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Job 12-14
Job 1Then Job replied:
2“Doubtless you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you!
3But 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 on God and he answered— a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
5Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
6The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure— those God has in his hand.
7“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.
9Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
10In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
11Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food?
12Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
13“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
14What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released.
15If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
16To him belong strength and insight; both deceived and deceiver are his.
17He leads rulers away stripped and makes fools of judges.
18He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth
19He leads priests away stripped and overthrows officials long established.
20He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.
21He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
22He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light.
23He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
24He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason; he makes them wander in a trackless waste. 25They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.
1“My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.
2What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
3But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.
4You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!
5If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.
6Hear now my argument; listen to the pleas of my lips.
7Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him?
8Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God?
9Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?
10He would surely call you to account if you secretly showed partiality.
11Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you?
12Your 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.
14Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands?
15Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely
16Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him!
17Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears.
18Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated.
19Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die.
20“Only grant me these two things, God, and then I will not hide from you:
21Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors.
22Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me.
23How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.
24Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?
25Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff?
26For you write down bitter things against me and make me reap the sins of my youth.
27You 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.
1“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
2They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them
4Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
5A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
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.
8Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
9yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
10But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
11As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
12so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
13“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
14If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal
15You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17My 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,
19as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.
20You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away.
21If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it. 22They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”