Job 12-15
New American Standard Bible
Job Chides His Accusers
12 Then Job responded,
2 “Truly then (A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
3 But (B)I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And [a]who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a (C)joke to [b]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and (D)blameless man is a joke.
5 [c]He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 The (E)tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God (F)are secure,
[d]Whom God brings (G)into their power.
7 “But just ask the animals, and have them teach you;
And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you;
And have the fish of the sea tell you.
9 Who among all these does not know
That (H)the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 (I)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And (J)the breath of all mankind?
11 Does (K)the ear not put words to the test,
As the palate [e]tastes its food?
12 Wisdom is with the (L)aged,
And with [f]long life comes understanding.
Job Speaks of the Power of God
13 “(M)Wisdom and (N)might are with Him;
Advice and (O)understanding belong to Him.
14 Behold, He (P)tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He [g](Q)imprisons a person, and [h]there is no release.
15 Behold, He (R)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He (S)sends them out, and they [i]inundate the earth.
16 Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.
One who (T)goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.
17 He makes (U)advisers walk [j]barefoot
And makes fools of (V)judges.
18 He (W)undoes the binding of kings,
And ties a loincloth around their waist.
19 He makes priests walk [k]barefoot,
And overthrows (X)the secure ones.
20 He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And (Y)takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 He (Z)pours contempt on nobles,
And (AA)loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He (AB)reveals mysteries from the darkness,
And brings the deep darkness into light.
23 He (AC)makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He [l]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 He (AD)deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of [m]intelligence
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
25 They (AE)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them (AF)stagger like a drunken person.
Job Says His Friends’ Proverbs Are Ashes
13 “(AG)Behold, my eye has seen all this,
My ear has heard and understood it.
2 (AH)What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 “But (AI)I would speak to [n]the Almighty,
And I desire to (AJ)argue with God.
4 But you (AK)smear me with lies;
You are all (AL)worthless physicians.
5 Oh that you would (AM)be completely silent,
And that it would become your wisdom!
6 Please hear my argument,
And give your attention to the contentions of my lips.
7 Will you (AN)speak what is unjust for God,
And speak what is deceitful for Him?
8 Will you (AO)show partiality for Him?
Will you contend for God?
9 Will it go well when He examines you?
Or (AP)will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?
10 He will certainly punish you
If you secretly (AQ)show partiality.
11 Will (AR)His [o]majesty not terrify you,
And the dread of Him fall upon you?
12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes,
Your defenses are defenses of clay.
Job Is Sure He Will Be Vindicated
13 “(AS)Be silent before me so that I may speak;
Then let come upon me what may.
14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth,
And (AT)put my life in my [p]hands?
15 (AU)Though He slay me,
I will [q]hope in Him.
Nevertheless I (AV)will argue my ways [r]before Him.
16 This also will be my (AW)salvation,
For (AX)a godless person cannot come before His presence.
17 Listen carefully to my speech,
And let my declaration fill your ears.
18 Behold now, I have (AY)prepared my case;
I know that (AZ)I will be vindicated.
19 (BA)Who could contend with me?
For then I would be silent and (BB)die.
20 “Only two things I ask that You do not do to me,
Then I will not hide from Your face:
21 (BC)Remove Your [s]hand from me,
And may the dread of You not terrify me.
22 Then call and (BD)I will answer;
Or let me speak, then reply to me.
23 (BE)How many are my guilty deeds and sins?
Make known to me my wrongdoing and my sin.
24 Why do You (BF)hide Your face
And consider me (BG)Your enemy?
25 Will You scare away a (BH)scattered leaf?
Or will You pursue the dry (BI)chaff?
26 For You write (BJ)bitter things against me
And (BK)make me inherit the guilty deeds of my youth.
27 You (BL)put my feet in the stocks
And watch all my paths;
You [t]set a limit for the soles of my feet,
28 While [u]I am decaying like a (BM)rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
Job Speaks of the Finality of Death
14 “(BN)Man, who is born of woman,
Is [v]short-lived and (BO)full of turmoil.
2 (BP)Like a flower he comes out and withers.
He also flees like (BQ)a shadow and does not remain.
3 You also (BR)open Your eyes on him
And (BS)bring [w]him into judgment with Yourself.
4 (BT)Who can make the clean out of the unclean?
No one!
5 Since his days are determined,
The (BU)number of his months is with You;
And You have [x]set his limits so that he cannot pass.
6 (BV)Look away from him so that he may [y]rest,
Until he [z]fulfills his day like a hired worker.
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And its shoots will not [aa]fail.
8 Though its roots grow old in the ground,
And its stump dies in the dry soil,
9 At the scent of water it will flourish
And produce sprigs like a plant.
10 But (BW)a man dies and lies prostrate.
A person (BX)passes away, and where is he?
11 As (BY)water [ab]evaporates from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dried up,
12 So (BZ)a man lies down and does not rise.
Until the heavens no longer exist,
[ac]He will not awake nor be woken from [ad]his sleep.
