Job 23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Bitter
23 Then Job answered:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;[a]
his[b] hand is heavy despite my groaning.(A)
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his dwelling!(B)
4 I would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.(C)
5 I would learn what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No, but he would give heed to me.
7 There the upright could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.(D)
8 “If I go forward, he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;(E)
9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn[c] to the right, but I cannot see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.(F)
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.(G)
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured his words in my bosom.[d](H)
13 But he stands alone, and who can dissuade him?
What he desires, that he does.(I)
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.(J)
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty[e] has terrified me.(K)
17 If only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face
Job 24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job Complains of Violence on the Earth
24 “Why are times not kept by the Almighty,[a]
and why do those who know him never see his days?(A)
2 The wicked[b] remove landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.(B)
3 They drive away the donkey of the orphan;
they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.(C)
4 They thrust the needy off the road;
the poor of the earth all hide themselves.(D)
5 Like wild asses in the desert
they go out to their toil,
scavenging in the wasteland
food for their young.(E)
6 They reap in a field not their own,
and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They lie all night naked, without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.(F)
8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains
and cling to the rock for want of shelter.(G)
9 “There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast
and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.(H)
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
11 between their terraces[c] they press out oil;
they tread the winepresses but suffer thirst.
12 From the city the dying groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
yet God pays no attention to their prayer.(I)
13 “There are those who rebel against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways
and do not stay in its paths.(J)
14 The murderer rises at dusk
to kill the poor and needy
and in the night is like a thief.(K)
15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
saying, ‘No eye will see me,’
and he disguises his face.(L)
16 In the dark they dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.(M)
17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.(N)
18 “Swift are they on the face of the waters;
their portion in the land is cursed;
no treader turns toward their vineyards.(O)
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
so does Sheol those who have sinned.(P)
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered,
so wickedness is broken like a tree.(Q)
21 “They harm[d] the childless woman
and do no good to the widow.(R)
22 Yet God[e] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
they rise up when they despair of life.(S)
23 He gives them security, and they are supported;
his eyes are upon their ways.(T)
24 They are exalted a little while and then are gone;
they wither and fade like the mallow;[f]
they are cut off like the heads of grain.(U)
25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar
and show that there is nothing in what I say?”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.