Job 3–41

Job Deplores His Birth

3After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ²And Job ¹spoke, and said:

³“May ^athe day perish on which I was born,

And the night in which it was said,

‘A male child is conceived.’

⁴May that day be darkness;

May God above not seek it,

Nor the light shine upon it.

⁵May darkness and ^bthe shadow of death claim it;

May a cloud settle on it;

May the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶As for that night, may darkness seize it;

May it not ²rejoice among the days of the year,

May it not come into the number of the months.

⁷Oh, may that night be barren!

May no joyful shout come into it!

⁸May those curse it who curse the day,

Those ^cwho are ready to arouse Leviathan.

⁹May the stars of its morning be dark;

May it look for light, but have none,

And not see the ³dawning of the day;

¹⁰Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,

Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹“Why ^ddid I not die at birth?

Why did I not ⁴perish when I came from the womb?

^12eWhy did the knees receive me?

Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

¹³For now I would have lain still and been quiet,

I would have been asleep;

Then I would have been at rest

¹⁴With kings and counselors of the earth,

Who ^fbuilt ruins for themselves,

¹⁵Or with princes who had gold,

Who filled their houses with silver;

¹⁶Or why was I not hidden ^glike a stillborn child,

Like infants who never saw light?

¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling,

And there the ⁵weary are at ^hrest.

¹⁸There the prisoners ⁶rest together;

ⁱThey do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹The small and great are there,

And the servant is free from his master.

²⁰“Why ^jis light given to him who is in misery,

And life to the ^kbitter of soul,

²¹Who ^llong ⁷for death, but it does not come,

And search for it more than ^mhidden treasures;

²²Who rejoice exceedingly,

And are glad when they can find the ⁿgrave?

²³Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,

^oAnd whom God has hedged in?

²⁴For my sighing comes before ⁸I eat,

And my groanings pour out like water.

²⁵For the thing I greatly ^pfeared has come upon me,

And what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;

I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

Eliphaz: Job Has Sinned

4Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

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

But who can withhold himself from speaking?

³Surely you have instructed many,

And you ^ahave strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

And you ^bhave strengthened the ¹feeble knees;

⁵But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;

It touches you, and you are troubled.

⁶Is not ^cyour reverence ^dyour confidence?

And the integrity of your ways your hope?

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

Or where were the upright ever cut off?

⁸Even as I have seen,

^fThose who plow iniquity

And sow trouble reap the same.

⁹By the blast of God they perish,

And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.

¹⁰The roaring of the lion,

The voice of the fierce lion,

And ^gthe teeth of the young lions are broken.

^11hThe old lion perishes for lack of prey,

And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word was secretly brought to me,

And my ear received a whisper of it.

¹³ⁱIn disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴Fear came upon me, and ^jtrembling,

Which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵Then a spirit passed before my face;

The hair on my body stood up.

¹⁶It stood still,

But I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

There was silence;

Then I heard a voice saying:

¹⁷‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?

Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸If He ^kputs no trust in His servants,

If He charges His angels with error,

¹⁹How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust,

Who are crushed before a moth?

^20lThey are broken in pieces from morning till evening;

They perish forever, with no one regarding.

²¹Does not their own excellence go away?

They die, even without wisdom.’

Eliphaz: Job is Chastened by God

5“Call out now; Is there anyone who will answer you?

And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

²For wrath kills a foolish man,

And envy slays a simple one.

^3aI have seen the foolish taking root,

But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.

⁴His sons are ^bfar from safety,

They are crushed in the gate,

And ^cthere is no deliverer.

⁵Because the hungry eat up his harvest,

¹Taking it even from the thorns,

²And a snare snatches their ³substance.

⁶For affliction does not come from the dust,

Nor does trouble spring from the ground;

⁷Yet man is ^dborn to ⁴trouble,

As the sparks fly upward.

⁸“But as for me, I would seek God,

And to God I would commit my cause—

⁹Who does great things, and unsearchable,

Marvelous things without number.

^10eHe gives rain on the earth,

And sends waters on the fields.

