Job 19

Job

 2 "How long will you torment me
       and crush me with words?

 3 Ten times now you have reproached me;
       shamelessly you attack me.

 4 If it is true that I have gone astray,
       my error remains my concern alone.

 5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
       and use my humiliation against me,

 6 then know that God has wronged me
       and drawn his net around me.

 7 "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response;
       though I call for help, there is no justice.

 8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
       he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

 9 He has stripped me of my honor
       and removed the crown from my head.

 10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
       he uproots my hope like a tree.

 11 His anger burns against me;
       he counts me among his enemies.

 12 His troops advance in force;
       they build a siege ramp against me
       and encamp around my tent.

 13 "He has alienated my brothers from me;
       my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

 14 My kinsmen have gone away;
       my friends have forgotten me.

 15 My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger;
       they look upon me as an alien.

 16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
       though I beg him with my own mouth.

 17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
       I am loathsome to my own brothers.

 18 Even the little boys scorn me;
       when I appear, they ridicule me.

 19 All my intimate friends detest me;
       those I love have turned against me.

 20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
       I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth. ^[a]

 21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
       for the hand of God has struck me.

 22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
       Will you never get enough of my flesh?

 23 "Oh, that my words were recorded,
       that they were written on a scroll,

 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on ^[b] lead,
       or engraved in rock forever!

 25 I know that my Redeemer ^[c] lives,
       and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. ^[d]

 26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
       yet ^[e] in ^[f] my flesh I will see God;

 27 I myself will see him
       with my own eyes—I, and not another.
       How my heart yearns within me!

 28 "If you say, 'How we will hound him,
       since the root of the trouble lies in him, ^[g] '

 29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
       for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
       and then you will know that there is judgment. ^[h] "

Footnotes:

1. Job 19:20 Or only my gums
2. Job 19:24 Or and
3. Job 19:25 Or defender
4. Job 19:25 Or upon my grave
5. Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then
6. Job 19:26 Or / apart from
7. Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me
8. Job 19:29 Or / that you may come to know the Almighty

   Job 20

   Zophar

    1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

    2 "My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
          because I am greatly disturbed.

    3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
          and my understanding inspires me to reply.

    4 "Surely you know how it has been from of old,
          ever since man ^[a] was placed on the earth,

    5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
          the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

    6 Though his pride reaches to the heavens
          and his head touches the clouds,

    7 he will perish forever, like his own dung;
          those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'

    8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
          banished like a vision of the night.

    9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;
          his place will look on him no more.

    10 His children must make amends to the poor;
          his own hands must give back his wealth.

    11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones
          will lie with him in the dust.

    12 "Though evil is sweet in his mouth
          and he hides it under his tongue,

    13 though he cannot bear to let it go
          and keeps it in his mouth,

    14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
          it will become the venom of serpents within him.

    15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
          God will make his stomach vomit them up.

    16 He will suck the poison of serpents;
          the fangs of an adder will kill him.

    17 He will not enjoy the streams,
          the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

    18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
          he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

    19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
          he has seized houses he did not build.

    20 "Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
          he cannot save himself by his treasure.

    21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
          his prosperity will not endure.

    22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
          the full force of misery will come upon him.

    23 When he has filled his belly,
          God will vent his burning anger against him
          and rain down his blows upon him.

    24 Though he flees from an iron weapon,
          a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

    25 He pulls it out of his back,
          the gleaming point out of his liver.
          Terrors will come over him;

    26 total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
          A fire unfanned will consume him
          and devour what is left in his tent.

    27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
          the earth will rise up against him.

    28 A flood will carry off his house,
          rushing waters ^[b] on the day of God's wrath.

    29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
          the heritage appointed for them by God."

   Footnotes:

   1. Job 20:4 Or Adam
   2. Job 20:28 Or The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away

Job 21

Job

 2 "Listen carefully to my words;
       let this be the consolation you give me.

