Job 13 - 14

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I Will Be Declared Righteous

“Behold, my eye has seen all this;

My ear has heard and understood it.

What you know I also know;

I have not fallen short of you.

“But I would speak to the Almighty,

And I desire to argue with God.

But you cover me with lies;

You are all worthless physicians.

O that you would be completely silent,

And that it would become your wisdom!

Please hear my argument

And give heed to the contentions of my lips.

Will you speak what is unrighteous for God,

And speak what is deceitful for Him?

Will you show partiality for Him?

Will you contend for God?

Will it be well when He examines you?

Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

He will surely reprove you

If you secretly show partiality.

Will not His exaltedness terrify you,

And the dread of Him fall on you?

Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes;

Your defenses are defenses of clay.

“Be silent before me so that I may speak;

Then let come on me what may.

Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

And put my life in my hands?

Though He slay me,

I will hope in Him.

Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

This also will be my salvation,

For a godless man may not come before His presence.

Listen carefully to my words,

And let my declaration fill your ears.

Behold now, I have arranged my case for justice;

I know that I will be declared righteous.

Who will contend with me?

For now I am silent and will breathe my last.

“Only two things do not do to me,

Then I will not hide from Your face:

Move Your hand far from me,

And let not the dread of You terrify me.

Then call, and I will answer;

Or let me speak, then respond to me.

How many are my iniquities and sins?

Make known to me my transgression and my sin.

Why do You hide Your face

And think of me as Your enemy?

Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble?

Or will You pursue the dry chaff?

For You write bitter things against me

And make me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

You put my feet in the stocks

And kept watch over all my paths;

You set a limit for the soles of my feet,

While I am decaying like a rotten thing,

Like a garment that is moth‑eaten.

If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?

“Man, who is born of woman,

Is short‑lived and full of turmoil.

Like a flower he comes forth and withers.

He also flees like a shadow and does not stand.

You also open Your eyes on him

And bring me into judgment with Yourself.

Who can make the clean out of the unclean?

No one!

Since his days are determined,

The number of his months is with You;

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

Turn Your gaze from him that he may cease from toil,

Until he accepts his day like a hired man.

“For there is hope for a tree,

When it is cut down, that it will change back sprouting again,

And its shoots will not cease.

Though its roots grow old in the ground

And its stump dies in the dry soil,

At the scent of water it will flourish

And put forth sprigs like a plant.

But man dies and lies prostrate.

Man breathes his last, and where is he?

As water evaporates from the sea,

And a river becomes parched and dried up,

So man lies down and does not rise.

Until the heavens are no longer,

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

“Oh that You would conceal me in Sheol,

That You would hide me until Your anger returns to You,

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

If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my labor I will wait

Until my change comes.

You will call, and I will answer You;

You will long for the work of Your hands.

For now You number my steps,

You do not keep watch over my sin.

My transgression is sealed up in a bag,

And You cover up my iniquity.

“But the falling mountain crumbles away,

And the rock moves from its place;

Water wears away stones;

Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;

So You make man’s hope perish.

You forever overpower him and he goes away;

You alter his appearance and send him away.

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

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

But his flesh pains him,

And he mourns only for himself.”

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