Job 23:1–25:6
1 Then Job 1replied,
2 “Even today my acomplaint is rebellion;
1His hand is bheavy despite my groaning.
3 “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!
4 “I would apresent my case before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.
5 “I would learn the words which He would 1answer,
And perceive what He would say to me.
6 “Would He contend with me by athe greatness of His power?
No, surely He would pay attention to me.
7 “There the upright would areason with Him;
And I 1would be bdelivered forever from my Judge.
8 “Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I acannot perceive Him;
9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.
10 “But He knows the 1way I take;
When He has atried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 “My foot has aheld fast to His path;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips;
I have treasured the awords of His mouth 1more than my 2necessary food.
13 “But He is unique and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.
14 “For He performs what is appointed for me,
And many such decrees are with Him.
15 “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;
When I consider, I am terrified of Him.
16 “It is God who has made my aheart faint,
And the Almighty who has dismayed me,
17 But I aam not silenced by the darkness,
Nor bdeep gloom which covers me.
Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs
1 “aWhy are 1times not stored up by the Almighty,
And why do those who know Him not see bHis days?
2 “1Some aremove the landmarks;
They seize and 2devour flocks.
3 “They drive away the donkeys of the aorphans;
They take the bwidow’s ox for a pledge.
4 “They push athe needy aside from the road;
The bpoor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.
5 “Behold, as awild donkeys in the wilderness
They bgo forth seeking food in their activity,
As 1bread for their children in the desert.
6 “They harvest their fodder in the field
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 “aThey spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
8 “They are wet with the mountain rains
And hug the rock for want of a shelter.
9 “1Others snatch the aorphan from the breast,
And against the poor they take a pledge.
10 “They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,
And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
11 “Within the walls they produce oil;
They tread wine presses but thirst.
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God adoes not pay attention to folly.
13 “1Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14 “The murderer aarises at dawn;
He bkills the poor and the needy,
And at night he is as a thief.
15 “The eye of the aadulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’
And he 1disguises his face.
16 “In the dark they adig into houses,
They bshut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light.
17 “For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness,
For he is familiar with the aterrors of thick darkness.
18 “They are 1ainsignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is bcursed on the earth.
They do not turn 2toward the cvineyards.
19 “Drought and heat 1aconsume the snow waters,
So does 2bSheol those who have sinned.
20 “A 1amother will forget him;
The bworm feeds sweetly till he is cno longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken dlike a tree.
21 “He wrongs the 1barren woman
And does no good for athe widow.
22 “But He drags off the valiant by aHis power;
He rises, but bno one has assurance of life.
23 “He provides them awith security, and they are supported;
And His beyes are on their ways.
24 “They are exalted a alittle while, then they are gone;
Moreover, they are bbrought low and like everything gathered up;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.
25 “Now if it is not so, awho can prove me a liar,
And make my speech worthless?”
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite 1answered,
2 “aDominion and awe 1belong to Him
Who establishes peace in bHis heights.
3 “Is there any number to aHis troops?
And upon whom does His light not rise?
4 “How then can a man be ajust with God?
Or how can he be bclean who is born of woman?
5 “If even athe moon has no brightness
And the bstars are not pure in His sight,
6 How much less aman, that bmaggot,
And the son of man, that worm!”