Chapter 7

Job’s Life Seems Futile

1 “1Is not man aforced 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 waits for his wages,

3 So am I allotted months of vanity,

And anights of trouble are appointed me.

4 “When I alie down I say,

‘When shall I arise?’

But the night continues,

And I am 1continually tossing until dawn.

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

My skin hardens and runs.

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

And come to an end bwithout hope.

7 “Remember that my life ais but breath;

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 “When a acloud vanishes, it is gone,

So bhe who goes down to cSheol does not come up.

10 “He will not return again to his house,

Nor will ahis place know him anymore.

11 “Therefore aI will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

12 “Am I the sea, or athe sea monster,

That You set a guard over me?

13 “If I say, ‘aMy bed will comfort me,

My couch will 1ease my complaint,’

14 Then You frighten me with dreams

And terrify me by visions;

15 So that my soul would choose suffocation,

Death rather than my 1pains.

16 “I 1awaste away; I will not live forever.

Leave me alone, bfor my days are but a breath.

17 “aWhat is man that You magnify him,

And that You 1are concerned about him,

18 That aYou examine him every morning

And try him every moment?

19 “1aWill You never turn Your gaze away from me,

Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

20 “aHave I sinned? What have I done to You,

O bwatcher of men?

Why have You set me as Your target,

So that I am a burden to myself?

21 “Why then ado You not pardon my transgression

And take away my iniquity?

For now I will blie down in the dust;

And You will seek me, cbut I will not be.”

Chapter 8

Bildad Says God Rewards the Good

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite 1answered,

2 “How long will you say these things,

And the awords of your mouth be a mighty wind?

3 “Does aGod pervert justice?

Or does 1the Almighty pervert what is right?

4 “aIf your sons sinned against Him,

Then He delivered them into the 1power of their transgression.

5 “If you would aseek God

And implore the compassion of 1the Almighty,

6 If you are pure and upright,

Surely now aHe would rouse Himself for you

And restore your righteous 1bestate.

7 “Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your aend will increase greatly.

8 “Please ainquire of past generations,

And consider the things searched out by their fathers.

9 “For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because aour days on earth are as a shadow.

10 “Will they not teach you and tell you,

And bring forth words from their minds?

11 “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the rushes grow without water?

12 “While it is still green and not cut down,

Yet it withers before any other 1plant.

13 “So are the paths of aall who forget God;

And the bhope of the godless will perish,

14 Whose confidence is fragile,

And whose trust a aspider’s 1web.

15 “He 1trusts in his ahouse, but it does not stand;

He holds fast to it, but it does not endure.

16 “He 1athrives before the sun,

And his bshoots spread out over his garden.

17 “His roots wrap around a rock pile,

He 1grasps a house of stones.

18 “If he is 1removed from ahis place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘bI never saw you.’

19 “Behold, athis is the joy of His way;

And out of the dust others will spring.

20 “Lo, aGod will not reject a man of integrity,

Nor bwill He 1support the evildoers.

21 “He will yet fill ayour mouth with laughter

And your lips with shouting.

22 “Those who hate you will be aclothed with shame,

And the btent of the wicked will be no longer.”

Chapter 9

Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man

1 Then Job 1answered,

2 “In truth I know that this is so;

But how can a aman be in the right 1before God?

3 “If one wished to adispute with Him,

He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

4 “aWise in heart and bmighty in strength,

Who has 1cdefied Him 2without harm?

5 “aIt is God who removes the mountains, they know not how,

When He overturns them in His anger;

6 Who ashakes the earth out of its place,

And its bpillars tremble;

7 Who commands the asun 1not to shine,

And sets a seal upon the stars;

8 Who alone astretches out the heavens

And 1btramples down the waves of the sea;

9 Who makes the aBear, Orion and the Pleiades,

And the bchambers of the south;

10 Who adoes great things, 1unfathomable,

And wondrous works without number.

11 “Were He to pass by me, aI would not see Him;

Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

12 “Were He to snatch away, who could arestrain Him?

Who could say to Him, ‘bWhat are You doing?’

13 “God will not turn back His anger;

Beneath Him crouch the helpers of aRahab.

14 “How then can aI 1answer Him,

And choose my words 2before Him?

15 “For athough I were right, I could not 1answer;

I would have to bimplore the mercy of my judge.

16 “If I called and He answered me,

I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

17 “For He abruises me with a tempest

And multiplies my wounds without cause.

18 “He will anot allow me to get my breath,

But saturates me with bbitterness.

19 “If it is a matter of power, abehold, He is the strong one!

And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon 1Him?

20 “aThough I am righteous, my mouth will bcondemn me;

Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.

21 “I am aguiltless;

I do not take notice of myself;

I bdespise my life.

22 “It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He adestroys the guiltless and the wicked.’

23 “If the scourge kills suddenly,

He amocks the despair of the innocent.

24 “The earth ais given into the hand of the wicked;

He bcovers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, then who is it?

25 “Now amy days are swifter than a runner;

They flee away, bthey see no good.

26 “They slip by like areed boats,

Like an beagle that swoops on 1its prey.

27 “Though I say, ‘I will forget amy complaint,

I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful,’

28 I am aafraid of all my pains,

I know that bYou will not acquit me.

29 “I am accounted awicked,

Why then should I toil in vain?

30 “If I should awash myself with snow

And cleanse bmy hands with lye,

31 Yet You would plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes would abhor me.

32 “For aHe is not a man as I am that bI may answer Him,

That we may go to 1court together.

33 “There is no aumpire between us,

Who may lay his hand upon us both.

34 “Let Him aremove His rod from me,

And let not dread of Him terrify me.

35 “Then I awould speak and not fear Him;

But I am not like that in myself.