Job 3–41

CHAPTER 3

Job Curses the Day of His Birth

¹Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed ¹the day of his birth.

²And Job answered and said,

³“^aLet the day perish on which I was to be born,

And the night which said, ‘A man is conceived.’

⁴“May that day be darkness;

Let not God seek it from above,

Nor light shine on it.

⁵“Let ^adarkness and shadow of death redeem it;

Let a cloud dwell upon it;

Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶“As for that night, let thick darkness take it;

Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;

Let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷“Behold, let that night be barren;

Let no joyful shout enter it.

⁸“Let those curse it who curse the day,

Who are ¹ready to ^arouse Leviathan.

⁹“Let the stars of its twilight be darkened;

Let it hope for light but have none,

And let it not see the ¹breaking dawn,

¹⁰Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s ¹body,

Or hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“^aWhy did I not die from the womb,

Come forth from the womb and breathe my last?

¹²“Why did the knees receive me,

And why the breasts, that I should suck?

¹³“For now I ^awould have lain down and been quiet;

I would have slept then; it would have been rest to me,

¹⁴With ^akings and with ^bcounselors of the earth,

Who rebuilt ^cwaste places for themselves,

¹⁵Or with ^aprinces ^bwho had gold,

Who were filling their houses with silver.

¹⁶“Or why was I not like a miscarriage hidden away,

As infants that never saw light?

¹⁷“There the wicked cease from raging,

And there the weary of strength are at ^arest.

¹⁸“The prisoners are at ease together;

They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹“The small and the great are there,

And the slave is free from his master.

²⁰“Why is ^alight given to him who is troubled,

And life to the bitter of soul,

²¹Who ^1along for death, but there is none,

And dig for it more than for ^bhidden treasures,

²²Who are glad with joy,

And rejoice when they find the grave?

²³“Why is light given to a man ^awhose way is hidden,

And whom ^bGod has hedged in?

²⁴“For ^amy groaning comes at the sight of my food,

And ^bmy roaring pours out like water.

²⁵“For ^athe dread that I dread comes upon me,

And what I am afraid of befalls me.

²⁶“I ^aam not complacent, nor am I quiet,

And I am not at rest, and raging comes.”

CHAPTER 4

Eliphaz Says the Innocent Do Not Suffer

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²“If one tries a word with you, will you become weary?

But ^awho can hold back ¹from speaking?

³“Behold, ^ayou have disciplined many,

And you have strengthened limp hands.

⁴“Your words have ¹helped the stumbling to stand,

And you have encouraged ²feeble knees.

⁵“But now it has come to you, and you ^aare impatient;

It ^btouches you, and you are dismayed.

⁶“Is not your ^1afear of God ^byour confidence,

And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷“Remember now, ^awho ever perished being innocent?

Or where were the upright wiped out?

⁸“According to what I have seen, ^athose who plow wickedness

And those who sow trouble harvest it.

⁹“By ^athe breath of God they perish,

And ^bby the wind of His anger they come to an end.

¹⁰“The ^aroaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,

And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹“The ^alion perishes for lack of prey,

And the ^bwhelps of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word ^awas brought to me stealthily,

And my ear received a ^bwhisper of it.

¹³“Amid disquieting ^athoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴Dread came upon me, and trembling,

And made the multitude of my bones shake in dread.

¹⁵“Then a ¹spirit swept by my face;

The hair of my flesh bristled up.

¹⁶“It stood still, but I could not recognize its appearance;

A form was before my eyes;

There was silence, then I heard a voice:

¹⁷‘Can ^amankind be right ¹before God?

Can a man be pure ²before his ^bMaker?

¹⁸‘^aHe puts no trust even in His slaves;

And against His angels He charges error.

¹⁹‘How much more those who dwell in ^ahouses of clay,

Whose ^bfoundation is in the dust,

Who are crushed before the moth!

²⁰‘^aBetween morning and evening they are broken in pieces;

¹Unobserved, they ^bperish forever.

²¹‘Is not their ^atent-cord pulled up within them?

They die, yet ^bwithout wisdom.’

CHAPTER 5

The Discipline of the Almighty

¹“Call now, is there anyone who will answer you?

And to which of the ^aholy ones will you turn?

²“For ^avexation kills the ignorant fool,

And jealousy puts to death the simple.

³“I have seen the ^aignorant fool taking root,

And I ^bcursed his abode suddenly.

⁴“His ^asons are far from salvation,

They are even crushed in the gate,

And there is no deliverer.

⁵“¹His harvest the hungry devour

And take it to a place of thorns,

And the ^2aschemer pants after their wealth.

⁶“For ^awickedness does not come out from the dust,

Nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

⁷For ^aman is born for trouble,

As ¹sparks fly upward.

⁸“But as for me, I would ^aseek God,

And I would set my cause before God,

⁹Who ^adoes great and unsearchable things,

¹Wonders without number.

¹⁰“He ^agives rain on the earth

And sends water on the fields outside,

¹¹So that ^aHe sets on high those who are lowly,

And those who mourn are lifted to salvation.

