Chronological Plan

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“If my misery could be weighed and my troubles be put on the scales,

³they would outweigh all the sands of the sea. That is why I spoke impulsively.

⁴For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows. Their poison infects my spirit. God’s terrors are lined up against me.

⁵Don’t I have a right to complain? Don’t wild donkeys bray when they find no grass, and oxen bellow when they have no food?

⁶Don’t people complain about unsalted food? Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?

⁷My appetite disappears when I look at it; I gag at the thought of eating it!

⁸“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire.

⁹I wish he would crush me. I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.

¹⁰At least I can take comfort in this: Despite the pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹But I don’t have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for.

¹²Do I have the strength of a stone? Is my body made of bronze?

¹³No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success.

¹⁴“One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook that overflows its banks in the spring

¹⁶when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.

¹⁷But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears. The brook vanishes in the heat.

¹⁸The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing to drink, so they die.

¹⁹The caravans from Tema search for this water; the travelers from Sheba hope to find it.

²⁰They count on it but are disappointed. When they arrive, their hopes are dashed.

²¹You, too, have given no help. You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid.

²²But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift? Have I begged for anything of yours for myself?

²³Have I asked you to rescue me from my enemies, or to save me from ruthless people?

²⁴Teach me, and I will keep quiet. Show me what I have done wrong.

²⁵Honest words can be painful, but what do your criticisms amount to?

²⁶Do you think your words are convincing when you disregard my cry of desperation?

²⁷You would even send an orphan into slavery or sell a friend.

²⁸Look at me! Would I lie to your face?

²⁹Stop assuming my guilt, for I have done no wrong.

³⁰Do you think I am lying? Don’t I know the difference between right and wrong?

¹“Is not all human life a struggle? Our lives are like that of a hired hand,

²like a worker who longs for the shade, like a servant waiting to be paid.

³I, too, have been assigned months of futility, long and weary nights of misery.

⁴Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’ But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

⁵My body is covered with maggots and scabs. My skin breaks open, oozing with pus.

⁶“My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle. They end without hope.

⁷O God, remember that my life is but a breath, and I will never again feel happiness.

⁸You see me now, but not for long. You will look for me, but I will be gone.

⁹Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes, those who die will not come back.

¹⁰They are gone forever from their home — never to be seen again.

¹¹“I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain.

¹²Am I a sea monster or a dragon that you must place me under guard?

¹³I think, ‘My bed will comfort me, and sleep will ease my misery,’

¹⁴but then you shatter me with dreams and terrify me with visions.

¹⁵I would rather be strangled — rather die than suffer like this.

¹⁶I hate my life and don’t want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days.

¹⁷“What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often?

¹⁸For you examine us every morning and test us every moment.

¹⁹Why won’t you leave me alone, at least long enough for me to swallow!

²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of all humanity? Why make me your target? Am I a burden to you?

²¹Why not just forgive my sin and take away my guilt? For soon I will lie down in the dust and die. When you look for me, I will be gone.”

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:

²“How long will you go on like this? You sound like a blustering wind.

³Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right?

⁴Your children must have sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved.

⁵But if you pray to God and seek the favor of the Almighty,

⁶and if you are pure and live with integrity, he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.

⁷And though you started with little, you will end with much.

⁸“Just ask the previous generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors.

⁹For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.

¹⁰But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you the wisdom of old.

¹¹“Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh? Can marsh grass flourish without water?

¹²While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass.

¹³The same happens to all who forget God. The hopes of the godless evaporate.

¹⁴Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web.

¹⁵They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.

¹⁶The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden.

¹⁷Its roots grow down through a pile of stones; it takes hold on a bed of rocks.

¹⁸But when it is uprooted, it’s as though it never existed!

¹⁹That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.

²⁰“But look, God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.

²¹He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?

³If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?

⁴For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?

⁵“Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger.

⁶He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble.

⁷If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine.

⁸He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea.

⁹He made all the stars — the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.

¹⁰He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.

¹¹“Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go.

¹²If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet.

¹⁴“So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him?

¹⁵Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy.

¹⁶And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me.

¹⁷For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause.

¹⁸He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.

¹⁹If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one. If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court?

²⁰Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked.

²¹“I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me — I despise my life.

²²Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent.

²⁴The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges. If he’s not the one who does it, who is?

²⁵“My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.

²⁶It disappears like a swift papyrus boat, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

²⁷If I decided to forget my complaints, to put away my sad face and be cheerful,

²⁸I would still dread all the pain, for I know you will not find me innocent, O God.

²⁹Whatever happens, I will be found guilty. So what’s the use of trying?

³⁰Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye,

³¹you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me.

³²“God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.

³³If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.

³⁴The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.

³⁵Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength.