Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man
Then Job answered,
2 “In truth I know that this is so;
But how can a aman be in the right before 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 cdefied Him without 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 not to shine,
And sets a seal upon the stars;
8 Who alone astretches out the heavens
And btramples 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, unfathomable,
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 answer Him,
And choose my words before Him?
15 “For athough I were right, I could not answer;
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 Him?
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 its 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 court 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.
Job Despairs of God’s Dealings
“aI loathe my own life;
I will give full vent to bmy complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 “I will say to God, ‘aDo not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.
3 ‘Is it right for You indeed to aoppress,
To reject bthe labor of Your hands,
And to look favorably on cthe schemes of the wicked?
4 ‘Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You asee as a man sees?
5 ‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or aYour years as man’s years,
6 That aYou should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin?
7 ‘According to Your knowledge aI am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is bno deliverance from Your hand.
8 ‘aYour hands fashioned and made me altogether,
bAnd would You destroy me?
9 ‘Remember now, that You have made me as aclay;
And would You bturn me into dust again?
10 ‘Did You not pour me out like milk
And curdle me like cheese;
11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 ‘You have agranted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 ‘Yet athese things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:
14 If I sin, then You would atake note of me,
And bwould not acquit me of my guilt.
15 ‘If aI am wicked, woe to me!
And bif I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery.
16 ‘Should my head be lifted up, aYou would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your bpower against me.
17 ‘You renew aYour witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
bHardship after hardship is with me.
18 ‘aWhy then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!
19 ‘I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’
20 “Would He not let amy few days alone?
bWithdraw from me that I may have a little cheer
21 Before I go—aand I shall not return—
bTo the land of darkness and cdeep shadow,
22 The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness.”
Zophar Rebukes Job
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
2 “Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,
And a atalkative man be acquitted?
3 “Shall your boasts silence men?
And shall you ascoff and none rebuke?
4 “For ayou have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And bI am innocent in your eyes.’
5 “But would that God might speak,
And open His lips against you,
6 And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom ahas two sides.
Know then that God forgets a part of byour iniquity.
7 “aCan you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
8 “They are ahigh as the heavens, what can you do?
Deeper than bSheol, what can you know?
9 “Its measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.
10 “If He passes by or shuts up,
Or calls an assembly, awho can restrain Him?
11 “For aHe knows false men,
And He bsees iniquity without investigating.
12 “aAn idiot will become intelligent
When the foal of a bwild donkey is born a man.
13 “aIf you would bdirect your heart right
And cspread out your hand to Him,
14 If iniquity is in your hand, aput it far away,
And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;
15 “Then, indeed, you could alift up your face without moral defect,
And you would be steadfast and bnot fear.
16 “For you would aforget your trouble,
As bwaters that have passed by, you would remember it.
17 “Your life would be abrighter than noonday;
Darkness would be like the morning.
18 “Then you would trust, because there is hope;
And you would look around and rest securely.
19 “You would alie down and none would disturb you,
And many would bentreat your favor.
20 “But the aeyes of the wicked will fail,
And there will bbe no escape for them;
And their chope is dto breathe their last.”
Job Chides His Accusers
Then Job responded,
2 “Truly then ayou are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
3 “But aI have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And who does not know such things as these?
4 “I am a ajoke to my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and bblameless man is a joke.
5 “He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 “The atents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God bare secure,
Whom God brings cinto their power.
7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;
And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
8 “Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9 “Who among all these does not know
That athe hand of the Lord has done this,
10 aIn whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And bthe breath of all mankind?
11 “Does not athe ear test words,
As the palate tastes its food?
12 “Wisdom is with aaged men,
With long life is understanding.
Job Speaks of the Power of God
13 “With Him are awisdom and amight;
To Him belong counsel and bunderstanding.
14 “Behold, He atears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He bimprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 “Behold, He arestrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He bsends them out, and they inundate the earth.
16 “With Him are strength and sound wisdom,
The amisled and the misleader belong to Him.
17 “He makes acounselors walk barefoot
And makes fools of bjudges.
18 “He aloosens the bond of kings
And binds their loins with a girdle.
19 “He makes priests walk barefoot
And overthrows athe secure ones.
20 “He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And atakes away the discernment of the elders.
21 “He apours contempt on nobles
And bloosens the belt of the strong.
22 “He areveals mysteries from the darkness
And brings the deep darkness into light.
23 “He amakes the nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 “He adeprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.
25 “They agrope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them bstagger like a drunken man.