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Job 13-14
Easy-to-Read Version
Job 13-14
Easy-to-Read Version
13 “I have seen all this before.
I have already heard everything you say.
I understand all these things.
2 I know as much as you do.
I am as smart as you are.
3 But I don’t want to argue with you.
I want to speak to God All-Powerful.
I want to argue with God about my troubles.
4 But you men try to cover up your ignorance with lies.
You are like worthless doctors who cannot heal anyone.
5 I wish you would just be quiet.
That would be the wisest thing you could do.
6 “Now, listen to my argument.
Listen to what I have to say.
7 Will you speak lies for God?
Do you really believe your lies are what God wants you to say?
8 Are you trying to defend God against me?
You are not being fair.
You are choosing God’s side simply because he is God.
9 If God checked you very closely,
would he see that you are right?
Do you really think you can fool God
the same as you fool people?
10 You know that God would criticize you
if you chose someone’s side simply because they were important.
11 God’s majesty frightens you.
You are afraid of him.
12 The wise sayings you quote are worthless.
Your arguments are as weak as clay.
13 “Be quiet and let me talk!
I accept whatever happens to me.
14 I will put myself in danger
and take my life in my own hands.
15 I will continue to trust God even if he kills me.[a]
But I will defend myself to his face.
16 And if he lets me live, it will be because I had the confidence to speak.
No guilty person would dare meet God face to face.
17 Listen carefully to what I say.
Let me explain.
18 I am ready now to defend myself.
I will carefully present my arguments.
I know I will be shown to be right.
19 If anyone can prove I am wrong,
I will shut up and wait to die.
20 “God, just give me two things,
and then I will not hide from you:
21 Stop punishing me,
and don’t frighten me with your terrors.
22 Then call to me, and I will answer you.
Or let me speak, and you answer me.
23 How many sins have I committed?
What wrongs have I done?
Show me where I went wrong or how I sinned.
24 God, why do you avoid me
and treat me like your enemy?
25 Are you trying to scare me?
I am only a leaf blowing in the wind.
You are attacking a piece of straw!
26 You have a list of terrible charges against me.
Are you making me suffer for the sins I did when I was young?
27 You have put chains on my feet.
You watch every step I take.
You see every move I make.
28 So I am becoming weaker and weaker,
like a piece of wood rotting away,
like a piece of cloth eaten by moths.
14 “We are all human beings.[b]
Our life is short and full of trouble.
2 Our life is like a flower that grows quickly and then dies away.
Our life is like a shadow that is here for a short time and then is gone.
3 God, do you need to keep an eye on something so small?
Why bother to bring charges against me?
4 “No one can make something clean from something so dirty.
5 The length of our life has been decided.
You alone know how long that is.
You have set the limits for us and nothing can change them.
6 So stop watching us; leave us alone,
and let us enjoy this hard life until we have put in our time.
7 “There is always hope for a tree.
If it is cut down, it can grow again.
It will keep sending out new branches.
8 Its roots might grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the dirt,
9 but with water, it will grow again.
It will grow branches like a new plant.
10 But when a man dies,
he becomes weak and sick, and then he is gone!
11 Like a lake that goes dry
or a river that loses its source,
12 so people lose their lives,
never to live again.
The skies will all pass away
before they rise from death.
The skies will all disappear before
anyone wakes up from that sleep!
13 “I wish you would hide me in my grave.
I wish you would hide me there, until your anger is gone.
Then you could pick a time to remember me.
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
If so, I would gladly suffer through this time waiting for my release.[c]
15 God, you would call me,
and I would answer you.
Then I, the one you made,
would be important to you.
16 You would still watch every step I take,
but you would not remember my sins.
17 It would be as if you had sealed my sins in a bag.
It would be as if you had covered my guilt with plaster.
18 “Mountains fall and crumble away.
Large rocks break loose and fall.
19 Water flowing over stones wears them down.
Floods wash away the soil on the ground.
In the same way, God, you destroy the hope people have.
20 You defeat them completely
and then they are gone.
You change the way they look
and send them away forever to the place of death.
21 If their sons are honored, they will never know it.
If their sons do wrong, they will never see it.
22 They only feel the pain in their bodies,
and they alone cry for themselves.”
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)”
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.