Job 12-14
English Standard Version
Job Replies: The Lord Has Done This
12 Then Job answered and said:
2 “No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have (A)understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know (B)such things as these?
4 I am (C)a laughingstock to my friends;
I, who (D)called to God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
5 In the thought of one who is (E)at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
it is ready for those whose feet slip.
6 (F)The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hand.[a]
7 “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
8 or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;[b]
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
that (G)the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In (H)his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
11 Does not (I)the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
12 Wisdom is with (J)the aged,
and understanding in length of days.
13 (K)“With God[c] are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
14 If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he (L)shuts a man in, none can open.
15 If he (M)withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he (N)sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16 With him are strength and (O)sound wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads (P)counselors away stripped,
and (Q)judges he makes fools.
18 He (R)looses the bonds of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
19 He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted
(S)and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 He (T)pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He (U)uncovers the deeps out of darkness
and brings (V)deep darkness to light.
23 He (W)makes nations great, and he destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and (X)leads them away.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
and (Y)makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25 They (Z)grope in the dark without light,
and he makes them (AA)stagger like a drunken man.
Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God
13 “Behold, my eye has seen all this,
my ear has heard and understood it.
2 (AB)What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 (AC)But I would speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to (AD)argue my case with God.
4 As for you, (AE)you whitewash with lies;
(AF)worthless physicians are you all.
5 Oh that you would (AG)keep silent,
and it would be your wisdom!
6 Hear now my argument
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will you (AH)speak falsely for God
and speak (AI)deceitfully for him?
8 Will you show partiality toward him?
Will you (AJ)plead the case for God?
9 Will it be well with you when he (AK)searches you out?
Or (AL)can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
10 He will surely rebuke you
if in secret you show partiality.
11 Will not his (AM)majesty terrify you,
and the dread of him fall upon you?
12 Your maxims are proverbs of (AN)ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
13 “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
and let come on me what may.
14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
and (AO)put my life in my hand?
15 (AP)Though he slay me, I will (AQ)hope in him;[d]
yet I will (AR)argue my ways to his face.
16 This will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.
17 (AS)Keep listening to my words,
and let my declaration be in your ears.
18 Behold, I have (AT)prepared my case;
I know that I shall be in the right.
19 (AU)Who is there who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
20 Only grant me two things,
then I will not (AV)hide myself from your face:
21 (AW)withdraw your hand far from me,
and let not (AX)dread of you terrify me.
22 (AY)Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.
23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?
(AZ)Make me know my transgression and my sin.
24 Why (BA)do you hide your face
and (BB)count me as your enemy?
25 Will you frighten (BC)a driven leaf
and pursue dry (BD)chaff?
26 For you (BE)write bitter things against me
and make me inherit (BF)the iniquities of my youth.
27 You put my feet in (BG)the stocks
and (BH)watch all my paths;
you set a limit for[e] the soles of my feet.
28 Man[f] wastes away like (BI)a rotten thing,
like a garment that is (BJ)moth-eaten.
Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All
14 “Man who is (BK)born of a woman
is (BL)few of days and (BM)full of trouble.
2 He comes out like (BN)a flower and (BO)withers;
he flees like (BP)a shadow and continues not.
3 And do you (BQ)open your eyes on such a one
and (BR)bring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring (BS)a clean thing out of an unclean?
There is not one.
5 Since his (BT)days are determined,
and (BU)the number of his months is with you,
and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
6 (BV)look away from him and leave him alone,[g]
that he may enjoy, like (BW)a hired hand, his day.
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root grow old in the earth,
and (BX)its stump die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put out (BY)branches like a young plant.
10 But a man dies and is laid low;
man breathes his last, and (BZ)where is he?
11 (CA)As waters fail from a lake
and a river wastes away and dries up,
12 so a man lies down and rises not again;
till (CB)the heavens are no more he will not awake
or be (CC)roused out of his sleep.
13 Oh that you would (CD)hide me in (CE)Sheol,
that you would (CF)conceal me (CG)until your wrath be past,
that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my (CH)service I would (CI)wait,
till my renewal[h] should come.
15 You would (CJ)call, and I would answer you;
you would long for the (CK)work of your hands.
16 For then you would (CL)number my steps;
you would not keep (CM)watch over my sin;
17 my transgression would be (CN)sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity.
18 “But the mountain falls and (CO)crumbles away,
and (CP)the rock is removed from its place;
19 the waters wear away the stones;
the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of man.
20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes;
you change his countenance, and send him away.
21 His sons come to honor, and he (CQ)does not know it;
they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
22 He feels only the pain of his own body,
and he mourns only for himself.”
Footnotes
- Job 12:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Job 12:8 Or or speak to the earth, and it will teach you
- Job 12:13 Hebrew him
- Job 13:15 Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope
- Job 13:27 Or you marked
- Job 13:28 Hebrew He
- Job 14:6 Probable reading; Hebrew look away from him, that he may cease
- Job 14:14 Or relief
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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