Sermon Central
Job 4-31
2“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
5But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
8As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
9At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.
11The 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.
13Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,
17‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
19how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. 21Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
1“Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
3I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
4His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
6For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
8“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
9He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
11The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
13He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
15He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
18For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
19From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you.
20In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.
22You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals.
23For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
25You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26You 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.”
3It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas— no wonder my words have been impetuous.
4The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me.
5Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
6Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow
7I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.
9that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life!
10Then 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?
12Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?
14“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
17but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
18Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish.
19The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
20They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
22Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
23deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?
24“Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.
27You 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?
29Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
3so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
5My 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.
7Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again.
9As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.
13When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
15so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine.
16I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
17“What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention,
18that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? 21Why 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.”
Bildad 1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2“How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.
3Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
5But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty,
6if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state.
8“Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned,
9for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
10Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
11Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?
12While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.
13Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
15They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold.
16They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;
17it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.
18But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
20“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless or strengthen the hands of evildoers. 22Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”
2“Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?
4His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
5He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.
9He is the Maker of the Bear
11When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
12If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.
16Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
20Even 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.
22It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24When 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.
26They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.
28I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.
30Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with cleansing powder,
32“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. 35Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
1“I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
2I say to God: Do not declare me guilty, but tell me what charges you have against me.
4Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees?
5Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a strong man,
9Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?
10Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese,
11clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?
12You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.
14If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished.
15If I am guilty—woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in
16If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me.
17You 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.
19If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
20Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy
21before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and utter darkness, 22to the land of deepest night, of utter darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
3Will your idle talk reduce others to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
4You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.’
5Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you
7“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
8They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?
9Their 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?
11Surely he recognizes deceivers; and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
12But the witless can no more become wise than a wild donkey’s colt can be born human.
14if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
15then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear.
16You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.
19You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.
Job 1Then Job replied:
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?
12Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
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.
18He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth
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.
1“My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.
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.
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?
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.
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.
5Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
8Do you listen in on God’s council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
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,
19(to whom alone the land was given when no foreigners moved among them):
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.
34For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.
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.
10People open their mouths to jeer at me; they strike my cheek in scorn and unite together 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. 22“Only a few years will pass before I take the path of no return.
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.
20I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
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?
18How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?
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?’
18Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,
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.
28What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.
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!”
2“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
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. 23It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place.”
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,
27then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it. 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.
18“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
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.
12On my right the tribe
13They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
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—
19if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or the needy without garments,
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—
33if I have concealed my sin as people do,
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.