Job 3–41

3RD CHAPTER

Job Speaks:

Job Curses the Day He Was Born

¹After all this, Job ⸤finally⸥ opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. ²Job said, 

³“Scratch out the day I was born 

and the night that said, ‘A boy has been conceived!’ 

⁴“That day— 

let it be pitch-black. 

Let God above not ⸤even⸥ care about it. 

Let no light shine on it. 

⁵Let the darkness and long shadows claim it as their own. 

Let a dark cloud hang over it. 

Let the gloom terrify it. 

⁶“That night— 

let the blackness take it away. 

Let it not be included in the days of the year 

or be numbered among the months. 

⁷Let that night be empty. 

Let no joyful singing be heard in it. 

⁸Let those who curse the day^a

(those who know how to wake up Leviathan) 

curse that night. 

⁹Let its stars turn dark before dawn. 

Let it hope for light and receive none. 

Let it not see the first light of dawn 

¹⁰because it did not shut the doors of the womb ⸤from which I came⸥ 

or hide my eyes from trouble. 

Why Did I Survive at Birth?

¹¹“Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born 

and breathe my last breath when I came out of the womb? 

¹²Why did knees welcome me? 

Why did breasts let me nurse? 

¹³Instead of being alive, 

I would now be quietly lying down. 

I would now be sleeping peacefully. 

¹⁴I would be with the kings and the counselors of the world 

who built for themselves ⸤what are now⸥ ruins. 

¹⁵I would be with princes 

who had gold, 

who filled their homes with silver. 

¹⁶I would be buried like a stillborn baby. 

I would not exist. 

I would be like infants who never saw the light. 

¹⁷There the wicked stop their raging. 

There the weary are able to rest. 

¹⁸There the captives have no troubles at all. 

There they do not hear the shouting of the slave driver. 

¹⁹There ⸤you find⸥ both the unimportant and important people. 

There the slave is free from his master. 

Why Do I Go on Living?

²⁰“Why give light to one in misery 

and life to those who find it so bitter, 

²¹to those who long for death but it never comes— 

though they dig for it more than for buried treasure? 

²²They are ecstatic, 

delighted to find the grave. 

²³Why give light to those whose paths have been hidden, 

to those whom God has fenced in? 

²⁴“When my food is in front of me, I sigh. 

I pour out my groaning like water. 

²⁵What I fear most overtakes me. 

What I dread happens to me. 

²⁶I have no peace! 

I have no quiet! 

I have no rest! 

And trouble keeps coming!” 

4TH CHAPTER

Eliphaz Speaks:

Be Patient and Listen, Job

¹Then Eliphaz from Teman replied ⸤to Job⸥, 

²“If someone tries to talk to you, will you become impatient? 

But who can keep from talking? 

³Certainly, you have instructed many people: 

When hands were weak, you made them strong. 

⁴When someone stumbled, you lifted him up with your words. 

When knees were weak, you gave them strength. 

⁵But trouble comes to you, and you’re impatient. 

It touches you, and you panic. 

⁶Doesn’t your fear of God give you confidence 

and your lifetime of integrity give you hope? 

Only Evil People Suffer

⁷“Now think about this: 

Which innocent person ⸤ever⸥ died ⸤an untimely death⸥? 

Find me a decent person who has been destroyed. 

⁸Whenever I saw those who plowed wickedness and planted misery, 

they gathered its harvest. 

⁹God destroys them with his breath 

and kills them with a blast of his anger. 

¹⁰Though the roar of the lion 

and the growl of the ferocious lion ⸤is loud⸥, 

the young lions have had their teeth knocked out. 

¹¹The old lions die without any prey ⸤to eat⸥, 

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. 

¹²“I was told something secretly 

and heard something whispered in my ear. 

¹³With disturbing thoughts from visions in the night, 

when deep sleep falls on people, 

¹⁴fear and trembling came over me, 

and all my bones shook. 

¹⁵A spirit passed in front of me. 

It made my hair stand on end. 

¹⁶Something stood there. 

I couldn’t tell what it was. 

A vague image was in front of my eyes. 

I heard a soft voice: 

¹⁷‘Can ⸤any⸥ mortal be righteous to God? 

Can ⸤any⸥ human being be pure to his maker?’ 

¹⁸“You see, God doesn’t trust his own servants, 

and he accuses his angels of making mistakes. 

¹⁹How much more will he accuse those who live in clay houses 

that have their foundation in the dust. 

Those houses can be crushed quicker than a moth! 

²⁰From morning to evening, they are shattered. 

They will disappear forever without anyone paying attention. 

²¹Haven’t the ropes of their tent been loosened? 

Won’t they die without wisdom? 

5TH CHAPTER

Eliphaz Continues: Seek God’s Help, Job

¹“Cry out! 

Is there anyone to answer you? 

To which of the holy ones will you turn? 

²Certainly, anger kills a stubborn fool, 

and jealousy murders a gullible person. 

³I have seen a stubborn fool take root, 

but I quickly cursed his house. 

⁴His children are far from help. 

