Job 3:1–31:40

Job’s Complaint to God

3 * Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born.

Job

2–3* O God, put a curse on the day I was born;

put a curse on the night when I was conceived!

4* Turn that day into darkness, God.

Never again remember that day;

never again let light shine on it.

5* Make it a day of gloom and thick darkness;

cover it with clouds, and blot out the sun.

6* Blot that night out of the year,

and never let it be counted again;

7* make it a barren, joyless night.

8* Tell the sorcerers to curse that day,

those who know how to control Leviathan.f

9* Keep the morning star from shining;

give that night no hope of dawn.

10 Curse that night for letting me be born,

for exposing me to trouble and grief.

11 I wish I had died in my mother’s womb

or died the moment I was born.

12 Why did my mother hold me on her knees?

Why did she feed me at her breast?

13 If I had died then, I would be at rest now,

14 sleeping like the kings and rulers

who rebuilt ancient palaces.

15 Then I would be sleeping like princes

who filled their houses with gold and silver,

16 or sleeping like a stillborn child.

17 In the grave wicked people stop their evil,

and tired workers find rest at last.

18 Even prisoners enjoy peace,

free from shouts and harsh commands.

19 Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown,

and slaves at last are free.

20 Why let people go on living in misery?

Why give light to those in grief?

21* They wait for death, but it never comes;

they prefer a grave to any treasure.

22 They are not happy till they are dead and buried;

23 God keeps their future hidden

and hems them in on every side.

24 Instead of eating, I mourn,

and I can never stop groaning.

25 Everything I fear and dread comes true.

26 I have no peace, no rest,

and my troubles never end.

The First Dialogue

(Job 4.1–14.22)

Eliphaz

4 1–2 Job, will you be annoyed if I speak?

I can’t keep quiet any longer.

3 You have taught many people

and given strength to feeble hands.

4 When someone stumbled, weak and tired,

your words encouraged him to stand.

5 Now it’s your turn to be in trouble,

and you are too stunned to face it.

6 You worshipped God, and your life was blameless;

and so you should have confidence and hope.

7 Think back now. Name a single case

where a righteous person met with disaster.

8 I have seen people plough fields of evil

and sow wickedness like seed;

now they harvest wickedness and evil.

9 Like a storm, God destroys them in his anger.

10 The wicked roar and growl like lions,

but God silences them and breaks their teeth.

11 Like lions with nothing to kill and eat,

they die, and all their children are scattered.

12 Once a message came quietly,

so quietly I could hardly hear it.

13* Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.

14 I trembled and shuddered;

my whole body shook with fear.

15 A light breeze touched my face,

and my hair bristled with fright.

16 I could see something standing there;

I stared, but couldn’t tell what it was.

Then I heard a voice out of the silence:

17 “Can anyone be righteous in the sight ofg God

or be pure beforeh his Creator?

18 God does not trust his heavenly servants;

he finds fault even with his angels.

19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay,

a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?

20 Someone may be alive in the morning,

but die unnoticed before evening comes.

21 All that he has is taken away;

he dies, still lacking wisdom.”

5 Call out, Job. See if anyone answers.

Is there any angel to whom you can turn?

2 To worry yourself to death with resentment

would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.

3 I have seen fools who looked secure,

but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.

4 Their children can never find safety;

no one stands up to defend them in court.

5 Hungry people will eat the fool’s crops—

even the grain growing among thorns—i

and thirsty people will envy his wealth.

6 Evil does not grow in the soil,

nor does trouble grow out of the ground.

7 No indeed! People bring trouble on themselves,

as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.j

8 If I were you, I would turn to God

and present my case to him.

9 We cannot understand the great things he does,

and to his miracles there is no end.

10 He sends rain on the land

and he waters the fields.

11 Yes, it is God who raises the humble

and gives joy to all who mourn.

12–13 He upsets the plans of cunning people,

and traps the wise in their own schemes,

so that nothing they do succeeds;

14 even at noon they grope in darkness.

15 But God saves the poork from death;

he saves the needy from oppression.

16 He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.

17* Happy is the person whom God corrects!

Do not resent it when he rebukes you.

18* God bandages the wounds he makes;

his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.

19 Time after time he will save you from harm;

20 when famine comes, he will keep you alive,

and in war protect you from death.

21 God will rescue you from slander;

he will save you when destruction comes.

22 You will laugh at violence and hunger

and not be afraid of wild animals.

23 The fields you plough will be free of rocks;

wild animals will never attack you.

24 Then you will live at peace in your tent;

when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe.