 3 Bear with me while I speak,
       and after I have spoken, mock on.

 4 "Is my complaint directed to man?
       Why should I not be impatient?

 5 Look at me and be astonished;
       clap your hand over your mouth.

 6 When I think about this, I am terrified;
       trembling seizes my body.

 7 Why do the wicked live on,
       growing old and increasing in power?

 8 They see their children established around them,
       their offspring before their eyes.

 9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;
       the rod of God is not upon them.

 10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
       their cows calve and do not miscarry.

 11 They send forth their children as a flock;
       their little ones dance about.

 12 They sing to the music of tambourine and harp;
       they make merry to the sound of the flute.

 13 They spend their years in prosperity
       and go down to the grave ^[a] in peace. ^[b]

 14 Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone!
       We have no desire to know your ways.

 15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
       What would we gain by praying to him?'

 16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
       so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

 17 "Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
       How often does calamity come upon them,
       the fate God allots in his anger?

 18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
       like chaff swept away by a gale?

 19 It is said, 'God stores up a man's punishment for his sons.'
       Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it!

 20 Let his own eyes see his destruction;
       let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. ^[c]

 21 For what does he care about the family he leaves behind
       when his allotted months come to an end?

 22 "Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
       since he judges even the highest?

 23 One man dies in full vigor,
       completely secure and at ease,

 24 his body ^[d] well nourished,
       his bones rich with marrow.

 25 Another man dies in bitterness of soul,
       never having enjoyed anything good.

 26 Side by side they lie in the dust,
       and worms cover them both.

 27 "I know full well what you are thinking,
       the schemes by which you would wrong me.

 28 You say, 'Where now is the great man's house,
       the tents where wicked men lived?'

 29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
       Have you paid no regard to their accounts-

 30 that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
       that he is delivered from ^[e] the day of wrath?

 31 Who denounces his conduct to his face?
       Who repays him for what he has done?

 32 He is carried to the grave,
       and watch is kept over his tomb.

 33 The soil in the valley is sweet to him;
       all men follow after him,
       and a countless throng goes ^[f] before him.

 34 "So how can you console me with your nonsense?
       Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!"

Footnotes:

1. Job 21:13 Hebrew Sheol
2. Job 21:13 Or in an instant
3. Job 21:20 Verses 17 and 18 may be taken as exclamations and 19 and 20 as declarations.
4. Job 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
5. Job 21:30 Or man is reserved for the day of calamity, / that he is brought forth to
6. Job 21:33 Or / as a countless throng went

   Job 22

   Eliphaz

    1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

    2 "Can a man be of benefit to God?
          Can even a wise man benefit him?

    3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
          What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

    4 "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
          and brings charges against you?

    5 Is not your wickedness great?
          Are not your sins endless?

    6 You demanded security from your brothers for no reason;
          you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked.

    7 You gave no water to the weary
          and you withheld food from the hungry,

    8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
          an honored man, living on it.

    9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
          and broke the strength of the fatherless.

    10 That is why snares are all around you,
          why sudden peril terrifies you,

    11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
          and why a flood of water covers you.

    12 "Is not God in the heights of heaven?
          And see how lofty are the highest stars!

    13 Yet you say, 'What does God know?
          Does he judge through such darkness?

    14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
          as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'

    15 Will you keep to the old path
          that evil men have trod?

    16 They were carried off before their time,
          their foundations washed away by a flood.

    17 They said to God, 'Leave us alone!
          What can the Almighty do to us?'

    18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
          so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

    19 "The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
          the innocent mock them, saying,

    20 'Surely our foes are destroyed,
          and fire devours their wealth.'

    21 "Submit to God and be at peace with him;
          in this way prosperity will come to you.

    22 Accept instruction from his mouth
          and lay up his words in your heart.

    23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
          If you remove wickedness far from your tent

    24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
          your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

    25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
          the choicest silver for you.

