Job Says He Has Become a Proverb

17 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The [a](A)grave is ready for me.
(B)Mockers are certainly with me,
And my eye [b]gazes on their provocation.

“Make a pledge (C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will [c]be my guarantor?
For You have [d](D)kept their hearts away from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
He who (E)informs against friends for a share of the spoils,
The (F)eyes of his children also will perish.

“But He has made me a (G)proverb among the people,
And I am [e]one at whom people (H)spit.
My eye has also become (I)inexpressive because of grief,
And all my (J)body parts are like a shadow.
The upright will be appalled at this,
And the (K)innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
Nevertheless (L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And (M)the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But come again all of [f]you now,
For I (N)do not find a wise man among you.
11 My (O)days are past, my plans are torn apart,
The wishes of my heart.
12 They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 If I hope for [g](P)Sheol as my home,
I [h]make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the (Q)grave, ‘You are my father’;
To the (R)maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where then is (S)my hope?
And who looks at my hope?
16 [i]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together (T)go down into the dust?”

Bildad Speaks of the Wicked

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

“How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding, and then we can talk.
Why are we (U)regarded as animals,
As stupid in your eyes?
[j]You who tear yourself in your anger—
Should the earth be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock moved from its place?

“Indeed, the (V)light of the wicked goes out,
And the spark from his fire does not shine.
The light in his tent is (W)darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
His [k]vigorous stride is shortened,
And his (X)own plan brings him down.
For he is (Y)thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.
A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
10 A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the pathway.
11 All around (Z)sudden terrors frighten him,
And (AA)harass him at every step.
12 His strength is (AB)famished,
And disaster is ready at his side.
13 [l]It devours parts of his skin,
The firstborn of death (AC)devours his [m]limbs.
14 He is (AD)torn from [n]the security of his tent,
And [o]they march him before the king of (AE)terrors.
15 [p]Nothing of his dwells in his tent;
(AF)Brimstone is scattered on his home.
16 His (AG)roots are dried below,
And his (AH)branch withers above.
17 (AI)The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 [q]He is driven from light (AJ)into darkness,
And (AK)chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has no (AL)offspring or descendants among his people,
Nor any survivor where he resided.
20 Those in the west are appalled at (AM)his [r]fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.
21 Certainly these are the (AN)dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

Job Feels Insulted

19 Then Job responded,

“How long will you torment [s]me
And crush me with words?
These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
Even if I have truly done wrong,
My error stays with me.
If indeed you (AO)exalt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
Know then that (AP)God has wronged me
And has surrounded me with (AQ)His net.

Everything Is Against Him

“Behold, (AR)I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
He has (AS)blocked my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put (AT)darkness on my paths.
He has (AU)stripped my honor from me
And removed the (AV)crown from my head.
10 He (AW)breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my (AX)hope (AY)like a tree.
11 He has also (AZ)kindled His anger against me
And (BA)considered me as His enemy.
12 His (BB)troops come together
And (BC)build up their [t]way against me
And camp around my tent.

13 “He has (BD)removed my brothers far from me,
And my (BE)acquaintances have completely turned away from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my (BF)close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore his favor with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children despise me;
I stand up and they speak against me.
19 All [u]my (BG)associates loathe me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My (BH)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine,
For the (BI)hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you (BJ)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?

Job Says My Redeemer Lives

23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (BK)recorded in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 Yet as for me, I know that (BL)my Redeemer lives,
And at the last, He will take His stand on the [v]earth.
26 Even after my skin [w]is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I will (BM)see God,
27 Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself,
And whom my eyes will see, and not another.
My [x]heart (BN)faints [y]within me!
28 If you say, ‘How shall we (BO)persecute him?’
And ‘[z]What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 Then be afraid of (BP)the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know (BQ)there is judgment.”

