Chronological Plan

¹Job continued his discourse, saying:

²If only I could be as in months gone by, in the days when God watched over me,

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

⁴I would be as I was in the days of my youth when God’s friendship rested on my tent,

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

⁶when my feet were bathed in curds and the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

⁷When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square,

⁸the young men saw me and withdrew, while older men stood to their feet.

⁹City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with their hands.

¹⁰The noblemen’s voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

¹¹When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.

¹²For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.

¹³The dying blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.

¹⁴I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.

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

¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸So I thought, “I will die in my own nest and multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My roots will have access to water, and the dew will rest on my branches all night.

²⁰My whole being will be refreshed within me, and my bow will be renewed in my hand.”

²¹Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my advice.

²²After a word from me they did not speak again; my speech settled on them like dew.

²³They waited for me as for the rain and opened their mouths as for spring showers.

²⁴If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it; they were thrilled at the light of my countenance.

²⁵I directed their course and presided as chief. I lived as a king among his troops, like one who comforts those who mourn.

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

²What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had left them.

³Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night.

⁴They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

⁵They were banished from human society; people shouted at them as if they were thieves.

⁶They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

⁷They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.

⁸Foolish men, without even a name. They were forced to leave the land.

⁹Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them.

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

¹¹Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

¹²The rabble rise up at my right; they trap my feet and construct their siege ramp against me.

¹³They tear up my path; they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them.

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

¹⁵Terrors are turned loose against me; they chase my dignity away like the wind, and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

¹⁶Now my life is poured out before me, and days of suffering have seized me.

¹⁷Night pierces my bones, but my gnawing pains never rest.

¹⁸My clothing is distorted with great force; he chokes me by the neck of my garment.

¹⁹He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; when I stand up, you merely look at me.

²¹You have turned against me with cruelty; you harass me with your strong hand.

²²You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it; you scatter me in the storm.

²³Yes, I know that you will lead me to death — the place appointed for all who live.

²⁴Yet no one would stretch out his hand against a ruined person when he cries out to him for help because of his distress.

²⁵Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

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

²⁷I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.

²⁸I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.

²⁹I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.

³¹My lyre is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

¹I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman?

²For what portion would I have from God above, or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?

³Doesn’t disaster come to the unjust and misfortune to evildoers?

⁴Does he not see my ways and number all my steps?

⁵If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,

⁶let God weigh me on accurate scales, and he will recognize my integrity.

⁷If my step has turned from the way, my heart has followed my eyes, or impurity has stained my hands,

⁸let someone else eat what I have sown, and let my crops be uprooted.

⁹If my heart has gone astray over a woman or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

¹⁰let my own wife grind grain for another man, and let other men sleep with her.

¹¹For that would be a disgrace; it would be an iniquity deserving punishment.

¹²For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon; it would destroy my entire harvest.

¹³If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants when they made a complaint against me,

¹⁴what could I do when God stands up to judge? How should I answer him when he calls me to account?

¹⁵Did not the one who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same God form us both in the womb?

¹⁶If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow’s eyes go blind,

¹⁷if I have eaten my few crumbs alone without letting the fatherless eat any of it —

¹⁸for from my youth, I raised him as his father, and since the day I was born I guided the widow —

¹⁹if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing or a needy person without a cloak,

²⁰if he did not bless me while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep,

²¹if I ever cast my vote against a fatherless child when I saw that I had support in the city gate,

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my back, and my arm be pulled from its socket.

²³For disaster from God terrifies me, and because of his majesty I could not do these things.

²⁴If I placed my confidence in gold or called fine gold my trust,

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great or because my own hand has acquired so much,

²⁶if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining or at the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷so that my heart was secretly enticed and I threw them a kiss,

²⁸this would also be an iniquity deserving punishment, for I would have denied God above.

²⁹Have I rejoiced over my enemy’s distress, or become excited when trouble came his way?

³⁰I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse.

³¹Haven’t the members of my household said, “Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table?”

³²No stranger had to spend the night on the street, for I opened my door to the traveler.

³³Have I covered my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart

³⁴because I greatly feared the crowds and because the contempt of the clans terrified me, so I grew silent and would not go outside?

³⁵If only I had someone to hear my case! Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me. Let my Opponent compose his indictment.

³⁶I would surely carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.

³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps; I would approach him like a prince.

³⁸If my land cries out against me and its furrows join in weeping,

³⁹if I have consumed its produce without payment or shown contempt for its tenants,

⁴⁰then let thorns grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley. The words of Job are concluded.