\v 1 In the land named Uz, there was a man named Job. He obeyed God and always avoided doing evil things.
\v 2 He had seven sons and three daughters.
\v 3 He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand oxen, and five hundred donkeys. He also had many servants. This was the man who was the richest in all the area east of the Jordan River.
\s5
\p
\v 4 Job's sons often held feasts in their houses. Whenever each one made a feast, he would invite all his brothers and sisters to come and eat together.
\v 5 After each celebration, Job would summon them. He would ask Yahweh to purify them from any action they might have committed during their feasting that would make them unacceptable to him. He would get up early in the morning, kill animals, and burn them on the altar as sacrifices, one for each of his children. For Job always said, "Perhaps my children have sinned and said something evil about God in their hearts."
\s5
\p
\v 6 One day, the angels came and gathered together in front of Yahweh, and Satan came, too.
\v 7 Yahweh asked Satan, "Where have you just come from?"
\p Satan replied, "I have come from the earth, where I been traveling back and forth to see what is happening."
\p
\v 8 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you noticed Job, who worships me? No one else on earth honors me and lives in such a right way as he does. He always refuses to do anything evil."
\s5
\v 9 Satan replied to Yahweh, "What you say is true, but Job honors you only because of what you have done for him.
\v 10 You have always protected him, his family, and everything he owns. You make him succeed in whatever work he tries to do, and he has very much livestock all over his land.
\v 11 But if you attacked what he owns and took it away, he would curse you in front of everyone."
\p
\v 12 Yahweh replied to Satan, "So this is what you want me to do! All right, I will permit you to take away everything that he has. But do not harm him in his own body."
\p Satan agreed and then left Yahweh in order to plan how he would attack Job.
\s5
\p
\v 13 One day after that, Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the home of their oldest brother.
\v 14 While they were doing that, a messenger arrived at Job's home and said to him, "While your oxen were plowing the fields and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
\v 15 a group of men from the people of Sheba came and attacked us. They killed all your servants who were working in the fields and took away all the oxen and donkeys! I am the only one who has escaped to come and tell you what happened."
\v 16 While he was still talking to Job, another messenger arrived. He said to Job, "Lightning from the sky struck and killed all the sheep and all the men who were taking care of them! I am the only one who has escaped to come and tell you what happened."
\p
\v 17 While he was still talking to Job, a third messenger arrived. He said to Job, "Three groups of robbers from the region of Chaldea came and attacked us. They stole all the camels and killed all the men who were taking care of them. I am the only one who has escaped to come and tell you what happened."
\s5
\p
\v 18 While he was still talking to Job, a fourth messenger arrived. He said to Job: "Your sons and daughters were feasting in the home of their oldest brother.
\v 19 Suddenly a very strong wind came from the desert and struck the house. The house collapsed on your sons and daughters and killed them all! I am the only one who has escaped to come and tell you what happened."
\s5
\p
\v 20 Then Job stood up and tore his robe and shaved his head because he was very sad. Then he laid down on the ground to worship God.
\v 21 He said,
\q1 "When I was born, I was wearing no clothes.
\q1 When I die, I will not take any clothes with me.
\q1 It is Yahweh who gave me everything that I possessed,
\q1 and it is Yahweh who has taken it all away.
\q1 But we must always praise Yahweh!"
\p
\v 22 So in spite of all the things that happened to Job, he did speak not like a foolish man—he did not sin by saying that what God had done was wrong.
\s5
\c 2
\p
\v 1 On another day, the angels came again and gathered together in front of Yahweh; Satan also came again.
\v 2 Yahweh asked Satan, "Where have you come from this time?" Satan replied, "I have come from the earth, where I have been traveling back and forth to see what is happening."
\s5
\p
\v 3 Yahweh asked Satan, "You have you noticed my servant Job, who worships me, have you not?
\p He continues to honor me; he is very exceptional, for he lives in a way that is more right than anyone else on the earth. He does this even though you persuaded me to attack him for no reason."
\s5
\p
\v 4 Satan replied to Yahweh, "He praises you only because you have helped him. People will give up everything they have to save their own lives.
\v 5 But if you harm his body, he will surely curse you in front of everyone!"
\p
\v 6 Yahweh replied to Satan, "All right, you may do to him whatever you like, but do not cause him to die."
\s5
\p
\v 7 So Satan left, and he caused Job to suffer with very painful boils, from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.
\v 8 Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped the boils on his skin, and he sat in ashes to mourn and wail.
\s5
\p
\v 9 His wife said to him, "Are you still trying to be loyal to God? You should curse God, and then go ahead and die."
\p
\v 10 But Job replied, "You talk like people talk who do not know God. We should not only accept the good things that God does for us. We should also accept the bad things." So in spite of all these things that happened to Job, he did not offend God by saying anything against him.
\s5
\p
\v 11 Among Job's friends were Eliphaz from the town of Teman, Bildad from the land of Shuah, and Zophar from the land of Naamah. When they heard about all the terrible things that had happened to Job, they left their homes and went together to Job to mourn with him and to comfort him.
\s5
\v 12 But when they saw Job from a distance, they almost did not recognize him. They wailed loudly, they tore their robes, and they threw dust into the air that settled on their heads. They did this to show how sorry they were for him.
\v 13 Then they sat on the ground with Job for seven days. None of them said anything to him, because they saw that he was suffering greatly, and they did not think that anything that they could say would lessen his pain.
\s5
\c 3
\p
\v 1 Finally, Job spoke, and he cursed the day that he was born.
\v 2 He said,
\q1
\v 3 "I wish that the day when I was born could be eradicated,
\q2 the night when I was born.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 I wish that the day when I was born could have been dark.
\q2 I wish that God who is in heaven would forget about that day,
\q2 and that the sun would not have shone on it.
\q1
\v 5 I wish that thick darkness would have filled that day,
\q1 and that death would have come over it like a shadow
\q2 and blotted out all light,
\q2 and caused the people then to be terrified.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 I wish that the night when I was born would be erased from the calendar,
\q2 that it would never again appear as one night in any month,
\q2 and that it would not be included in any calendar.
\q1
\v 7 I wish that no child would again be born on that date,
\q2 and that no one would again be happy then.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 The magicians who are able to awaken the great sea monster—I want them to curse the day I was born.
\q1
\v 9 I wish that the stars that shone early in the morning on that day after I was born may not shine again.
\q2 If only those stars had wished in vain for light to shine,
\q2 and that they had not shone on that day.
\q1
\v 10 That was an evil day because my mother's womb was not closed;
\q2 instead, I was born, and I have now experienced all these terrible things.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 I wish that I had died when I was born;
\q2 I wish I had perished when I came out from my mother's womb.
\q1
\v 12 I wish that my mother had never welcomed me.
\q2 I wish that she had not nursed me at her breasts.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 If I had died at the time when I was born,
\q2 I would now be asleep, resting peacefully.
\q1
\v 14 I would be resting with kings who built beautiful tombs which are now in ruins,
\q2 and I would be resting with their officials who have also died.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 I would be resting with princes who were wealthy,
\q2 whose palaces were filled with gold and silver.
\q1
\v 16 I wish that I had been buried like a child who had died in its mother's womb
\q2 and never lived to see the light.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 After wicked people die, they do not cause any more troubles;
\q2 those who are very tired now will rest.
\q1
\v 18 Those who were in prison rest peacefully after they die;
\q2 they no longer have slave drivers who curse them.
\q1
\v 19 Rich people and poor people are alike after they die,
\q2 and those who were slaves no longer have to obey their masters.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 Why does God allow those who are suffering greatly like me to continue to remain alive?
\q2 Why does he allow them to live, those who are very miserable?
\q1
\v 21 They long to die, but they do not die.
\q2 They desire to die more than people desire to find hidden treasure.
\q1
\v 22 When they finally die and are buried, they are very happy.
\s5
\q1
\v 23 I do not understand why God keeps alive anyone whom he keeps from being happy,
\q2 anyone whom he forces to live in misery.
\q1
\v 24 I cry very much; as a result, I cannot eat;
\q2 I groan as easily as a river flows with water.
\s5
\q1
\v 25 Things that I always worried might happen to me—these things have happened to me;
\q2 things that I always dreaded have come upon me.
\q1
\v 26 Now I have no peace in my heart;
\q2 I have no quietness;
\q1 I cannot rest;
\q2 instead, I have only troubles."