Zophar Says the Rejoicing of the Wicked Is Short

20 Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

“Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me [aa]respond,
Even because of my [ab]inward agitation.
I listened to (BR)the reprimand which insults me,
And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
Do you know this from (BS)ancient times,
From the establishment of mankind on earth,
That the (BT)rejoicing of the wicked is short,
And (BU)the joy of the godless momentary?
Though his arrogance [ac](BV)reaches the heavens,
And his head touches the clouds,
He (BW)perishes forever like his refuse;
Those who have seen him (BX)will say, ‘Where is he?’
He flies away like a (BY)dream, and they cannot find him;
Like a vision of the night he is (BZ)chased away.
The (CA)eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And (CB)his place no longer beholds him.
10 His (CC)sons [ad]favor the poor,
And his hands (CD)give back his wealth.
11 His (CE)bones are full of his youthful strength,
But it lies down with him [ae]in the dust.

12 “Though (CF)evil tastes sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,
13 Though he [af]desires it and will not let it go,
But holds it (CG)in his [ag]mouth,
14 Yet his food in his stomach is changed
To the [ah]venom of cobras within him.
15 He swallows riches,
But will (CH)vomit them up;
God will expel them from his belly.
16 He sucks (CI)the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue kills him.
17 He does not look at (CJ)the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and curds.
18 He (CK)returns the product of his labor
And cannot swallow it;
As to the riches of his trading,
He cannot even enjoy them.
19 For he has (CL)oppressed and neglected the poor;
He has seized a house which he has not built.

20 “Because he knew no quiet [ai]within him,
He does (CM)not retain anything he desires.
21 Nothing remains [aj]for him to devour,
Therefore (CN)his prosperity does not endure.
22 In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped;
The (CO)hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
23 When he (CP)fills his belly,
God will send His fierce anger on him
And (CQ)rain it on him [ak]while he is eating.
24 He may (CR)flee from the iron weapon,
But the bronze bow will pierce him.
25 It is drawn and comes out of his back,
Even the flashing point from (CS)his gallbladder;
(CT)Terrors come upon him,
26 Complete (CU)darkness is held in reserve for his treasures,
And unfanned (CV)fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.
27 The (CW)heavens will reveal his guilt,
And the earth will rise up against him.
28 The (CX)increase of his house will disappear;
His possessions will flow away (CY)on the day of His anger.
29 This is a wicked person’s (CZ)portion from God,
The inheritance decreed to him by God.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:1 Lit graves are
  2. Job 17:2 Lit dwells
  3. Job 17:3 Lit strike hands with me
  4. Job 17:4 Lit hidden
  5. Job 17:6 Lit a spitting to the faces
  6. Job 17:10 As in some mss and ancient versions; MT them
  7. Job 17:13 I.e., the netherworld
  8. Job 17:13 Lit spread out
  9. Job 17:16 As in LXX; Heb possibly Let my limbs sink down to Sheol, since there is rest in the dust for all.
  10. Job 18:4 Lit The one who tears himself in his
  11. Job 18:7 Lit steps of his strength
  12. Job 18:13 Another reading is His skin is devoured by illness
  13. Job 18:13 Or parts
  14. Job 18:14 Lit his tent his trust
  15. Job 18:14 Lit you march or she marches
  16. Job 18:15 Another reading is Fire dwells in his tent
  17. Job 18:18 Lit They drive him...And chase him
  18. Job 18:20 Lit day
  19. Job 19:2 Lit my soul
  20. Job 19:12 I.e., siege ramp
  21. Job 19:19 Lit the men of my council
  22. Job 19:25 Lit dust
  23. Job 19:26 Lit which they have cut off
  24. Job 19:27 Lit kidneys
  25. Job 19:27 Lit in my loins
  26. Job 19:28 Or the root of the matter is found in him
  27. Job 20:2 Lit return
  28. Job 20:2 Lit haste within me
  29. Job 20:6 Lit goes up to
  30. Job 20:10 Or seek the favor of
  31. Job 20:11 Lit on
  32. Job 20:13 Lit spares it
  33. Job 20:13 Lit palate
  34. Job 20:14 Lit gall
  35. Job 20:20 Lit in his belly
  36. Job 20:21 Or of what he devours
  37. Job 20:23 Or as his food

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