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Job 6-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job 6-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
6 Then Job answered:
2 “O that my vexation were weighed
and all my calamity laid in the balances!(A)
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.(B)
4 For the arrows of the Almighty[a] are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.(C)
5 Does the wild ass bray over its grass
or the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?[b]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are like food that is loathsome to me.[c]
8 “O that I might have my request
and that God would grant my desire,(D)
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!(E)
10 This would be my consolation;
I would even exult[d] in unrelenting pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.(F)
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?(G)
12 Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
13 In truth I have no help in me,
and any resource is driven from me.(H)
14 “Those who withhold[e] kindness from a friend
forsake the fear of the Almighty.[f]
15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent bed,
like swollen streams that pass away,(I)
16 that run dark with ice,
turbid with melting snow.
17 In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.(J)
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look;
the travelers of Sheba hope.(K)
20 They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come there and are confounded.(L)
21 Such you have now become to me;[g]
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’?
Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone wrong.
25 How forceful are honest words!
But your reproof, what does it reprove?(M)
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
as if the speech of the desperate were wind?(N)
27 You would even cast lots over the orphan
and bargain over your friend.(O)
28 “But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.(P)
29 Turn, I pray; let no wrong be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any wrong on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?(Q)
Job: My Suffering Is without End
7 “Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,
and are not their days like the days of a laborer?(R)
2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like laborers who look for their wages,(S)
3 so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.(T)
4 When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I rise?’
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing until dawn.(U)
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out again.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.[h](V)
7 “Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.(W)
8 The eye that beholds me will see me no more;
while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.(X)
9 As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;(Y)
10 they return no more to their houses,
nor do their places know them any more.(Z)
11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.(AA)
12 Am I the Sea or the Dragon
that you set a guard over me?(AB)
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,(AC)
15 so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than this body.
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are a breath.(AD)
17 What are humans, that you make so much of them,
that you set your mind on them,(AE)
18 visit them every morning,
test them every moment?
19 Will you not look away from me for a while,
let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me your target?
Why have I become a burden to you?(AF)
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be.”(AG)
Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you say these things
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty[i] pervert the right?(AH)
4 If your children sinned against him,
he delivered them into the power of their transgression.(AI)
5 If you will seek God
and make supplication to the Almighty,[j](AJ)
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore to you your rightful place.(AK)
7 Though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.(AL)
8 “For inquire now of bygone generations
and consider what their ancestors have found,(AM)
9 for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing,
for our days on earth are but a shadow.(AN)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.(AO)
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless shall perish.(AP)
14 Their confidence is gossamer,
a spider’s house their trust.
15 If one leans against its house, it will not stand;
if one lays hold of it, it will not endure.(AQ)
16 The wicked thrive[k] before the sun,
and their shoots spread over the garden.(AR)
17 Their roots twine around the stoneheap;
they live among the rocks.[l]
18 If they are destroyed from their place,
then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’(AS)
19 See, these are their happy ways,[m]
and out of the earth still others will spring.
