Job: I Would Plead with God

10 “My asoul loathes my life; I will 1give free course to my complaint,

bI will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;

Show me why You contend with me.

3 Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,

That You should despise the work of Your hands,

And smile on the counsel of the wicked?

4 Do You have eyes of flesh?

Or cdo You see as man sees?

5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?

Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,

6 That You should seek for my iniquity

And search out my sin,

7 Although You know that I am not wicked,

And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

8 ‘Your dhands have made me and fashioned me,

An intricate unity;

Yet You would edestroy me.

9 Remember, I pray, fthat You have made me like clay.

And will You turn me into dust again?

10 gDid You not pour me out like milk,

And curdle me like cheese,

11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews?

12 You have granted me life and favor,

And Your care has preserved my spirit.

13 ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;

I know that this was with You:

14 If I sin, then hYou mark me,

And will not acquit me of my iniquity.

15 If I am wicked, iwoe to me;

jEven if I am righteous, I 2cannot lift up my head.

I am full of disgrace;

kSee my misery!

16 If my head is exalted,

lYou hunt me like a fierce lion,

And again You show Yourself awesome against me.

17 You renew Your witnesses against me,

And increase Your indignation toward me;

Changes and war are ever with me.

18 ‘Why mthen have You brought me out of the womb?

Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

19 I would have been as though I had not been.

I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.

20 nAre not my days few?

Cease! oLeave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,

21 Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,

pTo the land of darkness qand the shadow of death,

22 A land as dark as darkness itself,

As the shadow of death, without any order,

Where even the light is like darkness.’ ”

Zophar Urges Job to Repent

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

2 “Should not the multitude of words be answered?

And should 1a man full of talk be vindicated?

3 Should your empty talk make men 2hold their peace?

And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?

4 For you have said,

a‘My doctrine is pure,

And I am clean in your eyes.’

5 But oh, that God would speak,

And open His lips against you,

6 That He would show you the secrets of wisdom!

For they would double your prudence.

Know therefore that bGod 3exacts from you

Less than your iniquity deserves.

7 “Can cyou search out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?

8 They are higher than heaven—what can you do?

Deeper than 4Sheol—what can you know?

9 Their measure is longer than the earth

And broader than the sea.

10 “If dHe passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment,

Then who can 5hinder Him?

11 For eHe knows deceitful men;

He sees wickedness also.

Will He not then consider it?

12 For an fempty-headed man will be wise,

When a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.

13 “If you would gprepare your heart,

And hstretch out your hands toward Him;

14 If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,

And iwould not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

15 jThen surely you could lift up your face without spot;

Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;

16 Because you would kforget your misery,

And remember it as waters that have passed away,

17 And your life lwould be brighter than noonday.

Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.

18 And you would be secure, because there is hope;

Yes, you would dig around you, and mtake your rest in safety.

19 You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid;

Yes, many would court your favor.

20 But nthe eyes of the wicked will fail,

And they shall not escape,

And otheir hope—6loss of life!”

Job Answers His Critics

12 Then Job answered and said:

2 “No doubt you are the people,

And wisdom will die with you!

3 But I have 1understanding as well as you;

I am not ainferior to you.

Indeed, who does not know such things as these?

4 “I bam one mocked by his friends,

Who ccalled on God, and He answered him,

The just and blameless who is ridiculed.

5 A 2lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;

It is made ready for dthose whose feet slip.

6 eThe tents of robbers prosper,

And those who provoke God are secure—

In what God provides by His hand.

7 “But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;

And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

9 Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this,

10 fIn whose hand is the 3life of every living thing,

And the gbreath of 4all mankind?

11 Does not the ear test words

And the 5mouth taste its food?

12 Wisdom is with aged men,

And with 6length of days, understanding.

13 “With Him are hwisdom and strength,

He has counsel and understanding.

14 If iHe breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;

If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.

15 If He jwithholds the waters, they dry up;

If He ksends them out, they overwhelm the earth.

16 With Him are strength and prudence.

The deceived and the deceiver are His.

17 He leads counselors away plundered,

And makes fools of the judges.

18 He loosens the bonds of kings,

And binds their waist with a belt.

19 He leads 7princes away plundered,

And overthrows the mighty.

20 lHe deprives the trusted ones of speech,

And takes away the discernment of the elders.

21 mHe pours contempt on princes,

And 8disarms the mighty.

22 He nuncovers deep things out of darkness,

And brings the shadow of death to light.

23 oHe makes nations great, and destroys them;

He 9enlarges nations, and guides them.

24 He takes away the 1understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,

And pmakes them wander in a pathless wilderness.

25 qThey grope in the dark without light,

And He makes them rstagger like a drunken man.

13 “Behold, my eye has seen all this, My ear has heard and understood it.

2 aWhat you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3 bBut I would speak to the Almighty,

And I desire to reason with God.

4 But you forgers of lies,

cYou are all worthless physicians.

5 Oh, that you would be silent,

And dit would be your wisdom!

6 Now hear my reasoning,

And heed the pleadings of my lips.

7 eWill you speak 1wickedly for God,

And talk deceitfully for Him?

8 Will you show partiality for Him?

Will you contend for God?

9 Will it be well when He searches you out?

Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?

10 He will surely rebuke you

If you secretly show partiality.

11 Will not His 2excellence make you afraid,

And the dread of Him fall upon you?

12 Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes,

Your defenses are defenses of clay.

13 “Hold 3your peace with me, and let me speak,

Then let come on me what may!

14 Why fdo I take my flesh in my teeth,

And put my life in my hands?

15 gThough He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

hEven so, I will defend my own ways before Him.

16 He also shall be my salvation,

For a ihypocrite could not come before Him.

17 Listen carefully to my speech,

And to my declaration with your ears.

18 See now, I have prepared my case,

I know that I shall be jvindicated.

19 kWho is he who will contend with me?

If now I hold my tongue, I perish.