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Job's Reply to Eliphaz

It's Impossible

Job said:
It's impossible to weigh
    my misery and grief!
They outweigh the sand
    along the beach,
and that's why I have spoken
    without thinking first.
The fearsome arrows
    of God All-Powerful
have filled my soul
    with their poison.
Do oxen and wild donkeys
cry out in distress
    unless they are hungry?
What is food without salt?
What is more tasteless
    than the white of an egg?[a]
That's how my food tastes,
    and my appetite is gone.

* How I wish that God
would answer my prayer
    and do away with me.
10 Then I would be comforted,
knowing that in all of my pain
    I have never disobeyed God.
11 Why should I patiently hope
    when my strength is gone?
12 I am not strong as stone
    or bronze,
13 and I have finally reached
    the end of my rope.

My Friends, I Am Desperate

14 My friends, I am desperate,
    and you should help me,
even if I no longer respect
    God All-Powerful.[b]
* 15 But you are treacherous
16 like streams that swell
    with melting snow,
17 then suddenly disappear
    in the summer heat.
18 I am like a caravan,
lost in the desert
    while searching for water.
19 Caravans from Tema and Sheba[c]
20     thought they would find water.
But they were disappointed,
21     just as I am with you.[d]
Only one look at my suffering,
    and you run away scared.

What Have I Done Wrong?

22 Have I ever asked any of you
    to give me a gift
23 or to purchase my freedom
    from brutal enemies?
24 What have I done wrong?
Show me,
    and I will keep quiet.
25 The truth is always painful,
but your arguments
    prove nothing.
26 Here I am desperate,
and you consider my words
    as worthless as wind.
27 Why, you would sell an orphan
    or your own neighbor!
28 Look me straight in the eye;
    I won't lie to you.
29 Stop accusing me falsely;
    my reputation is at stake.
30 I know right from wrong,
    and I am not telling lies.

Job Continues

Why Is Life So Hard?

Why is life so hard?
    Why do we suffer?
We are slaves in search of shade;
we are laborers longing
    for our wages.
God has made my days drag on
    and my nights miserable.
I pray for night to end,
but it stretches out
    while I toss and turn.
My parched skin is covered
    with worms, dirt, and sores,
and my days are running out
quicker than the thread
    of a fast-moving needle.

Don't Forget!

I beg you, God, don't forget!
My life is just a breath,
    and trouble lies ahead.
I will vanish from sight,
and no one, including you,
    will ever see me again.
(A) I will disappear in the grave
or vanish from sight
    like a passing cloud.
10 Never will I return home;
    soon I will be forgotten.

11 And so, I cry out to you
    in agony and distress.
12 Am I the sea or a sea monster?
    Is that why you imprison me?[e]
13 I go to bed, hoping for rest,
14 but you torture me
    with terrible dreams.
* 15 I'd rather choke to death
    than live in this body.
16 Leave me alone and let me die;
    my life has no meaning.[f]
17 (B) What makes you so concerned
    about us humans?
18 Why do you test us
    from sunrise to sunset?
19 Won't you look away
just long enough
    for me to swallow?
20 Why do you watch us so closely?
    What's it to you, if I sin?
Why am I your target
    and such a heavy burden?
21 Why do you refuse to forgive?
Soon you won't find me,
    because I'll be dead.

Bildad's First Speech

How Long Will You Talk?

Bildad from Shuah[g] said:
How long will you talk
    and keep saying nothing?
Does God All-Powerful
    stand in the way of justice?
He made your children pay
    for their sins.
So why don't you turn to him
    and start living right?
Then he will decide
to rescue and restore you
    to your place of honor.
Your future will be brighter
    by far than your past.

Our Ancestors Were Wise

(C) Our ancestors were wise,
    so learn from them.
Our own time has been short,
like a fading shadow,
    and we know very little.
10 But they will instruct you
    with great understanding.

