Job 3–41

Job’s Complaint to God

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

^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.

¹⁰Curse that night for letting me be born,

for exposing me to trouble and grief.

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

or died the moment I was born.

¹²Why did my mother hold me on her knees?

Why did she feed me at her breast?

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

¹⁴sleeping like the kings and rulers

who rebuilt ancient palaces.

¹⁵Then I would be sleeping like princes

who filled their houses with gold and silver,

¹⁶or sleeping like a stillborn child.

¹⁷In the grave wicked people stop their evil,

and tired workers find rest at last.

¹⁸Even prisoners enjoy peace,

free from shouts and harsh commands.

¹⁹Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown,

and slaves at last are free.

²⁰Why 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.

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

²³God keeps their future hidden

and hems them in on every side.

²⁴Instead of eating, I mourn,

and I can never stop groaning.

²⁵Everything I fear and dread comes true.

²⁶I have no peace, no rest,

and my troubles never end.

The First Dialogue

4Job, will you be annoyed if I speak?

I can’t keep quiet any longer.

³You have taught many people

and given strength to feeble hands.

⁴When someone stumbled, weak and tired,

your words encouraged him to stand.

⁵Now it’s your turn to be in trouble,

and you are too stunned to face it.

⁶You worshipped God, and your life was blameless;

and so you should have confidence and hope.

⁷Think back now. Name a single case

where a righteous person met with disaster.

⁸I have seen people plough fields of evil

and sow wickedness like seed;

now they harvest wickedness and evil.

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

¹⁰The wicked roar and growl like lions,

but God silences them and breaks their teeth.

¹¹Like lions with nothing to kill and eat,

they die, and all their children are scattered.

¹²Once a message came quietly,

so quietly I could hardly hear it.

^13*Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.

¹⁴I trembled and shuddered;

my whole body shook with fear.

¹⁵A light breeze touched my face,

and my hair bristled with fright.

¹⁶I 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 of^g God

or be pure before^h his Creator?

¹⁸God does not trust his heavenly servants;

he finds fault even with his angels.

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

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

²⁰Someone may be alive in the morning,

but die unnoticed before evening comes.

²¹All that he has is taken away;

he dies, still lacking wisdom.”

5Call out, Job. See if anyone answers.

Is there any angel to whom you can turn?

²To worry yourself to death with resentment

would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.

³I have seen fools who looked secure,

but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.

⁴Their children can never find safety;

no one stands up to defend them in court.

⁵Hungry people will eat the fool’s crops—

even the grain growing among thorns—ⁱ

and thirsty people will envy his wealth.

⁶Evil does not grow in the soil,

nor does trouble grow out of the ground.

⁷No indeed! People bring trouble on themselves,

as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.^j

⁸If I were you, I would turn to God

and present my case to him.

⁹We cannot understand the great things he does,

and to his miracles there is no end.

¹⁰He sends rain on the land

and he waters the fields.

¹¹Yes, it is God who raises the humble

and gives joy to all who mourn.

^12–13He upsets the plans of cunning people,

and traps the wise in their own schemes,

so that nothing they do succeeds;

¹⁴even at noon they grope in darkness.

¹⁵But God saves the poor^k from death;

he saves the needy from oppression.

¹⁶He 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.

¹⁹Time after time he will save you from harm;

²⁰when famine comes, he will keep you alive,

and in war protect you from death.

²¹God will rescue you from slander;

he will save you when destruction comes.

²²You will laugh at violence and hunger

and not be afraid of wild animals.

²³The fields you plough will be free of rocks;

wild animals will never attack you.

²⁴Then you will live at peace in your tent;

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

²⁵You will have as many children

as there are blades of grass in a pasture.

²⁶Like wheat that ripens till harvest time,

you will live to a ripe old age.

²⁷Job, we have learnt this by long study.

It is true, so now accept it.

6If my troubles and griefs were weighed on scales,

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

so my wild words should not surprise you.

⁴Almighty God has pierced me with arrows,

and their poison spreads through my body.

God has lined up his terrors against me.

⁵A donkey is content when eating grass,

and a cow is quiet when eating hay.

⁶But who can eat tasteless, unsalted food?

What flavour is there in the white of an egg?

⁷I have no appetite for food like that,

and everything I eat makes me sick.^l

⁸Why won’t God give me what I ask?

Why won’t he answer my prayer?

⁹If only he would go ahead and kill me!

¹⁰If 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.

¹¹What strength have I got to keep on living?

Why go on living when I have no hope?

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

¹³I have no strength left to save myself;

there is nowhere I can turn for help.

¹⁴In trouble^m like this I need loyal friends—

whether I’ve forsaken God or not.

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

that go dry when no rain comes.

¹⁶The streams are choked with snow and ice,

¹⁷but in the heat they disappear,

and the stream beds lie bare and dry.

¹⁸Caravans get lost looking for water;

they wander and die in the desert.

¹⁹Caravans from Sheba and Tema search,

²⁰but their hope dies beside dry streams.

²¹You are likeⁿ those streams to me,^o

you see my fate and draw back in fear.

²²Have I asked you to give me a gift

or to bribe someone on my behalf

²³or to save me from some enemy or tyrant?

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

I will be quiet and listen to you.

²⁵Honest words are convincing,

but you are talking nonsense.

²⁶You think I am talking nothing but wind;

then why do you answer my words of despair?

²⁷You would even throw dice for orphan slaves

and make yourselves rich off your closest friends!

²⁸Look me in the face. I won’t lie.

²⁹You have gone far enough. Stop being unjust.

Don’t condemn me. I’m in the right.

³⁰But you think I am lying—

you think I can’t tell right from wrong.

7Human life is like forced army service,

like a life of hard manual labour,

²like slaves longing for cool shade;

like workers waiting for their pay.

³Month after month I have nothing to live for;

night after night brings me grief.

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

I toss all night and long for dawn.

⁵My body is full of worms;

it is covered with scabs;

pus runs out of my sores.

⁶My days pass by without hope,

pass faster than a weaver’s shuttle.^p

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

my happiness has already ended.

⁸You see me now, but never again.

If you look for me, I’ll be gone.

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

people die and never return;

they are forgotten by all who knew them.

¹¹No! I can’t be quiet!

I am angry and bitter.

I have to speak.

¹²Why do you keep me under guard?

Do you think I am a sea monster?^q

¹³I lie down and try to rest;

I look for relief from my pain.

¹⁴But you—you terrify me with dreams;

you send me visions and nightmares

¹⁵until I would rather be strangled

than live in this miserable body.

¹⁶I 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?

¹⁸You inspect them every morning

and test them every minute.

¹⁹Won’t you look away long enough

for me to swallow my spittle?

²⁰Are you harmed by my sin, you jailer?

Why use me for your target practice?

Am I so great a burden to you?

²¹Can’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.

8Are you finally through with your windy speech?

³God never twists justice;

he never fails to do what is right.

⁴Your children must have sinned against God,

and so he punished them as they deserved.

⁵But turn now and plead with Almighty God;

⁶if you are so honest and pure,

then God will come and help you

and restore your household as your reward.

⁷All the wealth you lost will be nothing

compared with what God will give you then.

⁸Look for a moment at ancient wisdom;

consider the truths our ancestors learnt.

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

we pass like shadows across the earth.

¹⁰But 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.

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

while still too small to be cut and used.

¹³Godless men are like those reeds;

their hope is gone, once God is forgotten.

¹⁴They trust a thread—a spider’s web.

¹⁵If they lean on…