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Job

Chapters 3-14

Job, Chapter 3

¹ After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

² He said:

³ "May the day of my birth perish,
and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!'

⁴ That day-may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine upon it.

⁵ May darkness and deep shadow¹ claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm its light.

⁶ That night-may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.

⁷ May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy be heard in it.

⁸ May those who curse days² curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

⁹ May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,

¹⁰ for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ "Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?

¹² Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?

¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth,
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

¹⁵ with rulers who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸ Captives also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.

¹⁹ The small and the great are there,
and the slave is freed from his master.

²⁰ "Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹ to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²² who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?

²³ Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ For sighing comes to me instead of food;
my groans pour out like water.

²⁵ What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶ I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil."

Job, Chapter 4

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

² "If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?

³ Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.

⁴ Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.

⁵ But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

⁶ Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?

⁷ "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?

⁸ As I have observed, those who plow evil
and those who sow trouble reap it.

⁹ At the breath of God they are destroyed;
at the blast of his anger they perish.

¹⁰ The lions may roar and growl,
yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.

¹¹ The lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹² "A word was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper of it.

¹³ Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴ fear and trembling seized me
and made all my bones shake.

¹⁵ A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.

¹⁶ It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:

¹⁷ 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸ If God places no trust in his servants,
if he charges his angels with error,

¹⁹ how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more readily than a moth!

²⁰ Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
unnoticed, they perish forever.

²¹ Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
so that they die without wisdom?'¹

Job, Chapter 5

¹ "Call if you will, but who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?

² Resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.

³ I myself have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly his house was cursed.

⁴ His children are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender.

⁵ The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶ For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.

⁷ Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸ "But if it were I, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.

⁹ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

¹⁰ He bestows rain on the earth;
he sends water upon the countryside.

¹¹ The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹² He thwarts the plans of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.

¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are swept away.

¹⁴ Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;
at noon they grope as in the night.

¹⁵ He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷ "Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.¹

¹⁸ For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.

¹⁹ From six calamities he will rescue you;
in seven no harm will befall you.

²⁰ In famine he will ransom you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

²¹ You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,
and need not fear when destruction comes.

²² You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and need not fear the beasts of the earth.

²³ For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure;
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.

²⁵ You will know that your children will be many,
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

²⁶ You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like sheaves gathered in season.

²⁷ "We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself."

Job, Chapter 6

¹ Then Job replied:

² "If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!

³ It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas-
no wonder my words have been impetuous.

⁴ The arrows of the Almighty are in me,
my spirit drinks in their poison;
God's terrors are marshaled against me.

⁵ Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,
or an ox bellow when it has fodder?

⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the white of an egg¹ ?

⁷ I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me ill.

⁸ "Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,

⁹ that God would be willing to crush me,
to let loose his hand and cut me off!

¹⁰ Then I would still have this consolation-
my joy in unrelenting pain-
that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ "What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What prospects, that I should be patient?

¹² Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?

¹³ Do I have any power to help myself,
now that success has been driven from me?

¹⁴ "A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends,
even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
as the streams that overflow

¹⁶ when darkened by thawing ice
and swollen with melting snow,

¹⁷ but that cease to flow in the dry season,
and in the heat vanish from their channels.

¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go up into the wasteland and perish.

¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for water,
the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.

²⁰ They are distressed, because they had been confident;
they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

²¹ Now you too have proved to be of no help;
you see something dreadful and are afraid.

²² Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf,
pay a ransom for me from your wealth,

²³ deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?

²⁴ "Teach me, and I will be quiet;
show me where I have been wrong.

²⁵ How painful are honest words!
But what do your arguments prove?

²⁶ Do you mean to correct what I say,
and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?

²⁷ You would even cast lots for the fatherless
and barter away your friend.

²⁸ "But now be so kind as to look at me.
Would I lie to your face?

²⁹ Relent, do not be unjust;
reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.²

³⁰ Is there any wickedness on my lips?
Can my mouth not discern malice?