^11fHe sets on high those who are lowly,

And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

^12gHe frustrates the devices of the crafty,

So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.

¹³He catches the ^hwise in their own craftiness,

And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them.

¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime,

And grope at noontime as in the night.

¹⁵But ⁱHe saves the needy from the sword,

From the mouth of the mighty,

And from their hand.

^16jSo the poor have hope,

And injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷“Behold, ^khappy is the man whom God corrects;

Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

^18lFor He bruises, but He binds up;

He wounds, but His hands make whole.

^19mHe shall deliver you in six troubles,

Yes, in seven ⁿno evil shall touch you.

^20oIn famine He shall redeem you from death,

And in war from the ⁵power of the sword.

^21pYou shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,

And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.

²²You shall laugh at destruction and famine,

And ^qyou shall not be afraid of the ^rbeasts of the earth.

^23sFor you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,

And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

²⁴You shall know that your tent is in peace;

You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.

²⁵You shall also know that ^tyour descendants shall be many,

And your offspring ^ulike the grass of the earth.

^26vYou shall come to the grave at a full age,

As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.

²⁷Behold, this we have ^wsearched out;

It is true.

Hear it, and know for yourself.”

Job: My Complaint is Just

6Then Job answered and said:

²“Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,

And my calamity laid with it on the scales!

³For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea—

Therefore my words have been rash.

^4aFor the arrows of the Almighty are within me;

My spirit drinks in their poison;

^bThe terrors of God are arrayed ^cagainst me.

⁵Does the ^dwild donkey bray when it has grass,

Or does the ox low over its fodder?

⁶Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

⁷My soul refuses to touch them;

They are as loathsome food to me.

⁸“Oh, that I might have my request,

That God would grant me the thing that I long for!

⁹That it would please God to crush me,

That He would loose His hand and ^ecut me off!

¹⁰Then I would still have comfort;

Though in anguish I would exult,

He will not spare;

For ^fI have not concealed the words of ^gthe Holy One.

¹¹“What strength do I have, that I should hope?

And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?

¹²Is my strength the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh bronze?

¹³Is my help not within me?

And is success driven from me?

¹⁴“To ^hhim who is ¹afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend,

Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ⁱMy brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook,

^jLike the streams of the brooks that pass away,

¹⁶Which are dark because of the ice,

And into which the snow vanishes.

¹⁷When it is warm, they cease to flow;

When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸The paths of their way turn aside,

They go nowhere and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of ^kTema look,

The travelers of ^lSheba hope for them.

²⁰They are ^mdisappointed ²because they were confident;

They come there and are confused.

²¹For now ⁿyou are nothing,

You see terror and ^oare afraid.

²²Did I ever say, ‘Bring something to me’?

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

²³Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’?

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of oppressors’?

²⁴“Teach me, and I will hold my tongue;

Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

²⁵How forceful are right words!

But what does your arguing prove?

²⁶Do you intend to rebuke my words,

And the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind?

²⁷Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless,

And you ^pundermine your friend.

²⁸Now therefore, be pleased to look at me;

For I would never lie to your face.

^29qYield now, let there be no injustice!

Yes, concede, my ^rrighteousness ³still stands!

³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my ⁴taste discern the unsavory?

Job: My Suffering is Comfortless

7“Is there not ^aa time of hard service for man on earth?

Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?

²Like a servant who ¹earnestly desires the shade,

And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,

³So I have been allotted ^bmonths of futility,

And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.

^4cWhen I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise,

And the night be ended?’

For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.

⁵My flesh is ^dcaked with worms and dust,

My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.

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

And are spent without hope.

⁷Oh, remember that ^fmy life is a breath!

My eye will never again see good.

^8gThe eye of him who sees me will see me no more;

While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.

⁹As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,

So ^hhe who goes down to the grave does not come up.

¹⁰He shall never return to his house,

ⁱNor shall his place know him anymore.

¹¹“Therefore I will ^jnot restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will ^kcomplain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,

That You set a guard over me?

^13lWhen I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,

My couch will ease my complaint,’

¹⁴Then You scare me with dreams

And terrify me with visions,

¹⁵So…