\s5
\c 4
\p
\v 1 Then Eliphaz replied to Job. He said,
\q1
\v 2 "Will you please allow me to say something to you?
\q2 I am not able to remain silent any longer.
\q1
\v 3 In the past, you have instructed many people,
\q2 and you have encouraged those for whom it was difficult to trust in God.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 In the past, when you spoke to others who were suffering, you helped them;
\q2 they were able to rejoice again because of God.
\q1
\v 5 But now, when you yourself suffer from disasters, you become discouraged.
\q2 The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.
\q1
\v 6 You say that you honor God; so you should be trusting in him, for him not to let you suffer.
\q2 If you really had not sinned, you would have been confident that God would not let these disasters happen to you!
\s5
\q1
\v 7 Think about this: No innocent people ever die when they are still young!
\q2 God never kills innocent people!
\q1
\v 8 I have seen this happen: if farmers plant bad seeds, they do not harvest good crops;
\q2 anyone who starts trouble for others later brings trouble on himself.
\q1
\v 9 These people die when God commands them to,
\q2 because he is very angry with them.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 Even though wicked people may be very powerful like young lions,
\q2 God destroys them.
\q1
\v 11 They will die like older lions that starve to death when there are no animals left to eat.
\q2 Their children will scatter from each other like young lions that separate from each other to find food.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 I heard a message that someone came
\q2 and whispered to me.
\q1
\v 13 He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed me.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 It caused me to be afraid and tremble;
\q2 it caused all my bones to shake.
\q1
\v 15 A ghost glided past my face
\q2 and caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand straight up.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 It stopped, but I could not see what it really looked like.
\q2 But I knew that there was some being in front of me,
\q1 and it said in a quiet voice,
\q1
\v 17 'No human being can be more righteous than God.
\q1 No man can be better than God, who made him.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 God cannot be sure that his own angels will always do what is right;
\q2 he declares that some of them have done wrong.
\q1
\v 19 So he certainly cannot trust human beings whom he has made from dust and clay,
\q2 human beings, whom disaster crushes as easily as you can crush a moth!
\s5
\q1
\v 20 People are sometimes in good health in the morning, but by the evening they are dead.
\q2 They are gone forever and no one even pays attention.
\q1
\v 21 Their families and possessions are like tents that collapse suddenly when you pull up their stakes;
\q2 they perish suddenly without anyone ever knowing why.'"
\s5
\c 5
\q1
\v 1 "Job, no one will stop you from calling out for someone to help you,
\q2 but I am certain that no angel will come to you!
\q1
\v 2 Foolish people die because they are resentful;
\q2 people whom others easily deceive—these people die because they envy others.
\q1
\v 3 I have seen foolish people who seemed to be successful,
\q2 but suddenly they experienced disaster because I cursed their home.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 Their sons are never safe;
\q2 they always lose to their opponents in court,
\q2 because there is no one to defend them.
\q1
\v 5 Hungry people steal the crops that foolish people harvest;
\q2 they even steal the crops that grow among thorns,
\q2 and greedy people take away the wealth of those foolish people.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 But it is not the farmland that makes bad things happen;
\q2 troubles do not grow up from the ground like plants.
\q1
\v 7 People make trouble for themselves from the time that they are born;
\q2 this is as certain as the fact that sparks shoot up from a fire.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 If I were suffering like you are, I would ask God for help
\q2 and tell him what I am complaining about.
\q1
\v 9 He does great things, things that we cannot understand;
\q2 we cannot even count the marvelous things that he does.
\q1
\v 10 He sends rain on the ground;
\q2 he makes it rain on our fields.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 He defends those who are humble,
\q2 and puts those who mourn into places where they are safe.
\q1
\v 12 He causes crafty people to not be able to do what they plan to do,
\q2 with the result that they achieve nothing.
\q1
\v 13 The people who think they are wise—he makes their own traps catch them;
\q2 the result is that they do not succeed.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 It is as though even in the daytime they were living in darkness
\q2 and were groping around trying to find the road at noontime like people do at night.
\q1
\v 15 But God saves helpless people from the wicked who say evil things about them;
\q2 he saves poor people from powerful people harming them.
\q1
\v 16 So poor people confidently expect that good things will happen to them;
\q2 but God stops wicked people from saying evil things.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 But those whom God corrects are fortunate;
\q2 so do not despise it when God, who can do anything, disciplines you.
\q1
\v 18 He wounds people, but then he puts bandages on those wounds;
\q2 he hurts people, but he also heals them.
\q1
\v 19 He will rescue you many times from your troubles,
\q2 with the result that nothing evil will happen to you.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 When there is little food to eat, he will not allow you to die,
\q2 and when there is a war, your enemies will not kill you.
\q1
\v 21 God will protect you when people say false, evil things about you;
\q2 you will not be afraid when many things around you perish.
\q1
\v 22 You will be able to laugh when that happens and when there is nothing to eat,
\q2 and you will not be afraid of wild animals.
\s5
\q1
\v 23 You will not worry about having big rocks in your fields that will make plowing difficult,
\q2 and you will not worry that wild animals might attack you.
\q1
\v 24 You will know that things will go well for you in your home;
\q2 when you look at your livestock, you will see that they are all there.
\q1
\v 25 You will be certain that you will have many descendants,
\q2 who will be as numerous as blades of grass.
\s5
\q1
\v 26 You will become very old before you die,
\q2 like sheaves of grain continue to grow until it is time to harvest and thresh them.
\q1
\v 27 My friends and I have thought carefully about these things, and we know that they are true,
\q2 so pay attention to what I have said!"
\s5
\c 6
\p
\v 1 Then Job spoke again to Eliphaz:
\q1
\v 2 "If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
\q1
\v 3 they would be heavier than all the sand along the ocean shores.
\q2 That is why I spoke very rashly about the day that I was born.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 It is as though Almighty God has shot me with arrows.
\q2 It is as though those arrows have poison on their tips, and that poison has gone into my spirit.
\q1 The things that God has done to me are like soldiers lined up to attack me.
\q1
\v 5 Just like a wild donkey does not complain by braying when it has plenty of grass to eat,
\q2 and an ox does not complain by bellowing when it has food to eat,
\q1 I would not complain if you were really helping me.
\q1
\v 6 People complain when they must eat food that has no salt
\q2 or food that is slimy and tasteless;
\q1 that is what your words are like, Eliphaz.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 I do not want to eat food like that,
\q2 because it disgusts me,
\q1 and I do not like what you have said to me.
\q1
\v 8 I wish that God would do for me what I have asked of him:
\q1
\v 9 I wish that he would crush me and let me die.
\q2 I wish that he would reach out his hand and take away my life.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 If he would do that, I would be comforted because I would know that in spite of the great pain that I have suffered,
\q2 I have always obeyed what God, the Holy One, has commanded.
\q1
\v 11 But now I do not have enough strength to endure all these things.
\q2 And since I have nothing to hope for in the future,
\q2 it is difficult for me to be patient now.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 I am not strong like rocks are,
\q2 and my body is not made of bronze.
\q1
\v 13 So I am not able to help myself;
\q2 I am not wise enough for that.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him,
\q2 even if he stops honoring Almighty God.
\q1
\v 15 But you, my friends, are not dependable.
\q2 You are like streams in the wilderness: They spill over their banks in the spring
\q1
\v 16 when the melting ice and snow make them overflow,
\q1
\v 17 but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing in those streams,
\q2 and the channels dry up.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 The caravans of merchants turn off their road to search for water,
\q2 but there is no water in those streambeds,
\q2 so the merchants die in the desert.
\q1
\v 19 The men in those caravans searched for some water
\q2 because they were sure that they would find some.
\q1
\v 20 But they did not find any,
\q2 so they were very disappointed.
\s5
\q1
\v 21 Similarly, you friends have not helped me at all!
\q1 You have seen that terrible things have happened to me,
\q2 and you are afraid that God might do similar things to you.
\q1
\v 22 After I lost all my wealth, I did not ask any of you for money.
\q2 I did not plead with any of you to spend some of your money to help me.
\q1
\v 23 I never asked any of you to rescue me from my enemies,
\q2 and I did not ask you to save me from those who oppressed me.
\s5
\q1
\v 24 Answer me now, and then I will be quiet;
\q2 tell me what wrong things I have done!
\q1
\v 25 When people speak what is true, it can be painful for the listener to hear honest words.
\q2 But what have all your arguments proven about me?
