Chronological Plan

¹I am disgusted with my life. I will give vent to my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, “Do not declare me guilty! Let me know why you prosecute me.

³Is it good for you to oppress, to reject the work of your hands, and favor the plans of the wicked?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human sees?

⁵Are your days like those of a human, or your years like those of a man,

⁶that you look for my iniquity and search for my sin,

⁷even though you know that I am not wicked and that there is no one who can rescue from your power?

⁸“Your hands shaped me and formed me. Will you now turn and destroy me?

⁹Please remember that you formed me like clay. Will you now return me to dust?

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons.

¹²You gave me life and faithful love, and your care has guarded my life.

¹³“Yet you concealed these thoughts in your heart; I know that this was your hidden plan:

¹⁴if I sin, you would notice, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am filled with shame and have drunk deeply of my affliction.

¹⁶If I am proud, you hunt me like a lion and again display your miraculous power against me.

¹⁷You produce new witnesses against me and multiply your anger toward me. Hardships assault me, wave after wave.

¹⁸“Why did you bring me out of the womb? I should have died and never been seen.

¹⁹I wish I had never existed but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are my days not few? Stop it! Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

²¹before I go to a land of darkness and gloom, never to return.

²²It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness, gloomy and chaotic, where even the light is like the darkness.”

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²Should this abundance of words go unanswered and such a talker be acquitted?

³Should your babbling put others to silence, so that you can keep on ridiculing with no one to humiliate you?

⁴You have said, “My teaching is sound, and I am pure in your sight.”

⁵But if only God would speak and open his lips against you!

⁶He would show you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your iniquity.

⁷Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are higher than the heavens — what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol — what can you know?

⁹Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

¹⁰If he passes by and throws someone in prison or convenes a court, who can stop him?

¹¹Surely he knows which people are worthless. If he sees iniquity, will he not take note of it?

¹²But a stupid person will gain understanding as soon as a wild donkey is born a human!

¹³As for you, if you redirect your heart and spread out your hands to him in prayer —

¹⁴if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it, and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents —

¹⁵then you will hold your head high, free from fault. You will be firmly established and unafraid.

¹⁶For you will forget your suffering, recalling it only as water that has flowed by.

¹⁷Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

¹⁸You will be confident, because there is hope. You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.

¹⁹You will lie down with no one to frighten you, and many will seek your favor.

²⁰But the sight of the wicked will fail. Their way of escape will be cut off, and their only hope is their last breath.

¹Then Job answered:

²No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!

³But I also have a mind like you; I am not inferior to you. Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?

⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends, by calling on God, who answers me. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

⁵The one who is at ease holds calamity in contempt and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.

⁶The tents of robbers are safe, and those who trouble God are secure; God holds them in his hands.

⁷But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you; let the fish of the sea inform you.

⁹Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰The life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

¹¹Doesn’t the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

¹²Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

¹³Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴Whatever he tears down cannot be rebuilt; whoever he imprisons cannot be released.

¹⁵When he withholds water, everything dries up, and when he releases it, it destroys the land.

¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to him. The deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot and makes judges go mad.

¹⁸He releases the bonds put on by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows established leaders.

²⁰He deprives trusted advisers of speech and takes away the elders’ good judgment.

²¹He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the strong.

²²He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deepest darkness into the light.

²³He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away.

²⁴He deprives the world’s leaders of reason, and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

²⁵They grope around in darkness without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

¹Look, my eyes have seen all this; my ears have heard and understood it.

²Everything you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.

³Yet I prefer to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.

⁴You use lies like plaster; you are all worthless healers.

⁵If only you would shut up and let that be your wisdom!

⁶Hear now my argument, and listen to my defense.

⁷Would you testify unjustly on God’s behalf or speak deceitfully for him?

⁸Would you show partiality to him or argue the case in his defense?

⁹Would it go well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you would deceive a man?

¹⁰Surely he would rebuke you if you secretly showed partiality.

¹¹Would God’s majesty not terrify you? Would his dread not fall on you?

¹²Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ash; your defenses are made of clay.

¹³Be quiet, and I will speak. Let whatever comes happen to me.

¹⁴I will put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands.

¹⁵Even if he kills me, I will hope in him. I will still defend my ways before him.

¹⁶Yes, this will result in my deliverance, for no godless person can appear before him.

¹⁷Pay close attention to my words; let my declaration ring in your ears.

¹⁸Now then, I have prepared my case; I know that I am right.

¹⁹Can anyone indict me? If so, I will be silent and die.

²⁰Only grant these two things to me, God, so that I will not have to hide from your presence:

²¹remove your hand from me, and do not let your terror frighten me.

²²Then call, and I will answer, or I will speak, and you can respond to me.

²³How many iniquities and sins have I committed? Reveal to me my transgression and sin.

²⁴Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?

²⁵Will you frighten a wind-driven leaf? Will you chase after dry straw?

²⁶For you record bitter accusations against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

²⁷You put my feet in the stocks and stand watch over all my paths, setting a limit for the soles of my feet.

²⁸A person wears out like something rotten, like a moth-eaten garment.