Job 6-20

Holman Christian Standard Bible

² If only my grief could be weighed
and my devastation^(A) placed with it in the scales.^(B)
3 For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!
That is why my words are rash.
⁴ Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced^[a] me;
my spirit drinks their poison.
God’s terrors are arrayed against me.^(C)
5 Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass
or an ox low over its fodder?
⁶ Is bland food eaten without salt?
Is there flavor in an egg white?^[b]
7 I refuse to touch them;
they are like contaminated food.^(D)

⁸ If only my request would be granted
and God would provide what I hope for:
⁹ that He would decide to crush me,
to unleash His power and cut me off!
¹⁰ It would still bring me comfort,
and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain
that I have not denied^[c] the words of the Holy One.^(E)

¹¹ What strength do I have that I should continue to hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?
¹² Is my strength that of stone,
or my flesh made of bronze?
¹³ Since I cannot help myself,
the hope for success has been banished from me.

¹⁴ A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,^[d](F)
even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,
as seasonal streams that overflow
¹⁶ and become darkened^[e] because of ice,
and the snow melts into them.
¹⁷ The wadis evaporate in warm weather;
they disappear from their channels in hot weather.
¹⁸ Caravans turn away from their routes,
go up into the desert, and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for these streams.
The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.
²⁰ They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water.
When they arrive there, they are frustrated.^(G)
21 So this is what you have now become to me.^[f]
When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.
²² Have I ever said: “Give me something”
or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”
²³ or “Deliver me from the enemy’s power”
or “Redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless”?

²⁴ Teach me, and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I did wrong.
²⁵ How painful honest words can be!
But what does your rebuke prove?
²⁶ Do you think that you can disprove my words
or that a despairing man’s words are mere wind?^(H)
27 No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child
and negotiate a price to sell your friend.^(I)

²⁸ But now, please look at me;
would I lie to your face?^(J)
29 Reconsider; don’t be unjust.
Reconsider; my righteousness^(K) is still the issue.
³⁰ Is there injustice on my tongue
or can my palate not taste disaster?^(L)

7 Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor^(M) on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
² Like a slave he longs for shade;
like a hired man he waits for his pay.
³ So I have been made to inherit months of futility,
and troubled nights have been assigned to me.^(N)
4 When I lie down I think:
When will I get up?
But the evening drags on endlessly,
and I toss and turn until dawn.
⁵ My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt.^[g]
My skin forms scabs^[h] and then oozes.^(O)

⁶ My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.^(P)
7 Remember that my life is but a breath.
My eye will never again see anything good.^(Q)
8 The eye of anyone who looks on me
will no longer see me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.^(R)
9 As a cloud fades away and vanishes,
so the one who goes down to Sheol^(S) will never rise again.
¹⁰ He will never return to his house;
his hometown will no longer remember^[i] him.^(T)

¹¹ Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
¹² Am I the sea^[j](U) or a sea monster,^(V)
that You keep me under guard?
¹³ When I say: My bed will comfort me,
and my couch will ease my complaint,
¹⁴ then You frighten me with dreams,
and terrify me with visions,^(W)
15 so that I prefer strangling^[k]—
death rather than life in this body.^[l](X)
16 I give up! I will not live forever.
Leave me alone,^(Y) for my days are a breath.^[m]

¹⁷ What is man, that You think so highly of him
and pay so much attention to him?^(Z)
18 You inspect him every morning,
and put him to the test every moment.^(AA)
19 Will You ever look away from me,
or leave me alone long enough to swallow?^[n]
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,^(AB)
so that I have become a burden to You?^[o]
21 Why not forgive my sin
and pardon my transgression?^(AC)
For soon I will lie down in the grave.^(AD)
You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.^(AE)

² How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words^(AF) are a blast of wind.^(AG)
3 Does God pervert justice?^(AH)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?^(AI)
4 Since your children sinned against Him,
He gave them over to their rebellion.
⁵ But if you earnestly seek^(AJ) God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,^(AK)
6 if you are pure and upright,
then He will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.^(AL)
7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.^(AM)

⁸ For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,^(AN)
9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are but a shadow.^(AO)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and speak from their understanding?
¹¹ Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Do reeds flourish without water?
¹² While still uncut shoots,
they would dry up quicker than any other plant.
¹³ Such is the destiny^[p] of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless^(AP) will perish.
¹⁴ His source of confidence is fragile;^[q]
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.^(AQ)
15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.
¹⁶ He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;
his shoots spread out over his garden.
¹⁷ His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.
¹⁸ If he is uprooted^[r] from his place,
it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”^(AR)
19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.
²⁰ Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and He will not support evildoers.^(AS)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.^(AT)
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame;^(AU)
the tent^(AV) of the wicked will exist no longer.

² Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?^(AW)
3 If one wanted to take^(AX) Him to court,
he could not answer God^[s] once in a thousand times.^(AY)
4 God is wise^(AZ) and all-powerful.
Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?
⁵ He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overturning them in His anger.^(BA)
6 He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.
⁷ He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.^(BB)
8 He alone stretches out the heavens^(BC)
and treads on the waves of the sea.^[t]
9 He makes the stars: the Bear,^[u] Orion,
the Pleiades,^(BD) and the constellations^[v] of the southern sky.
¹⁰ He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.^(BE)
11 If He passes by me, I wouldn’t see Him;^(BF)
if He goes right by, I wouldn’t recognize Him.
¹² If He snatches something, who can stop^[w] Him?
Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?”^(BG)
13 God does not hold back His anger;
Rahab’s^(BH) assistants cringe in fear beneath Him!

¹⁴ How then can I answer Him
or choose my arguments against Him?
¹⁵ Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.^(BI)
16 If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.
¹⁷ He batters me with a whirlwind^(BJ)
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
¹⁸ He doesn’t let me catch my breath
but soaks me with bitter experiences.
¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One!^(BK)
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon^(BL) Him?^[x]
20 Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;^(BM)
if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.

²¹ Though I am blameless,
I no longer care about myself;
I renounce my life.^(BN)
22 It is all the same. Therefore I say,
“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”^(BO)
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
He mocks the despair of the innocent.
²⁴ The earth^[y] is handed over to the wicked;
He blindfolds^[z] its judges.^(BP)
If it isn’t He, then who is it?

²⁵ My days fly by faster than a runner;^[aa](BQ)
they flee without seeing any good.^(BR)
26 They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.^(BS)
27 If I said, “I will forget my complaint,
change my expression, and smile,”
²⁸ I would still live in terror of all my pains.^(BT)
I know You will not acquit me.^(BU)
29 Since I will be found guilty,^(BV)
why should I labor in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
³¹ then You dip me in a pit of mud,
and my own clothes despise me!

³² For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,^(BW)
that we can take each other to court.
³³ There is no one to judge between us,
to lay his hand on both of us.
³⁴ Let Him take His rod away from me
so His terror will no longer frighten me.^(BX)
35 Then I would speak and not fear Him.
But that is not the case; I am on my own.

10 I am disgusted with my life.^(BY)
I will express my complaint
and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
² I will say to God:
“Do not declare me guilty!
Let me know why You prosecute me.
³ Is it good for You to oppress,
to reject the work of Your hands,
and favor^[ab] the plans of the wicked?
⁴ Do You have eyes of flesh,
or do You see as a human sees?
⁵ Are Your days like those of a human,
or Your years like those of a man,^(BZ)
6 that You look for my wrongdoing^(CA)
and search for my sin,
⁷ even though You know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

⁸ “Your hands shaped me and formed me.
Will You now turn and destroy me?
⁹ Please remember that You formed me like clay.
Will You now return me to dust?^(CB)
10 Did You not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
¹¹ You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and wove me together with bones and tendons.
¹² You gave me life and faithful love,
and Your care has guarded my life.

¹³ “Yet You concealed these thoughts in Your heart;
I know that this was Your hidden plan:^[ac]
14 if I sin, You would notice,^[ad]
and would not acquit me of my wrongdoing.^(CC)
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am filled with shame
and aware of my affliction.^(CD)
16 If I am proud,^[ae] You hunt me like a lion
and again display Your miraculous power against me.^(CE)
17 You produce new witnesses^[af] against me
and multiply Your anger toward me.
Hardships assault me, wave after wave.^[ag]

¹⁸ “Why did You bring me out of the womb?^(CF)
I should have died and never been seen.
¹⁹ I wish^[ah] I had never existed
but had been carried from the womb to the grave.^(CG)
20 Are my days not few? Stop it!^[ai]
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little
²¹ before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,^(CH)
never to return.
²² It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like^[aj] the darkness.”