\s5
\q1
\v 26 I am a man who has nothing to hope for,
\q2 but you try to correct me, and you think what I say is as useless as the wind!
\q1
\v 27 You do not sympathize with me at all for the things
that I am suffering.
\q2 You will do anything to get something for yourselves! You would even play a game to see who gets an orphan as a prize!
\s5
\q1
\v 28 Please look at me! I will not lie while I am talking straight to you.
\q1
\v 29 Stop saying that I have sinned, and stop criticizing me unjustly!
\q2 You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.
\q1
\v 30 Do you think that I am lying?
\q2 No, I am not lying, because I know what is right to say, and what is wrong."
\s5
\c 7
\q1
\v 1 "People need to work hard on this earth like soldiers do;
\q1 all during the time that we are alive, we need to work as hard as any hired worker.
\q1
\v 2 We are like slaves who keep wanting to be in the cool of evening,
\q2 and we are like workers who keep waiting to be paid.
\q1
\v 3 God has given to me many months in which I think that it is useless to remain alive;
\q1 he has assigned to me many nights during which I feel miserable.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 When I lie down at night I say, 'How long will it be until I get up?'
\q2 But the nights are long, and I toss on my bed until the dawn.
\q1
\v 5 My body is covered with maggots and scabs;
\q2 pus oozes out of my open sores.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 My days pass as quickly as a weaver's shuttle;
\q2 when one day ends, I never expect that things will be better the next day.
\q1
\v 7 God, do not forget that my life is as short as a single breath;
\q2 I think that I will never again experience being happy.
\v 26 And even after diseases have destroyed my body,
\q2 still, in my body I will see God.
\q1
\v 27 I will see him myself;
\q2 I will see him with my own eyes!
\q2 My emotions overwhelm me as I think about that!
\s5
\q1
\v 28 If you three men say, 'This is how we will cause him to suffer!'
\q2 and you say, 'He is the one who has caused his own troubles,'
\q1
\v 29 you should fear that God will punish you;
\q1 he punishes those like you with whom he is angry;
\q2 and when that happens, you will know that there is someone who judges people."
\s5
\c 20
\p
\v 1 Then Zophar replied again:
\q1
\v 2 "I am very troubled about what you have said,
\q2 so I want to reply very quickly.
\q1
\v 3 By saying these things you have insulted me,
\q2 but something within my understanding suggests to me how I may reply to you.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 Do you not know that from long ago,
\q2 ever since God first put people on the earth,
\q1
\v 5 that wicked people like you do not continue to rejoice for a long time,
\q2 and that people who refuse to honor God are happy only for a moment?
\s5
\q1
\v 6 Although their reputations reach up to the sky,
\q2 and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,
\q1
\v 7 they will disappear forever, like their own excrement,
\q2 and those who knew them will ask, 'Where did they go?'
\s5
\q1
\v 8 They will disappear as a dream does,
\q2 and they will exist no more.
\q1 They will vanish like dreams that people have during the night.
\q1
\v 9 Those people who now see those wicked people will never see them again;
\q2 even the people who lived with them will not see them anymore.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that they stole from poor people.
\q1
\v 11 The bodies of the wicked were once young and strong,
\q2 but they will die and be buried in the ground.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 Although doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths
\q2 that they wanted to continue tasting,
\q1
\v 13 and although they did not want to stop doing those things,
\q1
\v 14 those evil things will someday become like poison that they swallow,
\q2 or like the poison from snakes.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Wicked people pile up wealth for themselves, but they do not keep it forever,
\q2 just like people do not keep down the food that they vomit.
\q1 God takes their wealth from them.
\q1
\v 16 Doing evil deeds is like swallowing snake poison;
\q2 doing evil will kill the wicked as the bite of a poisonous snake will kill people.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 The wicked will not remain alive to see the abundant blessings from God,
\q2 which are like a stream that flows.
\q1
\v 18 They will be forced to give back the things that they stole from the poor;
\q2 they will not be able to continue to enjoy those things.
\q1 They will not remain happy because of what they got from their business
\q1
\v 19 because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them,
\q2 and they took other people's houses by cheating them.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 They were always greedy and never satisfied.
\q2 So when they ate, they ate so much that they never saved anything that they enjoyed.
\q1
\v 21 When they finished eating their food, there was never anything left over because they had greedily eaten it all;
\q2 but now their prosperity will end.
\q1
\v 22 When they are still very wealthy,
\q2 they will suddenly experience trouble.
\q2 The full power of everyone who lives in misery will crush them.
\s5
\q1
\v 23 When the wicked people are filling their stomachs,
\q2 God will show that he is very angry with them, and he will punish them;
\q2 he will bring down suffering on them like the rain that falls on the ground.
\q1
\v 24 They will try to escape from people who will attack them with iron weapons,
\q2 but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.
\q1
\v 25 The arrows will go completely through their bodies and stick out of their backs;
\q2 the shiny points of the arrows will have blood dripping from them,
\q2 and those wicked people will be terrified.
\s5
\q1
\v 26 Their valuable possessions will all be destroyed;
\q2 a fire started by God, not by humans, will burn them up
\q2 and will destroy the things that are left in their tents.
\q1
\v 27 The angels in heaven will reveal the sins that those wicked people have committed,
\q2 and people on earth will stand up and testify against them.
\s5
\q1
\v 28 On the day when God punishes people,
\q2 all the possessions in the wicked people's houses will be carried away, as if a flood had come.
\q1
\v 29 That is what will happen to wicked people like you;
\q2 that is what God has decreed for them."
\s5
\c 21
\p
\v 1 Then Job replied in this way:
\q1
\v 2 "Listen to what I say, all of you;
\q2 that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
\q1
\v 3 Be patient with me, and allow me to speak.
\q2 Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 It is certainly not people against whom I am complaining, but God!
\q2 And it is certainly right for me to be impatient!
\q1
\v 5 Look at me! Does what you see not cause you to be appalled
\q2 and to put your hands over your mouths and say no more?
\q1
\v 6 When I think about what has happened to me,
\q2 I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 But allow me to ask this: 'Why do wicked people continue to live,
\q2 and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?'
\q1
\v 8 They see their children around them,
\q2 and they watch them while they grow up and start to live in their own houses.
\q1
\v 9 Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid,
\q2 and God does not punish them.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully,
\q2 and the cows always give birth to calves and never miscarry.
\q1
\v 11 Wicked people send their young children outside to play,
\q2 and the children jump around happily like lambs in a pasture.
\q1
\v 12 The children sing to the sound of tambourines and lyres,
\q2 and they are happy to hear the sound of flutes.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 Wicked people enjoy having good things all the time that they are alive,
\q2 and they die quietly and go down to the place of the dead.
\q1
\v 14 While they are alive, they say to God, 'Leave us alone;
\q2 we do not care about how you desire us to conduct our lives!
\q1
\v 15 Why do you, Almighty God, think that we should serve you?
\q2 What advantage do we get if we pray to you?'
\s5
\q1
\v 16 Wicked people think that they have become prosperous because of what they have done,
\q2 but I do not want to have anything to do with their thinking.
\q1
\v 17 How often does it happen that wicked people die,
\q2 without experiencing disasters?
\q2 Does God ever punish them because he is angry with them?
\q1
\v 18 He does not blow them away as wind blows away straw;
\q2 they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
\s5
\q1
\v 19 You say, 'When people have committed sins,
\q2 God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;'
\q1 I say that God should punish those who sin, not their children,
\q2 in order that the sinners may know that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished.
\q1
\v 20 I hope that wicked people will live to experience God destroying them,
\q2 that they will experience Almighty God punishing them.
\q1
\v 21 After wicked people are dead,
\q2 they are not at all concerned for their families who are still alive.
\s5
\q1
\v 22 Since God judges everyone, even those who are in heaven,
\q2 who can teach him anything?
\q1
\v 23 Some people die while they are very healthy,
\q2 while they are peaceful and not afraid of anything.
\q1
\v 24 Their bodies are fat;
\q2 their bones are strong.
\s5
\q1
\v 25 Other people die being very miserable;
\q2 they have never experienced good things happening to them.
\q1
\v 26 They die and are buried,
\q2 and maggots cover their bodies.
\q1 Everyone dies, so it is clear that dying is not always the punishment for being wicked.
\s5
\q1
\v 27 Listen, I know what you three are thinking,
\q2 and I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
\q1
\v 28 You say, 'What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living?
