Job 7 - 9

“Is not man conscripted to labor on earth,

And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

As a slave who pants for the shade,

And as a hired man who eagerly hopes for his wages,

So am I apportioned months of worthlessness,

And nights of trouble are appointed me.

If I lie down I say,

‘When shall I arise?’

But the twilight continues,

And I am saturated with tossing until dawn.

My flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt;

My skin scabs over and flows out again.

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

And come to an end without hope.

“Remember that my life is but wind;

My eye will not again see good.

The eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer;

Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.

A cloud vanishes, and it is gone,

So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

He will not return again to his house,

Nor will his place recognize him anymore.

“Indeed I will not hold back my mouth;

I will speak in the distress of my spirit;

I will muse on the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea or the sea monster,

That You set a guard over me?

If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me;

My couch will ease my bitter musing,’

Then You frighten me with dreams

And terrify me by visions,

So that my soul would choose suffocation,

Death rather than my pains.

I have rejected everything; I will not live forever.

Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

What is man that You magnify him,

And that You set Your heart on him,

That You examine him every morning

And test him every moment?

Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,

Nor let me alone until I swallow my spit?

Have I sinned? What have I done to You,

O watcher of men?

Why have You set me as Your target,

So that I am a burden to myself?

Why then do You not forgive my transgression

And take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust;

And You will seek me earnestly, but I will not be.”

Bildad Claims God Rewards the Good

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2

“How long will you say these things,

And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

Does God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

If your sons sinned against Him,

Then He sent them into the power of their transgression.

If you would seek God earnestly

And plead for the grace of the Almighty,

If you are pure and upright,

Indeed now He would rouse Himself for you

And make your righteous abode at peace.

Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your end will increase greatly.

“Please ask of past generations,

And establish the things searched out by their fathers.

For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are but a shadow.

Will they not instruct you and tell you,

And bring forth words from their hearts?

“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the rushes grow without water?

While it is still green and not cut down,

Yet it dries up before any other plant.

So are the paths of all who forget God;

And the hope of the godless will perish,

Whose confidence is fragile,

And whose trust a spider’s web.

He relies on his house, but it does not stand;

He holds fast to it, but it is not established.

He thrives before the sun,

And his shoots go forth over his garden.

His roots wrap around a rock pile;

He looks upon a house of stones.

If He swallows him up from his place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

Behold, this is the joy of His way;

And out of the dust others will spring.

Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

Nor will He strengthen the hand of the evildoers.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

And your lips with shouting.

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

And the tent of the wicked will be no longer.”

Job Replies There Is No Adjudicator

Then Job answered and said,
2

“In truth I know that this is so;

But how can a man be in the right before God?

If one desired to contend with Him,

He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

Wise in heart and mighty in power,

Who has stiffened his neck against Him and been at peace?

God is the One who removes the mountains, they know not how,

When He overturns them in His anger;

The One who shakes the earth out of its place,

And its pillars tremble;

The One who says for the sun not to shine,

And sets a seal upon the stars;

Who alone stretches out the heavens,

And tramples down the waves of the sea;

Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the chambers of the south;

Who does great things, unsearchable,

And wondrous works, innumerable.

Were He to sweep by me, I would not see Him;

Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

Were He to snatch away, who could turn Him back?

Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

“God will not turn back His anger;

Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab.

How then can I answer Him,

And choose my words before Him?

For though I were right, I could not answer;

I would have to plead for the grace of my judge.

If I called and He answered me,

I could not believe that He was giving ear to my voice.

For He bruises me with a tempest

And multiplies my wounds without cause.

He will not allow me to get my breath,

But saturates me with bitterness.

If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the mighty one!

And if it is a matter of justice, who can make Him testify?

Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;

Though I am blameless, He will declare me perverse.

I am blameless;

I do not know my soul;

I reject my life.

It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He consumes the blameless and the wicked.’

If the scourge puts to death suddenly,

He mocks the despair of the innocent.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, then who is it?

“Now my days are swifter than a runner;

They flee away; they do not see good.

They sweep by like reed boats,

Like an eagle that swoops on its food.

Though I say, ‘I will forget my musing,

I will forsake my sad countenance and be cheerful,’

I am afraid of all my pains;

I know that You will not acquit me.

I am accounted wicked;

Why then should I toil in vain?

If I should wash myself with snow

And cleanse my hands with lye,

Yet You would plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes would abhor me.

For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him,

That we may go to court for judgment together.

There is no adjudicator between us,

Who may lay his hand upon us both.

Let Him remove His rod from me,

And let not dread of Him terrify me.

Then I would speak and not fear Him;

But I am not like that in myself.