Job, Chapters 15-21: BIBLE, New International Version == BIBLE-CENTER

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

² "Would a wise man answer with empty notions
or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

³ Would he argue with useless words,
with speeches that have no value?

⁴ But you even undermine piety
and hinder devotion to God.

⁵ Your sin prompts your mouth;
you adopt the tongue of the crafty.

⁶ Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
your own lips testify against you.

⁷ "Are you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸ Do you listen in on God's council?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹ What do you know that we do not know?
What insights do you have that we do not have?

¹⁰ The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
men even older than your father.

¹¹ Are God's consolations not enough for you,
words spoken gently to you?

¹² Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,

¹³ so that you vent your rage against God
and pour out such words from your mouth?

¹⁴ "What is man, that he could be pure,
or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?

¹⁵ If God places no trust in his holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks up evil like water!

¹⁷ "Listen to me and I will explain to you;
let me tell you what I have seen,

¹⁸ what wise men have declared,
hiding nothing received from their fathers

¹⁹ (to whom alone the land was given
when no alien passed among them):

²⁰ All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
the ruthless through all the years stored up for him.

²¹ Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
when all seems well, marauders attack him.

²² He despairs of escaping the darkness;
he is marked for the sword.

²³ He wanders about-food for vultures¹ ;
he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

²⁴ Distress and anguish fill him with terror;
they overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,

²⁵ because he shakes his fist at God
and vaunts himself against the Almighty,

²⁶ defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield.

²⁷ "Though his face is covered with fat
and his waist bulges with flesh,

²⁸ he will inhabit ruined towns
and houses where no one lives,
houses crumbling to rubble.

²⁹ He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the land.

³⁰ He will not escape the darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots,
and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away.

³¹ Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,
for he will get nothing in return.

³² Before his time he will be paid in full,
and his branches will not flourish.

³³ He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.

³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren,
and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

³⁵ They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
their womb fashions deceit."

¹ Then Job replied:

² "I have heard many things like these;
miserable comforters are you all!

³ Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What ails you that you keep on arguing?

⁴ I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head at you.

⁵ But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

⁶ "Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I refrain, it does not go away.

⁷ Surely, O God, you have worn me out;
you have devastated my entire household.

⁸ You have bound me-and it has become a witness;
my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.

⁹ God assails me and tears me in his anger
and gnashes his teeth at me;
my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.

¹⁰ Men open their mouths to jeer at me;
they strike my cheek in scorn
and unite together against me.

¹¹ God has turned me over to evil men
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.

¹² All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;

¹³ his archers surround me.
Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground.

¹⁴ Again and again he bursts upon me;
he rushes at me like a warrior.

¹⁵ "I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
and buried my brow in the dust.

¹⁶ My face is red with weeping,
deep shadows ring my eyes;

¹⁷ yet my hands have been free of violence
and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ "O earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry never be laid to rest!

¹⁹ Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.

²⁰ My intercessor is my friend¹
as my eyes pour out tears to God;

²¹ on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as a man pleads for his friend.

²² "Only a few years will pass
before I go on the journey of no return.

¹ My spirit is broken,
my days are cut short,
the grave awaits me.

² Surely mockers surround me;
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

³ "Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
Who else will put up security for me?

⁴ You have closed their minds to understanding;
therefore you will not let them triumph.

⁵ If a man denounces his friends for reward,
the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶ "God has made me a byword to everyone,
a man in whose face people spit.

⁷ My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.

⁸ Upright men are appalled at this;
the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.

⁹ Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,
and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

¹⁰ "But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹ My days have passed, my plans are shattered,
and so are the desires of my heart.

¹² These men turn night into day;
in the face of darkness they say, 'Light is near.'

¹³ If the only home I hope for is the grave,¹
if I spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴ if I say to corruption, 'You are my father,'
and to the worm, 'My mother' or 'My sister,'

¹⁵ where then is my hope?
Who can see any hope for me?

¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of death² ?
Will we descend together into the dust?"

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

² "When will you end these speeches?
Be sensible, and then we can talk.

³ Why are we regarded as cattle
and considered stupid in your sight?

⁴ You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?
Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

⁵ "The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out;
the flame of his fire stops burning.

⁶ The light in his tent becomes dark;
the lamp beside him goes out.

⁷ The vigor of his step is weakened;
his own schemes throw him down.

⁸ His feet thrust him into a net
and he wanders into its mesh.

⁹ A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare holds him fast.

¹⁰ A noose is hidden for him on the ground;
a trap lies in his path.

¹¹ Terrors startle him on every side
and dog his every step.

¹² Calamity is hungry for him;
disaster is ready for him when he falls.

¹³ It eats away parts of his skin;
death's firstborn devours his limbs.

¹⁴ He is torn from the security of his tent
and marched off to the king of terrors.

¹⁵ Fire resides¹ in his tent;
burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.

