Bible Browser

9Then Job answered: ²“Indeed I know that this is so; but how can a mortal be just before God? ³If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand. ⁴He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength—who has resisted him, and succeeded?— ⁵he who removes mountains, and they do not know it, when he overturns them in his anger; ⁶who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; ⁷who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; ⁸who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea; ⁹who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; ¹⁰who does great things beyond understanding, and marvelous things without number. ¹¹Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. ¹²He snatches away; who can stop him? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹³“God will not turn back his anger; the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.

¹⁴How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? ¹⁵Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. ¹⁶If I summoned him and he answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to my voice. ¹⁷For he crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause; ¹⁸he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. ¹⁹If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? ²⁰Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. ²¹I am blameless; I do not know myself; I loathe my life.

²²It is all one; therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. ²³When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. ²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges— if it is not he, who then is it?

²⁵“My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. ²⁶They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey. ²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint; I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’ ²⁸I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know you will not hold me innocent. ²⁹I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain? ³⁰If I wash myself with soap and cleanse my hands with lye, ³¹yet you will plunge me into filth, and my own clothes will abhor me. ³²For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. ³³There is no umpire between us, who might lay his hand on us both. ³⁴If he would take his rod away from me, and not let dread of him terrify me, ³⁵then I would speak without fear of him, for I know I am not what I am thought to be.

10“I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. ²I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. ³Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? ⁴Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? ⁵Are your days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years, ⁶that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, ⁷although you know that I am not guilty, and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?

⁸Your hands fashioned and made me; and now you turn and destroy me. ⁹Remember that you fashioned me like clay; and will you turn me to dust again? ¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? ¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. ¹²You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. ¹³Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose.

¹⁴If I sin, you watch me, and do not acquit me of my iniquity. ¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look upon my affliction. ¹⁶Bold as a lion you hunt me; you repeat your exploits against me. ¹⁷You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me. ¹⁸“Why did you bring me forth from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me, ¹⁹and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. ²⁰Are not the days of my life few? Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort ²¹before I go, never to return, to the land of gloom and deep darkness, ²²the land of gloom and chaos, where light is like darkness.”

11Then Zophar the Naamathite answered: ²“Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and should one full of talk be vindicated? ³Should your babble put others to silence, and when you mock, shall no one shame you? ⁴For you say, ‘My conduct is pure, and I am clean in God’s sight.’ ⁵But oh, that God would speak, and open his lips to you, ⁶and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For wisdom is many-sided. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

⁷“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? ⁸It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? ⁹Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. ¹⁰If he passes through, and imprisons, and assembles for judgment, who can hinder him? ¹¹For he knows those who are worthless; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? ¹²But a stupid person will get understanding, when a wild ass is born human.

¹³“If you direct your heart rightly, you will stretch out your hands toward him. ¹⁴If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and do not let wickedness reside in your tents. ¹⁵Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure, and will not fear. ¹⁶You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. ¹⁷And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. ¹⁸And you will have confidence, because there is hope; you will be protected and take your rest in safety. ¹⁹You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid; many will entreat your favor. ²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last.”

12Then Job answered: ²“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. ³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? ⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called upon God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock. ⁵Those at ease have contempt for misfortune, but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.

⁶The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hands. ⁷“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ⁸ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. ⁹Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? ¹⁰In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. ¹¹Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

¹²Is wisdom with the aged, and understanding in length of days? ¹³“With God are wisdom and strength; he has counsel and understanding. ¹⁴If he tears down, no one can rebuild; if he shuts someone in, no one can open up. ¹⁵If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. ¹⁶With him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. ¹⁷He leads counselors away stripped, and makes fools of judges. ¹⁸He looses the sash of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins. ¹⁹He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty. ²⁰He deprives of speech those who are trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders. ²¹He pours contempt on princes, and looses the belt of the strong. ²²He uncovers the deeps out of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light. ²³He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away. ²⁴He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless waste. ²⁵They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.