² Should this stream of words^(CI) go unanswered
and such a talker^[ak] be acquitted?
³ Should your babbling put others to silence,
so that you can keep on ridiculing
with no one to humiliate you?
⁴ You have said, “My teaching^(CJ) is sound,
and I am pure in Your sight.”
⁵ But if only God would speak
and declare His case^[al] against you,
⁶ He would show you the secrets of wisdom,^(CK)
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your sin.^(CL)

⁷ Can you fathom the depths of God
or discover the limits of the Almighty?^(CM)
8 They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?^(CN)
9 Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

¹⁰ If He passes by and throws someone in prison
or convenes a court, who can stop Him?^(CO)
11 Surely He knows which people are worthless.
If He sees iniquity, will He not take note of it?^(CP)
12 But a stupid man will gain understanding
as soon as a wild donkey is born a man!

¹³ As for you, if you redirect your heart
and lift up your hands to Him in prayer—
¹⁴ if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—
¹⁵ then you will hold your head high, free from fault.
You will be firmly established and unafraid.^(CQ)
16 For you will forget your suffering,
recalling it only as waters that have flowed by.
¹⁷ Your life will be brighter than noonday;
its darkness^[am] will be like the morning.^(CR)
18 You will be confident, because there is hope.^(CS)
You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.^(CT)

¹⁹ You will lie down without fear,
and many will seek your favor.^(CU)
20 But the sight of the wicked^(CV) will fail.
Their way of escape will be cut off,
and their only hope is their last breath.^(CW)

² No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!
³ But I also have a mind;
I am not inferior to you.
Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?^[an](CX)

⁴ I am a laughingstock to my^[ao] friends,
by calling on God, who answers me.^[ap]
The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.^(CY)
5 The one who is at ease^(CZ) holds calamity in contempt
and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.
⁶ The tents of robbers are safe,^(DA)
and those who provoke God are secure;
God’s power provides this.^[aq](DB)

⁷ But ask the animals, and they will instruct you;
ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.^(DC)
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you;
let the fish of the sea inform you.
⁹ Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?^(DD)
10 The life of every living thing is in His hand,
as well as the breath of all mankind.^(DE)
11 Doesn’t the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
¹² Wisdom is found with the elderly,
and understanding comes with long life.^(DF)

¹³ Wisdom and strength belong to God;
counsel and understanding are His.^(DG)
14 Whatever He tears down cannot be rebuilt;
whoever He imprisons cannot be released.^(DH)
15 When He withholds the waters, everything dries up,
and when He releases them, they destroy the land.^(DI)
16 True wisdom and power belong to Him.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
¹⁷ He leads counselors away barefoot
and makes judges go mad.^(DJ)
18 He releases the bonds^[ar] put on by kings^(DK)
and fastens a belt around their waists.
¹⁹ He leads priests away barefoot
and overthrows established leaders.^(DL)
20 He deprives trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the elders’ good judgment.
²¹ He pours out contempt on nobles
and disarms^[as] the strong.
²² He reveals mysteries from the darkness
and brings the deepest darkness into the light.^(DM)
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges nations,^(DN) then leads them away.
²⁴ He deprives the world’s leaders of reason,
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.^(DO)
25 They grope around in darkness without light;
He makes them stagger like drunken men.^(DP)

13 Look, my eyes have seen all this;
my ears^(DQ) have heard and understood it.
² Everything you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.^(DR)
3 Yet I prefer to speak to the Almighty
and argue my case before God.^(DS)
4 But you coat the truth with lies;
you are all worthless doctors.^(DT)
5 If only you would shut up
and let that be your wisdom!

⁶ Hear now my argument,
and listen to my defense.^[at]
7 Would you testify unjustly on God’s behalf
or speak deceitfully for Him?
⁸ Would you show partiality^(DU) to Him
or argue the case in His defense?
⁹ Would it go well if He examined you?
Could you deceive Him as you would deceive a man?^(DV)
10 Surely He would rebuke you
if you secretly showed partiality.
¹¹ Would God’s majesty not terrify you?^(DW)
Would His dread not fall on you?
¹² Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ash;^(DX)
your defenses are made of clay.

