Job 7–9

7“Do not mortals have hard service^m on earth?ⁿ

Are not their days like those of hired laborers?^o

²Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,^p

or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,^q

³so I have been allotted months of futility,

and nights of misery have been assigned to me.^r

⁴When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’^s

The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.^t

⁵My body is clothed with worms^u and scabs,

my skin is broken and festering.^v

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

and they come to an end without hope.^x

⁷Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;^y

my eyes will never see happiness again.^z

⁸The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;

you will look for me, but I will be no more.^a

⁹As a cloud vanishes^b and is gone,

so one who goes down to the grave^c does not return.^d

¹⁰He will never come to his house again;

his place^e will know him no more.^f

¹¹“Therefore I will not keep silent;^g

I will speak out in the anguish^h of my spirit,

I will complainⁱ in the bitterness of my soul.^j

¹²Am I the sea,^k or the monster of the deep,^l

that you put me under guard?^m

¹³When I think my bed will comfort me

and my couch will ease my complaint,ⁿ

¹⁴even then you frighten me with dreams

and terrify^o me with visions,^p

¹⁵so that I prefer strangling and death,^q

rather than this body of mine.^r

¹⁶I despise my life;^s I would not live forever.^t

Let me alone;^u my days have no meaning.^v

¹⁷“What is mankind that you make so much of them,

that you give them so much attention,^w

¹⁸that you examine them every morning^x

and test them^y every moment?^z

¹⁹Will you never look away from me,^a

or let me alone even for an instant?^b

²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to you,^c

you who sees everything we do?

Why have you made me your target?^d

Have I become a burden to you?^ae

²¹Why do you not pardon my offenses

and forgive my sins?^f

For I will soon lie down in the dust;^g

you will search for me, but I will be no more.”^h

Bildad

8Then Bildad the Shuhiteⁱ replied:

²“How long will you say such things?^j

Your words are a blustering wind.^k

³Does God pervert justice?^l

Does the Almighty pervert what is right?^m

⁴When your children sinned against him,

he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.ⁿ

⁵But if you will seek God earnestly

and plead^o with the Almighty,^p

⁶if you are pure and upright,

even now he will rouse himself on your behalf^q

and restore you to your prosperous state.^r

⁷Your beginnings will seem humble,

so prosperous^s will your future be.^t

⁸“Ask the former generation^u

and find out what their ancestors learned,

⁹for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,^v

and our days on earth are but a shadow.^w

¹⁰Will they not instruct^x you and tell you?

Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?^y

¹¹Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?^z

Can reeds^a thrive without water?

¹²While still growing and uncut,

they wither more quickly than grass.^b

¹³Such is the destiny^c of all who forget God;^d

so perishes the hope of the godless.^e

¹⁴What they trust in is fragile^a;

what they rely on is a spider’s web.^f

¹⁵They lean on the web,^g but it gives way;

they cling to it, but it does not hold.^h

¹⁶They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,

spreading its shootsⁱ over the garden;^j

¹⁷it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks

and looks for a place among the stones.

¹⁸But when it is torn from its spot,

that place disowns^k it and says, ‘I never saw you.’^l

¹⁹Surely its life withers^m away,

and^b from the soil other plants grow.ⁿ

²⁰“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless^o

or strengthen the hands of evildoers.^p

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter^q

and your lips with shouts of joy.^r

²²Your enemies will be clothed in shame,^s

and the tents^t of the wicked will be no more.”^u

Job

9Then Job replied:

²“Indeed, I know that this is true.

But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?^v

³Though they wished to dispute with him,^w

they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.^x

⁴His wisdom^y is profound, his power is vast.^z

Who has resisted^a him and come out unscathed?^b

⁵He moves mountains^c without their knowing it

and overturns them in his anger.^d

⁶He shakes the earth^e from its place

and makes its pillars tremble.^f

⁷He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;^g

he seals off the light of the stars.^h

⁸He alone stretches out the heavensⁱ

and treads on the waves of the sea.^j

⁹He is the Maker^k of the Bear^a and Orion,

the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.^l

¹⁰He performs wonders^m that cannot be fathomed,

miracles that cannot be counted.ⁿ

¹¹When he passes me, I cannot see him;

when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.^o

¹²If he snatches away, who can stop him?^p

Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’^q

¹³God does not restrain his anger;^r

even the cohorts of Rahab^s cowered at his feet.

¹⁴“How then can I dispute with him?

How can I find words to argue with him?^t

¹⁵Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;^u

I could only plead^v with my Judge^w for mercy.^x

¹⁶Even if I summoned him and he responded,

I do not believe he would give me a hearing.^y

¹⁷He would crush me^z with a storm^a

and multiply^b my wounds for no reason.^c

¹⁸He would not let me catch my breath

but would overwhelm me with misery.^d

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!^e

And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him^b?^f

²⁰Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;

if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.^g

²¹“Although I am blameless,^h

I have no concern for myself;ⁱ

I despise my own life.^j

²²It is all the same; that is why I say,

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’^k

²³When a scourge^l brings sudden death,

he mocks the despair of the innocent.^m

²⁴When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,ⁿ

he blindfolds its judges.^o

If it is not he, then who is it?^p

²⁵“My days are swifter than a runner;^q

they fly away without a glimpse of joy.^r

²⁶They skim past^s like boats of papyrus,^t

like eagles swooping down on their prey.^u

²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,^v

I will change my expression, and smile,’

²⁸I still dread^w all my sufferings,

for I know you will not hold me innocent.^x

²⁹Since I am already found guilty,

why should I struggle in vain?^y

³⁰Even if I washed myself with soap^z

and my hands^a with cleansing powder,^b

³¹you would plunge me into a slime pit^c

so that even my clothes would detest me.^d

³²“He is not a mere mortal^e like me that I might answer him,^f

that we might confront each other in court.^g

³³If only there were someone to mediate between us,^h

someone to bring us together,ⁱ

³⁴someone to remove God’s rod from me,^j

so that his terror would frighten me no more.^k

³⁵Then I would speak up without fear of him,^l

but as it now stands with me, I cannot.^m