They are crushed at the city gate, 

and no one is there to rescue them. 

⁵What a stubborn fool gathers, hungry people eat. 

They take it even from among the thorns, 

and thirsty people pant after his wealth. 

⁶Certainly, sorrow doesn’t come from the soil, 

and trouble doesn’t sprout from the ground. 

⁷But a person is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly up ⸤from a fire⸥. 

⁸“But I would seek God’s help 

and present my case to him. 

⁹He does great things that ⸤we⸥ cannot understand 

and miracles that ⸤we⸥ cannot count. 

¹⁰He gives rain to the earth 

and sends water to the fields. 

¹¹He places lowly people up high. 

He lifts those who mourn to safety. 

¹²He keeps shrewd people from carrying out their plans 

so that they cannot do anything successfully. 

¹³He catches the wise with their own tricks. 

The plans of schemers prove to be hasty. 

¹⁴In the daytime they meet darkness 

and grope in the sunlight as if it were night. 

¹⁵“But he saves ⸤other people⸥ from their slander 

and the needy from the power of the mighty. 

¹⁶Then the poor have hope 

while wrongdoing shuts its mouth. 

Blessing Comes When God Corrects You

¹⁷“Blessed is the person whom God corrects. 

That person should not despise discipline from the Almighty. 

¹⁸God injures, but he bandages. 

He beats you up, but his hands make you well. 

¹⁹He will keep you safe from six troubles, 

and when the seventh one comes, no harm will touch you: 

²⁰“In famine he will save you from death, 

and in war he will save you from the sword. 

²¹“When the tongue lashes out, you will be safe, 

and you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes. 

²²“You will be able to laugh at destruction and starvation, 

so do not be afraid of wild animals on the earth. 

²³“You will have a binding agreement with the stones in the field, 

and wild animals will be at peace with you. 

²⁴“You will know peace in your tent. 

You will inspect your house and find nothing missing. 

²⁵“You will find that your children are many 

and your descendants are like the grass of the earth. 

²⁶“You will come to your grave at a ripe old age 

like a stack of hay in the right season. 

²⁷“We have studied all of this thoroughly! This is the way it is. 

Listen to it, and learn it for yourself.” 

6TH CHAPTER

Job Speaks:

God Has Attacked Me Without Cause

¹Then Job replied ⸤to his friends⸥, 

²“If only my grief could be weighed, 

if only my misery could be laid on the scales with it, 

³then they would be heavier than the sand of the seas. 

I spoke carelessly 

⁴because the arrows of the Almighty ⸤have found their target⸥ in me, 

and my spirit is drinking their poison. 

God’s terrors line up in battle against me. 

⁵“Does a wild donkey bray when it’s ⸤eating⸥ grass, 

or does an ox make a sound over its hay? 

⁶Is tasteless food eaten without salt, 

or is there any flavor in the white of an egg? 

⁷I refuse to touch such things. 

They are disgusting to me. 

⁸“How I wish that my prayer would be answered— 

that God would give me what I’m hoping for, 

⁹that God would ⸤finally⸥ be willing to crush me, 

that he would reach out to cut me off. 

¹⁰Then I would still have comfort. 

I would be happy despite my endless pain, 

because I have not rejected the words of the Holy One. 

¹¹What strength do I have ⸤left⸥ that I can go on hoping? 

What goal do I have that I would want to prolong my life? 

¹²Do I have the strength of rocks? 

Does my body have the strength of bronze? 

¹³Am I not completely helpless? 

Haven’t my skills been taken away from me? 

You Have Not Treated Me Like True Friends

¹⁴“A friend should treat a troubled person kindly, 

even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty. 

¹⁵My brothers have been as deceptive as seasonal rivers, 

like the seasonal riverbeds that flood. 

¹⁶They are dark with ice. 

They are hidden by snow. 

¹⁷They vanish during a scorching summer. 

In the heat their riverbeds dry up. 

¹⁸They change their course. 

They go into a wasteland and disappear. 

¹⁹Caravans from Tema look for them. 

Travelers from Sheba search for them. 

²⁰They are ashamed because they relied on the streams. 

Arriving there, they are disappointed. 

²¹“So you are as unreliable to me ⸤as they are⸥. 

You see something terrifying, and you are afraid. 

²²Did I ever say, ‘Give me a gift,’ 

or ‘Offer me a bribe from your wealth,’ 

²³or ‘Rescue me from an enemy,’ 

or ‘Ransom me from a tyrant’? 

²⁴Teach me, and I’ll be silent. 

Show me where I’ve been wrong. 

²⁵How painful an honest discussion can be! 

In correcting me, you correct yourselves! 

²⁶Do you think my words need correction? 

Do you think they’re what a desperate person says to the wind? 

²⁷Would you also throw dice for an orphan? 

Would you buy and sell your friend? 

²⁸“But now, if you’re willing, look at me. 

I won’t lie to your face. 

²⁹Please change your mind. 

Don’t permit any injustice. 

Change your mind because I am still right about this! 

³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue, 

or is my mouth unable to tell the difference between right and wrong? 

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, 

…