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Job 13-14
Contemporary English Version
Job 13-14
Contemporary English Version
Job Continues
I Know and Understand
13 I know and understand
every bit of this.
2 None of you are smarter
than I am;
there's nothing you know
that I don't.
3 But I prefer to argue my case
with God All-Powerful—
4 you are merely useless doctors,
who treat me with lies.
5 The wisest thing you can do
is to keep quiet 6 and listen
to my argument.
7 Are you telling lies for God
8 and not telling the whole truth
when you argue his case?
9 If he took you to court,
could you fool him,
just as you fool others?
10 If you were secretly unfair,
he would correct you,
11 and his glorious splendor
would make you terrified.
12 Your wisdom and arguments
will blow away like dust.
Be Quiet While I Speak
13 Be quiet while I speak,
and we'll see what happens.
14 I will be responsible
for what happens to me.
15 God may kill me, but still
I will trust him[a]
and offer my defense.
16 This may be what saves me,
because no guilty person
would come to his court.
17 Listen carefully to my words!
18 I have prepared my case well,
and I am certain to win.
19 If you can prove me guilty,
I will give up and die.
Job Prays
I Ask Only Two Things
20 I ask only two things
of you, my God,
and I will no longer
hide from you—
21 stop punishing
and terrifying me!
22 Then speak, and I will reply;
or else let me speak,
and you reply.
23 Please point out my sins,
so I will know them.
24 Why have you turned your back
and count me your enemy?
25 Do you really enjoy
frightening a fallen leaf?
26 Why do you accuse me
of horrible crimes
and make me pay for sins
I did in my youth?
27 (A) You have tied my feet down
and keep me surrounded;
28 I am rotting away like cloth
eaten by worms.
Job Continues His Prayer
Life Is Short and Sorrowful
14 (B) Life is short and sorrowful
for every living soul.
2 We are flowers that fade
and shadows that vanish.
3 And so, I ask you, God,
why pick on me?
4 There's no way a human
can be completely pure.
5 Our time on earth is brief;
the number of our days
is already decided by you.
6 Why don't you leave us alone
and let us find some happiness
while we toil and labor?
When a Tree Is Chopped Down
7 When a tree is chopped down,
there is always the hope
that it will sprout again.
8 Its roots and stump may rot,
9 but at the touch of water,
it sprouts once again.
10 Humans are different—
we die, and that's the end.
11 We are like streams and lakes
after the water has gone;
12 we fall into the sleep of death,
never to rise again,
until the sky disappears.
13 Please hide me, God,
deep in the ground—
and when you are angry no more,
remember to rescue me.
Will We Humans Live Again?
14 Will we humans live again?
I would gladly suffer
and wait for my time.
15 My Creator, you would want me;
you would call out,
and I would answer.
16 You would take care of me,
but not count my sins—
17 you would put them in a bag,
tie it tight,
and toss them away.
18 But in the real world,
mountains tumble,
and rocks crumble;
19 streams wear away stones
and wash away soil.
And you destroy our hopes!
20 You change the way we look,
then send us away,
wiped out forever.
21 We never live to know
if our children are praised
or disgraced.
22 We feel no pain but our own,
and when we mourn,
it's only for ourselves.
Footnotes
- 13.15 God … trust him: Or “God will surely kill me; I have lost all hope.”
Job 13-14
New International Version
Job 13-14
New International Version
13 “My eyes have seen all this,(A)
my ears have heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.(B)
3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty(C)
and to argue my case with God.(D)
4 You, however, smear me with lies;(E)
you are worthless physicians,(F) all of you!(G)
5 If only you would be altogether silent!(H)
For you, that would be wisdom.(I)
6 Hear now my argument;
listen to the pleas of my lips.(J)
7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for him?(K)
8 Will you show him partiality?(L)
Will you argue the case for God?
9 Would it turn out well if he examined you?(M)
Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?(N)
10 He would surely call you to account
if you secretly showed partiality.(O)
11 Would not his splendor(P) terrify you?
Would not the dread of him fall on you?(Q)
12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.(R)
13 “Keep silent(S) and let me speak;(T)
then let come to me what may.(U)
14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy
and take my life in my hands?(V)
15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope(W) in him;(X)
I will surely[a] defend my ways to his face.(Y)
16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,(Z)
for no godless(AA) person would dare come before him!(AB)
17 Listen carefully to what I say;(AC)
let my words ring in your ears.
18 Now that I have prepared my case,(AD)
I know I will be vindicated.(AE)
19 Can anyone bring charges against me?(AF)
If so, I will be silent(AG) and die.(AH)
20 “Only grant me these two things, God,
and then I will not hide from you:
21 Withdraw your hand(AI) far from me,
and stop frightening me with your terrors.(AJ)
22 Then summon me and I will answer,(AK)
or let me speak, and you reply to me.(AL)
23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed?(AM)
Show me my offense and my sin.(AN)
24 Why do you hide your face(AO)
and consider me your enemy?(AP)
25 Will you torment(AQ) a windblown leaf?(AR)
Will you chase(AS) after dry chaff?(AT)
26 For you write down bitter things against me
and make me reap the sins of my youth.(AU)
27 You fasten my feet in shackles;(AV)
you keep close watch on all my paths(AW)
by putting marks on the soles of my feet.
14 “Mortals, born of woman,(AZ)
are of few days(BA) and full of trouble.(BB)
2 They spring up like flowers(BC) and wither away;(BD)
like fleeting shadows,(BE) they do not endure.(BF)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?(BG)
Will you bring them[b] before you for judgment?(BH)
4 Who can bring what is pure(BI) from the impure?(BJ)
No one!(BK)
5 A person’s days are determined;(BL)
you have decreed the number of his months(BM)
and have set limits he cannot exceed.(BN)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,(BO)
till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(BP)
7 “At least there is hope for a tree:(BQ)
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots(BR) will not fail.(BS)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump(BT) die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water(BU) it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.(BV)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(BW)
he breathes his last and is no more.(BX)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(BY)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(BZ)
till the heavens are no more,(CA) people will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.(CB)
13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(CC)
and conceal me till your anger has passed!(CD)
If only you would set me a time
and then remember(CE) me!(CF)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service(CG)
I will wait for my renewal[c](CH) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(CI)
you will long for the creature your hands have made.(CJ)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(CK)
but not keep track of my sin.(CL)
17 My offenses will be sealed(CM) up in a bag;(CN)
you will cover over my sin.(CO)
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(CP)
and as a rock is moved from its place,(CQ)
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents(CR) wash away the soil,(CS)
so you destroy a person’s hope.(CT)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(CU)
you change their countenance and send them away.(CV)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(CW)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(CX)
and mourn only for themselves.(CY)”
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