Job 17-20

New King James Version

³ “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who ^(C)will shake hands with me?
⁴ For You have hidden their heart from ^(D)understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
⁵ He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will ^(E)fail.

⁶ “But He has made me ^(F)a byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
^7 (G)My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows.
⁸ Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
⁹ Yet the righteous will hold to his ^(H)way,
And he who has ^(I)clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

¹⁰ “But please, ^(J)come back again, ^[b]all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you.
^11 (K)My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the ^[c]thoughts of my heart.
¹² They change the night into day;
‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
¹³ If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
¹⁴ If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
¹⁵ Where then is my ^(L)hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
¹⁶ Will they go down ^(M)to the gates of ^[d]Sheol?
Shall we have ^(N)rest together in the dust?”

² “How long till you put an end to words?
Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak.
³ Why are we counted ^(P)as beasts,
And regarded as stupid in your sight?
^4 (Q)You^[e] who tear yourself in anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for you?
Or shall the rock be removed from its place?

⁵ “The^(R) light of the wicked indeed goes out,
And the flame of his fire does not shine.
⁶ The light is dark in his tent,
^(S)And his lamp beside him is put out.
⁷ The steps of his strength are shortened,
And ^(T)his own counsel casts him down.
⁸ For ^(U)he is cast into a net by his own feet,
And he walks into a snare.
⁹ The net takes him by the heel,
And ^(V)a snare lays hold of him.
¹⁰ A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
And a trap for him in the road.
^11 (W)Terrors frighten him on every side,
And drive him to his feet.
¹² His strength is starved,
And ^(X)destruction is ready at his side.
¹³ It devours patches of his skin;
The firstborn of death devours his ^[f]limbs.
¹⁴ He is uprooted from ^(Y)the shelter of his tent,
And they parade him before the king of terrors.
¹⁵ They dwell in his tent who are none of his;
Brimstone is scattered on his dwelling.
^16 (Z)His roots are dried out below,
And his branch withers above.
^17 (AA)The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name ^[g]among the renowned.
^18 [h]He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world.
^19 (AB)He has neither son nor posterity among his people,
Nor any remaining in his dwellings.
²⁰ Those ^[i]in the west are astonished ^(AC)at his day,
As those ^[j]in the east are frightened.
²¹ Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who ^(AD)does not know God.”

² “How long will you torment my soul,
And break me in pieces with words?
³ These ten times you have ^[k]reproached me;
You are not ashamed that you ^[l]have wronged me.
⁴ And if indeed I have erred,
My error remains with me.
⁵ If indeed you ^(AE)exalt yourselves against me,
And plead my disgrace against me,
⁶ Know then that ^(AF)God has wronged me,
And has surrounded me with His net.

⁷ “If I cry out concerning ^[m]wrong, I am not heard.
If I cry aloud, there is no justice.
^8 (AG)He has ^[n]fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass;
And He has set darkness in my paths.
^9 (AH)He has stripped me of my glory,
And taken the crown from my head.
¹⁰ He breaks me down on every side,
And I am gone;
My ^(AI)hope He has uprooted like a tree.
¹¹ He has also kindled His wrath against me,
And ^(AJ)He counts me as one of His enemies.
¹² His troops come together
And build up their road against me;
They encamp all around my tent.

¹³ “He^(AK) has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
¹⁴ My relatives have failed,
And my close friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants,
Count me as a stranger;
I am an alien in their sight.
¹⁶ I call my servant, but he gives no answer;
I beg him with my mouth.
¹⁷ My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am ^[o]repulsive to the children of my own body.
¹⁸ Even ^(AL)young children despise me;
I arise, and they speak against me.
^19 (AM)All my close friends abhor me,
And those whom I love have turned against me.
^20 (AN)My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹ “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has struck me!
²² Why do you ^(AO)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?

²³ “Oh, that my words were written!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
²⁴ That they were engraved on a rock
With an iron pen and lead, forever!
²⁵ For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
²⁶ And after my skin is ^[p]destroyed, this I know,
That ^(AP)in my flesh I shall see God,
²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my ^[q]heart yearns within me!
²⁸ If you should say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’—
Since the root of the matter is found in me,
²⁹ Be afraid of the sword for yourselves;
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
That you may know there is a judgment.”

² “Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.
³ I have heard the rebuke ^[r]that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.

⁴ “Do you not know this of ^(AR)old,
Since man was placed on earth,
^5 (AS)That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a ^(AT)moment?
^6 (AU)Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,
⁷ Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
⁸ He will fly away ^(AV)like a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he ^(AW)will be chased away like a vision of the night.
⁹ The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.
¹⁰ His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.
¹¹ His bones are full of ^(AX)his youthful vigor,
^(AY)But it will lie down with him in the dust.

¹² “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,
¹³ Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his ^[s]mouth,
¹⁴ Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom within him.
¹⁵ He swallows down riches
And vomits them up again;
God casts them out of his belly.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue will slay him.
¹⁷ He will not see ^(AZ)the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
¹⁸ He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.
¹⁹ For he has ^[t]oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

²⁰ “Because^(BA) he knows no quietness in his ^[u]heart,
He will not save anything he desires.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.
²² In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of ^[v]misery will come against him.
²³ When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
^24 (BB)He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.
²⁵ It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, ^(BC)the glittering point comes out of his ^[w]gall.
^(BD)Terrors come upon him;
²⁶ Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
^(BE)An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His ^(BF)wrath.
^29 (BG)This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”