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Job 41-42

Job 41

¹ “Can you pull in the leviathan ^[a] with a fishhook
or tie down his tongue with a rope?

² Can you put a cord through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³ Will he keep begging you for mercy?
Will he speak to you with gentle words?

⁴ Will he make an agreement with you
for you to take him as your slave for life?

⁵ Can you make a pet of him like a bird
or put him on a leash for your girls?

⁶ Will traders barter for him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?

⁷ Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?

⁸ If you lay a hand on him,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!

⁹ Any hope of subduing him is false;
the mere sight of him is overpowering.

¹⁰ No one is fierce enough to rouse him.
Who then is able to stand against me?

¹¹ Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.

¹² “I will not fail to speak of his limbs,
his strength and his graceful form.

¹³ Who can strip off his outer coat?
Who would approach him with a bridle?

¹⁴ Who dares open the doors of his mouth,
ringed about with his fearsome teeth?

¹⁵ His back has ^[b] rows of shields
tightly sealed together;

¹⁶ each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.

¹⁷ They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.

¹⁸ His snorting throws out flashes of light;
his eyes are like the rays of dawn.

¹⁹ Firebrands stream from his mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰ Smoke pours from his nostrils
as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

²¹ His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from his mouth.

²² Strength resides in his neck;
dismay goes before him.

²³ The folds of his flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.

²⁴ His chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.

²⁵ When he rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before his thrashing.

²⁶ The sword that reaches him has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.

²⁷ Iron he treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.

²⁸ Arrows do not make him flee;
slingstones are like chaff to him.

²⁹ A club seems to him but a piece of straw;
he laughs at the rattling of the lance.

³⁰ His undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

³¹ He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.

³² Behind him he leaves a glistening wake;
one would think the deep had white hair.

³³ Nothing on earth is his equal—
a creature without fear.

³⁴ He looks down on all that are haughty;
he is king over all that are proud.”

Job 42

Job

¹ Then Job replied to the LORD :

² “I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.

³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’

⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.

⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

Epilogue

⁷ After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. ⁸ So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” ⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

¹⁰ After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver ^[c] and a gold ring.

¹² The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. ¹³ And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

¹⁶ After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ And so he died, old and full of years.

Job 39-40

Job 39

¹ “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

² Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?

³ They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.

⁴ Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.

⁵ “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied his ropes?

⁶ I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat.

⁷ He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver’s shout.

⁸ He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing.

⁹ “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?

¹⁰ Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you?

¹¹ Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him?

¹² Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.

¹⁴ She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,

¹⁵ unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,

¹⁷ for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.

¹⁸ Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

²⁰ Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?

²¹ He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.

²² He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.

²³ The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.

²⁴ In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, ‘Aha!’
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶ “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south?

²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high?

²⁸ He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold.

²⁹ From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar.

³⁰ His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he.”

Job 40

¹ The LORD said to Job:

² “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”

³ Then Job answered the LORD :

⁴ “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.

⁵ I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”

⁶ Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:

⁷ “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

⁸ “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

⁹ Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?

¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at every proud man and bring him low,

¹² look at every proud man and humble him,
crush the wicked where they stand.

¹³ Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.

¹⁴ Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵ “Look at the behemoth, ^[a]
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.

¹⁶ What strength he has in his loins,
what power in the muscles of his belly!

¹⁷ His tail ^[b] sways like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are close-knit.

¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like rods of iron.

¹⁹ He ranks first among the works of God,
yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.

²⁰ The hills bring him their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.

²¹ Under the lotus plants he lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.

²² The lotuses conceal him in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround him.

²³ When the river rages, he is not alarmed;
he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth.

²⁴ Can anyone capture him by the eyes, ^[c]
or trap him and pierce his nose?

Job 38

Job 38

The LORD Speaks

¹ Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

² “Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?

³ Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶ On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-

⁷ while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels ^[a] shouted for joy?

⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?

¹² “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,

¹³ that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?

¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.