20 “See, God will not reject the blameless,
nor take the hand of evildoers.(AT)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.(AU)
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”(AV)
Job Replies: There Is No Mediator
9 Then Job answered:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is so,
but how can a mortal be just before God?(AW)
3 If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand.(AX)
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?(AY)
5 He removes mountains, and they do not know it
when he overturns them in his anger;
6 he shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;(AZ)
7 he commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals up the stars;
8 he alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the Sea;[n](BA)
9 he made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;(BB)
10 he does great things beyond understanding
and marvelous things without number.(BC)
11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.(BD)
12 He snatches away; who can stop him?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’(BE)
13 “God will not turn back his anger;
the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.(BF)
14 How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
15 Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal to my accuser for my right.(BG)
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;(BH)
18 he will not let me get my breath
but fills me with bitterness.(BI)
19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?[o]
20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am blameless; I do not know myself;
I loathe my life.(BJ)
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(BK)
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity[p] of the innocent.(BL)
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the eyes of its judges—
if it is not he, who then is it?(BM)
25 “My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like skiffs of reed,
like an eagle swooping on the prey.(BN)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’
28 I become afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?(BO)
30 If I wash myself with soap
and cleanse my hands with lye,(BP)
31 yet you will plunge me into filth,
and my own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.(BQ)
33 There is no mediator[q] between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.(BR)
34 If he would take his rod away from me
and not let dread of him terrify me,(BS)
35 then I would speak without fear of him,
for I know I am not what I am thought to be.[r]
Footnotes
- 6.4 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 6.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.14 Syr Vg Compare Tg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.14 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 6.21 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 7.6 Or as the thread runs out
- 8.3 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 8.5 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 8.16 Heb He thrives
- 8.17 Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 8.19 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.8 Or trampled the back of the sea dragon
- 9.19 Compare Gk: Heb me
- 9.23 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.33 Another reading is Would that there were a mediator
- 9.35 Cn: Heb for I am not so in myself
Job 6-9
New International Version
Job 6-9
New International Version
Job
6 Then Job replied:
2 “If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!(A)
3 It would surely outweigh the sand(B) of the seas—
no wonder my words have been impetuous.(C)
4 The arrows(D) of the Almighty(E) are in me,(F)
my spirit drinks(G) in their poison;(H)
God’s terrors(I) are marshaled against me.(J)
5 Does a wild donkey(K) bray(L) when it has grass,
or an ox bellow when it has fodder?(M)
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow[a]?(N)
7 I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me ill.(O)
8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,(P)
9 that God would be willing to crush(Q) me,
to let loose his hand and cut off my life!(R)
10 Then I would still have this consolation(S)—
my joy in unrelenting pain(T)—
that I had not denied the words(U) of the Holy One.(V)
11 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What prospects, that I should be patient?(W)
12 Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?(X)
13 Do I have any power to help myself,(Y)
now that success has been driven from me?
14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend(Z)
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.(AA)
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,(AB)
as the streams that overflow
16 when darkened by thawing ice
and swollen with melting snow,(AC)
17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,
and in the heat(AD) vanish from their channels.
18 Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go off into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema(AE) look for water,
the traveling merchants of Sheba(AF) look in hope.
20 They are distressed, because they had been confident;
they arrive there, only to be disappointed.(AG)
21 Now you too have proved to be of no help;
you see something dreadful and are afraid.(AH)
22 Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,
pay a ransom(AI) for me from your wealth,(AJ)
23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?(AK)
24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet;(AL)
show me where I have been wrong.(AM)
25 How painful are honest words!(AN)
But what do your arguments prove?
26 Do you mean to correct what I say,
and treat my desperate words as wind?(AO)
27 You would even cast lots(AP) for the fatherless(AQ)
and barter away your friend.
28 “But now be so kind as to look at me.
Would I lie to your face?(AR)
29 Relent, do not be unjust;(AS)
reconsider, for my integrity(AT) is at stake.[b](AU)
30 Is there any wickedness on my lips?(AV)
Can my mouth not discern(AW) malice?
7 “Do not mortals have hard service(AX) on earth?(AY)
Are not their days like those of hired laborers?(AZ)
2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,(BA)
or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,(BB)
3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.(BC)
4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’(BD)
The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.(BE)
5 My body is clothed with worms(BF) and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.(BG)
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,(BH)
and they come to an end without hope.(BI)
7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;(BJ)
my eyes will never see happiness again.(BK)
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.(BL)
9 As a cloud vanishes(BM) and is gone,
so one who goes down to the grave(BN) does not return.(BO)
10 He will never come to his house again;
his place(BP) will know him no more.(BQ)
11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;(BR)
I will speak out in the anguish(BS) of my spirit,
I will complain(BT) in the bitterness of my soul.(BU)
12 Am I the sea,(BV) or the monster of the deep,(BW)
that you put me under guard?(BX)
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,(BY)
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify(BZ) me with visions,(CA)
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,(CB)
rather than this body of mine.(CC)
16 I despise my life;(CD) I would not live forever.(CE)
Let me alone;(CF) my days have no meaning.(CG)
17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
that you give them so much attention,(CH)
18 that you examine them every morning(CI)
and test them(CJ) every moment?(CK)
19 Will you never look away from me,(CL)
or let me alone even for an instant?(CM)
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,(CN)
you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?(CO)
Have I become a burden to you?[c](CP)
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?(CQ)
For I will soon lie down in the dust;(CR)
you will search for me, but I will be no more.”(CS)
Bildad
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite(CT) replied:
2 “How long will you say such things?(CU)
Your words are a blustering wind.(CV)
3 Does God pervert justice?(CW)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?(CX)
4 When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.(CY)
5 But if you will seek God earnestly
and plead(CZ) with the Almighty,(DA)
6 if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf(DB)
and restore you to your prosperous state.(DC)
7 Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous(DD) will your future be.(DE)
8 “Ask the former generation(DF)
and find out what their ancestors learned,
9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,(DG)
and our days on earth are but a shadow.(DH)
10 Will they not instruct(DI) you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?(DJ)
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?(DK)
Can reeds(DL) thrive without water?