13 “Oh that You would hide me in [ae]Sheol,
That You would conceal me (CA)until Your wrath returns to You,
That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my struggle I will wait
Until my relief comes.
15 You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for (CB)the work of Your hands.
16 For now You (CC)number my steps,
You do not (CD)observe my sin.
17 My wrongdoing is (CE)sealed up in a bag,
And You cover over my [af]guilt.
18 “But the falling mountain [ag]crumbles away,
And the rock moves from its place;
19 Water wears away stones,
Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;
So You (CF)destroy a man’s hope.
20 You forever overpower him and he (CG)departs;
You change his appearance and send him away.
21 His sons achieve honor, but (CH)he does not know it;
Or they become insignificant, and he does not perceive it.
22 However, his [ah]body pains him,
And his soul mourns for himself.”
Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,
(CI)And fill [ai]himself with the east wind?
3 Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which do not benefit?
4 Indeed, you do away with [aj]reverence,
And hinder meditation before God.
5 For (CJ)your wrongdoing teaches your mouth,
And you choose the language of (CK)the cunning.
6 Your (CL)own mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips testify against you.
7 “Were you the first person to be born,
Or (CM)were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you hear the (CN)secret discussion of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?
9 (CO)What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that [ak]we do not?
10 Both the (CP)gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
11 Are (CQ)the consolations of God too little for you,
Or the (CR)word spoken gently to you?
12 Why does your (CS)heart take you away?
And why do your eyes wink,
13 That you can turn your spirit against God
And produce such words from your mouth?
14 What is man, that (CT)he would be pure,
Or (CU)he who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?
15 Behold, He has no trust in His (CV)holy ones,
And the (CW)heavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is (CX)detestable and corrupt:
A person who (CY)drinks [al]malice like water!
What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life
17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;
18 What wise people have told,
And have not concealed from (CZ)their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked person writhes (DA)in pain all his days,
And the [am]years (DB)reserved for the ruthless are numbered.
21 [an]Sounds of (DC)terror are in his ears;
(DD)While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will (DE)return from darkness,
And he is destined for (DF)the sword.
23 He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of (DG)darkness is [ao]at hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God,
And is (DH)arrogant toward [ap]the Almighty.
26 He rushes [aq]headlong at Him
With his [ar]massive shield.
27 For he has (DI)covered his face with his fat,
And [as]put fat on his waist.
28 He has (DJ)lived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become [at]ruins.
29 He (DK)will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his property will not stretch out on the earth.
30 He will (DL)not [au]escape from darkness;
The (DM)flame will dry up his shoot,
And he will go away by (DN)the breath of His mouth.
31 Let him not (DO)trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For his [av]reward will be emptiness.
32 It will be accomplished (DP)before his time,
And his palm (DQ)branch will not be green.
33 He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will (DR)cast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 For the company of (DS)the godless is barren,
And fire consumes (DT)the tents of [aw]the corrupt.
35 They (DU)conceive [ax]harm and give birth to wrongdoing,
And their [ay]mind prepares deception.”
Footnotes
- Job 12:3 Lit with whom is there not like these?
- Job 12:4 Lit his
- Job 12:5 Lit Contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease
- Job 12:6 Or He who brings God into his hand.
- Job 12:11 Lit tastes food for itself
- Job 12:12 Lit length of days
- Job 12:14 Lit shuts against
- Job 12:14 Lit it is not opened
- Job 12:15 Lit overturn
- Job 12:17 Or stripped
- Job 12:19 Or stripped
- Job 12:23 Or spreads out
- Job 12:24 Lit heart
- Job 13:3 Heb Shaddai
- Job 13:11 Lit exaltation
- Job 13:14 Lit palm
- Job 13:15 Lit wait for
- Job 13:15 Lit to His face
- Job 13:21 Lit palm
- Job 13:27 Lit carve for
- Job 13:28 Lit he is
- Job 14:1 Lit short of days
- Job 14:3 As in some ancient versions; MT me
- Job 14:5 Lit made
- Job 14:6 Lit cease
- Job 14:6 Lit makes acceptable
- Job 14:7 Or cease
- Job 14:11 Lit disappears
- Job 14:12 Lit They
- Job 14:12 Lit their
- Job 14:13 I.e., the netherworld
- Job 14:17 Or unjust deed
- Job 14:18 Lit withers
- Job 14:22 Lit flesh
- Job 15:2 Lit his belly
- Job 15:4 Lit fear
- Job 15:9 Lit is not within us?
- Job 15:16 Or injustice
- Job 15:20 Lit number of years are reserved for
- Job 15:21 Lit A sound of terrors is
- Job 15:23 Lit ready at his hand
- Job 15:25 Heb Shaddai
- Job 15:26 Lit with a stiff neck
- Job 15:26 Lit thick-bossed shields
- Job 15:27 Lit made
- Job 15:28 Or heaps
- Job 15:30 Lit turn aside
- Job 15:31 Lit exchange
- Job 15:34 Lit a bribe
- Job 15:35 Or pain
- Job 15:35 Lit belly
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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