\q2 The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!'
\s5
\q1
\v 29 Have you never asked people who travel much?
\q2 Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
\q1
\v 30 that wicked people usually do not suffer at the time when there are great disasters;
\q2 that when God punishes people, someone rescues the wicked? that wicked people are the ones whom someone else rescues when God punishes people?
\s5
\q1
\v 31 There is no one who accuses wicked people,
\q2 and there is no one who pays them back for all the evil things that they have done.
\q1
\v 32 When the corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves,
\q2 people are put there to guard those graves.
\q1
\v 33 A huge number of people go to the grave site;
\q2 some go in front of the procession and some come behind,
\q2 and the wicked ones who have died surely feel good when people throw clods of dirt on their graves.
\s5
\q1
\v 34 So how can you comfort me by talking nonsense?
\q2 Every reply that you give me is full of lies!"
\s5
\c 22
\p
\v 1 Then Eliphaz replied, saying this:
\q1
\v 2 "No one can be useful to God!
\q2 People who are wise can be useful to themselves, but not to God.
\q1
\v 3 If you were righteous, that would not please Almighty God, would it?
\q2 If you lived a perfect life, that would not help him, would it?
\s5
\q1
\v 4 Do you honor God, and is that why he punishes you?
\q2 Is that the reason that he puts you on trial?
\q1
\v 5 No, it certainly must be because you are extremely wicked.
\q2 It must be that no one can count the evil things that you have done!
\s5
\q1
\v 6 You must have lent money to others and wrongly forced them to give you things to guarantee that they would pay that money back to you;
\q2 you must have taken all their clothes and left them with nothing to wear.
\q1
\v 7 You must not have given water to those who were thirsty,
\q2 and you must have refused to give food to those who were hungry.
\q1
\v 8 Because you were very powerful, you must have taken over all the people's land,
\q2 and then you began to live on that land, even though others honored you very much.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 When widows came to you for help, you must have sent them away without giving them anything,
\q2 and you must have oppressed orphans.
\q1
\v 10 Because you did all those things, now there are traps that will catch you;
\q2 now things appear that terrify you and cause you to tremble.
\q1
\v 11 It is as though it had become very dark, with the result that you cannot see anything,
\q2 and it is as though a flood covered you.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 But consider this, Job: God lives high up in the heavens.
\q2 From there he looks down on the highest stars.
\q1
\v 13 So why do you say, 'God knows nothing about what we are doing'?
\q2 And why do you say, 'Dark clouds keep him from seeing us, so he cannot judge us'?
\q1
\v 14 Do you think that while he walks on the dome that covers the sky,
\q2 where there are thick clouds around him, he cannot see what we do?'
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Will you, Job, continue to conduct your life in the old way
\q2 that evil people have done for many years?
\q1
\v 16 They suddenly died while they were still young;
\q2 they disappeared like everything disappears when there is a flood .
\q1
\v 17 They kept saying to God, 'Leave us alone,' 'Allow us to be alone,'
\q2 and they also said defiantly, 'Almighty God can do nothing to harm us!'
\s5
\q1
\v 18 Yet it was God who filled their houses with good things;
\q2 so I cannot agree at all to follow what the wicked plan.
\q1
\v 19 When righteous people see that God punishes wicked people, they are glad,
\q2 and they laugh at those wicked people.
\q1
\v 20 They say, 'Now our enemies have been destroyed,
\q2 and fire has burned up anything left of their wealth.'
\s5
\q1
\v 21 So, Job, be reconciled to God and make peace with him;
\q2 if you do that, good things will happen to you.
\q1
\v 22 Allow him to teach you,
\q2 and put his words into your mind.
\s5
\q1
\v 23 If you humble yourself and return to God, he will restore you;
\q2 if you stop doing all the evil things that you have been doing in your house,
\q1
\v 24 and if you throw away your gold,
\q2 the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir land,
\q1
\v 25 then Almighty God will be to be as precious to you as your gold and your silver have been.
\s5
\q1
\v 26 Then you will be happy because of God,
\q2 and you will be able to approach him confidently.
\q1
\v 27 You will pray to him, and he will do what you request him to do;
\q2 you will do the things that you promised him that you would do.
\q1
\v 28 Everything that you decide to do will be successful;
\q2 it will be as though a light were shining on the road in front of you.
\s5
\q1
\v 29 God humbles those who are proud,
\q2 but he saves those who are downcast.
\q1
\v 30 God rescues those who are not innocent;
\q2 they will be rescued because you do what is right."
\s5
\c 23
\p
\v 1 Then Job replied and said this:
\q1
\v 2 "Today I am again complaining bitterly to God;
\q2 I continue to groan, but I suffer even more.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 I wish that I knew where I could meet with him
\q2 so that I could go to the place where he lives.
\q1
\v 4 If I could do that, I would tell him why I know that I am innocent;
\q2 I would tell him many reasons for that.
\q1
\v 5 Then I would find out and understand what he would reply to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 Would he use his great power to argue with me?
\q2 No, he would listen to me carefully.
\q1
\v 7 I am an honest man, so I would be able to discuss things with him fairly,
\q2 and then he would declare that I am innocent, and he would not trouble me again.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 However, I have gone to the east, and he is not there;
\q2 I have gone to the west, but I have not found him there.
\q1
\v 9 I have gone north and I have gone south,
\q2 but I have not seen him anywhere for he keeps himself from me.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 He knows how I have conducted my life;
\q2 when he has finished testing me, he will see that I am as pure as gold whose impurities have all been burned out.
\q1
\v 11 I have faithfully walked on the road that he showed me;
\q2 I have not turned away from obeying him.
\q1
\v 12 I have always obeyed what he commanded;
\q2 I have hidden away in my inner being the words that he has spoken.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 He never changes. There is no one who can stop him from doing what he desires.
\q2 Whatever he wants to do, he does.
\q1
\v 14 He will finish doing the things that he has planned for me,
\q2 and I am sure that he has thought about doing many things for me.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 So I am terrified when I am in front of him;
\q2 when I think about what he can do, I am very afraid.
\q1
\v 16 Almighty God has made me very afraid.
\q1
\v 17 The thick darkness in front of me has not make me silent,
\q2 even that terrible darkness that covers my face has not kept me from speaking."
\s5
\c 24
\q1
\v 1 "Why does Almighty God not set a time when he will judge evil people?
\q2 The people who obey God never seem to see him judge the evil people.
\s5
\q1
\v 2 Some evil people remove the boundary markers of other people's land, in order to take their land;
\q2 they seize other people's sheep and put them in their own pastures.
\q1
\v 3 Some take away the donkeys that belong to orphans,
\q2 and they take widows' oxen to guarantee that the widows will pay back the money that they loaned to those widows.
\q1
\v 4 Some shove poor people off the road,
\q2 and they force poor people to find places to hide from them.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 The result is that poor people have to search for food in the desert plain
\q2 like wild donkeys do.
\q1
\v 6 The poor people harvest leftover grain in other people's fields,
\q2 and gather leftover grapes from vineyards that belong to wicked men.
\q1
\v 7 During the night they have nothing to cover their bodies,
\q2 nothing to keep them warm.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 When it rains in the mountains, they become very wet,
\q2 so they huddle under the rock ledges to protect themselves from the rain.
\q1
\v 9 Some evil men snatch poor, fatherless infants away from their mothers;
\q2 they say 'I will return your babies to you when you repay the money that I lent to you.'
\q1
\v 10 But the poor people walk around with no clothes on;
\q2 they are hungry while they are working to carry other people's bundles of grain to the places where their grain will be threshed.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 Poor people are hired by these wicked people to make olive oil for them;
\q2 they tread on grapes to make juice for wine,
\q2 but they are not allowed to drink any of it when they are thirsty.
\q1
\v 12 In the cities, people who are wounded and dying cry out to God for help,
\q2 but God ignores their prayers.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 Some wicked people avoid the light because they do evil things in the dark;
\q2 they do not walk on roads that are lit.
\q1
\v 14 Murderers steal things during the night,
\q2 and then they rise before dawn in order that they may go out again and kill poor and needy people.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Those who want to commit adultery wait for evening to come;
\q2 they say, 'I do not want anyone to see me,' so they keep their faces covered.
\q1
\v 16 It is during the night that robbers break into houses to steal things,
\q2 but during the day they hide because they want to avoid being seen in the light.
