,
2.“Shall a fault-finder contend with the Almighty? Let him who judges God answer this!”
¶3. Then Job answered Jehovah and said,
4.“Behold, I am insignificant. What shall I answer you? I have laid my hand on my mouth.
5.I have spoken once, but I have no answer. Yea, twice, but I will not do so again.”
¶6. And Jehovah answered Job from the whirlwind and said,
7.“Gird your loins now, like a man! I will ask you, and you teach me!
8.Would you indeed annul my judgment‽ Would you condemn me so that you may be justified‽
9.Yea, do you have an arm like God’s, or thunder with a voice like His?
10.Adorn yourself, I pray, with majesty and grandeur. Yea, clothe yourself with splendor and glory.
11.Unleash the fury of your wrath! Yea, look upon every proud man and abase him!
12.Look upon every proud man and humble him! Yea, tread down wicked men where they stand!
13.Hide them in the dust together; bind their faces in the hidden place!
14.Then, even I will confess to you that your own right hand can save you.
¶15.Behold, if you will, the behemoth, which I created along with you. He eats grass like cattle.
16.Behold, if you will, his power in his loins and his strength in the muscles of his belly.
17.He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18.His bones are tubes of bronze; his bones are like rods of iron.
19.He is the foremost of the ways of God. (Only his Maker can bring His sword near.)
20.Indeed, the mountains provide sustenance for him, where all the beasts of the field make merry.
21.Beneath the lotus trees, he lies down in a covert of reed and marsh.
22.The lotuses cover him with their shadow; willows of the waterway surround him.
23.Behold, if a river rages, he is not alarmed. He is confident even if the Jordan surges to his mouth.
24.He can take him with his eyes; He can pierce his nose with snares.
Job 41
¶1. “Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord which you let down?
2.Can you put a hook into his nose, or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
3.Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak soft words to you?
4.Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?
5.Will you play with him as with a bird, and put him on a leash for your little girls?
6.Will traders bargain for him and divide him among the merchants?
7.Can you fill his hide with harpoons or pierce his head with a fish spear?
8.Lay your hands upon him! You will remember the battle and not do that again.
9.Behold, his hope will prove to be a lie. Yea, will he not be hurled out of His sight?
10.None is so fierce that he would stir him up. Who, then, can stand before him?
11.(Who preceded me, that I should repay him? Everything that is under heaven is mine.)
12.I will not be silent about his members, and mighty speech, and the grace of his form.
13.Who can open the face of his garment? Who would go within his two jaws?
14.Who can open the doors of his face, ringed with his terrifying teeth?
15.There is pride in his rows of bucklers, closed up with a tight seal.
16.One is so close to another that air cannot go in between them.
17.Each is joined to his mate; they clasp each other so that they cannot be separated.
18.His snorting flashes forth light, and his eyes are as the eyelids of dawn.
19.Torches proceed from his mouth; sparks of fire fly out.
20.Smoke comes forth from his nostrils like a boiling pot or burning bulrushes.
21.His breath sets coals afire when the flame from his mouth comes out.
22.Strength lodges in his neck, and before him, dismay does a dance.
23.The folds of his flesh join together, tight on him; they are immovable.
24.His heart is hard, like a stone. Yea, it is hard like a lower millstone.
25.At his uprising, gods stand in awe. At the crashing, they are beside themselves.
26.The sword strikes him to no avail, the spear, the dart, and javelin.
27.He regards iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood.
28.The arrow does not make him flee; for him, sling-stones are turned to stubble.
29.Clubs are reckoned as chaff, and he laughs at the shaking of a javelin.
30.His underparts are like jagged potsherds; he leaves a trail on the mud like a threshing-sledge.
31.He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like an ointment-pot.
32.Behind him, he leaves a shining path; one would think the deep was hoary-headed.
33.There is not his like on earth, a creature devoid of fear.
34.He sees every high thing; he is king over all the sons of pride.”
Job 42
¶1. Then Job answered Jehovah and said,
2.“I know that you can do anything; not even an intent can be kept from you.
3.Who is this who obscures counsel without knowledge? That is why I went on making declarations. But I have no understanding of things too wondrous for me. No, I do not know.
4.Hear, I beg you, and I will speak. I will ask you, and you teach me.
5.I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.
6.It makes me despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
¶7. And it came to pass, after Jehovah spoke these words to Job, that Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken what is right about me, as my servant Job has.
8.So, take now for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and you go to my servant Job, and offer them as a burnt offering for yourselves, and then Job, my servant, will intercede for you, for his face will I accept. Otherwise, I will deal with your folly, for you have not spoken what is right about me, as my servant Job has.”
9. And so, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according to what Jehovah told them. And Jehovah accepted the face of Job.
10. And Jehovah reversed the captivity of Job when he interceded for his friends. And Jehovah restored all that Job had, twice over.
11. And all his brothers and all his sisters came in to him, and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house, and they condoled with him and comforted him for all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him. And they each gave him one kesitah[15], and each, one earring of gold.
12. And Jehovah blessed the latter days of Job more than his former days. For he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
13. Moreover, he had seven sons and three daughters.
14. And he named the first one Jemima, and the name of the second was Keziah, and the name of the third, Keren-Happuk.
15. And there were no women found as beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the land, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
16. And Job lived after these things one hundred and forty years, and he saw of his children and his children’s children, four generations.
17. And Job died, old and full of days.
Footnotes
[1] Most mss have “rash”, but rashness implies error, which does not apply to Job’s words (cf. Job 42:7).
[2] Hebrew uncertain.
[3] That is, Eliphaz.
[4] Literally, only “– if I would lie to your faces.” The curse with this oath is so horrific – calling for one’s own death and damnation – that it is not even uttered. See also 22:20; 30:25; 31:5, 16, 19, 24, 29, 31, 33, 36.
[5] None of the constellation names in the Old Testament are certain.
[6] Or, Proud One’s helpers.
[7] Literally, “Let Him stop! Let Him leave me alone.”
[8] The verb is plural.
[9] Hebrew uncertain.
[10] Eliphaz is mocking Job’s statement in 21:16.
[11] Or, “the proud one”, another name for Satan.
[12] Hebrew uncertain.
[13] Hebrew uncertain.
[14] Hebrew unknown.
[15] A gift of unknown type and value.