¹⁶ His roots dry up below
and his branches wither above.

¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name in the land.

¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness
and is banished from the world.

¹⁹ He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
no survivor where once he lived.

²⁰ Men of the west are appalled at his fate;
men of the east are seized with horror.

²¹ Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;
such is the place of one who knows not God."

¹ Then Job replied:

² "How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?

³ Ten times now you have reproached me;
shamelessly you attack me.

⁴ If it is true that I have gone astray,
my error remains my concern alone.

⁵ If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,

⁶ then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me.

⁷ "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response;
though I call for help, there is no justice.

⁸ He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

⁹ He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.

¹⁰ He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
he uproots my hope like a tree.

¹¹ His anger burns against me;
he counts me among his enemies.

¹² His troops advance in force;
they build a siege ramp against me
and encamp around my tent.

¹³ "He has alienated my brothers from me;
my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

¹⁴ My kinsmen have gone away;
my friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵ My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger;
they look upon me as an alien.

¹⁶ I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
though I beg him with my own mouth.

¹⁷ My breath is offensive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own brothers.

¹⁸ Even the little boys scorn me;
when I appear, they ridicule me.

¹⁹ All my intimate friends detest me;
those I love have turned against me.

²⁰ I am nothing but skin and bones;
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.¹

²¹ "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me.

²² Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³ "Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,

²⁴ that they were inscribed with an iron tool on² lead,
or engraved in rock forever!

²⁵ I know that my Redeemer³ lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.⁴

²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet⁵ in⁶ my flesh I will see God;

²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes-I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

²⁸ "If you say, 'How we will hound him,
since the root of the trouble lies in him,⁷ '

²⁹ you should fear the sword yourselves;
for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
and then you will know that there is judgment.⁸ "

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

² "My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
because I am greatly disturbed.

³ I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
and my understanding inspires me to reply.

⁴ "Surely you know how it has been from of old,
ever since man¹ was placed on the earth,

⁵ that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

⁶ Though his pride reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,

⁷ he will perish forever, like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'

⁸ Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
banished like a vision of the night.

⁹ The eye that saw him will not see him again;
his place will look on him no more.

¹⁰ His children must make amends to the poor;
his own hands must give back his wealth.

¹¹ The youthful vigor that fills his bones
will lie with him in the dust.

¹² "Though evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue,

¹³ though he cannot bear to let it go
and keeps it in his mouth,

¹⁴ yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
it will become the venom of serpents within him.

¹⁵ He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
God will make his stomach vomit them up.

¹⁶ He will suck the poison of serpents;
the fangs of an adder will kill him.

¹⁷ He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

¹⁸ What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

¹⁹ For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
he has seized houses he did not build.

²⁰ "Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
he cannot save himself by his treasure.

²¹ Nothing is left for him to devour;
his prosperity will not endure.

²² In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
the full force of misery will come upon him.

²³ When he has filled his belly,
God will vent his burning anger against him
and rain down his blows upon him.

²⁴ Though he flees from an iron weapon,
a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

²⁵ He pulls it out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him;

²⁶ total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire unfanned will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.

²⁷ The heavens will expose his guilt;
the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸ A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters² on the day of God's wrath.

²⁹ Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
the heritage appointed for them by God."

¹ Then Job replied:

² "Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you give me.

³ Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴ "Is my complaint directed to man?
Why should I not be impatient?

⁵ Look at me and be astonished;
clap your hand over your mouth.

⁶ When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body.

⁷ Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?

⁸ They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.

⁹ Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not upon them.

¹⁰ Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.

¹¹ They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.

¹² They sing to the music of tambourine and harp;
they make merry to the sound of the flute.

¹³ They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave¹ in peace.²

¹⁴ Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.

¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?'

¹⁶ But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

¹⁷ "Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
How often does calamity come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?

¹⁸ How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?

¹⁹ It is said, 'God stores up a man's punishment for his sons.'
Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it!

²⁰ Let his own eyes see his destruction;
let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.³

²¹ For what does he care about the family he leaves behind
when his allotted months come to an end?

²² "Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?

²³ One man dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,

²⁴ his body⁴ well nourished,
his bones rich with marrow.

²⁵ Another man dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.

²⁶ Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.

²⁷ "I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.

²⁸ You say, 'Where now is the great man's house,
the tents where wicked men lived?'

²⁹ Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts-

³⁰ that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
that he is delivered from⁵ the day of wrath?

³¹ Who denounces his conduct to his face?
Who repays him for what he has done?

³² He is carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over his tomb.

³³ The soil in the valley is sweet to him;
all men follow after him,
and a countless throng goes⁶ before him.

³⁴ "So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!"

Job, Chapter 15

Job, Chapter 16

Job, Chapter 17

Job, Chapter 18

Job, Chapter 19

Job, Chapter 20

Job, Chapter 21


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