\q1
\v 17 All of those people want to do their evil deeds at night, not in the morning when it is light,
\q2 because they are not afraid of the things that happen during the night that terrify others.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 However, those wicked people will disappear very quickly,
\q2 and God will curse the land that they owned;
\q2 no one will go any longer to work in their vineyards.
\q1
\v 19 Just as the snow melts away when it is hot and there is no rain,
\q2 those who have sinned will disappear into the place where the dead people are.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 Not even their mothers will remember them;
\q2 wicked people will be destroyed like trees that are cut down,
\q2 and maggots will eat their corpses.
\q1
\v 21 The wicked mistreat women who have been unable to give birth to children who would have grown up to take care of them;
\q2 the wicked they never help widows.
\s5
\q1
\v 22 But God, by his power, gets rid of mighty people.
\q2 He causes the wicked people to die.
\q1
\v 23 God allows them to think that they are secure and safe,
\q2 but he is watching them all the time.
\s5
\q1
\v 24 They prosper for a little while,
\q2 and then suddenly they are gone;
\q2 God will make them die like all the other people;
\q2 they will be like stalks of grain that the farmers have cut off.
\q1
\v 25 If this is not true, is there anyone who will show that I am a liar
\q2 and prove me wrong?"
\s5
\c 25
\p
\v 1 Then Bildad also replied:
\q1
\v 2 "God is very powerful; everyone should honor him very much;
\q2 he causes everything to be peaceful high up in heaven, with no confusion at all.
\q1
\v 3 Can anyone count the angels who are in his army in heaven?
\q2 Is there any person on whom his light does not shine?
\s5
\q1
\v 4 So how can God consider any person to be righteous?
\q2 How can he accept any human being?
\q1
\v 5 Consider this: God does not even think that the full moon is bright,
\q2 and he does not even accept the stars in the heavens as worthy of him.
\q1
\v 6 So what about humans?
\q2 They are as insignificant as maggots.
\q2 God does not think more highly of people than he thinks of worms."
\s5
\c 26
\p
\v 1 Job replied to Bildad:
\q1
\v 2 "I am a very weak and helpless man;
\q2 you do not really think that you have helped me at all, do you?
\q1
\v 3 You certainly do not think that you have given me good advice, do you?—me, who am not wise at all.
\q1
\v 4 Who helped you to say all those great things?
\q2 Who inspired you to speak like you did?
\s5
\q1
\v 5 The spirits of dead people tremble with fear,
\q2 those who are under the waters
\q1 and everyone who dwells with them.
\q1
\v 6 God knows all about those who are in the place of the dead;
\q2 there is nothing down there that prevents God from seeing what is there.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 God stretches out heaven
\q1 over the empty spaces,
\q2 and he places the earth in that huge empty space, but it is not resting on anything.
\q1
\v 8 He fills the thick clouds with water
\q2 and prevents that water from bursting the clouds.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 He causes clouds to obscure the moon.
\q1
\v 10 He separates the light from the darkness
\q2 and puts the horizon to mark the place where the night ends and the daytime begins.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 When he is angry, it is as though he rebuked the pillars that hold up the sky.
\q2 They are shocked, and they tremble.
\q1
\v 12 By his power he calmed the sea;
\q2 by his skill he destroyed Rahab, the huge sea monster.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 By his breath he caused the sky to be bright;
\q2 by his hand he killed the great dragon in the sea as it was fleeing from him.
\q1
\v 14 But those events show only a small amount of his power;
\q2 it is as though we were hearing only whispers of his powerful voice.
\q2 When we hear thunder, we say, 'Who can really understand how great his power is?'"
\s5
\c 27
\p
\v 1 Job continued speaking to his three friends:
\q1
\v 2 "Almighty God has refused to treat me justly.
\q2 He has caused me to feel bitter.
\q2 But just as surely as he lives,
\q1
\v 3 I will say this as long as God's Spirit enables me to breathe!
\s5
\q1
\v 4 I will not lie!
\q2 I will not say anything to deceive anyone.
\q1
\v 5 I will never admit that what you three have said is true;
\q2 until the day that I die, I will insist that I have not done things that are wrong.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 I will say that I am innocent, and I will never say anything different;
\q2 my inner being will never reproach me as long as I live.
\q1
\v 7 I want God to punish my enemies like he will punish all wicked people;
\q2 I want him to punish those who oppose me like he punishes all unrighteous people.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 When it is time for God to get rid of godless people and to cause them to die,
\q2 there is absolutely nothing good that they can confidently expect to happen to them.
\q1
\v 9 When they experience troubles, God will not hear them call out to him for help, will he?
\q1
\v 10 Will they be happy about what Almighty God does?
\q2 Will they begin to pray to him frequently?
\q2 Certainly not!
\s5
\q1
\v 11 I will teach you three something about God's power;
\q2 I will reveal to you what he is thinking.
\q1
\v 12 You three have seen for yourselves powerful things that God has done;
\q2 so I do not understand why you have been saying such nonsense to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 I will tell you what Almighty God does to wicked people,
\q2 what he does to people who mistreat others.
\q1
\v 14 Even if they have many children, those children will die in wars,
\q2 or they will die because they do not have enough food to eat.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Their children who are still alive after they themselves die will perish from diseases,
\q2 and the wives they leave behind will not even mourn for them.
\q1
\v 16 Sometimes wicked people accumulate a huge amount of silver
\q2 and pile up clothes as potters pile up clay,
\q1
\v 17 but those wicked people will die, and then righteous people will wear those clothes,
\q2 and honest people will get their silver and divide it among themselves.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 The houses that they build are as weak as spider webs;
\q2 they are like flimsy huts that watchmen live in while they guard people's fields.
\q1
\v 19 The wicked people are rich when they lie down at night,
\q2 but when they wake up in the morning, they find out that their money has disappeared.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 Things that terrify them come to them like a flood that they do not expect;
\q2 during the night a whirlwind carries them away.
\q1
\v 21 It is as though the wind from the east had picked them up and carried them away from their homes,
\q2 and they disappear forever.
\s5
\q1
\v 22 That wind strikes them without pitying them
\q2 while they are running away, trying to escape from its force.
\q1
\v 23 That wind is like someone clapping his hands at them to mock them,
\q2 howling at them and forcing them to run away."
\s5
\c 28
\q1
\v 1 "It is true that there are places where men dig to find silver,
\q2 and there are places where people refine gold that they have dug.
\q1
\v 2 People dig iron ore out of the ground,
\q2 and they also smelt copper.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 Men use lamps while they work far down under the ground
\q2 to search for the ore inside the mines
\q2 where it is very dark.
\q1
\v 4 They dig shafts in places that are far from where people live,
\q2 where travelers do not go.
\q1 They work far away from other people,
\q2 swinging back and forth on ropes as they descend into the mine shafts.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 Food grows on the surface of the ground,
\q2 but down under the ground, where there is no food, the miners make fires to break apart the rocks.
\q1
\v 6 The stones that are dug from under the ground contain sapphires,
\q2 and the dirt contains bits of gold.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 Some birds have very good eyes,
\q1 but even hawks do not know where the mines are,
\q2 and falcons have not seen those places.
\q1
\v 8 Lions or other proud wild animals have never gone to those places.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Miners dig very hard rock;
\q2 it is as though they turned the mountains upside down to get the ore.
\q1
\v 10 They cut tunnels through the rocks,
\q2 and they find precious things.
\q1
\v 11 They dam up small streams to stop the water from flowing,
\q2 and they bring up into the light things that are hidden in the ground and in the streams.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 But wisdom: Where can people find that?
\q2 Where can we find out how to truly understand things?
\q1
\v 13 Humans do not know what wisdom is truly worth;
\q2 no one can find it here on this earth where they are living.
\q1
\v 14 It is as though the water that is under the earth and water that is in the seas said,
\q2 'I do not have it!'
\s5
\q1
\v 15 People cannot buy wisdom
\q2 by paying for it with silver or gold.
\q1
\v 16 Wisdom is worth much more than fine gold from the land of Ophir,
\q2 much more than very valuable stones.
\q1
\v 17 It is worth much more than gold or beautiful quartz;
\q2 wisdom is more expensive than the finest jewels, and it is worth more than a vase made with pure gold.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 Wisdom is worth more than coral or crystal quartz;
\q2 the price of wisdom is higher than the price of rubies.
