Chronological Plan

¹Job further continued his discourse, and said:

²“Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me;

³When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness;

⁴Just as I was in the days of my prime, When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;

⁵When the Almighty was yet with me, When my children were around me;

⁶When my steps were bathed with cream, And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!

⁷“When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my seat in the open square,

⁸The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood;

⁹The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth;

¹⁰The voice of nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it approved me;

¹²Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper.

¹³The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know.

¹⁷I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth.

¹⁸“Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, And multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch.

²⁰My glory is fresh within me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹“Men listened to me and waited, And kept silence for my counsel.

²²After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew.

²³They waited for me as for the rain, And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.

²⁴If I mocked at them, they did not believe it, And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.

²⁵I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners.

¹“But now they mock at me, men younger than I, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

²Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.

³They are gaunt from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,

⁴Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.

⁵They were driven out from among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.

⁶They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, In caves of the earth and the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they brayed, Under the nettles they nestled.

⁸They were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.

⁹“And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.

¹⁰They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me.

¹²At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise against me their ways of destruction.

¹³They break up my path, They promote my calamity; They have no helper.

¹⁴They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along.

¹⁵Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me.

¹⁷My bones are pierced in me at night, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

¹⁸By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

¹⁹He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰“I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.

²¹But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.

²²You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success.

²³For I know that You will bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.

²⁴“Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He destroys it.

²⁵Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.

²⁷My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me.

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

²⁹I am a brother of jackals, And a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever.

³¹My harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep.

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?

²For what is the allotment of God from above, And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

³Is it not destruction for the wicked, And disaster for the workers of iniquity?

⁴Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood, Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,

⁶Let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity.

⁷If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart walked after my eyes, Or if any spot adheres to my hands,

⁸Then let me sow, and another eat; Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.

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

¹⁰Then let my wife grind for another, And let others bow down over her.

¹¹For that would be wickedness; Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.

¹²For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase.

¹³“If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me,

¹⁴What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?

¹⁵Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

¹⁷Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it

¹⁸(But from my youth I reared him as a father, And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow);

¹⁹If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or any poor man without covering;

²⁰If his heart has not blessed me, And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, When I saw I had help in the gate;

²²Then let my arm fall from my shoulder, Let my arm be torn from the socket.

²³For destruction from God is a terror to me, And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

²⁴“If I have made gold my hope, Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;

²⁵If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gained much;

²⁶If I have observed the sun when it shines, Or the moon moving in brightness,

²⁷So that my heart has been secretly enticed, And my mouth has kissed my hand;

²⁸This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, For I would have denied God who is above.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted myself up when evil found him

³⁰(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking for a curse on his soul);

³¹If the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’

³²(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street, For I have opened my doors to the traveler);

³³If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴Because I feared the great multitude, And dreaded the contempt of families, So that I kept silence And did not go out of the door—

³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, And bind it on me like a crown;

³⁷I would declare to Him the number of my steps; Like a prince I would approach Him.

³⁸“If my land cries out against me, And its furrows weep together;

³⁹If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or caused its owners to lose their lives;

⁴⁰Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, And weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.