Job Chides His Accusers

1Then Job responded,

2“Truly then you are the people,

And with you wisdom will die!

3But I have intelligence as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

And who does not know such things as these?

4I am a joke to my friends,

The one who called on God and He answered him;

The just and blameless man is a joke.

5He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt,

As prepared for those whose feet slip.

6The tents of the destroyers prosper,

And those who provoke God are secure,

Whom God brings into their power.

7“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;

And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.

8Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;

And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

9Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this,

10In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?

11Does not the ear test words,

As the palate tastes its food?

12Wisdom is with aged men,

With long life is understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God

13“With Him are wisdom and might;

To Him belong counsel and understanding.

14Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;

He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

15Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;

And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.

16With Him are strength and sound wisdom,

The misled and the misleader belong to Him.

17He makes counselors walk barefoot

And makes fools of judges.

18He loosens the bond of kings

And binds their loins with a girdle.

19He makes priests walk barefoot

And overthrows the secure ones.

20He deprives the trusted ones of speech

And takes away the discernment of the elders.

21He pours contempt on nobles

And loosens the belt of the strong.

22He reveals mysteries from the darkness

And brings the deep darkness into light.

23He makes the nations great, then destroys them;

He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

24He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people

And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

25They grope in darkness with no light,

And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

Job Says His Friends’ Proverbs Are Ashes

1“Behold, my eye has seen all this,

My ear has heard and understood it.

2What you know I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3“But I would speak to the Almighty,

And I desire to argue with God.

4But you smear with lies;

You are all worthless physicians.

5O that you would be completely silent,

And that it would become your wisdom!

6Please hear my argument

And listen to the contentions of my lips.

7Will you speak what is unjust for God,

And speak what is deceitful for Him?

8Will you show partiality for Him?

Will you contend for God?

9Will it be well when He examines you?

Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

10He will surely reprove you

If you secretly show partiality.

11Will not His majesty terrify you,

And the dread of Him fall on you?

12Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes,

Your defenses are defenses of clay.

Job Is Sure He Will Be Vindicated

13“Be silent before me so that I may speak;

Then let come on me what may.

14Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

And put my life in my hands?

15Though He slay me,

I will hope in Him.

Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

16This also will be my salvation,

For a godless man may not come before His presence.

17Listen carefully to my speech,

And let my declaration fill your ears.

18Behold now, I have prepared my case;

I know that I will be vindicated.

19Who will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and die.

20“Only two things do not do to me,

Then I will not hide from Your face:

21Remove Your hand from me,

And let not the dread of You terrify me.

22Then call, and I will answer;

Or let me speak, then reply to me.

23How many are my iniquities and sins?

Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.

24Why do You hide Your face

And consider me Your enemy?

25Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble?

Or will You pursue the dry chaff?

26For You write bitter things against me

And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.

27You put my feet in the stocks

And watch all my paths;

You set a limit for the soles of my feet,

28While I am decaying like a rotten thing,

Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Job Speaks of the Finality of Death

1“Man, who is born of woman,

Is short-lived and full of turmoil.

2Like a flower he comes forth and withers.

He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.

3You also open Your eyes on him

And bring him into judgment with Yourself.

4Who can make the clean out of the unclean?

No one!

5Since his days are determined,

The number of his months is with You;

And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.

6Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest,

Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.

7“For there is hope for a tree,

When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

And its shoots will not fail.

8Though its roots grow old in the ground

And its stump dies in the dry soil,

9At the scent of water it will flourish

And put forth sprigs like a plant.

10But man dies and lies prostrate.

Man expires, and where is he?

11As water evaporates from the sea,

And a river becomes parched and dried up,

12So man lies down and does not rise.

Until the heavens are no longer,

He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

13“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol,

That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You,

That You would set a limit for me and remember me!

14If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my struggle I will wait

Until my change comes.

15You will call, and I will answer You;

You will long for the work of Your hands.

16For now You number my steps,

You do not observe my sin.

17My transgression is sealed up in a bag,

And You wrap up my iniquity.

18“But the falling mountain crumbles away,

And the rock moves from its place;

19Water wears away stones,

Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;

So You destroy man’s hope.

20You forever overpower him and he departs;

You change his appearance and send him away.

21His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it;

Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.

22But his body pains him,

And he mourns only for himself.”