\q1
\v 19 The prices of topaz from Ethiopia and of pure gold
\q2 are lower than the value of wisdom.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 So from where does wisdom come?
\q2 Where can we find out how to truly understand things?
\q1
\v 21 No living humans can see it;
\q2 and birds cannot see it while they are up in the sky.
\q1
\v 22 It is as though the places where people go after they die said,
\q2 'We have only heard rumors about where to find wisdom.'
\s5
\q1
\v 23 God is the only one who knows how to find wisdom;
\q2 he knows where it is
\q1
\v 24 because he can see things even in the most remote places on the earth;
\q2 he can see everything that is below the sky.
\q1
\v 25 He decided how strongly the winds should blow,
\q2 and how much rain should be in the clouds.
\s5
\q1
\v 26 He decided where rain should fall,
\q2 and what path lightning should take from the clouds down to the ground.
\q1
\v 27 At that time he saw wisdom and decided that it is very valuable.
\q2 He examined it and approved it.
\q1
\v 28 And then he said to human beings, 'Listen! If you have much respect for me, you will be able to become wise;
\q2 to truly understand everything, you must first turn away from doing what is evil.'"
\s5
\c 29
\p
\v 1 Job spoke again and said this:
\q1
\v 2 "I wish that I could be as I was previously
\q2 during the years when God took care of me.
\q1
\v 3 During those years, it was as though God's lamp shone on me
\q2 and gave me light while I walked in the darkness.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 At that time I was young and strong,
\q2 and because God was my friend, he protected where I lived.
\q1
\v 5 Almighty God was with me during those years
\q2 when all my children were around me.
\q1
\v 6 My herds provided me with plenty of milk,
\q2 and streams of oil flowed from the rock where my servants pressed the olives.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 Whenever I went to the place where the elders gathered at the city gate,
\q2 I sat down with them,
\q1
\v 8 and when the young men saw me, they stepped aside respectfully,
\q2 and the old men also stood respectfully.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 The leaders of the people used to stop talking,
\q1
\v 10 and even the most important men became quiet
\q2 and stopped talking in order to hear me speak to them.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 When they all heard what I told them,
\q2 they said good things about me.
\q1 When they saw me, they always praised me
\q1
\v 12 because I had helped those who were poor when they cried out for help,
\q2 and because I aided those who had no fathers, those who had no one else to help them.
\q1
\v 13 Those who were suffering and about to die praised me,
\q2 and I caused widows to sing joyfully, because I helped them.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 I always acted justly;
\q2 my actions were like a robe that I wore and like a turban that was wrapped around my head.
\q1
\v 15 It was as though I myself saw for blind people
\q2 and walked for people who were lame.
\q1
\v 16 I was like a father to the poor people,
\q2 and in the courts I defended those who were strangers to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 I made wicked people stop oppressing others; it was like someone who breaks the teeth of wild animals
\q2 and forces them to drop their victims from their teeth.
\q1
\v 18 At that time I thought, 'Surely I will live in peace until I am very old,
\q2 and I will die at home with my family.
\q1
\v 19 I am like a tree whose roots reach down into the water
\q2 and whose branches become wet with dew each night.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 People always honor me,
\q2 and I am always strong like a new bow.'
\q1
\v 21 When I spoke, people waited to hear what I would say;
\q2 they remained silent until I advised them what they should do.
\q1
\v 22 After I finished speaking, they did not say anymore;
\q2 it was as though my words fell on their ears like drops of rain.
\s5
\q1
\v 23 They waited for me to speak as they wait for rain;
\q2 they liked what I said as farmers appreciate the final rain in the spring before the dry season.
\q1
\v 24 When they were sad, I smiled at them to encourage them;
\q2 they became encouraged when they saw my cheerful face.
\s5
\q1
\v 25 I was their leader, and I decided what things would be good for them to do;
\q2 I was among them like a king who is among his troops;
\q2 I was like someone who comforts others who are mourning."
\s5
\c 30
\q1
\v 1 "But now, men who are younger than I am make fun of me—
\q2 men whose fathers I greatly despised—
\q2 their fathers, whom I would not even have allowed to help my dogs guard my sheep.
\q1
\v 2 They were men who were old and weak;
\q2 what could I gain from having these men work for me, even when they thought they were strong?
\q1
\v 3 They were very poor and hungry,
\q2 so that they chewed on roots at night
\q2 in dry and desolate places.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 They pulled up plants in the desert and ate them;
\q2 they warmed themselves by burning the roots of broom trees.
\q1
\v 5 Everyone shouted at them, "Stop, thief!"
\q2 and drove them from their area.
\q1
\v 6 They were forced to live in riverbeds,
\q2 in holes in the ground, and in the sides of cliffs.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 In the bushes they howled like animals because they were hungry,
\q2 and they huddled together under thornbushes.
\q1
\v 8 They were people without good sense,
\q2 whose names no one knows;
\q1 they were driven out from the land where they were born.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Now their children sing songs to make fun of me.
\q2 They tell jokes about me.
\q1
\v 10 They are disgusted with me, and they stay away from me,
\q2 but when they see me, they are happy to spit in my face.
\q1
\v 11 It seems as though God had cut my bowstring and caused me to be unable to defend myself; he has humbled me,
\q2 and my enemies have done to me whatever they wanted.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 Gangs of these people attack me and force me to run away;
\q2 they prepare to destroy me.
\q1
\v 13 They prevent me from escaping,
\q2 and there is no one to keep them from attacking me.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 It is as though I were a city wall and they had broken through it,
\q2 as though they had come crashing down on me.
\q1
\v 15 I am very terrified;
\q2 my dignity has been blown away by the wind,
\q2 and my prosperity has disappeared as clouds disappear.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 Now I am about to die;
\q2 I suffer every day.
\q1
\v 17 My bones ache during the nights,
\q2 and the pain that torments me never stops.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 It is as though God had grabbed my clothes
\q2 and choked me by the collar of my coat.
\q1
\v 19 He has thrown me into the mud;
\q2 I am not worth anything more than dust and ashes.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer me;
\q2 I stand up and pray, but you do not pay any attention.
\q1
\v 21 You act very cruelly toward me;
\q2 with all of your power you cause me to suffer.
\s5
\q1
\v 22 You allow the wind to lift me up and blow me away;
\q2 and you make a violent storm blow me around.
\q1
\v 23 I know that you will cause me to die,
\q2 which is what happens to everyone who is alive.
\s5
\q1
\v 24 When people experience disasters,
\q2 they sit on a pile of ruins and cry out for help;
\q2 they certainly cry out for help.
\q1
\v 25 I myself wept for people who were experiencing troubles,
\q2 and I felt sorry for poor people.
\q1
\v 26 However, when I expected good things to happen to me, evil things happened;
\q2 when I waited for light, I experienced darkness instead.
\s5
\q1
\v 27 I am very distressed all the time;
\q2 I suffer every day.
\q1
\v 28 I go about very discouraged;
\q2 I stand up and plead for people to help me.
\q1
\v 29 My wailing is as sad as jackals and ostriches in the wilderness.
\s5
\q1
\v 30 My skin has become dark and is peeling off,
\q2 and I have a fever which causes my body to feel as though it were burning up with a fever.
\q1
\v 31 Previously, I played joyful music on my harp and with my flute,
\q2 but now I play only the sad music of those who mourn."
\s5
\c 31
\q1
\v 1 "I made to myself a solemn promise
\q2 that I would not look at a young woman and want to sleep with her.
\q1
\v 2 If I did not do what I promised,
\q2 what would God who is in heaven give me?
\q2 Almighty God would certainly not give me any reward!
\s5
\q1
\v 3 Previously I thought that surely it was unrighteous people who would experience calamities,
\q2 and that it was those who do what is wrong who would experience disasters.
\q1
\v 4 God certainly sees everything that I do,
\q2 so why is he causing me to suffer?
\q2 It is as though he were counting every step that I take.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 I solemnly declare that I have never acted wickedly
\q2 and have never tried to deceive people.
\q1
\v 6 I request only that God judge me fairly;
\q2 if he does that, he will know that I am innocent.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 If it were true that I had turned away from walking on the right paths,
\q2 or that I had seen wrong things to do and then did them,
\q2 or that my hands were stained because I had sinned,
\q1
\v 8 then I hope that when I plant seeds, someone else will harvest the crops and eat them,
\q2 and that others will uproot the crops that I have planted.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 If it is true that I have been attracted by some other man's wife,
\q2 or that I have hidden myself and waited outside the door to her house,
\q1
\v 10 I hope another man will sleep with my own wife
\q2 and that she will sleep with him.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 For me to do that would be a terrible sin,
\q2 and the judges would decide that I should be punished.
