Old/New Testament
II. Job’s Dialogue With His Friends (3:1-27:23)[a]
Job Regrets His Birth
3 After this Job opened his mouth[b] and cursed[c] the day he was born.[d] 2 Job spoke up[e] and said:
3 “Let the day on which[f] I was born[g] perish,
and the night that said,[h]
‘A man[i] has been conceived!’[j]
4 That day[k]—let it be darkness;[l]
let not God on high regard[m] it,
nor let light shine[n] on it!
5 Let darkness and the deepest shadow[o] claim it;[p]
let a cloud settle on it;
let whatever blackens the day[q] terrify it.
6 That night—let darkness seize[r] it;
let it not be included[s] among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months![t]
7 Indeed,[u] let that night be barren;[v]
let no shout of joy[w] penetrate[x] it!
8 Let those who curse the day[y] curse it[z]—
those who are prepared to rouse[aa] Leviathan.[ab]
9 Let its morning stars[ac] be darkened;
let it wait[ad] for daylight but find none,[ae]
nor let it see the first rays[af] of dawn,
10 because it[ag] did not shut the doors[ah] of my mother’s womb on me,[ai]
nor did it hide trouble[aj] from my eyes.
Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth[ak]
11 “Why did I not[al] die[am] at birth,[an]
and why did I not expire
as[ao] I came out of the womb?
12 Why did the knees welcome me,[ap]
and why were there[aq] two breasts[ar]
that I might nurse at them?[as]
13 For now[at] I would be lying down
and[au] would be quiet,[av]
I would be asleep and then at peace[aw]
14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who built for themselves places now desolate,[ax]
15 or with princes who possessed gold,[ay]
who filled their palaces[az] with silver.
16 Or why[ba] was[bb] I not buried[bc]
like a stillborn infant,[bd]
like infants[be] who have never seen the light?[bf]
17 There[bg] the wicked[bh] cease[bi] from turmoil,[bj]
and there the weary[bk] are at rest.
18 There[bl] the prisoners[bm] relax[bn] together;[bo]
they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.[bp]
19 Small and great are[bq] there,
and the slave is free[br] from his master.[bs]
Longing for Death[bt]
20 “Why does God[bu] give[bv] light to one who is in misery,[bw]
and life to those[bx] whose soul is bitter,
21 to[by] those who wait[bz] for death that[ca] does not come,
and search for it[cb]
more than for hidden treasures,
22 who rejoice[cc] even to jubilation,[cd]
and are exultant[ce] when[cf] they find the grave?[cg]
23 Why is light given[ch] to a man[ci]
whose way is hidden,[cj]
and whom God has hedged in?[ck]
24 For my sighing comes in place of[cl] my food,[cm]
and my groanings[cn] flow forth like water.[co]
25 For the very thing I dreaded[cp] has happened[cq] to me,
and what I feared has come upon me.[cr]
26 I have no ease,[cs] I have no quietness;
I cannot rest;[ct] turmoil has come upon me.”[cu]
Eliphaz Begins to Speak[cv]
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:[cw]
2 “If someone[cx] should attempt[cy] a word with you,
will you be impatient?[cz]
But who can refrain from speaking?[da]
3 Look,[db] you have instructed[dc] many;
you have strengthened[dd] feeble hands.[de]
4 Your words have supported[df] those
who stumbled,[dg]
and you have strengthened the knees
that gave way.[dh]
5 But now the same thing[di] comes to you,
and you are discouraged;[dj]
it strikes you,
and you are terrified.[dk]
6 Is not your piety[dl] your confidence,[dm]
and your blameless ways your hope?[dn]
7 Call to mind now:[do]
Who,[dp] being innocent, ever perished?[dq]
And where were upright people[dr] ever destroyed?[ds]
8 Even as I have seen,[dt] those who plow[du] iniquity[dv]
and those who sow trouble reap the same.[dw]
9 By the breath[dx] of God they perish,[dy]
and by the blast[dz] of his anger they are consumed.
10 There is[ea] the roaring of the lion[eb]
and the growling[ec] of the young lion,
but the teeth of the young lions are broken.[ed]
11 The mighty lion[ee] perishes[ef] for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness[eg] are scattered.
Ungodly Complainers Provoke God’s Wrath
12 “Now a word[eh] was stealthily brought[ei] to me,
and my ear caught[ej] a whisper[ek] of it.
13 In the troubling thoughts[el] of the dreams[em] in the night
when a deep sleep[en] falls on men,
14 dread[eo] gripped me and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.[ep]
15 Then a breath of air[eq] passes[er] by my face;
it makes[es] the hair of my flesh stand up.
16 It stands still,[et]
but I cannot recognize[eu] its appearance;
an image is before my eyes,
and I hear a murmuring voice:[ev]
17 ‘Is[ew] a mortal man[ex] righteous[ey] before[ez] God?
Or a man pure[fa] before his Creator?[fb]
18 If[fc] God[fd] puts no trust in[fe] his servants[ff]
and attributes[fg] folly[fh] to his angels,
19 how much more to those who live in houses of clay,[fi]
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed[fj] like[fk] a moth?
20 They are destroyed[fl] between morning and evening;[fm]
they perish forever[fn] without anyone regarding it.[fo]
21 Is not their excess wealth[fp] taken away from them?[fq]
They die,[fr] yet without attaining wisdom.’[fs]
44 Our ancestors[a] had the tabernacle[b] of testimony in the wilderness,[c] just as God[d] who spoke to Moses ordered him[e] to make it according to the design he had seen. 45 Our[f] ancestors[g] received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors,[h] until the time[i] of David. 46 He[j] found favor[k] with[l] God and asked that he could[m] find a dwelling place[n] for the house[o] of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built a house[p] for him. 48 Yet the Most High[q] does not live in houses made by human hands,[r] as the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
and earth is the footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is my resting place?[s]
50 Did my hand[t] not make all these things?’[u]
51 “You stubborn[v] people, with uncircumcised[w] hearts and ears![x] You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors[y] did! 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors[z] not persecute?[aa] They[ab] killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One,[ac] whose betrayers and murderers you have now become![ad] 53 You[ae] received the law by decrees given by angels,[af] but you did not obey[ag] it.”
Stephen is Killed
54 When they heard these things, they became furious[ah] and ground their teeth[ai] at him. 55 But Stephen,[aj] full[ak] of the Holy Spirit, looked intently[al] toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing[am] at the right hand of God. 56 “Look!” he said.[an] “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 But they covered their ears,[ao] shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. 58 When[ap] they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him,[aq] and the witnesses laid their cloaks[ar] at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They[as] continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then he fell[at] to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”[au] When[av] he had said this, he died.[aw]
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