Sermon Central
Job 14-41
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.
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.
12so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
15You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
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. 22They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
Eliphaz 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2“Would a wise person answer with empty notions or fill their belly with the hot east wind?
3Would they argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value?
4But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God.
9What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have?
10The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father.
11Are God’s consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you?
13so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?
14“What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?
16how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt, who drink up evil like water!
17“Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen,
20All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.
21Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him.
22He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness; he is marked for the sword.
23He wanders about for food like a vulture; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24Distress and anguish fill him with terror; troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
25because he shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
26defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield.
27“Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh,
30He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
31Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return.
33He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.
2“I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you!
3Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?
6“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away.
7Surely, God, you have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household.
8You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness; my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.
12All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;
13his archers surround me. Without pity, he pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground.
14Again 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.
16My face is red with weeping, dark shadows ring my eyes;
17yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure.
18“Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest!
19Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.
20My intercessor is my friend
21on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.
1My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
3“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
5If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.
6“God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
7My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
8The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
9Nevertheless, 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.
11My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart
12turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.
13If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
15where then is my hope— who can see any hope for me? 16Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?”
Bildad 1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
3Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight?
4You 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 a wicked man is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning.
6The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out.
7The vigor of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down.
9A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast.
10A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in his path.
11Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step.
12Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls.
13It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
14He is torn from the security of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors.
15Fire resides
16His roots dry up below and his branches wither above.
17The memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name in the land.
20People of the west are appalled at his fate; those of the east are seized with horror.
Job 1Then Job replied:
2“How long will you torment me and crush me with words?
3Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me.
8He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
9He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
11His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.
12His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
13“He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me.
16I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth.
17My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.
18Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.
21“Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
22Why 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,
24that they were inscribed with an iron tool on
25I know that my redeemer
26And after my skin has been destroyed, yet
Zophar 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2“My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.
3I 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 mankind
6Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,
7he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.
9The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.
11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.
13though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,
14yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.
17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
20“Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure.
21Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.
23When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.
24Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
25He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;
27The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.
28A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters
3Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
4“Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient?
5Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth.
8They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.
9Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them.
10Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.
13They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.
14Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.
16But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans 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?
20Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
22“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?
23One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,
25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.
26Side 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.
28You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?’
29Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from
32They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs. 34“So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
Eliphaz 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2“Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?
5Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?
7You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,
8though you were a powerful man, owning land— an honored man, living on it.
9And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,
12“Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?
14Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?
16They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.
17They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’
20‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.’
21“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.
22Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.
23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent
25then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.
26Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.
29When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast.
Job 1Then Job replied:
2“Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand
3If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!
4I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me.
6Would he vigorously oppose me? No, he would not press charges against me.
7There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.
8“But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
11My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.
12I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
13“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases.
15That is why I am terrified before him; when I think of all this, I fear him. 17Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.
2There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.
3They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
5Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children.
6They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
8They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
9The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
10Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11They crush olives among the terraces
12The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13“There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.
15The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he keeps his face concealed.
17For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
19As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
20The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; the wicked are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree.
21They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.
22But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
Bildad 1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2“Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
3Can his forces be numbered? On whom does his light not rise?
5If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, 6how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot— a human being, who is only a worm!”
3What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!
4Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
6The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction
7He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
8He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.
10He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.
11The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.
13By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. 14And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”
Job’s Final Word to His Friends 1And Job continued his discourse:
2“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,
3as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils,
4my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.
7“May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unjust!
8For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life?
10Will they find delight in the Almighty? Will they call on God at all times?
14However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat.
15The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them.
18The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman.
19He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.
20Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night.
22It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.
Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found 1There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
2Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
3Mortals put an end to the darkness; they search out the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness.
4Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft, in places untouched by human feet; far from other people they dangle and sway.
5The earth, from which food comes, is transformed below as by fire;
6lapis lazuli comes from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
7No bird of prey knows that hidden path, no falcon’s eye has seen it.
9People assault the flinty rock with their hands and lay bare the roots of the mountains.
10They tunnel through the rock; their eyes see all its treasures.
11They search
12But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?
14The deep says, “It is not in me”; the sea says, “It is not with me.”
16It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
17Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
18Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold.
20Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell?
21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds in the sky.
22Destruction
23God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells,
24for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
25When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters,
26when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, 28And he said to the human race, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”
Job’s Final Defense 1Job continued his discourse:
4Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,
6when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
7“When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
9the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
10the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
12because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them.
13The one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing.
14I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
16I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
17I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
22After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
24When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.
1“But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
3Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed
4In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food
5They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves.
7They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
8A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
9“And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
14They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16“And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
17Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
18In his great power God becomes like clothing to me
19He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
20“I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.
22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.
23I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.
27The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.
30My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever. 31My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
1“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.
3Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?
5“If I have walked with falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit—
6let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless—
7if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled,
8then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
9“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
11For that would have been wicked, a sin to be judged.
