Job 30:1--33:33

Job’s Present Misery

30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger than I,

whose fathers I disdained too much

to put with my sheep dogs.

30:2 Moreover, the strength of their hands –

what use was it to me?

Men whose strength had perished;

30:3 gaunt with want and hunger,

they would gnaw the parched land,

in former time desolate and waste.

30:4 By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes,

and the root of the broom tree was their food.

30:5 They were banished from the community –

people shouted at them

like they would shout at thieves –

30:6 so that they had to live

in the dry stream beds,

in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

30:7 They brayed like animals among the bushes

and were huddled together under the nettles.

30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people,

they were driven out of the land with whips.

Job’s Indignities

30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;

I have become a byword among them.

30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance;

they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

30:11 Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me,

people throw off all restraint in my presence.

30:12 On my right the young rabble rise up;

they drive me from place to place,

and build up siege ramps against me.

30:13 They destroy my path;

they succeed in destroying me

without anyone assisting them.

30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;

amid the crash they come rolling in.

30:15 Terrors are turned loose on me;

they drive away my honor like the wind,

and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

Job’s Despondency

30:16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me;

days of suffering take hold of me.

30:17 Night pierces my bones;

my gnawing pains never cease.

30:18 With great power God grasps my clothing;

he binds me like the collar of my tunic.

30:19 He has flung me into the mud,

and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.

30:20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me;

I stand up, and you only look at me.

30:21 You have become cruel to me;

with the strength of your hand you attack me.

30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it;

you toss me about in the storm.

30:23 I know that you are bringing me to death,

to the meeting place for all the living.

The Contrast With the Past

30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand

against a broken man

when he cries for help in his distress.

30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate?

Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;

when I expected light, then darkness came.

30:27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly;

the days of my affliction confront me.

30:28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

30:29 I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches.

30:30 My skin has turned dark on me;

my body is hot with fever.

30:31 My harp is used for mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.

Job Vindicates Himself

31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty on high?

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

31:4 Does he not see my ways

and count all my steps?

31:5 If I have walked in falsehood,

and if my foot has hastened to deceit –

31:6 let him weigh me with honest scales;

then God will discover my integrity.

31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes,

or if anything has defiled my hands,

31:8 then let me sow and let another eat,

and let my crops be uprooted.

31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her.

31:11 For I would have committed a shameful act,

an iniquity to be judged.

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction,

and it would uproot all my harvest.

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment;

when he intervenes,

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them?

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired,

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father,

and from my mother’s womb

I guided the widow!

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

31:20 whose heart did not bless me

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,

31:21 if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court,

31:22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

let my arm be broken off at the socket.

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me,

and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold

or said to pure gold,

‘You are my security!’

31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,

or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

31:26 if I looked at the sun when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

31:28 then this also would be iniquity to be judged,

for I would have been false to God above.

31:29 If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy

or exulted because calamity found him –

31:30 I have not even permitted my mouth to sin

by asking for his life through a curse –

31:31 if the members of my household have never said,

‘If only there were someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat!’ –

31:32 But no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler –

31:33 if I have covered my transgressions as men do,

by hiding iniquity in my heart,

31:34 because I was terrified of the great multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors –

Job’s Appeal

31:35 “If only I had someone to hear me!

Here is my signature –

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment

that my accuser had written.

31:36 Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder,

I would bind it on me like a crown;

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

Job’s Final Solemn Oath

31:38 “If my land cried out against me

and all its furrows wept together,

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying,

or caused the death of its owners,

31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,

and in place of barley, weeds!”

The words of Job are ended.

V. The Speeches of Elihu (32:1-37:24)

Elihu’s First Speech

32:1 So these three men refused to answer Job further, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 32:2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. He was angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 32:3 With Job’s three friends he was also angry, because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty. 32:4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the others were older than he was. 32:5 But when Elihu saw that the three men had no further reply, he became very angry.

Elihu Claims Wisdom

32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up:

“I am young, but you are elderly;

that is why I was fearful,

and afraid to explain to you what I know.

32:7 I said to myself, ‘Age should speak,

and length of years should make wisdom known.’

32:8 But it is a spirit in people,

the breath of the Almighty,

that makes them understand.

32:9 It is not the aged who are wise,

nor old men who understand what is right.

32:10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me.

I, even I, will explain what I know.’

32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak;

I listened closely to your wise thoughts,while you were searching for words.

32:12 Now I was paying you close attention,

yet there was no one proving Job wrong,

not one of you was answering his statements!

32:13 So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom!

God will refute him, not man!’

32:14 Job has not directed his words to me,

and so I will not reply to him with your arguments.

Job’s Friends Failed to Answer

32:15 “They are dismayed and cannot answer any more;

they have nothing left to say.

32:16 And I have waited. But because they do not speak,

because they stand there and answer no more,

32:17 I too will answer my part,

I too will explain what I know.

32:18 For I am full of words,

and the spirit within me constrains me.

32:19 Inside I am like wine which has no outlet,

like new wineskins ready to burst!

32:20 I will speak, so that I may find relief;

I will open my lips, so that I may answer.

32:21 I will not show partiality to anyone,

nor will I confer a title on any man.

32:22 for I do not know how to give honorary titles,

if I did, my Creator would quickly do away with me.

Elihu Invites Job’s Attention

33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,

and hear everything I have to say!

33:2 See now, I have opened my mouth;

my tongue in my mouth has spoken.

33:3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart,

and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely.

33:4 The Spirit of God has made me,

and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

33:5 Reply to me, if you can;

set your arguments in order before me

and take your stand!

33:6 Look, I am just like you in relation to God;

I too have been molded from clay.

33:7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,

nor should my pressure be heavy on you.

Elihu Rejects Job’s Plea of Innocence

33:8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing

(I heard the sound of the words!):

33:9 ‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am clean and have no iniquity.

33:10 Yet God finds occasions with me;

he regards me as his enemy!

33:11 He puts my feet in shackles;

he watches closely all my paths.’

33:12 Now in this, you are not right – I answer you,

for God is greater than a human being.

33:13 Why do you contend against him,

that he does not answer all a person’s words?

Elihu Disagrees With Job’s View of God

33:14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,

the second time in another,

though a person does not perceive it.

33:15 In a dream, a night vision,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they sleep in their beds.

33:16 Then he gives a revelation to people,

and terrifies them with warnings,

33:17 to turn a person from his sin,

and to cover a person’s pride.

33:18 He spares a person’s life from corruption,

his very life from crossing over the river.

33:19 Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed,

and with the continual strife of his bones,

33:20 so that his life loathes food,

and his soul rejects appetizing fare.

33:21 His flesh wastes away from sight,

and his bones, which were not seen,

are easily visible.

33:22 He draws near to the place of corruption,

and his life to the messengers of death.

33:23 If there is an angel beside him,

one mediator out of a thousand,

to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness;

33:24 and if God is gracious to him and says,

‘Spare him from going down

to the place of corruption,

I have found a ransom for him,’

33:25 then his flesh is restored like a youth’s;

he returns to the days of his youthful vigor.

33:26 He entreats God, and God delights in him,

he sees God’s face with rejoicing,

and God restores to him his righteousness.

33:27 That person sings to others, saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved.

33:28 He redeemed my life

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Elihu’s Appeal to Job

33:29 “Indeed, God does all these things,

twice, three times, in his dealings with a person,

33:30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,

that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

33:31 Pay attention, Job – listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

33:32 If you have any words, reply to me;

speak, for I want to justify you.

33:33 If not, you listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Alkitab SABDAalkitab.sabda.org

Job 30:1--33:33

Alkitab SABDA
alkitab.sabda.org