May 23 Job 11-14

11Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2‘Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
and should one full of talk be vindicated?
3Should your babble put others to silence,
and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
4For you say, “My conduct* is pure,
and I am clean in God’s* sight.”
5But O that God would speak,
and open his lips to you,
6and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
For wisdom is many-sided.*
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.


7‘Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?*
8It is higher than heaven*—what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
9Its measure is longer than the earth,
and broader than the sea.
10If he passes through, and imprisons,
and assembles for judgement, who can hinder him?
11For he knows those who are worthless;
when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
12But a stupid person will get understanding,
when a wild ass is born human.*


13‘If you direct your heart rightly,
you will stretch out your hands towards him.
14If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.
15Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
you will be secure, and will not fear.
16You will forget your misery;
you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
17And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
its darkness will be like the morning.
18And you will have confidence, because there is hope;
you will be protected* and take your rest in safety.
19You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;
many will entreat your favour.
20But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
all way of escape will be lost to them,
and their hope is to breathe their last.’


Job Replies: I Am a Laughing-stock12Then Job answered:
2‘No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
4I am a laughing-stock to my friends;
I, who called upon God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, I am a laughing-stock.
5Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,*
but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.
6The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hands.*


7‘But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8ask the plants of the earth,* and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.
11Does not the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
12Is wisdom with the aged,
and understanding in length of days?


13‘With God* are wisdom and strength;
he has counsel and understanding.
14If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.
15If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16With him are strength and wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17He leads counsellors away stripped,
and makes fools of judges.
18He looses the sash of kings,
and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
19He leads priests away stripped,
and overthrows the mighty.
20He deprives of speech those who are trusted,
and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21He pours contempt on princes,
and looses the belt of the strong.
22He uncovers the deeps out of darkness,
and brings deep darkness to light.
23He makes nations great, then destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
24He strips understanding from the leaders* of the earth,
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
25They grope in the dark without light;
he makes them stagger like a drunkard.


13‘Look, my eye has seen all this,
my ear has heard and understood it.
2What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3But I would speak to the Almighty,*
and I desire to argue my case with God.
4As for you, you whitewash with lies;
all of you are worthless physicians.
5If you would only keep silent,
that would be your wisdom!
6Hear now my reasoning,
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7Will you speak falsely for God,
and speak deceitfully for him?
8Will you show partiality towards him,
will you plead the case for God?
9Will it be well with you when he searches you out?
Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another?
10He will surely rebuke you
if in secret you show partiality.
11Will not his majesty terrify you,
and the dread of him fall upon you?
12Your maxims are proverbs of ashes,
your defences are defences of clay.


13‘Let me have silence, and I will speak,
and let come on me what may.
14I will take my flesh in my teeth,
and put my life in my hand.*
15See, he will kill me; I have no hope;*
but I will defend my ways to his face.
16This will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.
17Listen carefully to my words,
and let my declaration be in your ears.
18I have indeed prepared my case;
I know that I shall be vindicated.
19Who is there that will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
Job’s Despondent Prayer
20Only grant two things to me,
then I will not hide myself from your face:
21withdraw your hand far from me,
and do not let dread of you terrify me.
22Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.
23How many are my iniquities and my sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.
24Why do you hide your face,
and count me as your enemy?
25Will you frighten a windblown leaf
and pursue dry chaff?
26For you write bitter things against me,
and make me reap* the iniquities of my youth.
27You put my feet in the stocks,
and watch all my paths;
you set a bound to the soles of my feet.
28One wastes away like a rotten thing,
like a garment that is moth-eaten.


14‘A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,
2 comes up like a flower and withers,
flees like a shadow and does not last.
3Do you fix your eyes on such a one?
Do you bring me into judgement with you?
4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one can.
5Since their days are determined,
and the number of their months is known to you,
and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,
6look away from them, and desist,*
that they may enjoy, like labourers, their days.


7‘For there is hope for a tree,
if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
8Though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stump dies in the ground,
9yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
10But mortals die, and are laid low;
humans expire, and where are they?
11As waters fail from a lake,
and a river wastes away and dries up,
12so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
or be roused out of their sleep.
13O that you would hide me in Sheol,
that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14If mortals die, will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait
until my release should come.
15You would call, and I would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hands.
16For then you would not* number my steps,
you would not keep watch over my sin;
17my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity.


18‘But the mountain falls and crumbles away,
and the rock is removed from its place;
19the waters wear away the stones;
the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of mortals.
20You prevail for ever against them, and they pass away;
you change their countenance, and send them away.
21Their children come to honour, and they do not know it;
they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.
22They feel only the pain of their own bodies,
and mourn only for themselves.’