Job 23:1–25:6

Job Proclaims God’s Righteous Judgments

23 Then Job answered and said:

2 “Even today my acomplaint is bitter;

1My hand is listless because of my groaning.

3 bOh, that I knew where I might find Him,

That I might come to His seat!

4 I would present my case before Him,

And fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words which He would answer me,

And understand what He would say to me.

6 cWould He contend with me in His great power?

No! But He would take note of me.

7 There the upright could reason with Him,

And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

8 “Look, dI go forward, but He is not there,

And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

9 When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;

When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.

10 But eHe knows the way that I take;

When fHe has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 gMy foot has held fast to His steps;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

12 I have not departed from the hcommandment of His lips;

iI have treasured the words of His mouth

More than my 2necessary food.

13 “But He is unique, and who can make Him change?

And whatever jHis soul desires, that He does.

14 For He performs what is kappointed for me,

And many such things are with Him.

15 Therefore I am terrified at His presence;

When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.

16 For God lmade my heart weak,

And the Almighty terrifies me;

17 Because I was not mcut off 3from the presence of darkness,

And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

Job Complains of Violence on the Earth

24 “Since atimes are not hidden from the Almighty,

Why do those who know Him see not His bdays?

2 “Some remove clandmarks;

They seize flocks violently and feed on them;

3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;

They dtake the widow’s ox as a pledge.

4 They push the needy off the road;

All the epoor of the land are forced to hide.

5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,

They go out to their work, searching for food.

The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.

6 They gather their fodder in the field

And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

7 They fspend the night naked, without clothing,

And have no covering in the cold.

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains,

And ghuddle around the rock for want of shelter.

9 “Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,

And take a pledge from the poor.

10 They cause the poor to go naked, without hclothing;

And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

11 They press out oil within their walls,

And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

12 The dying groan in the city,

And the souls of the wounded cry out;

Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

13 “There are those who rebel against the light;

They do not know its ways

Nor abide in its paths.

14 iThe murderer rises with the light;

He kills the poor and needy;

And in the night he is like a thief.

15 jThe eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,

kSaying, ‘No eye will see me’;

And he 1disguises his face.

16 In the dark they break into houses

Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;

lThey do not know the light.

17 For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death;

If someone recognizes them,

They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

18 “They should be swift on the face of the waters,

Their portion should be cursed in the earth,

So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.

19 As drought and heat 2consume the snow waters,

So 3the grave consumes those who have sinned.

20 The womb should forget him,

The worm should feed sweetly on him;

mHe should be remembered no more,

And wickedness should be broken like a tree.

21 For he 4preys on the barren who do not bear,

And does no good for the widow.

22 “But God draws the mighty away with His power;

He rises up, but no man is sure of life.

23 He gives them security, and they rely on it;

Yet nHis eyes are on their ways.

24 They are exalted for a little while,

Then they are gone.

They are brought low;

They are 5taken out of the way like all others;

They dry out like the heads of grain.

25 “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,

And make my speech worth nothing?”

Bildad: How Can Man Be Righteous?

25 Then aBildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “Dominion and fear belong to Him;

He makes peace in His high places.

3 1Is there any number to His armies?

Upon whom does bHis light not rise?

4 cHow then can man be righteous before God?

Or how can he be dpure who is born of a woman?

5 If even the moon does not shine,

And the stars are not pure in His esight,

6 How much less man, who is fa maggot,

And a son of man, who is a worm?”