    26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
          and will lift up your face to God.

    27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
          and you will fulfill your vows.

    28 What you decide on will be done,
          and light will shine on your ways.

    29 When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!'
          then he will save the downcast.

    30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
          who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

Job 23

Job

 2 "Even today my complaint is bitter;
       his hand ^[a] is heavy in spite of ^[b] my groaning.

 3 If only I knew where to find him;
       if only I could go to his dwelling!

 4 I would state my case before him
       and fill my mouth with arguments.

 5 I would find out what he would answer me,
       and consider what he would say.

 6 Would he oppose me with great power?
       No, he would not press charges against me.

 7 There an upright man could present his case before him,
       and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

 8 "But if I go to the east, he is not there;
       if I go to the west, I do not find him.

 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
       when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

 10 But he knows the way that I take;
       when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

 11 My feet have closely followed his steps;
       I have kept to his way without turning aside.

 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
       I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

 13 "But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?
       He does whatever he pleases.

 14 He carries out his decree against me,
       and many such plans he still has in store.

 15 That is why I am terrified before him;
       when I think of all this, I fear him.

 16 God has made my heart faint;
       the Almighty has terrified me.

 17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
       by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Footnotes:

1. Job 23:2 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew / the hand on me
2. Job 23:2 Or heavy on me in

   Job 24

    1 "Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?
          Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?

    2 Men move boundary stones;
          they pasture flocks they have stolen.

    3 They drive away the orphan's donkey
          and take the widow's ox in pledge.

    4 They thrust the needy from the path
          and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

    5 Like wild donkeys in the desert,
          the poor go about their labor of foraging food;
          the wasteland provides food for their children.

    6 They gather fodder in the fields
          and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.

    7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
          they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.

    8 They are drenched by mountain rains
          and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.

    9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
          the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.

    10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;
          they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

    11 They crush olives among the terraces ^[a] ;
          they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

    12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
          and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.
          But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

    13 "There are those who rebel against the light,
          who do not know its ways
          or stay in its paths.

    14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up
          and kills the poor and needy;
          in the night he steals forth like a thief.

    15 The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;
          he thinks, 'No eye will see me,'
          and he keeps his face concealed.

    16 In the dark, men break into houses,
          but by day they shut themselves in;
          they want nothing to do with the light.

    17 For all of them, deep darkness is their morning ^[b] ;
          they make friends with the terrors of darkness. ^[c]

    18 "Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;
          their portion of the land is cursed,
          so that no one goes to the vineyards.

    19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,
          so the grave ^[d] snatches away those who have sinned.

    20 The womb forgets them,
          the worm feasts on them;
          evil men are no longer remembered
          but are broken like a tree.

    21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
          and to the widow show no kindness.

    22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;
          though they become established, they have no assurance of life.

    23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,
          but his eyes are on their ways.

    24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;
          they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
          they are cut off like heads of grain.

    25 "If this is not so, who can prove me false
          and reduce my words to nothing?"

   Footnotes:

   1. Job 24:11 Or olives between the millstones ; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
   2. Job 24:17 Or them, their morning is like the shadow of death
   3. Job 24:17 Or of the shadow of death
   4. Job 24:19 Hebrew Sheol

   17 - 23 June

   Job 25

   Job 25

   Bildad

    1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

    2 "Dominion and awe belong to God;
          he establishes order in the heights of heaven.

    3 Can his forces be numbered?
          Upon whom does his light not rise?

    4 How then can a man be righteous before God?
          How can one born of woman be pure?

    5 If even the moon is not bright
          and the stars are not pure in his eyes,

    6 how much less man, who is but a maggot—
          a son of man, who is only a worm!"

   Job 26

   Job

    1 Then Job replied:

    2 "How you have helped the powerless!
          How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

    3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
          And what great insight you have displayed!

