Study Desk

Job

Then Job replied:

"Even today my complaint^(a) is bitter;^(b) his hand^[a] is heavy in spite of^[b] my groaning.^(c)

If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!^(d)

I would state my case^(e) before him and fill my mouth with arguments.^(f)

I would find out what he would answer me,^(g) and consider what he would say to me.

Would he vigorously oppose me?^(h) No, he would not press charges against me.⁽ⁱ⁾

There the upright^(j) can establish their innocence before him,^(k) and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.^(l)

"But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.

When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.^(m)

But he knows the way that I take;⁽ⁿ⁾ when he has tested me,^(o) I will come forth as gold.^(p)

My feet have closely followed his steps;^(q) I have kept to his way without turning aside.^(r)

I have not departed from the commands of his lips;^(s) I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.^(t)

"But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?^(u) He does whatever he pleases.^(v)

He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.^(w)

That is why I am terrified before him;^(x) when I think of all this, I fear him.^(y)

God has made my heart faint;^(z) the Almighty^(aa) has terrified me.^(ab)

Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,^(ac) by the thick darkness that covers my face.

"Why does the Almighty not set times^(a) for judgment?^(b) Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(c)

There are those who move boundary stones;^(d) they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(e)

They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge.^(f)

They thrust the needy^(g) from the path and force all the poor^(h) of the land into hiding.⁽ⁱ⁾

Like wild donkeys^(j) in the desert, the poor go about their labor^(k) of foraging food; the wasteland^(l) provides food for their children.

They gather fodder^(m) in the fields and glean in the vineyards⁽ⁿ⁾ of the wicked.^(o)

Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(p)

They are drenched^(q) by mountain rains and hug^(r) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(s)

The fatherless^(t) child is snatched^(u) from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized^(v) for a debt.^(w)

Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(x) they carry the sheaves,^(y) but still go hungry.

They crush olives among the terraces^[a]; they tread the winepresses,^(z) yet suffer thirst.^(aa)

The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(ab) But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(ac)

"There are those who rebel against the light,^(ad) who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.^(ae)

When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills^(af) the poor and needy,^(ag) and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(ah)

The eye of the adulterer^(ai) watches for dusk;^(aj) he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,'^(ak) and he keeps his face concealed.

In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(al) but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light.^(am)

For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors^(an) of darkness.^(ao)

"Yet they are foam^(ap) on the surface of the water;^(aq) their portion of the land is cursed,^(ar) so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(as)

As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(at) so the grave^(au) snatches away those who have sinned.

The womb forgets them, the worm^(av) feasts on them;^(aw) the wicked are no longer remembered^(ax) but are broken like a tree.^(ay)

They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.^(az)

But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(ba) though they become established,^(bb) they have no assurance of life.^(bc)

He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(bd) but his eyes^(be) are on their ways.^(bf)

For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(bg) they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(bh) they are cut off like heads of grain.^(bi)

"If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?"^(bj)