Job 18-20

New International Reader's Version

² “Job, when will you stop these speeches of yours?
    Be reasonable! Then we can talk.
³ Why do you look at us as if we were cattle?
    Why do you think of us as being stupid?
⁴ Your anger is tearing you to pieces.
    Does the earth have to be deserted just to prove you are right?
    Must all the rocks be moved from their places?

⁵ “The lamps of sinful people are blown out.
    Their flames will never burn again.
⁶ The lights in their tents become dark.
    The lamps beside those who are evil go out.
⁷ They walk more slowly than they used to.
    Their own evil plans make them fall.
⁸ Their feet take them into a net.
    They wander right into it.
⁹ A trap grabs hold of their heels.
    It refuses to let them go.
¹⁰ A trap lies in their path.
    A rope to catch them is hidden on the ground.
¹¹ Terrors alarm them on every side.
    They follow them every step of the way.
¹² Trouble would like to eat them up.
    Danger waits for them when they fall.
¹³ It eats away parts of their skin.
    Death itself feeds on their arms and legs.
¹⁴ They are torn away from the safety of their tents.
    They are marched off to the one who rules over death.
¹⁵ Fire races through their tents.
    Burning sulfur is scattered over their homes.
¹⁶ Their roots dry up under them.
    Their branches dry up above them.
¹⁷ No one on earth remembers them.
    Their names are forgotten in the land.
¹⁸ They are driven from light into the place of darkness.
    They are thrown out of the world.
¹⁹ Their family dies out among their people.
    No one is left where they used to live.
²⁰ What has happened to them shocks the people in the west.
    It terrifies the people in the east.
²¹ Now you know what the homes of sinners are like.
    Those who don’t know God live in places like that.”

² “How long will you people make me suffer?
    How long will you crush me with your words?
³ You have already accused me many times.
    You have attacked me without feeling any shame.
⁴ Suppose it’s true that I’ve gone down the wrong path.
    Then it’s my concern, not yours.
⁵ Suppose you want to place yourselves above me.
    Suppose you want to use my shame to prove I’m wrong.
⁶ Then I want you to know that God hasn’t treated me right.
    In fact, he has captured me in his net.

⁷ “I cry out, ‘Someone harmed me!’
    But I don’t get any reply.
I call out for help.
    But I’m not treated fairly.
⁸ God has blocked my way, and I can’t get through.
    He has made my paths so dark I can’t see where I’m going.
⁹ He has taken my wealth away from me.
    He has stripped me of my honor.
¹⁰ He tears me down on every side until I’m gone.
    He pulls up the roots of my hope as if I were a tree.
¹¹ His anger burns against me.
    He thinks I’m one of his enemies.
¹² His troops march toward me in force.
    They come at me from every direction.
    They camp around my tent.

¹³ “God has caused my family to desert me.
    The people I used to know are now strangers to me.
¹⁴ My relatives have gone away.
    My closest friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ My guests and my female servants think of me as a stranger.
    They look at me as if I were an outsider.
¹⁶ I send for my servant, but he doesn’t answer.
    He doesn’t come, even though I beg him to.
¹⁷ My wife can’t stand the way my breath smells.
    My own family won’t have anything to do with me.
¹⁸ Even little children mock me.
    When I appear, they make fun of me.
¹⁹ All my close friends hate me.
    Those I love have turned against me.
²⁰ I’m nothing but skin and bones.
    I’ve barely escaped death.

²¹ “Have pity on me, my friends! Please have pity!
    God has struck me down with his powerful hand.
²² Why do you chase after me as he does?
    Aren’t you satisfied with what you have done to me already?

²³ “I wish my words were written down!
    I wish they were written in a book!
²⁴ I wish they were cut into lead with an iron tool!
    I wish they were carved in rock forever!
²⁵ I know that my redeemer lives.
    In the end he will stand on the earth.
²⁶ Though my skin will be destroyed,
    in my body I’ll see God.
²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes.
    I’ll see him, and he won’t be a stranger to me.
    How my heart longs for that day!

²⁸ “You might say, ‘Let’s keep bothering Job.
    After all, he’s the cause of all his suffering.’
²⁹ But you should be afraid when God comes to judge you.
    He’ll be angry. He’ll punish you with his sword.
    Then you will know that he is the Judge.”

² “My troubled thoughts force me to answer you.
    That’s because I’m very upset.
³ What you have just said dishonors me.
    So I really have to reply to you.

⁴ “I’m sure you must know how things have always been.
    They’ve been that way
    ever since human beings were placed on this earth.
⁵ Those who are evil are happy for only a short time.
    The joy of ungodly people lasts only for a moment.
⁶ Their pride might reach all the way up to the heavens.
    Their heads might touch the clouds.
⁷ But they will disappear forever,
    like the waste from their own bodies.
Anyone who has seen them will say,
    ‘Where did they go?’
⁸ Like a dream they will fly away.
    They will never be seen again.
    They will be driven away like visions in the night.
⁹ The eyes that saw them won’t see them anymore.
    Even their own families won’t remember them.
¹⁰ Their children must pay back what they took from poor people.
    Their own hands must give back the wealth they stole.
¹¹ They might feel young and very strong.
    But they will soon lie down in the dust of their graves.

¹² “Anything that is evil tastes sweet to them.
    They keep it under their tongues for a while.
¹³ They can’t stand to let it go.
    So they hold it in their mouths.
¹⁴ But their food will turn sour in their stomachs.
    It will become like the poison of a serpent inside them.
¹⁵ They will spit out the rich food they swallowed.
    God will make their stomachs throw it up.
¹⁶ They will suck the poison of a serpent.
    The fangs of an adder will kill them.
¹⁷ They won’t enjoy streams that flow with honey.
    They won’t enjoy rivers that flow with cream.
¹⁸ What they worked for they must give back
    before they can eat it.
    They won’t enjoy what they have earned.
¹⁹ They’ve crushed poor people and left them with nothing.
    They’ve taken over houses they didn’t even build.

²⁰ “No matter how much they have,
    they always long for more.
    But their treasure can’t save them.
²¹ There isn’t anything left for them to eat up.
    Their success won’t last.
²² While they are enjoying the good life,
    trouble will catch up with them.
    Terrible suffering will come on them.
²³ When they’ve filled their stomachs,
    God will pour out his great anger on them.
    He’ll strike them down with blow after blow.
²⁴ They might run away from iron weapons.
    But arrows that have bronze tips will wound them.
²⁵ They will pull the arrows out of their backs.
    They will remove the shining tips from their livers.
They will be filled with terror.
²⁶     Total darkness hides and waits for their treasures.
God will send a fire that will destroy them.
    It will burn up everything that’s left in their tents.
²⁷ Heaven will show their guilt to everyone.
    The earth will be a witness against them.
²⁸ A flood will carry their houses away.
    Rushing water will wash them away
    on the day when God judges.
²⁹ Now you know what God will do to sinful people.
    Now you know what he has planned for them.”