¹⁵ The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷ Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ^[b] ?

¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?

²⁰ Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!

²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³ which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?

²⁴ What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,

²⁶ to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,

²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?

²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?

²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

³⁰ when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?

³¹ “Can you bind the beautiful ^[c] Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?

³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons ^[d]
or lead out the Bear ^[e] with its cubs?

³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s ^[f] dominion over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?

³⁵ Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

³⁶ Who endowed the heart ^[g] with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind ^[h] ?

³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

³⁸ when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?

³⁹ “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions

⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?

⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?

Job 36-37

Job 36

¹ Elihu continued:

² “Bear with me a little longer and I will show you
that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.

³ I get my knowledge from afar;
I will ascribe justice to my Maker.

⁴ Be assured that my words are not false;
one perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵ “God is mighty, but does not despise men;
he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.

⁶ He does not keep the wicked alive
but gives the afflicted their rights.

⁷ He does not take his eyes off the righteous;
he enthrones them with kings
and exalts them forever.

⁸ But if men are bound in chains,
held fast by cords of affliction,

⁹ he tells them what they have done—
that they have sinned arrogantly.

¹⁰ He makes them listen to correction
and commands them to repent of their evil.

¹¹ If they obey and serve him,
they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity
and their years in contentment.

¹² But if they do not listen,
they will perish by the sword ^[a]
and die without knowledge.

¹³ “The godless in heart harbor resentment;
even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴ They die in their youth,
among male prostitutes of the shrines.

¹⁵ But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;
he speaks to them in their affliction.

¹⁶ “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress
to a spacious place free from restriction,
to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.

¹⁷ But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;
judgment and justice have taken hold of you.

¹⁸ Be careful that no one entices you by riches;
do not let a large bribe turn you aside.

¹⁹ Would your wealth
or even all your mighty efforts
sustain you so you would not be in distress?

²⁰ Do not long for the night,
to drag people away from their homes. ^[b]

²¹ Beware of turning to evil,
which you seem to prefer to affliction.

²² “God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?

²³ Who has prescribed his ways for him,
or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴ Remember to extol his work,
which men have praised in song.

²⁵ All mankind has seen it;
men gaze on it from afar.

²⁶ How great is God—beyond our understanding!
The number of his years is past finding out.

²⁷ “He draws up the drops of water,
which distill as rain to the streams ^[c] ;

²⁸ the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind.

²⁹ Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion?

³⁰ See how he scatters his lightning about him,
bathing the depths of the sea.

³¹ This is the way he governs ^[d] the nations
and provides food in abundance.

³² He fills his hands with lightning
and commands it to strike its mark.

³³ His thunder announces the coming storm;
even the cattle make known its approach. ^[e]

Job 37

¹ “At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.

² Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

³ He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.

⁴ After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.

⁵ God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.

⁶ He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

⁷ So that all men he has made may know his work,
he stops every man from his labor. ^[f]

⁸ The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.

⁹ The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.

¹⁰ The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.

¹¹ He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.

¹² At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.

¹³ He brings the clouds to punish men,
or to water his earth ^[g] and show his love.

¹⁴ “Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.

¹⁵ Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?

¹⁶ Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?

¹⁷ You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

¹⁸ can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?

¹⁹ “Tell us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

²⁰ Should he be told that I want to speak?
Would any man ask to be swallowed up?

²¹ Now no one can look at the sun,
bright as it is in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.

²² Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;
God comes in awesome majesty.

²³ The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

²⁴ Therefore, men revere him,
for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart? ^[h] “

Job 34-35

ob 34

¹ Then Elihu said:

² “Hear my words, you wise men;
listen to me, you men of learning.

³ For the ear tests words
as the tongue tastes food.

⁴ Let us discern for ourselves what is right;
let us learn together what is good.

⁵ “Job says, ‘I am innocent,
but God denies me justice.