¹³ Be quiet,^[au] and I will speak.
Let whatever comes happen to me.
¹⁴ Why do I put myself at risk^[av]
and take my life in my own hands?
¹⁵ Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him.^[aw]
I will still defend^(DY) my ways before Him.
¹⁶ Yes, this will result in my deliverance,
for no godless person^(DZ) can appear before Him.
¹⁷ Pay close attention to my words;
let my declaration ring in your ears.
¹⁸ Now then, I have prepared my case;^(EA)
I know that I am right.
¹⁹ Can anyone indict me?
If so, I will be silent and die.

²⁰ Only grant these two things to me, God,
so that I will not have to hide from Your presence:
²¹ remove Your hand from me,
and do not let Your terror frighten me.^(EB)
22 Then call, and I will answer,^(EC)
or I will speak, and You can respond to me.
²³ How many iniquities^(ED) and sins have I committed?^[ax]
Reveal to me my transgression and sin.
²⁴ Why do You hide Your face
and consider me Your enemy?^(EE)
25 Will You frighten a wind-driven leaf?
Will You chase after dry straw?
²⁶ For You record bitter accusations against me
and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
²⁷ You put my feet in the stocks
and stand watch over all my paths,
setting a limit for the soles^[ay] of my feet.

²⁸ Man wears out like something rotten,
like a moth-eaten garment.^(EF)

14 Man born of woman
is short of days and full of trouble.^(EG)
2 He blossoms like a flower, then withers;^(EH)
he flees like a shadow and does not last.
³ Do You really take notice of one like this?
Will You bring me into judgment against You?^[az](EI)
4 Who can produce something pure from what is impure?
No one!
⁵ Since man’s days are determined
and the number of his months depends on You,
and since You have set^[ba] limits he cannot pass,^(EJ)
6 look away from him and let him rest
so that he can enjoy his day like a hired hand.^(EK)

⁷ There is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its shoots will not die.
⁸ If its roots grow old in the ground
and its stump starts to die in the soil,
⁹ the smell of water makes it thrive
and produce twigs like a sapling.^(EL)
10 But a man dies and fades away;
he breathes his last—where is he?
¹¹ As water disappears from the sea
and a river becomes parched and dry,
¹² so man lies down never to rise again.
They will not wake up until the heavens are no more;^(EM)
they will not stir from their sleep.

¹³ If only You would hide me in Sheol^(EN)
and conceal me until Your anger^(EO) passes.
If only You would appoint a time for me
and then remember me.
¹⁴ When a man dies, will he come back to life?
If so, I would wait^(EP) all the days of my struggle^(EQ)
until my relief comes.
¹⁵ You would call, and I would answer You.
You would long for the work of Your hands.^(ER)
16 For then You would count my steps^(ES)
but would not take note^(ET) of my sin.
¹⁷ My rebellion would be sealed up in a bag,
and You would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸ But as a mountain collapses and crumbles
and a rock is dislodged from its place,
¹⁹ as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil from the land,
so You destroy a man’s hope.^(EU)
20 You completely overpower him, and he passes on;
You change his appearance and send him away.
²¹ If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;
if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it.^(EV)
22 He feels only the pain of his own body
and mourns only for himself.

² Does a wise man answer with empty^[bb] counsel^(EW)
or fill himself^[bc] with the hot east wind?
³ Should he argue^(EX) with useless talk
or with words that serve no good purpose?
⁴ But you even undermine the fear of God
and hinder meditation before Him.
⁵ Your iniquity^(EY) teaches you what to say,
and you choose the language of the crafty.
⁶ Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.^(EZ)

⁷ Were you the first person ever born,
or were you brought forth before the hills?^(FA)
8 Do you listen in on the council of God,
or have a monopoly on wisdom?^(FB)
9 What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
¹⁰ Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us,
men older than your father.
¹¹ Are God’s consolations not enough for you,
even the words that deal gently with you?
¹² Why has your heart misled you,
and why do your eyes flash
¹³ as you turn your anger^[bd] against God
and allow such words to leave your mouth?

¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure,^(FC)
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
¹⁵ If God puts no trust in His holy ones^(FD)
and the heavens are not pure in His sight,^(FE)
16 how much less one who is revolting and corrupt,^(FF)
who drinks injustice^(FG) like water?