25 You will have as many children

as there are blades of grass in a pasture.

26 Like wheat that ripens till harvest time,

you will live to a ripe old age.

27 Job, we have learnt this by long study.

It is true, so now accept it.

Job

6 1–2 If my troubles and griefs were weighed on scales,

3 they would weigh more than the sands of the sea,

so my wild words should not surprise you.

4 Almighty God has pierced me with arrows,

and their poison spreads through my body.

God has lined up his terrors against me.

5 A donkey is content when eating grass,

and a cow is quiet when eating hay.

6 But who can eat tasteless, unsalted food?

What flavour is there in the white of an egg?

7 I have no appetite for food like that,

and everything I eat makes me sick.l

8 Why won’t God give me what I ask?

Why won’t he answer my prayer?

9 If only he would go ahead and kill me!

10 If I knew he would, I would leap for joy,

no matter how great my pain.

I know that God is holy;

I have never opposed what he commands.

11 What strength have I got to keep on living?

Why go on living when I have no hope?

12 Am I made of stone? Is my body bronze?

13 I have no strength left to save myself;

there is nowhere I can turn for help.

14 In troublem like this I need loyal friends—

whether I’ve forsaken God or not.

15 But you, my friends, you deceive me like streams

that go dry when no rain comes.

16 The streams are choked with snow and ice,

17 but in the heat they disappear,

and the stream beds lie bare and dry.

18 Caravans get lost looking for water;

they wander and die in the desert.

19 Caravans from Sheba and Tema search,

20 but their hope dies beside dry streams.

21 You are liken those streams to me,o

you see my fate and draw back in fear.

22 Have I asked you to give me a gift

or to bribe someone on my behalf

23 or to save me from some enemy or tyrant?

24 All right, teach me; tell me my faults.

I will be quiet and listen to you.

25 Honest words are convincing,

but you are talking nonsense.

26 You think I am talking nothing but wind;

then why do you answer my words of despair?

27 You would even throw dice for orphan slaves

and make yourselves rich off your closest friends!

28 Look me in the face. I won’t lie.

29 You have gone far enough. Stop being unjust.

Don’t condemn me. I’m in the right.

30 But you think I am lying—

you think I can’t tell right from wrong.

7 Human life is like forced army service,

like a life of hard manual labour,

2 like slaves longing for cool shade;

like workers waiting for their pay.

3 Month after month I have nothing to live for;

night after night brings me grief.

4 When I lie down to sleep, the hours drag;

I toss all night and long for dawn.

5 My body is full of worms;

it is covered with scabs;

pus runs out of my sores.

6 My days pass by without hope,

pass faster than a weaver’s shuttle.p

7 Remember, O God, my life is only a breath;

my happiness has already ended.

8 You see me now, but never again.

If you look for me, I’ll be gone.

9–10 Like a cloud that fades and is gone,

people die and never return;

they are forgotten by all who knew them.

11 No! I can’t be quiet!

I am angry and bitter.

I have to speak.

12 Why do you keep me under guard?

Do you think I am a sea monster?q

13 I lie down and try to rest;

I look for relief from my pain.

14 But you—you terrify me with dreams;

you send me visions and nightmares

15 until I would rather be strangled

than live in this miserable body.

16 I give up; I am tired of living.

Leave me alone. My life makes no sense.

17* Why are human beings so important to you?

Why pay attention to what they do?

18 You inspect them every morning

and test them every minute.

19 Won’t you look away long enough

for me to swallow my spittle?

20 Are you harmed by my sin, you jailer?

Why use me for your target practice?

Am I so great a burden to you?

21 Can’t you ever forgive my sin?

Can’t you pardon the wrong I do?

Soon I will be in my grave,

and I’ll be gone when you look for me.

Bildad

8 1–2 Are you finally through with your windy speech?

3 God never twists justice;

he never fails to do what is right.

4 Your children must have sinned against God,

and so he punished them as they deserved.

5 But turn now and plead with Almighty God;

6 if you are so honest and pure,

then God will come and help you

and restore your household as your reward.

7 All the wealth you lost will be nothing

compared with what God will give you then.

8 Look for a moment at ancient wisdom;

consider the truths our ancestors learnt.

9 Our life is short, we know nothing at all;

we pass like shadows across the earth.

10 But let the wise ancestors teach you;

listen to what they had to say:

11 “Reeds can’t grow where there is no water;

they are never found outside a swamp.

12 If the water dries up, they are the first to wither,

while still too small to be cut and used.

13 Godless men are like those reeds;

their hope is gone, once God is forgotten.

14 They trust…