\q1
\v 12 My adultery would produce in me a fire like the fire that burns people in hell,
\q2 and it would burn up everything that I own.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 If it is true that I have ever refused to listen to one of my male or female servants
\q2 when they complained to me about something,
\q1
\v 14 I hope that God would stand up and declare that he will punish me;
\q2 when he does that, what could I do?
\q2 If he asked me about what I have done, what would I answer?
\q1
\v 15 God, who created me, certainly also created my servants;
\q2 surely he is the one who formed them and me in our mothers' wombs,
\q2 so we all should behave toward each other in the same way.
\s5
\q1
\v 16-18 From the time I was young I have taken care of orphans;
All my life I have never given the widowed mothers a reason to lose hope.
\q1 So if it is true that I ate all my food myself and did not share some of it with orphans,
\q2 or that I refused to give poor people the things that they wanted,
\q2 or that I caused widows to live in despair, then you do to me whatever you must do to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 19 If I had seen people die from cold because they had no clothes,
\q2 or that I had seen poor people who did not have clothes to keep them warm,
\q1
\v 20 and they were not able to become warm from clothes made from the wool of my sheep
\q2 and they thanked me for it,
\q1
\v 21 or if it is true that I threatened to strike any orphan
\q2 because I knew that the elders at the city gates would approve of me, then do to me whatever you must do to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 22 For if those things were true about me, I hope that my shoulder blade would be torn out
\q2 and my arm be torn from my shoulder.
\q1
\v 23 I always feared that God would cause me to experience a great disaster if I did any of those evil things,
\q2 and I would not have been able to endure the powerful things that he would do to punish me.
\s5
\q1
\v 24 If it is true that I trusted in my gold,
\q1
\v 25 or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things
\q2 and had become very rich,
\s5
\q1
\v 26 or that I looked at the sun when it was shining,
\q2 or that I looked at the beautiful moon,
\q1
\v 27 and I had been tempted to worship them
\q2 by kissing my hand to honor them,
\q1
\v 28 those things also would be sins for which the judges would say that I must be punished
\q2 because I would have been rejecting God by doing those things.
\s5
\q1
\v 29-30 It is not true that I sinned by requesting God to curse people who hated me
\q2 and to cause them to die because I was angry with them.
\q1 It is not true that I was glad when they were ruined
\q2 or that I rejoiced when they experienced disasters. No!
\s5
\q1
\v 31-32 No one can truthfully that I did not welcome travelers to stay in my house,
\q2 or that I did not open my doors to them, but that I forced them to sleep in the streets!
\q2 All the men who work for me certainly know that I have given food to anyone who needed it!
\s5
\q1
\v 33 Some people try to hide their sins,
\q2 but I have never done that;
\q1
\v 34 and I never remained silent and refused to go outside
\q2 because I was afraid of what people would say about me,
\q2 and that they would hate me.
\s5
\q1
\v 35 I wish that there was someone who would hear what I am saying!
\q2 I solemnly declare that all that I have said is true.
\q1 I wish that those who oppose me would write down on a scroll the evil things that they say that I did.
\q1
\v 36 If they did that, I would wear that scroll on my shoulder or on top of my head, in order that everyone could see it.
\q1
\v 37 I would tell God everything that I have done,
\q2 and I would approach him like a ruler would, without being afraid.
\s5
\q1
\v 38 If it is true that I have stolen land,
\q2 so that its furrows were like someone who shouted out to accuse me;
\q1
\v 39 or that I have eaten the crops that grew in someone else's fields
\q2 without paying for those crops,
\q2 so that the farmers who grew those crops died from hunger;
\q1
\v 40 then I wish that thorns would grow in my fields instead of wheat,
\q2 and that bad weeds would grow instead of barley!"
\q1 That is the end of what Job said to his three friends.
\s5
\c 32
\p
\v 1 Then those three men stopped replying to Job because they could not convince Job that he had done anything wrong.
\v 2 Then Elihu son of Barakel, a descendant of Buz, from the clan of Ram, became very angry at Job. He was angry because Job continued to claim that he was innocent, and that God had been wrong to punish him.
\s5
\v 3 He was also angry with Job's three friends because they had declared that Job must have done many things that were wrong, but they could not convince him.
\v 4 Now Elihu was younger than the others, so he waited until they had finished speaking before he replied to Job.
\v 5 But when Elihu realized that the three men had no more to say to Job, he became angry.
\s5
\p
\v 6 This is what he said:
\q1 "I am young, and you all are much older than I am.
\q2 So I was timid, and I was afraid to tell you what I was thinking.
\q1
\v 7 I said to myself, 'Let those who are much older speak
\q2 because older people should be able to say things that are wise.'
\s5
\q1
\v 8 However, the Spirit of Almighty God is within people, and it is he who enables them to be wise.
\q1
\v 9 Not all people become wise when they are old;
\q2 not all old people understand what is right.
\q1
\v 10 That is why I say to you now, 'Listen to me,
\q2 and allow me to declare what I know.'
\s5
\q1
\v 11 I waited for you all to speak;
\q2 I wanted to hear the wise things that you would say.
\q2 I waited while you thought carefully about what you should say.
\q1
\v 12 I paid attention carefully,
\q2 but surprisingly, none of you was able to prove that what Job said was wrong.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 So do not say to yourselves, 'We have discovered what is wise!'
\q2 It is God who must refute Job because you three have not been able to do that.
\q1
\v 14 Job was replying to you, not to me,
\q2 so I will not reply to him by saying what you three have said.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 I tell myself this: These three men are confused because they have nothing more to say to Job;
\q2 they have nothing more to say to him.
\q1
\v 16 But because you do not speak, I certainly will not wait any longer;
\q2 you merely stand there and do not reply anymore.
\q1
\s5
\v 17 So now I also will reply to Job
\q2 and tell him what I know.
\q1
\v 18 I have plenty to say,
\q2 and my spirit forces me to say it.
\q1
\v 19 My inner being is like a container of wine that is stretching more and more from the fermentation,
\q2 and it will soon burst.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 I must speak in order that I can rest from trying to hold in my words;
\q2 I must say something to reply to you all.
\q1
\v 21 I will speak fairly, not favoring any of you,
\q2 and I will not try to flatter anyone.
\q1
\v 22 I really do not know how to flatter people;
\q2 if I did that, God would soon destroy me."
\s5
\c 33
\q1
\v 1 "Now, Job, listen carefully
\q2 to all that I am going to say.
\q1
\v 2 I am ready to tell you what I think.
\q1
\v 3 In my inner being I know that I am speaking honestly
\q2 and that I am speaking sincerely.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 Almighty God has created me as well as you,
\q2 and with his breath he has caused me to live.
\q1
\v 5 So answer what I say if you can;
\q2 think carefully what you will reply to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 God considers that you and I are both the same;
\q2 he formed both of us from clay.
\q1
\v 7 So you do not need to be afraid of me;
\q2 I will not speak against you harshly.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 I have heard you speak,
\q2 and this is what you have said:
\q1
\v 9 'I am innocent, and I have not committed any sins;
\q2 I am pure, and I have not done things that are wrong.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 But God finds reasons to accuse me,
\q2 and he considers that I am his enemy.
\q1
\v 11 It is as though he had put my feet in stocks,
\q2 and he watches everything that I do.'
\q1
\v 12 However, what you have said is wrong,
\q2 and I will tell you what you have said that is wrong.
\q2 God is much greater than any human.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 So, why are you arguing against God? He does not have to tell us why he does anything.
\q1
\v 14 God does, indeed, speak to us in various ways,
\q2 but we do not pay any attention to what he says.
\q1
\v 15 Sometimes he speaks to us at night in dreams and visions
\q2 when we are on our beds, heavily asleep.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 He reveals things to us in those times;
\q2 he terrifies us by warning us about things.
\q1
\v 17 He tells us those things in order that we may stop doing evil deeds
\q2 and to prevent us from becoming proud.
\q1
\v 18 He does not want us to be destroyed;
\q2 he wants to prevent us from dying while we are still young.
\s5
\q1
\v 19 God also corrects us by forcing us to lie on our beds, suffering much pain
\q2 and fever in our bones.
