Job 7–9

7Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor ^kon earth?

Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

²Like a slave he longs for shade;

like a hired man he waits for his pay.

³So I have been made to inherit months of futility,

and troubled nights have been assigned to me. ^l

⁴When I lie down I think:

When will I get up?

But the evening drags on endlessly,

and I toss and turn until dawn.

⁵My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt. ^m

My skin forms scabs ⁿand then oozes. ^o

⁶My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;

they come to an end without hope. ^p

⁷Remember that my life is but a breath.

My eye will never again see anything good. ^q

⁸The eye of anyone who looks on me

will no longer see me.

Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone. ^r

⁹As a cloud fades away and vanishes,

so the one who goes down to Sheol ^swill never rise again.

¹⁰He will never return to his house;

his hometown will no longer remember ^thim. ^u

¹¹Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I the sea ^vwor a sea monster, ^x

that You keep me under guard?

¹³When I say: My bed will comfort me,

and my couch will ease my complaint,

¹⁴then You frighten me with dreams,

and terrify me with visions, ^y

¹⁵so that I prefer strangling ^z—

death rather than life in this body. ^ab

¹⁶I give up! I will not live forever.

Leave me alone, ^cfor my days are a breath. ^d

¹⁷What is man, that You think so highly of him

and pay so much attention to him? ^e

¹⁸You inspect him every morning,

and put him to the test every moment. ^f

¹⁹Will You ever look away from me,

or leave me alone long enough to swallow? ^g

²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to You,

Watcher of mankind?

Why have You made me Your target, ^h

so that I have become a burden to You? ⁱ

²¹Why not forgive my sin

and pardon my transgression? ^j

For soon I will lie down in the grave. ^k

You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone. ^l

Bildad Speaks

8Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²How long will you go on saying these things?

Your words ^mare a blast of wind. ⁿ

³Does God pervert justice? ^o

Does the Almighty pervert what is right? ^p

⁴Since your children sinned against Him,

He gave them over to their rebellion.

⁵But if you earnestly seek ^qGod

and ask the Almighty for mercy, ^r

⁶if you are pure and upright,

then He will move even now on your behalf

and restore the home where your righteousness dwells. ^s

⁷Then, even if your beginnings were modest,

your final days will be full of prosperity. ^t

⁸For ask the previous generation,

and pay attention to what their fathers discovered, ^u

⁹since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.

Our days on earth are but a shadow. ^v

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you

and speak from their understanding?

¹¹Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Do reeds flourish without water?

¹²While still uncut shoots,

they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

¹³Such is the destiny ^wof all who forget God;

the hope of the godless ^xwill perish.

¹⁴His source of confidence is fragile; ^y

what he trusts in is a spider’s web. ^z

¹⁵He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.

He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

¹⁶He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;

his shoots spread out over his garden.

¹⁷His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.

He looks for a home among the stones.

¹⁸If he is uprooted ^afrom his place,

it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.” ^b

¹⁹Surely this is the joy of his way of life;

yet others will sprout from the dust.

²⁰Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,

and He will not support evildoers. ^c

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with a shout of joy. ^d

²²Your enemies will be clothed with shame; ^e

the tent ^fof the wicked will exist no longer.

Job’s Reply to Bildad

9Then Job answered:

²Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,

but how can a person be justified before God? ^g

³If one wanted to take ^hHim to court,

he could not answer God ⁱonce in a thousand times. ^j

⁴God is wise ^kand all-powerful.

Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?

⁵He removes mountains without their knowledge,

overturning them in His anger. ^l

⁶He shakes the earth from its place

so that its pillars tremble.

⁷He commands the sun not to shine

and seals off the stars. ^m

⁸He alone stretches out the heavens ⁿ

and treads on the waves of the sea. ^o

⁹He makes the stars: the Bear, ^pOrion,

the Pleiades, ^qand the constellations ^rof the southern sky.

¹⁰He does great and unsearchable things,

wonders without number. ^s

¹¹If He passes by me, I wouldn’t see Him; ^t

if He goes right by, I wouldn’t recognize Him.

¹²If He snatches something, who can stop ^uHim?

Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?” ^v

¹³God does not hold back His anger;

Rahab’s ^wassistants cringe in fear beneath Him!

¹⁴How then can I answer Him

or choose my arguments against Him?

¹⁵Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.

I could only beg my Judge for mercy. ^x

¹⁶If I summoned Him and He answered me,

I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.

¹⁷He batters me with a whirlwind ^y

and multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He doesn’t let me catch my breath

but soaks me with bitter experiences.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One! ^z

If it is a matter of justice, who can summon ^aHim? ^b

²⁰Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; ^c

if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.

²¹Though I am blameless,

I no longer care about myself;

I renounce my life. ^d

²²It is all the same. Therefore I say,

“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.” ^e

²³When disaster brings sudden death,

He mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴The earth ^fis handed over to the wicked;

He blindfolds ^gits judges. ^h

If it isn’t He, then who is it?

²⁵My days fly by faster than a runner; ^ij

they flee without seeing any good. ^k

²⁶They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,

like an eagle swooping down on its prey. ^l

²⁷If I said, “I will forget my complaint,

change my expression, and smile,”

²⁸I would still live in terror of all my pains. ^m

I know You will not acquit me. ⁿ

²⁹Since I will be found guilty, ^o

why should I labor in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow,

and cleanse my hands with lye,

³¹then You dip me in a pit of mud,

and my own clothes despise me!

³²For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, ^p

that we can take each other to court.

³³There is no one to judge between us,

to lay his hand on both of us.

³⁴Let Him take His rod away from me

so His terror will no longer frighten me. ^q

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him.

But that is not the case; I am on my own.