⁶ Although I am right,
I am considered a liar;
although I am guiltless,
his arrow inflicts an incurable wound.’

⁷ What man is like Job,
who drinks scorn like water?

⁸ He keeps company with evildoers;
he associates with wicked men.

⁹ For he says, ‘It profits a man nothing
when he tries to please God.’

¹⁰ “So listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to do evil,
from the Almighty to do wrong.

¹¹ He repays a man for what he has done;
he brings upon him what his conduct deserves.

¹² It is unthinkable that God would do wrong,
that the Almighty would pervert justice.

¹³ Who appointed him over the earth?
Who put him in charge of the whole world?

¹⁴ If it were his intention
and he withdrew his spirit ^[a] and breath,

¹⁵ all mankind would perish together
and man would return to the dust.

¹⁶ “If you have understanding, hear this;
listen to what I say.

¹⁷ Can he who hates justice govern?
Will you condemn the just and mighty One?

¹⁸ Is he not the One who says to kings, ‘You are worthless,’
and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’

¹⁹ who shows no partiality to princes
and does not favor the rich over the poor,
for they are all the work of his hands?

²⁰ They die in an instant, in the middle of the night;
the people are shaken and they pass away;
the mighty are removed without human hand.

²¹ “His eyes are on the ways of men;
he sees their every step.

²² There is no dark place, no deep shadow,
where evildoers can hide.

²³ God has no need to examine men further,
that they should come before him for judgment.

²⁴ Without inquiry he shatters the mighty
and sets up others in their place.

²⁵ Because he takes note of their deeds,
he overthrows them in the night and they are crushed.

²⁶ He punishes them for their wickedness
where everyone can see them,

²⁷ because they turned from following him
and had no regard for any of his ways.

²⁸ They caused the cry of the poor to come before him,
so that he heard the cry of the needy.

²⁹ But if he remains silent, who can condemn him?
If he hides his face, who can see him?
Yet he is over man and nation alike,

³⁰ to keep a godless man from ruling,
from laying snares for the people.

³¹ “Suppose a man says to God,
‘I am guilty but will offend no more.

³² Teach me what I cannot see;
if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.’

³³ Should God then reward you on your terms,
when you refuse to repent?
You must decide, not I;
so tell me what you know.

³⁴ “Men of understanding declare,
wise men who hear me say to me,

³⁵ ‘Job speaks without knowledge;
his words lack insight.’

³⁶ Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost
for answering like a wicked man!

³⁷ To his sin he adds rebellion;
scornfully he claps his hands among us
and multiplies his words against God.”

Job 35

¹ Then Elihu said:

² “Do you think this is just?
You say, ‘I will be cleared by God. ^[b] ‘

³ Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me, ^[c]
and what do I gain by not sinning?’

⁴ “I would like to reply to you
and to your friends with you.

⁵ Look up at the heavens and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.

⁶ If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to him?

⁷ If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸ Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself,
and your righteousness only the sons of men.

⁹ “Men cry out under a load of oppression;
they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.

¹⁰ But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,

¹¹ who teaches more to us than to ^[d] the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than ^[e] the birds of the air?’

¹² He does not answer when men cry out
because of the arrogance of the wicked.

¹³ Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
the Almighty pays no attention to it.

¹⁴ How much less, then, will he listen
when you say that you do not see him,
that your case is before him
and you must wait for him,

¹⁵ and further, that his anger never punishes
and he does not take the least notice of wickedness. ^[f]

¹⁶ So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;
without knowledge he multiplies words.”

Job 32-33

Job 32

Elihu

¹ So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ² But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. ³ He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. ^{[a] 4} Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. ⁵ But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.

⁶ So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:
“I am young in years,
and you are old;
that is why I was fearful,
not daring to tell you what I know.

⁷ I thought, ‘Age should speak;
advanced years should teach wisdom.’

⁸ But it is the spirit ^[b] in a man,
the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

⁹ It is not only the old ^[c] who are wise,
not only the aged who understand what is right.