12It is a fire that burns to Destruction
13“If I have denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a grievance against me,
14what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account?
16“If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,
17if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless—
18but from my youth I reared them as a father would, and from my birth I guided the widow—
21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court,
23For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.
26if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
27so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
31if those of my household have never said, ‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—
32but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler—
36Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown.
37I would give him an account of my every step; I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—
38“if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears, 40then let briers come up instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
Elihu
1So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.
3He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.
5But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.
8But it is the spirit
10“Therefore I say: Listen to me; I too will tell you what I know.
11I waited while you spoke, I listened to your reasoning; while you were searching for words,
12I gave you my full attention. But not one of you has proved Job wrong; none of you has answered his arguments.
13Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom; let God, not a man, refute him.’
15“They are dismayed and have no more to say; words have failed them.
18For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me;
19inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst.
20I must speak and find relief; I must open my lips and reply.
21I will show no partiality, nor will I flatter anyone; 22for if I were skilled in flattery, my Maker would soon take me away.
1“But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.
3My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.
4The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
6I am the same as you in God’s sight; I too am a piece of clay.
8“But you have said in my hearing— I heard the very words—
9‘I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin.
10Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.
13Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one’s words
17to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride,
18to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.
19“Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in their bones,
20so that their body finds food repulsive and their soul loathes the choicest meal.
23Yet if there is an angel at their side, a messenger, one out of a thousand, sent to tell them how to be upright,
25let their flesh be renewed like a child’s; let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—
28God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’
30to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.
32If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you.
1Then Elihu said:
2“Hear my words, you wise men; listen to me, you men of learning.
4Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.
5“Job says, ‘I am innocent, but God denies me justice.
7Is there anyone like Job, who drinks scorn like water?
8He keeps company with evildoers; he associates with the wicked.
12It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice.
13Who appointed him over the earth? Who put him in charge of the whole world?
14If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit
16“If you have understanding, hear this; listen to what I say.
17Can someone who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the just and mighty One?
18Is he not the One who says to kings, ‘You are worthless,’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’
19who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?
20They die in an instant, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
21“His eyes are on the ways of mortals; he sees their every step.
23God has no need to examine people further, that they should come before him for judgment.
24Without inquiry he shatters the mighty and sets up others in their place.
25Because he takes note of their deeds, he overthrows them in the night and they are crushed.
26He punishes them for their wickedness where everyone can see them,
27because they turned from following him and had no regard for any of his ways.
28They caused the cry of the poor to come before him, so that he heard the cry of the needy.
29But if he remains silent, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can see him? Yet he is over individual and nation alike,
31“Suppose someone says to God, ‘I am guilty but will offend no more.
33Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? You must decide, not I; so tell me what you know.
34“Men of understanding declare, wise men who hear me say to me,
35‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.’
36Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost for answering like a wicked man! 37To his sin he adds rebellion; scornfully he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
2“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’
5Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you.
8Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.
10But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
11who teaches us more than he teaches
13Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it.
14How much less, then, will he listen when you say that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you must wait for him,
15and further, that his anger never punishes and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.
1Elihu continued:
2“Bear with me a little longer and I will show you that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.
3I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
6He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights.
7He does not take his eyes off the righteous; he enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever.
10He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil.
11If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.
13“The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.
14They die in their youth, among male prostitutes of the shrines.
17But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
20Do not long for the night, to drag people away from their homes.
21Beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction.
23Who has prescribed his ways for him, or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?
24Remember to extol his work, which people have praised in song.
25All humanity has seen it; mortals gaze on it from afar.
26How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.
27“He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams
28the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind.
30See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea.
31This is the way he governs
32He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark.
33His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.
2Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.
5God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.
6He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
7So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor.
9The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds.
10The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.
13He brings the clouds to punish people, or to water his earth and show his love.
14“Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders.
16Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
17You who swelter in your clothes when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
18can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
19“Tell us what we should say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
20Should he be told that I want to speak? Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?
21Now no one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean.
22Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty.
24Therefore, people revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?
2“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?
3Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
7while the morning stars sang together and all the angels
8“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
10when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
11when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?
12“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
13that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
15The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
18Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
19“What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
21Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
24What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
26to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert,
30when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
33Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s
34“Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36Who gives the ibis wisdom
39“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
4Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
5“Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?
6I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.
7It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.
11Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
15unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
17for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
18Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
19“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?
22It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
23The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
24In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?
27Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?
28It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar.
2“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3Then Job answered the LORD :
4“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.
5I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.”
6Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:
7“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
8“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low,
13Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave.
14Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.
15“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox.
17Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
20The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby.
21Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
23A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth. 24Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?
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5Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
8If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
11Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form.
13Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor
14Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15Its back has
16each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
18Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
20Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.
23The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
25When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.
28Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.
30Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.
33Nothing on earth is its equal— a creature without fear.