11 Papyrus reeds grow healthy
    only in a swamp,
12 and if the water dries up,
    they die sooner than grass.
13 Such is the hopeless future
    of all who turn from God
14 and trust in something as frail
    as a spider's web—
15 they take hold and fall
    because it's so flimsy.
16 Sinful people are like plants
with spreading roots and plenty
    of sun and water.
17 They wrap their roots tightly
    around rocks.[h]
18 But once they are pulled up,
    they have no more place;
19 their life slips away,[i]
    and other plants grow there.

20 We know God doesn't reject
an innocent person
    or help a sinner.
21 And so, he will make you happy
and give you something
    to smile about.
22 But your evil enemies
will be put to shame
    and disappear forever.

Job's Reply to Bildad

What You Say Is True

Job said:
(D) What you say is true.
No human is innocent
    in the sight of God.
Not once in a thousand times
could we win our case
    if we took him to court.
God is wise and powerful—
who could possibly
    oppose him and win?
When God becomes angry,
he can move mountains
    before they even know it.
God can shake the earth loose
    from its foundations
(E) or command the sun and stars
    to hold back their light.
God alone stretched out the sky,
    stepped on the sea,[j]
(F) and set the stars in place—
    the Big Dipper and Orion,
the Pleiades and the stars
    in the southern sky.
10 Of all the miracles God works,
    we cannot understand a one.
11 God walks right past me,
    without making a sound.
12 And if he grabs something,
who can stop him
    or raise a question?

13 When God showed his anger,
the servants of the sea monster[k]
    fell at his feet.
14 How, then, could I possibly
    argue my case with God?

Though I Am Innocent

15 Even though I am innocent,
    I can only beg for mercy.
16 And if God came into court
when I called him,
    he would not hear my case.
17 He would strike me with a storm[l]
and increase my injuries
    for no reason at all.
18 Before I could get my breath,
    my miseries would multiply.
19 God is much stronger than I am,
and who would call me into court
    to give me justice?

20 Even if I were innocent,
    God would prove me wrong.[m]
21 I am not guilty,
but I no longer care
    what happens to me.
22 What difference does it make?
God destroys the innocent
    along with the guilty.
23 When a good person dies
a sudden death,
    God sits back and laughs.
24 And who else but God
    blindfolds the judges,
then lets the wicked
    take over the earth?

My Life Is Speeding By

25 My life is speeding by,
    without a hope of happiness.
26 Each day passes swifter
than a sailing ship
    or an eagle swooping down.
27 Sometimes I try to be cheerful
    and to stop complaining,
28 but my sufferings frighten me,
because I know that God
    still considers me guilty.
29 So what's the use of trying
    to prove my innocence?
30 Even if I washed myself
    with the strongest soap,
31 God would throw me into a pit
of stinking slime, leaving me
    disgusting to my clothes.

32 God isn't a mere human like me.
    I can't put him on trial.
33 Who could possibly judge
    between the two of us?
34 Can someone snatch away
the stick God carries
    to frighten me?
35 Then I could speak up
without fear of him,
    but for now, I cannot speak.[n]

Footnotes

  1. 6.6 What is more tasteless … egg: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 6.14 and you should help me … God All-Powerful: Or “and if you don't help me, you no longer respect God All-Powerful.”
  3. 6.19 Tema and Sheba: Tema was a region in northwest Arabia, and Sheba was probably a region in southwest Arabia.
  4. 6.21 just … you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  5. 7.12 sea monster … imprison me: “Sea monster” translates the Hebrew word “Tannin,” which was possibly a sea monster similar to Leviathan (3.8), Rahab (9.13), and Behemoth (40.15). According to 38.8-11, God makes the sea his prisoner by setting its boundaries.
  6. 7.16 my life … meaning: Or “my life will soon be over.”
  7. 8.1 Shuah: See the note at 2.11.
  8. 8.17 rocks: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 17.
  9. 8.19 their … away: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  10. 9.8 sea: Or “sea monster” (see verse 13 and the note there).
  11. 9.13 the sea monster: The Hebrew text has “Rahab,” which was some kind of sea monster with supernatural powers (see the notes at 3.8 and 26.12).
  12. 9.17 strike … storm: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  13. 9.20 God … wrong: Or “my own words would prove me wrong.”
  14. 9.35 but … speak: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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