¹⁰ “Therefore I say: Listen to me;
I too will tell you what I know.

¹¹ I waited while you spoke,
I listened to your reasoning;
while you were searching for words,

¹² I gave you my full attention.
But not one of you has proved Job wrong;
none of you has answered his arguments.

¹³ Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
let God refute him, not man.’

¹⁴ But Job has not marshaled his words against me,
and I will not answer him with your arguments.

¹⁵ “They are dismayed and have no more to say;
words have failed them.

¹⁶ Must I wait, now that they are silent,
now that they stand there with no reply?

¹⁷ I too will have my say;
I too will tell what I know.

¹⁸ For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me compels me;

¹⁹ inside I am like bottled-up wine,
like new wineskins ready to burst.

²⁰ I must speak and find relief;
I must open my lips and reply.

²¹ I will show partiality to no one,
nor will I flatter any man;

²² for if I were skilled in flattery,
my Maker would soon take me away.

Job 33

¹ “But now, Job, listen to my words;
pay attention to everything I say.

² I am about to open my mouth;
my words are on the tip of my tongue.

³ My words come from an upright heart;
my lips sincerely speak what I know.

⁴ The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵ Answer me then, if you can;
prepare yourself and confront me.

⁶ I am just like you before God;
I too have been taken from clay.

⁷ No fear of me should alarm you,
nor should my hand be heavy upon you.

⁸ “But you have said in my hearing—
I heard the very words-

⁹ ‘I am pure and without sin;
I am clean and free from guilt.

¹⁰ Yet God has found fault with me;
he considers me his enemy.

¹¹ He fastens my feet in shackles;
he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

¹² “But I tell you, in this you are not right,
for God is greater than man.

¹³ Why do you complain to him
that he answers none of man’s words ^[a] ?

¹⁴ For God does speak—now one way, now another—
though man may not perceive it.

¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men
as they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶ he may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,

¹⁷ to turn man from wrongdoing
and keep him from pride,

¹⁸ to preserve his soul from the pit, ^[b]
his life from perishing by the sword. ^[c]

¹⁹ Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain
with constant distress in his bones,

²⁰ so that his very being finds food repulsive
and his soul loathes the choicest meal.

²¹ His flesh wastes away to nothing,
and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.

²² His soul draws near to the pit, ^[d]
and his life to the messengers of death. ^[e]

²³ “Yet if there is an angel on his side
as a mediator, one out of a thousand,
to tell a man what is right for him,

²⁴ to be gracious to him and say,
‘Spare him from going down to the pit ^[f] ;
I have found a ransom for him’-

²⁵ then his flesh is renewed like a child’s;
it is restored as in the days of his youth.

²⁶ He prays to God and finds favor with him,
he sees God’s face and shouts for joy;
he is restored by God to his righteous state.

²⁷ Then he comes to men and says,
‘I sinned, and perverted what was right,
but I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, ^[g]
and I will live to enjoy the light.’

²⁹ “God does all these things to a man—
twice, even three times-

³⁰ to turn back his soul from the pit, ^[h]
that the light of life may shine on him.

³¹ “Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.

³² If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

³³ But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 31

Job 31

¹ “I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a girl.

² For what is man’s lot from God above,
his heritage from the Almighty on high?

³ Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?

⁴ Does he not see my ways
and count my every step?

⁵ “If I have walked in falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit-

⁶ let God weigh me in honest scales
and he will know that I am blameless-

⁷ if my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands have been defiled,

⁸ then may others eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.

⁹ “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

¹⁰ then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.

¹¹ For that would have been shameful,
a sin to be judged.

¹² It is a fire that burns to Destruction ^[a] ;
it would have uprooted my harvest.

¹³ “If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants
when they had a grievance against me,

¹⁴ what will I do when God confronts me?
What will I answer when called to account?

¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

¹⁶ “If I have denied the desires of the poor
or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

¹⁷ if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless-

¹⁸ but from my youth I reared him as would a father,
and from my birth I guided the widow-

¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
or a needy man without a garment,

²⁰ and his heart did not bless me
for warming him with the fleece from my sheep,

²¹ if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
knowing that I had influence in court,

²² then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.

²³ For I dreaded destruction from God,
and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

²⁴ “If I have put my trust in gold
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

²⁵ if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
the fortune my hands had gained,

²⁶ if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed
and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,

²⁸ then these also would be sins to be judged,
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

²⁹ “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
or gloated over the trouble that came to him-

³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against his life-

³¹ if the men of my household have never said,
‘Who has not had his fill of Job’s meat?’-

³² but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the traveler-

³³ if I have concealed my sin as men do, ^[b]
by hiding my guilt in my heart

³⁴ because I so feared the crowd
and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I kept silent and would not go outside

³⁵ (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

³⁶ Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
I would put it on like a crown.

³⁷ I would give him an account of my every step;
like a prince I would approach him.)-

³⁸ “if my land cries out against me
and all its furrows are wet with tears,

³⁹ if I have devoured its yield without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,

⁴⁰ then let briers come up instead of wheat
and weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.

Job 29-30

Job 29

¹ Job continued his discourse:

² “How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,

³ when his lamp shone upon my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!

⁴ Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,

⁵ when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,

⁶ when my path was drenched with cream
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

⁷ “When I went to the gate of the city
and took my seat in the public square,

⁸ the young men saw me and stepped aside
and the old men rose to their feet;

⁹ the chief men refrained from speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands;

¹⁰ the voices of the nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

¹¹ Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,

¹² because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to assist him.

¹³ The man who was dying blessed me;
I made the widow’s heart sing.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.

¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.

¹⁶ I was a father to the needy;
I took up the case of the stranger.

¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims from their teeth.

¹⁸ “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

¹⁹ My roots will reach to the water,
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.

²⁰ My glory will remain fresh in me,
the bow ever new in my hand.’

²¹ “Men listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.

²² After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
my words fell gently on their ears.

²³ They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.

²⁴ When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face was precious to them. ^[a]

²⁵ I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;
I dwelt as a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.

Job 30

¹ “But now they mock me,
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.

² Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?

³ Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed ^[b] the parched land
in desolate wastelands at night.

⁴ In the brush they gathered salt herbs,
and their food ^[c] was the root of the broom tree.

⁵ They were banished from their fellow men,
shouted at as if they were thieves.

⁶ They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

⁷ They brayed among the bushes
and huddled in the undergrowth.

⁸ A base and nameless brood,
they were driven out of the land.

⁹ “And now their sons mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.

¹⁰ They detest me and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹ Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.

¹² On my right the tribe ^[d] attacks;
they lay snares for my feet,
they build their siege ramps against me.

¹³ They break up my road;
they succeed in destroying me—
without anyone’s helping them. ^[e]

¹⁴ They advance as through a gaping breach;
amid the ruins they come rolling in.

¹⁵ Terrors overwhelm me;
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.

¹⁶ “And now my life ebbs away;
days of suffering grip me.

¹⁷ Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.

¹⁸ In his great power God becomes like clothing to me ^[f] ;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.

¹⁹ He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

²⁰ “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.

²¹ You turn on me ruthlessly;
with the might of your hand you attack me.

²² You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
you toss me about in the storm.

²³ I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.

²⁴ “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.

²⁵ Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶ Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.

²⁷ The churning inside me never stops;
days of suffering confront me.

²⁸ I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

²⁹ I have become a brother of jackals,
a companion of owls.

³⁰ My skin grows black and peels;
my body burns with fever.

³¹ My harp is tuned to mourning,
and my flute to the sound of wailing.

Job 27-28

Job 27

¹ And Job continued his discourse:

² “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,

³ as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,

⁴ my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will utter no deceit.

