Study Desk

Isn't mankind consigned to forced labor^(a) on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hired man he waits for his pay.

So I have been made to inherit months of futility, and troubled nights have been assigned to me.^(b)

When I lie down I think: When will I get up? But the evening drags on endlessly, and I toss and turn until dawn.

My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt.^[a] My skin forms scabs^[b] and then oozes.^(c)

My days pass more swiftly than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope.^(d)

Remember that my life is but a breath. My eye will never again see anything good.^(e)

The eye of anyone who looks on me will no longer see me. Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.^(f)

As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol^(g) will never rise again.

He will never return to his house; his hometown will no longer remember^[c] him.^(h)

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea^[d](i) or a sea monster,^(j) that You keep me under guard?

When I say: My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,

then You frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions,^(k)

so that I prefer strangling^[e]— death rather than life in this body.^[f](l)

I give up! I will not live forever. Leave me alone,^(m) for my days are a breath.^[g]

What is man, that You think so highly of him and pay so much attention to him?⁽ⁿ⁾

You inspect him every morning, and put him to the test every moment.^(o)

Will You ever look away from me, or leave me alone long enough to swallow?^[h]

If I have sinned, what have I done to You, Watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target,^(p) so that I have become a burden to You?^[i]

Why not forgive my sin and pardon my transgression?^(q) For soon I will lie down in the grave.^(r) You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.^(s)

Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

How long will you go on saying these things? Your words^(a) are a blast of wind.^(b)

Does God pervert justice?^(c) Does the Almighty pervert what is right?^(d)

Since your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion.

But if you earnestly seek^(e) God and ask the Almighty for mercy,^(f)

if you are pure and upright, then He will move even now on your behalf and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.^(g)

Then, even if your beginnings were modest, your final days will be full of prosperity.^(h)

For ask the previous generation, and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,⁽ⁱ⁾

since we were born only yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are but a shadow.^(j)

Will they not teach you and tell you and speak from their understanding?

Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water?

While still uncut shoots, they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

Such is the destiny^[a] of all who forget God; the hope of the godless^(k) will perish.

His source of confidence is fragile;^[b] what he trusts in is a spider's web.^(l)

He leans on his web, but it doesn't stand firm. He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine; his shoots spread out over his garden.

His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks. He looks for a home among the stones.

If he is uprooted^[c] from his place, it will deny knowing him, saying, "I never saw you."^(m)

Surely this is the joy of his way of life; yet others will sprout from the dust.

Look, God does not reject a person of integrity, and He will not support evildoers.⁽ⁿ⁾

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with a shout of joy.^(o)

Your enemies will be clothed with shame;^(p) the tent^(q) of the wicked will exist no longer.