Job, Chapter 7

¹ "Does not man have hard service on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired man?

² Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages,

³ so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.

⁴ When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?'
The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

⁵ My body is clothed with worms and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.

⁶ "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.

⁷ Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never see happiness again.

⁸ The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.

⁹ As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so he who goes down to the grave¹ does not return.

¹⁰ He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.

¹¹ "Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹² Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
that you put me under guard?

¹³ When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,

¹⁴ even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵ so that I prefer strangling and death,
rather than this body of mine.

¹⁶ I despise my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

¹⁷ "What is man that you make so much of him,
that you give him so much attention,

¹⁸ that you examine him every morning
and test him every moment?

¹⁹ Will you never look away from me,
or let me alone even for an instant?

²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
O watcher of men?
Why have you made me your target?
Have I become a burden to you?²

²¹ Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
you will search for me, but I will be no more."

Job, Chapter 8

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

² "How long will you say such things?
Your words are a blustering wind.

³ Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴ When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

⁵ But if you will look to God
and plead with the Almighty,

⁶ if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
and restore you to your rightful place.

⁷ Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be.

⁸ "Ask the former generations
and find out what their fathers learned,

⁹ for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰ Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?

¹¹ Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?

¹² While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.

¹³ Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.

¹⁴ What he trusts in is fragile¹ ;
what he relies on is a spider's web.

¹⁵ He leans on his web, but it gives way;
he clings to it, but it does not hold.

¹⁶ He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;

¹⁷ it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.

¹⁸ But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'

¹⁹ Surely its life withers away,
and² from the soil other plants grow.

²⁰ "Surely God does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.

²² Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more."

Job, Chapter 9

¹ Then Job replied:

² "Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

³ Though one wished to dispute with him,
he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

⁴ His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

⁵ He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.

⁶ He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.

⁷ He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.

⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.

⁹ He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

¹⁰ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

¹¹ When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

¹² If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'

¹³ God does not restrain his anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

¹⁴ "How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?

¹⁵ Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

¹⁶ Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

¹⁷ He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.

¹⁸ He would not let me regain my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.

¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him¹ ?

²⁰ Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

²¹ "Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.

²² It is all the same; that is why I say,
'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'

²³ When a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴ When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?

²⁵ "My days are swifter than a runner;
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

²⁶ They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like eagles swooping down on their prey.

²⁷ If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression, and smile,'

²⁸ I still dread all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.

²⁹ Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?

³⁰ Even if I washed myself with soap²
and my hands with washing soda,

³¹ you would plunge me into a slime pit
so that even my clothes would detest me.

³² "He is not a man like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.

³³ If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

³⁴ someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

Job, Chapter 10

¹ "I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.

² I will say to God: Do not condemn me,
but tell me what charges you have against me.

³ Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?

⁴ Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?

⁵ Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a man,

⁶ that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin-

⁷ though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?

⁸ "Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?

⁹ Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?

¹⁰ Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,

¹¹ clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?

¹² You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.

¹³ "But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:

¹⁴ If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.

¹⁵ If I am guilty-woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in¹ my affliction.

¹⁶ If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.

¹⁷ You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.

¹⁸ "Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.

¹⁹ If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!

²⁰ Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy

²¹ before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and deep shadow,²

²² to the land of deepest night,
of deep shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness."

Job, Chapter 11

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

² "Are all these words to go unanswered?
Is this talker to be vindicated?

³ Will your idle talk reduce men to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?

⁴ You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in your sight.'

⁵ Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
that he would open his lips against you

⁶ and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

⁷ "Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

⁸ They are higher than the heavens-what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave¹ -what can you know?

⁹ Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

¹⁰ "If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

¹¹ Surely he recognizes deceitful men;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?

¹² But a witless man can no more become wise
than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man.²

¹³ "Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,

¹⁴ if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

¹⁵ then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.

¹⁶ You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.

¹⁷ Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.

¹⁸ You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹ You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp."

Job, Chapter 12

¹ Then Job replied:

² "Doubtless you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!