⁵ I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

⁶ I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

⁷ “May my enemies be like the wicked,
my adversaries like the unjust!

⁸ For what hope has the godless when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?

⁹ Does God listen to his cry
when distress comes upon him?

¹⁰ Will he find delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?

¹¹ “I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹² You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³ “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

¹⁴ However many his children, their fate is the sword;
his offspring will never have enough to eat.

¹⁵ The plague will bury those who survive him,
and their widows will not weep for them.

¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay,

¹⁷ what he lays up the righteous will wear,
and the innocent will divide his silver.

¹⁸ The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,
like a hut made by a watchman.

¹⁹ He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood;
a tempest snatches him away in the night.

²¹ The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.

²² It hurls itself against him without mercy
as he flees headlong from its power.

²³ It claps its hands in derision
and hisses him out of his place.

Job 28

¹ “There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.

² Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.

³ Man puts an end to the darkness;
he searches the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.

⁴ Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft,
in places forgotten by the foot of man;
far from men he dangles and sways.

⁵ The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;

⁶ sapphires ^[a] come from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.

⁷ No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸ Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.

⁹ Man’s hand assaults the flinty rock
and lays bare the roots of the mountains.

¹⁰ He tunnels through the rock;
his eyes see all its treasures.

¹¹ He searches ^[b] the sources of the rivers
and brings hidden things to light.

¹² “But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?

¹³ Man does not comprehend its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.

¹⁴ The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.

¹⁶ It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.

¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.

¹⁸ Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

¹⁹ The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.

²⁰ “Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?

²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.

²² Destruction ^[c] and Death say,
‘Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.’

²³ God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,

²⁴ for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵ When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,

²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,

²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.

²⁸ And he said to man,
‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.’ “

Job 24-26

Job 24

¹ “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?

² Men move boundary stones;
they pasture flocks they have stolen.

³ They drive away the orphan’s donkey
and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

⁴ They thrust the needy from the path
and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

⁵ Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go about their labor of foraging food;
the wasteland provides food for their children.

⁶ They gather fodder in the fields
and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷ Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.

⁸ They are drenched by mountain rains
and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.

⁹ The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.

¹⁰ Lacking clothes, they go about naked;
they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

¹¹ They crush olives among the terraces ^[a] ;
they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

¹² The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

¹³ “There are those who rebel against the light,
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.

¹⁴ When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up
and kills the poor and needy;
in the night he steals forth like a thief.

¹⁵ The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;
he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’
and he keeps his face concealed.

¹⁶ In the dark, men break into houses,
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.

¹⁷ For all of them, deep darkness is their morning ^[b] ;
they make friends with the terrors of darkness. ^[c]

¹⁸ “Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;
their portion of the land is cursed,
so that no one goes to the vineyards.

¹⁹ As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,
so the grave ^[d] snatches away those who have sinned.

²⁰ The womb forgets them,
the worm feasts on them;
evil men are no longer remembered
but are broken like a tree.

²¹ They prey on the barren and childless woman,
and to the widow show no kindness.

²² But God drags away the mighty by his power;
though they become established, they have no assurance of life.

²³ He may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but his eyes are on their ways.

²⁴ For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like heads of grain.

²⁵ “If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?”

Job 25

Bildad

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

² “Dominion and awe belong to God;
he establishes order in the heights of heaven.

³ Can his forces be numbered?
Upon whom does his light not rise?

⁴ How then can a man be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?

⁵ If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes,

⁶ how much less man, who is but a maggot—
a son of man, who is only a worm!”

Job 26

Job

¹ Then Job replied:

² “How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

³ What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insight you have displayed!

⁴ Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

⁵ “The dead are in deep anguish,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

⁶ Death ^[e] is naked before God;
Destruction ^[f] lies uncovered.

⁷ He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.

⁸ He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

⁹ He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.

¹⁰ He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹ The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.

¹² By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

¹³ By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

¹⁴ And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”