Job 14-17

New International Version

14 “Mortals, born of woman,^(A)
    are of few days^(B) and full of trouble.^(C)
2 They spring up like flowers^(D) and wither away;^(E)
    like fleeting shadows,^(F) they do not endure.^(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?^(H)
    Will you bring them^[a] before you for judgment?^(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure^(J) from the impure?^(K)
    No one!^(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;^(M)
    you have decreed the number of his months^(N)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.^(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,^(P)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.^(Q)

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:^(R)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots^(S) will not fail.^(T)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump^(U) die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water^(V) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.^(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;^(X)
    he breathes his last and is no more.^(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;^(AA)
    till the heavens are no more,^(AB) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.^(AC)

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave^(AD)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!^(AE)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember^(AF) me!^(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service^(AH)
    I will wait for my renewal^[b](AI) to come.
¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;^(AJ)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.^(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps^(AL)
    but not keep track of my sin.^(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed^(AN) up in a bag;^(AO)
    you will cover over my sin.^(AP)

¹⁸ “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles^(AQ)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,^(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents^(AS) wash away the soil,^(AT)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.^(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;^(AV)
    you change their countenance and send them away.^(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.^(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies^(AY)
    and mourn only for themselves.^(AZ)”

² “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
    or fill their belly with the hot east wind?^(BB)
3 Would they argue with useless words,
    with speeches that have no value?^(BC)
4 But you even undermine piety
    and hinder devotion to God.^(BD)
5 Your sin^(BE) prompts your mouth;^(BF)
    you adopt the tongue of the crafty.^(BG)
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
    your own lips testify against you.^(BH)

⁷ “Are you the first man ever born?^(BI)
    Were you brought forth before the hills?^(BJ)
8 Do you listen in on God’s council?^(BK)
    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?^(BL)
9 What do you know that we do not know?
    What insights do you have that we do not have?^(BM)
10 The gray-haired and the aged^(BN) are on our side,
    men even older than your father.^(BO)
11 Are God’s consolations^(BP) not enough for you,
    words^(BQ) spoken gently to you?^(BR)
12 Why has your heart^(BS) carried you away,
    and why do your eyes flash,
¹³ so that you vent your rage^(BT) against God
    and pour out such words^(BU) from your mouth?^(BV)

¹⁴ “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
    or those born of woman,^(BW) that they could be righteous?^(BX)
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,^(BY)
    if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,^(BZ)
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,^(CA)
    who drink up evil^(CB) like water!^(CC)

¹⁷ “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
    let me tell you what I have seen,^(CD)
18 what the wise have declared,
    hiding nothing received from their ancestors^(CE)
19 (to whom alone the land^(CF) was given
    when no foreigners moved among them):
²⁰ All his days the wicked man suffers torment,^(CG)
    the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.^(CH)
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;^(CI)
    when all seems well, marauders attack him.^(CJ)
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;^(CK)
    he is marked for the sword.^(CL)
23 He wanders about^(CM) for food like a vulture;^(CN)
    he knows the day of darkness^(CO) is at hand.^(CP)
24 Distress and anguish^(CQ) fill him with terror;^(CR)
    troubles overwhelm him, like a king^(CS) poised to attack,
²⁵ because he shakes his fist^(CT) at God
    and vaunts himself against the Almighty,^(CU)
26 defiantly charging against him
    with a thick, strong shield.^(CV)

²⁷ “Though his face is covered with fat
    and his waist bulges with flesh,^(CW)
28 he will inhabit ruined towns
    and houses where no one lives,^(CX)
    houses crumbling to rubble.^(CY)
29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,^(CZ)
    nor will his possessions spread over the land.^(DA)
30 He will not escape the darkness;^(DB)
    a flame^(DC) will wither his shoots,^(DD)
    and the breath of God’s mouth^(DE) will carry him away.^(DF)
31 Let him not deceive^(DG) himself by trusting what is worthless,^(DH)
    for he will get nothing in return.^(DI)
32 Before his time^(DJ) he will wither,^(DK)
    and his branches will not flourish.^(DL)
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,^(DM)
    like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.^(DN)
34 For the company of the godless^(DO) will be barren,
    and fire will consume^(DP) the tents of those who love bribes.^(DQ)
35 They conceive trouble^(DR) and give birth to evil;^(DS)
    their womb fashions deceit.”

² “I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters,^(DT) all of you!^(DU)
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?^(DV)
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?^(DW)
4 I also could speak like you,
    if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
    and shake my head^(DX) at you.
⁵ But my mouth would encourage you;
    comfort^(DY) from my lips would bring you relief.^(DZ)

⁶ “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
    and if I refrain, it does not go away.^(EA)
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;^(EB)
    you have devastated my entire household.^(EC)
8 You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
    my gauntness^(ED) rises up and testifies against me.^(EE)
9 God assails me and tears^(EF) me in his anger^(EG)
    and gnashes his teeth at me;^(EH)
    my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.^(EI)
10 People open their mouths^(EJ) to jeer at me;^(EK)
    they strike my cheek^(EL) in scorn
    and unite together against me.^(EM)
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
    and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.^(EN)
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
    he seized me by the neck and crushed me.^(EO)
He has made me his target;^(EP)
13     his archers surround me.^(EQ)
Without pity, he pierces^(ER) my kidneys
    and spills my gall on the ground.
¹⁴ Again and again^(ES) he bursts upon me;
    he rushes at me like a warrior.^(ET)

¹⁵ “I have sewed sackcloth^(EU) over my skin
    and buried my brow in the dust.^(EV)
16 My face is red with weeping,^(EW)
    dark shadows ring my eyes;^(EX)
17 yet my hands have been free of violence^(EY)
    and my prayer is pure.^(EZ)

¹⁸ “Earth, do not cover my blood;^(FA)
    may my cry^(FB) never be laid to rest!^(FC)
19 Even now my witness^(FD) is in heaven;^(FE)
    my advocate is on high.^(FF)
20 My intercessor^(FG) is my friend^[c](FH)
    as my eyes pour out^(FI) tears^(FJ) to God;
²¹ on behalf of a man he pleads^(FK) with God
    as one pleads for a friend.

²² “Only a few years will pass
    before I take the path of no return.^(FL)

³ “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.^(FR)
    Who else will put up security^(FS) for me?^(FT)
4 You have closed their minds to understanding;^(FU)
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
⁵ If anyone denounces their friends for reward,^(FV)
    the eyes of their children will fail.^(FW)

⁶ “God has made me a byword^(FX) to everyone,^(FY)
    a man in whose face people spit.^(FZ)
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;^(GA)
    my whole frame is but a shadow.^(GB)
8 The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused^(GC) against the ungodly.
⁹ Nevertheless, the righteous^(GD) will hold to their ways,
    and those with clean hands^(GE) will grow stronger.^(GF)

¹⁰ “But come on, all of you, try again!
    I will not find a wise man among you.^(GG)
11 My days have passed,^(GH) my plans are shattered.
    Yet the desires of my heart^(GI)
12 turn night into day;^(GJ)
    in the face of the darkness light is near.^(GK)
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,^(GL)
    if I spread out my bed^(GM) in the realm of darkness,^(GN)
14 if I say to corruption,^(GO) ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm,^(GP) ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
¹⁵ where then is my hope—^(GQ)
    who can see any hope for me?^(GR)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?^(GS)
    Will we descend together into the dust?”^(GT)