Job 23:1–27:23
Job Proclaims God’s Righteous Judgments
23 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Even today my acomplaint is bitter;
1My hand is listless because of my groaning.
3 bOh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!
4 I would present my case before Him,
And fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which He would answer me,
And understand what He would say to me.
6 cWould He contend with me in His great power?
No! But He would take note of me.
7 There the upright could reason with Him,
And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
8 “Look, dI go forward, but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
9 When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
10 But eHe knows the way that I take;
When fHe has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 gMy foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the hcommandment of His lips;
iI have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my 2necessary food.
13 “But He is unique, and who can make Him change?
And whatever jHis soul desires, that He does.
14 For He performs what is kappointed for me,
And many such things are with Him.
15 Therefore I am terrified at His presence;
When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.
16 For God lmade my heart weak,
And the Almighty terrifies me;
17 Because I was not mcut off 3from the presence of darkness,
And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.
Job Complains of Violence on the Earth
24 “Since atimes are not hidden from the Almighty,
Why do those who know Him see not His bdays?
2 “Some remove clandmarks;
They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
They dtake the widow’s ox as a pledge.
4 They push the needy off the road;
All the epoor of the land are forced to hide.
5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,
They go out to their work, searching for food.
The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
6 They gather their fodder in the field
And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They fspend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And ghuddle around the rock for want of shelter.
9 “Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,
And take a pledge from the poor.
10 They cause the poor to go naked, without hclothing;
And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
11 They press out oil within their walls,
And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 The dying groan in the city,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God does not charge them with wrong.
13 “There are those who rebel against the light;
They do not know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14 iThe murderer rises with the light;
He kills the poor and needy;
And in the night he is like a thief.
15 jThe eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
kSaying, ‘No eye will see me’;
And he 1disguises his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses
Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;
lThey do not know the light.
17 For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death;
If someone recognizes them,
They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 “They should be swift on the face of the waters,
Their portion should be cursed in the earth,
So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat 2consume the snow waters,
So 3the grave consumes those who have sinned.
20 The womb should forget him,
The worm should feed sweetly on him;
mHe should be remembered no more,
And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
21 For he 4preys on the barren who do not bear,
And does no good for the widow.
22 “But God draws the mighty away with His power;
He rises up, but no man is sure of life.
23 He gives them security, and they rely on it;
Yet nHis eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while,
Then they are gone.
They are brought low;
They are 5taken out of the way like all others;
They dry out like the heads of grain.
25 “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,
And make my speech worth nothing?”
Bildad: How Can Man Be Righteous?
25 Then aBildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “Dominion and fear belong to Him;
He makes peace in His high places.
3 1Is there any number to His armies?
Upon whom does bHis light not rise?
4 cHow then can man be righteous before God?
Or how can he be dpure who is born of a woman?
5 If even the moon does not shine,
And the stars are not pure in His esight,
6 How much less man, who is fa maggot,
And a son of man, who is a worm?”
Job: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty
26 But Job answered and said:
2 “How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
3 How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?
And how have you declared sound advice to many?
4 To whom have you uttered words?
And whose spirit came from you?
Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
6 aSheol is naked before Him,
And Destruction has no covering.
7 bHe stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
8 cHe binds up the water in His thick clouds,
Yet the clouds 1are not broken under it.
9 He covers the face of His throne,
And spreads His cloud over it.
10 dHe drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble,
And are 2astonished at His rebuke.
12 eHe stirs up the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He breaks up 3the storm.
13 fBy His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced gthe fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
27 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:
2 “As God lives, awho has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
3 As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
4 My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
That I should say you are right;
Till I die bI will not put away my integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I chold fast, and will not let it go;
dMy heart shall not 1reproach me as long as I live.
7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
8 eFor what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?
9 fWill God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?
10 gWill he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?
11 “I will teach you 2about the hand of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Surely all of you have seen it;
Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?
13 “This his the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:
14 iIf his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
And jtheir 3widows shall not weep,
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust,
And piles up clothing like clay—
17 He may pile it up, but kthe just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 He builds his house like a 4moth,
lLike a 5booth which a watchman makes.
19 The rich man will lie down,
6But not be gathered up;
He opens his eyes,
And he is mno more.
20 nTerrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls against him and does not ospare;
He flees desperately from its 7power.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.