Job Proclaims God’s Righteous Judgments

23 Then Job answered and said:

“Even today my (A)complaint is bitter;
[a]My hand is listless because of my groaning.
(B)Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!
I would present my case before Him,
And fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know the words which He would answer me,
And understand what He would say to me.
(C)Would He contend with me in His great power?
No! But He would take note of me.
There the upright could reason with Him,
And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

“Look,(D) I go forward, but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
10 But (E)He knows the way that I take;
When (F)He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 (G)My foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the (H)commandment of His lips;
(I)I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my [b]necessary food.

13 “But He is unique, and who can make Him change?
And whatever (J)His soul desires, that He does.
14 For He performs what is (K)appointed for me,
And many such things are with Him.
15 Therefore I am terrified at His presence;
When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.
16 For God (L)made my heart weak,
And the Almighty terrifies me;
17 Because I was not (M)cut off [c]from the presence of darkness,
And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

Job Complains of Violence on the Earth

24 Since (N)times are not hidden from the Almighty,
Why do those who know Him see not His (O)days?

Some remove (P)landmarks;
They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
They (Q)take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
They push the needy off the road;
All the (R)poor of the land are forced to hide.
Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,
They go out to their work, searching for food.
The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
They gather their fodder in the field
And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
They (S)spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And (T)huddle around the rock for want of shelter.

Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,
And take a pledge from the poor.
10 They cause the poor to go naked, without (U)clothing;
And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
11 They press out oil within their walls,
And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 The dying groan in the city,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

13 “There are those who rebel against the light;
They do not know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14 (V)The murderer rises with the light;
He kills the poor and needy;
And in the night he is like a thief.
15 (W)The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
(X)Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
And he [d]disguises his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses
Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;
(Y)They do not know the light.
17 For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death;
If someone recognizes them,
They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

18 “They should be swift on the face of the waters,
Their portion should be cursed in the earth,
So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat [e]consume the snow waters,
So [f]the grave consumes those who have sinned.
20 The womb should forget him,
The worm should feed sweetly on him;
(Z)He should be remembered no more,
And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
21 For he [g]preys on the barren who do not bear,
And does no good for the widow.

22 “But God draws the mighty away with His power;
He rises up, but no man is sure of life.
23 He gives them security, and they rely on it;
Yet (AA)His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while,
Then they are gone.
They are brought low;
They are [h]taken out of the way like all others;
They dry out like the heads of grain.

25 “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,
And make my speech worth nothing?”

Bildad: How Can Man Be Righteous?

25 Then (AB)Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

“Dominion and fear belong to Him;
He makes peace in His high places.
[i]Is there any number to His armies?
Upon whom does (AC)His light not rise?
(AD)How then can man be righteous before God?
Or how can he be (AE)pure who is born of a woman?
If even the moon does not shine,
And the stars are not pure in His (AF)sight,
How much less man, who is (AG)a maggot,
And a son of man, who is a worm?”

Job: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty

26 But Job answered and said:

“How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?
And how have you declared sound advice to many?
To whom have you uttered words?
And whose spirit came from you?

“The dead tremble,
Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
(AH)Sheol is naked before Him,
And Destruction has no covering.
(AI)He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
(AJ)He binds up the water in His thick clouds,
Yet the clouds [j]are not broken under it.
He covers the face of His throne,
And spreads His cloud over it.
10 (AK)He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble,
And are [k]astonished at His rebuke.
12 (AL)He stirs up the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He breaks up [l]the storm.
13 (AM)By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced (AN)the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

Job Maintains His Integrity

27 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

As God lives, (AO)who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die (AP)I will not put away my integrity from me.
My righteousness I (AQ)hold fast, and will not let it go;
(AR)My heart shall not [m]reproach me as long as I live.

“May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
(AS)For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?
(AT)Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?
10 (AU)Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?

11 “I will teach you [n]about the hand of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Surely all of you have seen it;
Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

13 “This(AV) is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:
14 (AW)If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
And (AX)their[o] widows shall not weep,
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust,
And piles up clothing like clay—
17 He may pile it up, but (AY)the just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 He builds his house like a [p]moth,
(AZ)Like a [q]booth which a watchman makes.
19 The rich man will lie down,
[r]But not be gathered up;
He opens his eyes,
And he is (BA)no more.
20 (BB)Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls against him and does not (BC)spare;
He flees desperately from its [s]power.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.

Footnotes

  1. Job 23:2 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. His
  2. Job 23:12 Lit. appointed portion
  3. Job 23:17 Or by or before
  4. Job 24:15 Lit. puts a covering on his face
  5. Job 24:19 Lit. seize
  6. Job 24:19 Or Sheol
  7. Job 24:21 Lit. feeds on
  8. Job 24:24 Lit. gathered up
  9. Job 25:3 Can His armies be counted?
  10. Job 26:8 do not break
  11. Job 26:11 amazed
  12. Job 26:12 Heb. rahab
  13. Job 27:6 reprove
  14. Job 27:11 Or by
  15. Job 27:15 Lit. his
  16. Job 27:18 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr. spider (cf. 8:14); Tg. decay
  17. Job 27:18 Temporary shelter
  18. Job 27:19 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr. But shall not add (i.e., do it again); Vg. But take away nothing
  19. Job 27:22 Lit. hand

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