\q1
\v 20 The result is that we do not desire any food,
\q2 not even very special food.
\s5
\q1
\v 21 Our bodies become very thin so that we look like a skeleton,
\q2 and our bones stick out so others can count them.
\q1
\v 22 We know that we will soon die
\q2 and go to the place where dead people are.
\s5
\q1
\v 23 Yet sometimes an angel may come to one of us,
\q2 one of the thousands of angels who come to intervene between us and God,
\q2 to tell us what are the right things for us to do.
\q1
\v 24 The angel is kind to us and says to God,
\q2 'Please release that person,
\q1 so that he does not descend to the place where dead people are!
\q2 Do that because I have found a way for you to keep him from dying!
\s5
\q1
\v 25 Please let his body be strong again;
\q2 please allow him to be strong like he was when he was young!'
\q1
\v 26 If that happens, that person will pray to God, and God will accept him;
\q2 he will enter God's presence joyfully,
\q2 and then he will tell others how God saved him from dying.
\s5
\q1
\v 27 He will sing as he says to everyone,
\q1 'I sinned, and I did things that were not right,
\q2 but God did not punish me in the way that I deserved.
\q1
\v 28 He has saved me from dying and going to the place where dead people are,
\q2 and I will continue to enjoy being alive.'
\s5
\q1
\v 29 God does all these things for us many times;
\q1
\v 30 he preserves us from dying and going to the place where the dead are,
\q2 in order that we can continue to enjoy being alive.
\s5
\q1
\v 31 So Job, listen to me;
\q2 do not say anything more; just allow me to speak.
\q1
\v 32 After I speak, if you have something more that you want to say to me,
\q2 say it, because I would like to find a way to declare that you are innocent.
\q1
\v 33 However, if you have nothing more that you want to say, then just listen to me,
\q2 and I will teach you how to become wise."
\s5
\c 34
\p
\v 1 Then Elihu continued by saying this:
\q1
\v 2 "You men who think that you are very wise, listen to me;
\q2 listen to what I am saying, you men who say that you know so much.
\q1
\v 3 When we hear people talk,
\q2 we think carefully about what they say to know what is good and what is bad,
\q2 as we taste food to know what is good to eat.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 We must decide who is saying what is right,
\q2 and we must find out together for ourselves what is good.
\q1
\v 5 Job has said, 'I am innocent,
\q2 but God has refused to judge me fairly.
\q1
\v 6 Even though I have always done what is right,
\q2 he is lying about me.
\q1 Even though I have not done what is wrong,
\q2 he has caused me to suffer, and I will certainly die because of this.'
\s5
\q1
\v 7 Is there any person like Job, who insults others as easily as people accept a drink of water?
\q1
\v 8 He habitually associates with people who do what is evil
\q2 and spends time with wicked people.
\q1
\v 9 He certainly does these things, because he has said, 'It is useless for people to try to please God.'
\s5
\q1
\v 10 So, you men who claim that you understand everything, listen to me!
\q1 Almighty God would never consider doing anything that is wicked or wrong!
\q1
\v 11 He pays back people for what they have done;
\q2 he gives them what they deserve for the way that they have conducted their lives.
\q1
\v 12 Truly, Almighty God never does what is wicked;
\q2 he never calls wrongdoing right.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 No one gave him the authority to rule everything on the earth;
\q2 no one put him in control of the whole world.
\q2 He has always had that authority.
\q1
\v 14 If he ever thought only about himself and not about us also, and if he ever stopped making us live,
\q1
\v 15 everyone would die immediately,
\q2 and their corpses would soon become soil again.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 So, Job, if you say that you understand everything,
\q2 listen to what I am saying.
\q1
\v 17 God could certainly never hate was is right and still rule the world.
\q2 So you really cannot criticize God, who is righteous and powerful, and you cannot say that what he has done is wrong, can you?
\s5
\q1
\v 18 He tells some kings that they are worthless,
\q2 and he says to some officials that they are wicked.
\q1
\v 19 He does not favor rulers more than he favors others;
\q2 he does not favor rich people more than poor people
\q2 because he created all of them.
\q1
\v 20 They often die suddenly;
\q2 he strikes them at midnight and they die;
\q2 he gets rid of important people without the help of any humans.
\s5
\q1
\v 21 He sees everything that people do;
\q2 when we walk, he watches every step that we take.
\q1
\v 22 There is no gloom or darkness
\q2 in which wicked people can hide from God.
\q1
\v 23 God does not need to set a time
\q2 when we will stand in front of him in order that he may judge us.
\q2 He already knows everything about us.
\s5
\q1
\v 24 He destroys important people without needing to investigate what they have done,
\q2 and he appoints others to take their places.
\q1
\v 25 Because he already knows what they have done,
\q2 he removes them at night and gets rid of them.
\s5
\q1
\v 26 He strikes them because of the wicked things that they have done;
\q2 many people see him do it.
\q1
\v 27 He strikes them down because they turned away from doing what he wanted them to do
\q2 and did not pay attention to any of his commands.
\q1
\v 28 They mistreated poor people;
\q2 those poor people cried out to God for help,
\q2 and he heard them.
\s5
\q1
\v 29 Yet even if God decides to do nothing to punish wicked people,
\q2 no one can criticize him.
\q1 God controls all nations and all people.
\q1
\v 30 He does this so that those who rule over us may honor him,
\q2 so that our rulers do not oppress us.
\s5
\q1
\v 31 Job, have you or anyone else ever said to God, 'I have certainly committed sin,
\q2 but I will not sin anymore;
\q1
\v 32 so teach me what sins I have committed;
\q1 if I have done anything that is evil,
\q2 I will not do it anymore'?
\q1
\v 33 Job, you object to what God has done to you,
\q2 but do you think that he will do what you want him to do?
\q1 It is you who must choose what you should say to God, not I;
\q2 tell me what you are thinking about this.
\s5
\q1
\v 34 People who have good sense, those who are wise and who listen to what I say,
\q2 will say to me,
\q1
\v 35 'Job is speaking ignorantly;
\q2 what he says is nonsense.'
\s5
\q1
\v 36 To you friends of Job, I say this: I think that a court should thoroughly try Job,
\q2 because he answers us, his friends, as wicked men would answer.
\q1
\v 37 To add to the other sins that he has committed, he is rebelling against God;
\q2 he shows us that he does not honor God;
\q2 he makes long speeches saying that God has punished him unjustly."
\s5
\c 35
\p
\v 1 Then Elihu also said this:
\q1
\v 2 "Job, do you really think that you have done nothing wrong?
\q1 You say, 'God knows that I am innocent,'
\q1
\v 3 and you also say, 'What good have I received for not sinning?
\q2 What benefit have I received that I would not have had, even if I had sinned?'
\q2 but now it is as though I have seen you with my own eyes.
\q1
\v 6 Therefore I am ashamed of what I said,
\q2 and I sit in dust and ashes to show that I am sorry for what I said."
\s5
\p
\v 7 After Yahweh said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, Bildad and Zophar, because you did not say true things about me, as my servant Job did.
\v 8 So now you must take to Job seven young bulls and seven rams and kill them and burn them on the altar as a sacrifice for yourselves. Then Job will pray for you, and I will do what he requests me to do. I will forgive you for speaking wrongly about me. I will not punish you, even though you deserve to be punished, because what you said about me was not right."
\p
\v 9 So Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what Yahweh commanded them to do, and Yahweh did what Job requested him to do for the three of them.
\s5
\p
\v 10 After Job prayed for his three friends, Yahweh healed him and caused him to become rich again. Yahweh gave him twice as many things as he had before.
\v 11 Then all his brothers and sisters, and all the people who had known him before, came to his house, and they had a feast together. They consoled him because of all the troubles that Yahweh had allowed to happen to him. Each of them gave Job a piece of silver and a gold ring.
\s5
\p
\v 12 Then Yahweh blessed Job in the second half of his life more than he had blessed him in the first half of his life. He now acquired fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
\v 13 And he also had seven more sons and three more daughters.
\v 14 He named the first daughter Jemimah, he named the second daughter Keziah, and he named the third daughter Keren Happuch.
\s5
\v 15 In all of the land of Uz, there were no young women who were as beautiful as the daughters of Job, and Job declared that they would inherit some of his possessions, just as their brothers would inherit some.
\p
\v 16 After that, Job lived 140 more years. Before he died, he saw his great-great-grandchildren.
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