¹²“He ^afrustrates the thoughts of the crafty,

So that their hands cannot attain success of sound wisdom.

¹³“He ^acatches the wise by their own craftiness,

And the counsel of the twisted is quickly thwarted.

¹⁴“By day they ^ameet with darkness

And grope at noon as in the night.

¹⁵“But He saves from ^athe sword of their mouth,

And ^bthe needy from the hand of the strong.

¹⁶“So the poor has hope,

And ^aunrighteousness must shut its mouth.

¹⁷“Behold, how ^ablessed is the man whom God reproves,

So do not reject the ^bdiscipline of the ¹Almighty.

¹⁸“For ^aHe inflicts pain and ¹gives relief;

He ²wounds, and His hands also heal.

¹⁹“¹From six distresses ^aHe will deliver you,

Even in seven ^bevil will not touch you.

²⁰“In ^afamine He will redeem you from death,

And ^bin war from hands with swords.

²¹“You will be ^ahidden from the scourge of the tongue,

^bAnd you will not be afraid of devastation when it comes.

²²“You will ^alaugh at devastation and starvation,

^bAnd you will not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

²³“For your covenant will be with the stones of the field,

And ^athe beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

²⁴“You will know that your ^atent is at peace,

For you will visit your abode and fear no loss.

²⁵“You will know also that your ^aseed will be many,

And ^byour offspring as the vegetation of the land.

²⁶“You will ^acome to the grave in full vigor,

Like the stacking of grain in its season.

²⁷“Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is.

Hear it, and know for yourself.”

CHAPTER 6

Job Answers Eliphaz

¹Then Job answered and said,

²“^aOh that my vexation were actually weighed

And laid in the balances together with my destruction!

³“For then it would be ^aheavier than the sand of the seas;

Therefore my words have been rash.

⁴“For the ^aarrows of the Almighty are within me,

¹Their ^bpoison my spirit drinks;

The ^chorrors of God are arranged against me.

⁵“Does the ^awild donkey bray over his grass,

Or does the ox low over his fodder?

⁶“Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,

Or is there any taste in the slime of a ¹yolk?

⁷“My soul ^arefuses to touch them;

They are like loathsome food to me.

⁸“Oh that my request might come to pass,

And that God would grant my hope!

⁹“Would that God were ^awilling to crush me,

That He would release His hand and cut me off!

¹⁰“But it is still my comfort,

And I rejoice in unsparing pain,

That I ^ahave not at all hidden away the words of the Holy One.

¹¹“What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should ^1aendure?

¹²“Is my strength the strength of stones,

Or is my flesh bronze?

¹³“Is it that there is no ^ahelp within me,

And that the ^1bsuccess of sound wisdom is driven from me?

¹⁴“For the ^adespairing man lovingkindness should be from his friend;

But he ^bforsakes the ¹fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵“My brothers have ^abetrayed me like a ¹wadi,

Like the torrents of ²wadis which pass away,

¹⁶Which grow dark because of ice

And upon which the snow hides itself.

¹⁷“When ^athey become waterless, they ¹are silent;

When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸“The ¹paths of their course wind along;

They go up into a formless place and perish.

¹⁹“The caravans of ^aTema looked;

The travelers of ^bSheba hoped for them.

²⁰“They ^awere ashamed for they had trusted;

They came there and were humiliated.

²¹“Indeed, you have now become such;

^aYou see a terror and are afraid.

²²“Have I said, ‘Give me something,’

Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’

²³Or, ‘Give me escape from the hand of the adversary,’

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless men’?

²⁴“Instruct me, and ^aI will be silent;

And cause me to understand how I have erred.

²⁵“How painful are upright words!

But what does your reproof prove?

²⁶“Do you think to reprove my words,

Or think of the ^awords of one in despair as wind?

²⁷“You would even ^acast lots for ^bthe orphans

And ^cbargain over your friend.

²⁸“So now be willing to face me,

And see if I ^alie to your face.

²⁹“Now turn from this, let there be no unrighteousness;

Even turn from this, ^amy righteousness is yet in it.

³⁰“Is there unrighteousness on my tongue?

Cannot ^amy palate discern ¹destruction?

CHAPTER 7

¹“¹Is not man ^aconscripted to labor on earth,

And are not his days like the days of ^ba hired man?

²“As a slave who pants for the shade,

And as a hired man who eagerly hopes for his wages,

³So am I apportioned months of worthlessness,

And ^anights of trouble are appointed me.

⁴“If I ^alie down I say,

‘When shall I arise?’

But the twilight continues,

And I am saturated with tossing until dawn.

⁵“My ^aflesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt;

My skin scabs over and flows out again.

⁶“My days are ^aswifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

And come to an end ^bwithout hope.

⁷“Remember that my life ^ais but wind;

My eye will ^bnot again see good.

⁸“The ^aeye of him who sees me will behold me no longer;

Your eyes will be on me, but ^bI will not be.

⁹“A ^acloud…