    4 Who has helped you utter these words?
          And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

    5 "The dead are in deep anguish,
          those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

    6 Death ^[a] is naked before God;
          Destruction ^[b] lies uncovered.

    7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
          he suspends the earth over nothing.

    8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
          yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

    9 He covers the face of the full moon,
          spreading his clouds over it.

    10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
          for a boundary between light and darkness.

    11 The pillars of the heavens quake,
          aghast at his rebuke.

    12 By his power he churned up the sea;
          by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

    13 By his breath the skies became fair;
          his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

    14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
          how faint the whisper we hear of him!
          Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"

    

   24 - 30 June

   Job 27

    1 And Job continued his discourse:

    2 "As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
          the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,

    3 as long as I have life within me,
          the breath of God in my nostrils,

    4 my lips will not speak wickedness,
          and my tongue will utter no deceit.

    5 I will never admit you are in the right;
          till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

    6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
          my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

    7 "May my enemies be like the wicked,
          my adversaries like the unjust!

    8 For what hope has the godless when he is cut off,
          when God takes away his life?

    9 Does God listen to his cry
          when distress comes upon him?

    10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?
          Will he call upon God at all times?

    11 "I will teach you about the power of God;
          the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

    12 You have all seen this yourselves.
          Why then this meaningless talk?

    13 "Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
          the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

    14 However many his children, their fate is the sword;
          his offspring will never have enough to eat.

    15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
          and their widows will not weep for them.

    16 Though he heaps up silver like dust
          and clothes like piles of clay,

    17 what he lays up the righteous will wear,
          and the innocent will divide his silver.

    18 The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon,
          like a hut made by a watchman.

    19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
          when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

    20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;
          a tempest snatches him away in the night.

    21 The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;
          it sweeps him out of his place.

    22 It hurls itself against him without mercy
          as he flees headlong from its power.

    23 It claps its hands in derision
          and hisses him out of his place.

   Job 28

    1 "There is a mine for silver
          and a place where gold is refined.

    2 Iron is taken from the earth,
          and copper is smelted from ore.

    3 Man puts an end to the darkness;
          he searches the farthest recesses
          for ore in the blackest darkness.

    4 Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft,
          in places forgotten by the foot of man;
          far from men he dangles and sways.

    5 The earth, from which food comes,
          is transformed below as by fire;

    6 sapphires ^[a] come from its rocks,
          and its dust contains nuggets of gold.

    7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
          no falcon's eye has seen it.

    8 Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
          and no lion prowls there.

    9 Man's hand assaults the flinty rock
          and lays bare the roots of the mountains.

    10 He tunnels through the rock;
          his eyes see all its treasures.

    11 He searches ^[b] the sources of the rivers
          and brings hidden things to light.

    12 "But where can wisdom be found?
          Where does understanding dwell?

    13 Man does not comprehend its worth;
          it cannot be found in the land of the living.

    14 The deep says, 'It is not in me';
          the sea says, 'It is not with me.'

    15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
          nor can its price be weighed in silver.

    16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
          with precious onyx or sapphires.

    17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
          nor can it be had for jewels of gold.

    18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
          the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

    19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
          it cannot be bought with pure gold.

    20 "Where then does wisdom come from?
          Where does understanding dwell?

    21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
          concealed even from the birds of the air.

    22 Destruction ^[c] and Death say,
          'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'

    23 God understands the way to it
          and he alone knows where it dwells,

    24 for he views the ends of the earth
          and sees everything under the heavens.

    25 When he established the force of the wind
          and measured out the waters,

    26 when he made a decree for the rain
          and a path for the thunderstorm,

    27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
          he confirmed it and tested it.

    28 And he said to man,
          'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
          and to shun evil is understanding.' "

   Footnotes:

   1. Job 28:6 Or lapis lazuli ; also in verse 16
   2. Job 28:11 Septuagint, Aquila and Vulgate; Hebrew He dams up
   3. Job 28:22 Hebrew Abaddon