Study Desk

Job

Then Job replied:

"How long will you torment^(a) me and crush^(b) me with words?

Ten times^(c) now you have reproached^(d) me; shamelessly you attack me.

If it is true that I have gone astray, my error^(e) remains my concern alone.

If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me^(f) and use my humiliation against me,

then know that God has wronged me^(g) and drawn his net^(h) around me.⁽ⁱ⁾

"Though I cry, ‘Violence!' I get no response;^(j) though I call for help,^(k) there is no justice.^(l)

He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;^(m) he has shrouded my paths in darkness.⁽ⁿ⁾

He has stripped^(o) me of my honor^(p) and removed the crown from my head.^(q)

He tears me down^(r) on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope^(s) like a tree.^(t)

His anger^(u) burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.^(v)

His troops advance in force;^(w) they build a siege ramp^(x) against me and encamp around my tent.^(y)

"He has alienated my family^(z) from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.^(aa)

My relatives have gone away; my closest friends^(ab) have forgotten me.

My guests^(ac) and my female servants^(ad) count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger.

I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth.

My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome^(ae) to my own family.

Even the little boys^(af) scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.^(ag)

All my intimate friends^(ah) detest me;^(ai) those I love have turned against me.^(aj)

I am nothing but skin and bones;^(ak) I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.^[a]

"Have pity on me, my friends,^(al) have pity, for the hand of God has struck^(am) me.

Why do you pursue^(an) me as God does?^(ao) Will you never get enough of my flesh?^(ap)

"Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,^(aq)

that they were inscribed with an iron tool^(ar) on^[b] lead, or engraved in rock forever!^(as)

I know that my redeemer^[c](at) lives,^(au) and that in the end he will stand on the earth.^[d]

And after my skin has been destroyed, yet^[e] in^[f] my flesh I will see God;^(av)

I myself will see him with my own eyes^(aw)—I, and not another. How my heart yearns^(ax) within me!

"If you say, ‘How we will hound^(ay) him, since the root of the trouble lies in him,^[g]'

you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,^(az) and then you will know that there is judgment.^[h]"^(ba)

Zophar

Then Zophar the Naamathite^(a) replied:

"My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.^(b)

I hear a rebuke^(c) that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.

"Surely you know how it has been from of old,^(d) ever since mankind^[a] was placed on the earth,

that the mirth of the wicked^(e) is brief, the joy of the godless^(f) lasts but a moment.^(g)

Though the pride^(h) of the godless person reaches to the heavens⁽ⁱ⁾ and his head touches the clouds,^(j)

he will perish forever,^(k) like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?'^(l)

Like a dream^(m) he flies away,⁽ⁿ⁾ no more to be found, banished^(o) like a vision of the night.^(p)

The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.^(q)

His children^(r) must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.^(s)

The youthful vigor^(t) that fills his bones^(u) will lie with him in the dust.^(v)

"Though evil^(w) is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,^(x)

though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,^(y)

yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;^(z) it will become the venom of serpents^(aa) within him.

He will spit out the riches^(ab) he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit^(ac) them up.

He will suck the poison^(ad) of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.^(ae)

He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers^(af) flowing with honey^(ag) and cream.^(ah)

What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;^(ai) he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.^(aj)

For he has oppressed the poor^(ak) and left them destitute;^(al) he has seized houses^(am) he did not build.

"Surely he will have no respite from his craving;^(an) he cannot save himself by his treasure.^(ao)

Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.^(ap)

In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;^(aq) the full force of misery will come upon him.^(ar)

When he has filled his belly,^(as) God will vent his burning anger^(at) against him and rain down his blows on him.^(au)

Though he flees^(av) from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.^(aw)

He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors^(ax) will come over him;^(ay)

total darkness^(az) lies in wait for his treasures. A fire^(ba) unfanned will consume him^(bb) and devour what is left in his tent.^(bc)

The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.^(bd)

A flood will carry off his house,^(be) rushing waters^[b] on the day of God's wrath.^(bf)

Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God."^(bg)