¹⁷ Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,
¹⁸ what was declared by wise men
and was not suppressed by their ancestors,^(FH)
19 the land was given to them alone
when no foreigner passed among them.
²⁰ A wicked man writhes in pain all his days;
only a few^[be] years are reserved for the ruthless.
²¹ Dreadful sounds fill his ears;
when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.
²² He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;
he is destined for the sword.^(FI)
23 He wanders about for food, saying, “Where is it?”
He knows the day of darkness is at hand.
²⁴ Trouble^(FJ) and distress terrify him,
overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.
²⁵ For he has stretched out his hand^(FK) against God
and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.
²⁶ He rushes headlong at Him
with his thick, studded shields.
²⁷ Though his face is covered with fat^[bf]
and his waistline bulges with it,
²⁸ he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.^(FL)
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions^[bg] will not increase in the land.
³⁰ He will not escape from the darkness;
flames will wither his shoots,
and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.^(FM)
31 Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.
³² It will be accomplished before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.
³³ He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes^(FN)
and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
³⁴ For the company of the godless^(FO) will have no children,
and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.
³⁵ They conceive trouble^(FP) and give birth to evil;
their womb^(FQ) prepares deception.^(FR)

² I have heard many things like these.
You are all miserable comforters.^(FS)
3 Is there no end to your empty^[bh](FT) words?
What provokes you that you continue testifying?
⁴ If you were in my place I could also talk like you.
I could string words together against you
and shake my head at you.
⁵ Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth,
and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.^(FU)

⁶ Even if I speak, my suffering is not relieved,
and if I hold back, what have I lost?
⁷ Surely He^[bi] has now exhausted me.
You have devastated my entire family.
⁸ You have shriveled me up^[bj]—it has become a witness;
My frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face.
⁹ His anger tears at me, and He harasses^(FV) me.
He gnashes His teeth at me.
My enemy pierces me with His eyes.
¹⁰ They open their mouths against me
and strike my cheeks with contempt;^(FW)
they join themselves together against me.
¹¹ God hands me over to unjust men;^[bk]
He throws me into the hands of the wicked.
¹² I was at ease, but He shattered me;
He seized me by the scruff of the neck
and smashed me to pieces.
He set me up as His target;^(FX)
13 His archers^[bl] surround me.
He pierces my kidneys without mercy
and pours my bile on the ground.
¹⁴ He breaks through my defenses again and again;^[bm]
He charges at me like a warrior.^(FY)

¹⁵ I have sewn sackcloth over my skin;
I have buried my strength^[bn] in the dust.^(FZ)
16 My face has grown red with weeping,
and darkness^(GA) covers my eyes,
¹⁷ although my hands are free from violence^(GB)
and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ Earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry for help find no resting place.^(GC)
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is in the heights!^(GD)
20 My friends scoff at me
as I weep before God.
²¹ I wish that someone might arbitrate
between a man and God^(GE)
just as a man pleads for his friend.
²² For only a few years will pass
before I go the way of no return.

17 My spirit is broken.
My days are extinguished.
A graveyard^(GF) awaits me.
² Surely mockers surround^[bo] me
and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.^(GG)

³ Make arrangements! Put up security for me.^[bp](GH)
Who else will be my sponsor?^[bq]
4 You have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore You will not honor them.
⁵ If a man informs on his friends for a price,
the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶ He has made me an object of scorn to the people;
I have become a man people spit at.^[br](GI)
7 My eyes have grown dim from grief,
and my whole body has become but a shadow.
⁸ The upright are appalled^(GJ) at this,
and the innocent are roused against the godless.
⁹ Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,
and the one whose hands are clean^(GK) will grow stronger.
¹⁰ But come back and try again, all of you.^[bs]
I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹ My days have slipped by;
my plans have been ruined,
even the things dear to my heart.
¹² They turned night into day
and made light seem near in the face of darkness.^(GL)
13 If I await Sheol as my home,
spread out my bed in darkness,
¹⁴ and say to corruption: You are my father,
and to the maggot: My mother or my sister,^(GM)
15 where then is my hope?^(GN)
Who can see any hope for me?
¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of Sheol,^(GO)
or will we descend together to the dust?

² How long until you stop talking?
Show some sense, and then we can talk.
³ Why are we regarded as cattle,
as stupid in your sight?
⁴ You who tear yourself in anger^[bt]—
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?

