Job 7–9

7TH CHAPTER

Job Speaks about the Futility of Human Existence

¹“Isn’t a mortal’s stay on earth difficult 

like a hired hand’s daily ⸤work⸥? 

²Like a slave, he longs for shade. 

Like a hired hand, he eagerly looks for his pay. 

³Likewise, I have been given months that are of no use, 

and I have inherited nights filled with misery. 

⁴When I lie down, I ask, 

‘When will I get up?’ 

But the evening is long, 

and I’m exhausted from tossing about until dawn. 

⁵My body is covered with maggots and scabs. 

My skin is crusted over with sores; then they ooze. 

⁶My days go swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. 

They are spent without hope. 

⁷Remember, my life is only a breath, 

and never again will my eyes see anything good. 

⁸The eye that watches over me will no longer see me. 

Your eye will look for me, but I’ll be gone. 

⁹As a cloud fades away and disappears, 

so a person goes into the grave and doesn’t come back again. 

¹⁰He doesn’t come back home again, 

and his household doesn’t recognize him anymore. 

¹¹So I won’t keep my mouth shut, 

but I will speak from the distress that is in my spirit 

and complain about the bitterness in my soul. 

Job Says to God: Leave Me Alone

¹²“Am I the sea or a sea monster 

that you have set a guard over me? 

¹³When I say, 

‘My couch may give me comfort. 

My bed may help me bear my pain,’ 

¹⁴then you frighten me with dreams 

and terrify me with visions. 

¹⁵My throat would rather be choked. 

My body^awould prefer death ⸤to these dreams⸥. 

¹⁶I hate my life; I do not want to live forever. 

Leave me alone because my days are so brief. 

¹⁷“What is a mortal that you should make so much of him, 

that you should be concerned about him? 

¹⁸⸤What is he⸥ that you should inspect him every morning 

and examine him every moment? 

¹⁹Why don’t you stop looking at me 

long enough to let me swallow my spit? 

²⁰If I sin, what can I ⸤possibly⸥ do to you 

since you insist on spying on people? 

Why do you make me your target? 

I’ve become a burden even to myself. 

²¹Why don’t you forgive my disobedience 

and take away my sin? 

Soon I’ll lie down in the dust. 

Then you will search for me, but I’ll be gone!” 

8TH CHAPTER

Bildad Speaks:

You Are Unjustly Accusing God of Doing Evil, Job

¹Then Bildad from Shuah replied ⸤to Job⸥, 

²“How long will you say these things? 

How long will your words be so windy? 

³Does God distort justice, 

or does the Almighty distort righteousness? 

⁴If your children sinned against him, 

he allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sinfulness. 

⁵If you search for God 

and plead for mercy from the Almighty, 

⁶if you are moral and ethical, 

then he will rise up on your behalf 

and prove your righteousness by rebuilding your home. 

⁷Then what you had in the past will seem small 

compared with the great prosperity you’ll have in the future. 

Learn from Past Generations

⁸“Ask the people of past generations. 

Find out what their ancestors had learned. 

⁹We have only been around since yesterday, and we know nothing. 

Our days on earth are only a fleeting shadow. 

¹⁰Won’t their words teach you? 

Won’t they share their thoughts with you? 

God Does Not Punish the Innocent Person

¹¹“Can papyrus grow up where there is no swamp? 

Can rushes grow tall without water? 

¹²Even if they were fresh and not cut, 

they would wither quicker than grass. 

¹³The same thing happens to all who forget God. 

The hope of the godless dies. 

¹⁴His confidence is easily shattered. 

His trust is a spider’s web. 

¹⁵If one leans on his house, it collapses. 

If one holds on to it, it will not support his weight. 

¹⁶He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine. 

The shoots spread over his garden. 

¹⁷Its roots weave through a pile of stones. 

They cling to a stone house. 

¹⁸But when it is uprooted from its place, 

⸤the ground⸥ denies it ⸤and says⸥, ‘I never saw you!’ 

¹⁹That is its joy in this life, 

and others sprout from the same ground to ⸤take its place⸥. 

²⁰“Certainly, God does not reject a person of integrity 

or give a helping hand to wicked people. 

²¹He will fill your mouth with laughter 

and your lips with happy shouting. 

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, 

and the tent of the wicked will cease to exist.” 

9TH CHAPTER

Job Speaks:

The Futility of Arguing with God

¹Then Job replied ⸤to his friends⸥, 

²“Yes, I know that this is true. 

But how can a mortal be declared righteous to God? 

³If he wished to debate with God, 

he wouldn’t be able to answer one question in a thousand. 

⁴“God is wise in heart and mighty in power. 

Who could oppose him and win? 

⁵He moves mountains without their knowing it, 

and he topples them in his anger. 

⁶He shakes the earth from its place, 

and its pillars tremble. 

⁷He commands the sun not to rise. 

He doesn’t let the stars come out. 

⁸He stretches out the heavens by himself 

and walks on the waves of the sea. 

⁹He made ⸤the constellations⸥ Ursa Major, Orion, and the Pleiades, 

and the clusters of stars in the south. 

¹⁰He does great things that are unsearchable 

and miracles that cannot be numbered. 

¹¹He passes alongside of me, and I don’t even see him. 

He goes past me, and I don’t even notice him. 

¹²He takes something away, ⸤but⸥ who can stop him? 

Who is going to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’ 

¹³God does not hold back his anger. 

Even Rahab’s^ahelpers bow humbly in front of him. 

¹⁴“How can I possibly answer God? 

How can I find the right words ⸤to speak⸥ with him? 

¹⁵Even if I were right, I could not answer ⸤him⸥. 

I would have to plead for mercy from my judge. 

¹⁶If I cried out and he answered me, 

I do not believe that he would listen to me. 

¹⁷He would knock me down with a storm 

and bruise me without a reason. 

¹⁸He would not let me catch my breath. 

He fills me with bitterness. 

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, 

then he is the mighty one. 

If it is about justice, 

who will charge me with a crime? 

²⁰If I am righteous, my own mouth would condemn me. 

It would declare that I am corrupt even if I am a man of integrity. 

²¹If I am a man of integrity, I have no way of knowing it. 

I hate my life! 

²²It is all the same. 

That is why I say, 

‘He destroys ⸤both⸥ the man of integrity and the wicked.’ 

²³When a sudden disaster brings death, 

he makes fun of the despair of innocent people. 

²⁴The earth is handed over to the wicked. 

He covers the faces of its judges. 

If he isn’t the one ⸤doing this⸥, who is? 

²⁵“My days go by more quickly than a runner. 

They sprint away. 

They don’t see anything good. 

²⁶They pass by quickly like boats made from reeds, 

like an eagle swooping down on its prey. 

²⁷⸤Even⸥ if I say, ‘I will forget my complaining; 

I will change my expression and smile,’ 

²⁸I ⸤still⸥ dread everything I must suffer. 

I know that you won’t declare me innocent. 

²⁹I’ve already been found guilty. 

Why should I work so hard for nothing? 

³⁰If I wash myself with lye soap^b

and cleanse my hands with bleach, 

³¹then you would plunge me into a muddy pit, 

and my own clothes would find me disgusting. 

³²A human like me cannot answer God, 

‘Let’s take our case to court.’ 

³³There is no mediator between us 

to put his hand on both of us. 

³⁴God should take his rod away from me, 

and he should not terrify me.^c

³⁵Then I would speak and not be afraid of him. 

But I know that I am not like that.