Job 6:1-9:35

Job 1Then Job replied:

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

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 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. ?

7I 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,

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?

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

26Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind?

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. Or my righteousness still stands 30Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?

1“Do not mortals have hard service on earth? Are not their days like those of hired laborers?

2Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,

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

4When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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?

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

20If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself. 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?

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

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.

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

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.

14What they trust in is fragile The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. ; what they rely on is a spider’s web.

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.’

19Surely its life withers away, and Or Surely all the joy it has / is that from the soil other plants grow.

20“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. 22Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”

Job 1Then Job replied:

2“Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

19If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him See Septuagint; Hebrew me. ?

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.

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

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

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

30Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with cleansing powder,

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

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

33If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together,

34someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. 35Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.