12 While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.(DM)
13 Such is the destiny(DN) of all who forget God;(DO)
so perishes the hope of the godless.(DP)
14 What they trust in is fragile[d];
what they rely on is a spider’s web.(DQ)
15 They lean on the web,(DR) but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.(DS)
16 They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots(DT) over the garden;(DU)
17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.
18 But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns(DV) it and says, ‘I never saw you.’(DW)
19 Surely its life withers(DX) away,
and[e] from the soil other plants grow.(DY)
20 “Surely God does not reject one who is blameless(DZ)
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.(EA)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter(EB)
and your lips with shouts of joy.(EC)
22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame,(ED)
and the tents(EE) of the wicked will be no more.”(EF)
Job
9 Then Job replied:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?(EG)
3 Though they wished to dispute with him,(EH)
they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.(EI)
4 His wisdom(EJ) is profound, his power is vast.(EK)
Who has resisted(EL) him and come out unscathed?(EM)
5 He moves mountains(EN) without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.(EO)
6 He shakes the earth(EP) from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.(EQ)
7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;(ER)
he seals off the light of the stars.(ES)
8 He alone stretches out the heavens(ET)
and treads on the waves of the sea.(EU)
9 He is the Maker(EV) of the Bear[f] and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.(EW)
10 He performs wonders(EX) that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.(EY)
11 When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.(EZ)
12 If he snatches away, who can stop him?(FA)
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’(FB)
13 God does not restrain his anger;(FC)
even the cohorts of Rahab(FD) cowered at his feet.
14 “How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?(FE)
15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;(FF)
I could only plead(FG) with my Judge(FH) for mercy.(FI)
16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.(FJ)
17 He would crush me(FK) with a storm(FL)
and multiply(FM) my wounds for no reason.(FN)
18 He would not let me catch my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.(FO)
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!(FP)
And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him[g]?(FQ)
20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.(FR)
21 “Although I am blameless,(FS)
I have no concern for myself;(FT)
I despise my own life.(FU)
22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(FV)
23 When a scourge(FW) brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.(FX)
24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,(FY)
he blindfolds its judges.(FZ)
If it is not he, then who is it?(GA)
25 “My days are swifter than a runner;(GB)
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.(GC)
26 They skim past(GD) like boats of papyrus,(GE)
like eagles swooping down on their prey.(GF)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,(GG)
I will change my expression, and smile,’
28 I still dread(GH) all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.(GI)
29 Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?(GJ)
30 Even if I washed myself with soap(GK)
and my hands(GL) with cleansing powder,(GM)
31 you would plunge me into a slime pit(GN)
so that even my clothes would detest me.(GO)
32 “He is not a mere mortal(GP) like me that I might answer him,(GQ)
that we might confront each other in court.(GR)
33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,(GS)
someone to bring us together,(GT)
34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,(GU)
so that his terror would frighten me no more.(GV)
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,(GW)
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.(GX)
Footnotes
- Job 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Job 6:29 Or my righteousness still stands
- Job 7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.
- Job 8:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Job 8:19 Or Surely all the joy it has / is that
- Job 9:9 Or of Leo
- Job 9:19 See Septuagint; Hebrew me.
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