³ But I have a mind as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?

⁴ "I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
though I called upon God and he answered-
a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!

⁵ Men at ease have contempt for misfortune
as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

⁶ The tents of marauders are undisturbed,
and those who provoke God are secure-
those who carry their god in their hands.¹

⁷ "But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸ or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.

⁹ Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹ Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?

¹² Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?

¹³ "To God belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴ What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
the man he imprisons cannot be released.

¹⁵ If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

¹⁶ To him belong strength and victory;
both deceived and deceiver are his.

¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.

¹⁸ He takes off the shackles put on by kings
and ties a loincloth² around their waist.

¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows men long established.

²⁰ He silences the lips of trusted advisers
and takes away the discernment of elders.

²¹ He pours contempt on nobles
and disarms the mighty.

²² He reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings deep shadows into the light.

²³ He makes nations great, and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

²⁴ He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
he sends them wandering through a trackless waste.

²⁵ They grope in darkness with no light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.

Job, Chapter 13

¹ "My eyes have seen all this,
my ears have heard and understood it.

² What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

³ But I desire to speak to the Almighty
and to argue my case with God.

⁴ You, however, smear me with lies;
you are worthless physicians, all of you!

⁵ If only you would be altogether silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.

⁶ Hear now my argument;
listen to the plea of my lips.

⁷ Will you speak wickedly on God's behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for him?

⁸ Will you show him partiality?
Will you argue the case for God?

⁹ Would it turn out well if he examined you?
Could you deceive him as you might deceive men?

¹⁰ He would surely rebuke you
if you secretly showed partiality.

¹¹ Would not his splendor terrify you?
Would not the dread of him fall on you?

¹² Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³ "Keep silent and let me speak;
then let come to me what may.

¹⁴ Why do I put myself in jeopardy
and take my life in my hands?

¹⁵ Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely¹ defend my ways to his face.

¹⁶ Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless man would dare come before him!

¹⁷ Listen carefully to my words;
let your ears take in what I say.

¹⁸ Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.

¹⁹ Can anyone bring charges against me?
If so, I will be silent and die.

²⁰ "Only grant me these two things, O God,
and then I will not hide from you:

²¹ Withdraw your hand far from me,
and stop frightening me with your terrors.

²² Then summon me and I will answer,
or let me speak, and you reply.

²³ How many wrongs and sins have I committed?
Show me my offense and my sin.

²⁴ Why do you hide your face
and consider me your enemy?

²⁵ Will you torment a windblown leaf?
Will you chase after dry chaff?

²⁶ For you write down bitter things against me
and make me inherit the sins of my youth.

²⁷ You fasten my feet in shackles;
you keep close watch on all my paths
by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

²⁸ "So man wastes away like something rotten,
like a garment eaten by moths.

Job, Chapter 14

¹ "Man born of woman
is of few days and full of trouble.

² He springs up like a flower and withers away;
like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

³ Do you fix your eye on such a one?
Will you bring him¹ before you for judgment?

⁴ Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No one!

⁵ Man's days are determined;
you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.

⁶ So look away from him and let him alone,
till he has put in his time like a hired man.

⁷ "At least there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.

⁸ Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,

⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.

¹⁰ But man dies and is laid low;
he breathes his last and is no more.

¹¹ As water disappears from the sea
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,

¹² so man lies down and does not rise;
till the heavens are no more, men will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.

¹³ "If only you would hide me in the grave²
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time
and then remember me!

¹⁴ If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal³ to come.

¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;
you will long for the creature your hands have made.

¹⁶ Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.

¹⁷ My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
you will cover over my sin.

¹⁸ "But as a mountain erodes and crumbles
and as a rock is moved from its place,

¹⁹ as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy man's hope.

²⁰ You overpower him once for all, and he is gone;
you change his countenance and send him away.

²¹ If his sons are honored, he does not know it;
if they are brought low, he does not see it.

²² He feels but the pain of his own body
and mourns only for himself."


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