⁵ Yes, the light^(GQ) of the wicked^(GR) is extinguished;
the flame of his fire does not glow.
⁶ The light in his tent grows dark,^(GS)
and the lamp beside him is put out.
⁷ His powerful stride is shortened,
and his own schemes trip him up.^(GT)
8 For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.
⁹ A trap catches him by the heel;
a noose seizes him.
¹⁰ A rope lies hidden for him on the ground,
and a snare waits for him along the path.
¹¹ Terrors frighten him on every side^(GU)
and harass him at every step.
¹² His strength is depleted;
disaster lies ready for him to stumble.^[bu]
13 Parts of his skin are eaten away;
death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.
¹⁴ He is ripped from the security of his tent
and marched away to the king of terrors.
¹⁵ Nothing he owned remains in his tent.
Burning sulfur^(GV) is scattered over his home.
¹⁶ His roots below dry up,
and his branches above wither away.^(GW)
17 All memory^(GX) of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name anywhere.^[bv]
18 He is driven from light to darkness
and chased from the inhabited world.
¹⁹ He has no children or descendants among his people,
no survivor where he used to live.^(GY)
20 Those in the west are appalled^(GZ) at his fate,
while those in the east tremble in horror.
²¹ Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,
and this is the place of the one who does not know God.^(HA)

² How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
³ You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat^[bw] me without shame.^(HB)
4 Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only^[bx] me.
⁵ If you really want to appear superior^(HC) to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
⁶ then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.^(HD)

⁷ I cry out: “Violence!” but get no response;^(HE)
I call for help, but there is no justice.
⁸ He has blocked^(HF) my way so that I cannot pass through;
He has veiled my paths with darkness.^(HG)
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
¹⁰ He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined.^[by]
He uproots my hope like a tree.^(HH)
11 His anger^(HI) burns against me,
and He regards me as one of His enemies.^(HJ)
12 His troops advance together;
they construct a ramp^[bz] against me
and camp^(HK) around my tent.

¹³ He has removed my brothers from me;
my acquaintances have abandoned me.^(HL)
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ My house guests^[ca] and female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.^(HM)
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.
¹⁷ My breath is offensive to my wife,
and my own family^[cb] finds me repulsive.
¹⁸ Even young boys scorn me.
When I stand up, they mock me.^(HN)
19 All of my best friends^[cc] despise me,^(HO)
and those I love have turned against me.^(HP)
20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹ Have mercy on me, my friends,^(HQ) have mercy,
for God’s hand^(HR) has struck me.^(HS)
22 Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³ I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
²⁴ or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
²⁵ But I know my living Redeemer,^[cd](HT)
and He will stand on the dust^[ce] at last.^[cf](HU)
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,^[cg]
yet I will see God in^[ch] my flesh.^(HV)
27 I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.^[ci]
My heart longs^[cj] within me.^(HW)

²⁸ If you say, “How will we pursue him,
since the root of the problem lies with him?”^[ck]
29 then be afraid of the sword,
because wrath brings punishment by the sword,^(HX)
so that you may know there is a judgment.

² This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset!^[cl]
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding^[cm] makes me reply.^(HZ)

⁴ Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time man was placed on earth,
⁵ the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?^(IA)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,^(IB)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know^[cn] him will ask, “Where is he?”^(IC)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.^(ID)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,^(IE)
and his household will no longer see him.^(IF)
10 His children will beg from^[co] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
¹¹ His bones may be full of youthful vigor,
but will lie down with him in the grave.^(IG)

¹² Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
¹³ though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,^(IH)
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
¹⁵ He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs^[cp] will kill him.^(II)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.^(IJ)
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
¹⁹ For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.^(IK)

²⁰ Because his appetite is never satisfied,^[cq]
he does not let anything he desires escape.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to consume;^(IL)
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
²² At the height of his success^[cr] distress will come to him;^(IM)
the full weight of misery^[cs] will crush him.
²³ When he fills his stomach,
God will send His burning anger against him,
raining^(IN) it down on him while he is eating.^[ct]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
²⁵ He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.^[cu]
Terrors come over him.^(IO)
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume^(IP) him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will expose his iniquity,^(IQ)
and the earth will rise up against him.^(IR)
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
²⁹ This is the wicked man’s lot^(IS) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.