Job’s Fourth Speech Continues

13 “Look, my eye has seen everything;

my ear has heard and has understood it.

2 ⌊What youa know⌋,b I myselfc also know—

I am not more inferior than you.d

3 But I would speak to Shaddai,

and I desire to argue with God.

4 “Bute youf ⌊whitewash with lies⌋;g

all of youh are ⌊worthless healers⌋.i

5 ⌊O that⌋j youk would keep completely silent,

and that it would become wisdom for you.l

6 Please hear my argument,

and listen attentively to the pleadings of my lips.

7 “Will youm speak falsely for God?

And will youn speak deceitfully for him?

8 ⌊Will youo show partiality for him⌋?p

Or do youq want to plead God’s case?

9 Will it be well, if he examines you?r

Or can yous deceive him like deceiving a human being?

10 “Surely he will rebuke yout

if ⌊youu show partiality⌋v in secret.

11 Will not his majesty terrify you,w

and his dread fall upon you?x

12 Youry maxims are proverbs of ashes;

yourz defenses are defenses of clay.

13 “⌊Let me have silence⌋,a and I myselfb will speak,

and let come over me whatever may.

14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

andc putd my life in my hand?

15 Look,e though he kill me, I will hope inf him;

however, I will defend my ways ⌊before him⌋.g

16 Moreover, this is salvation to me,

that the godless would not come ⌊before him⌋.h

17 “Listen carefully to my words,

and let my exposition be in your ears.

18 Please look,i I have prepared my case;

I know that I myselfj will be vindicated.

19 Who is he who will contend with me?

For ⌊then⌋ I would be silent, and I would pass away.

Job Argues His Case with God

20 “Only youk must not do these two things to me;

then I will not hide from your face:

21 withdraw yourl hand from me,

and let not yourm dread terrify me.

22 Thenn call, and I myselfo will answer;

or let me speak, thenp reply to me.

23 “⌊How many⌋q are my iniquities and sins?

Make known to me my transgression and my sin.

24 Why do your hide yours face

and count me as yourt enemy?

25 Will youu terrify a blown leaf?

And will youv pursue dry stubble?

26 “Indeed, youw write bitter things against me,

and youx make me reap the iniquities of my childhood.

27 And youy put my feet in the block,

and youz watch all my paths;

you carve a mark on the soles of my feet.a

28 And he himself b​wastes away like something rotten,

like a garment that the moth has eaten.