30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger 1 than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much 2
to put with my sheep dogs. 3
30:2 Moreover, the strength of their 4 hands –
what use was it to me?
Men whose strength 5 had perished;
30:3 gaunt 6 with want and hunger,
they would gnaw 7 the parched land,
in former time desolate and waste. 8
30:4 By the brush 9 they would gather 10 herbs from the salt marshes, 11
and the root of the broom tree was their food.
30:5 They were banished from the community 12 –
people 13 shouted at them
like they would shout at thieves 14 –
30:6 so that they had to live 15
in the dry stream beds, 16
in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
30:7 They brayed 17 like animals among the bushes
and were huddled together 18 under the nettles.
30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people, 19
they were driven out of the land with whips. 20
30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;
I have become a byword 21 among them.
30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance; 22
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
30:11 Because God has untied 23 my tent cord and afflicted me,
people throw off all restraint in my presence. 24
30:12 On my right the young rabble 25 rise up;
they drive me from place to place, 26
and build up siege ramps 27 against me. 28
30:13 They destroy 29 my path;
they succeed in destroying me 30
without anyone assisting 31 them.
30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;
amid the crash 32 they come rolling in. 33
30:15 Terrors are turned loose 34 on me;
they drive away 35 my honor like the wind,
and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.
30:16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me; 36
days of suffering take hold of me.
30:17 Night pierces 37 my bones; 38
my gnawing pains 39 never cease.
30:18 With great power God 40 grasps my clothing; 41
he binds me like the collar 42 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, 43 but you do not answer me;
I stand up, 44 and you only look at me. 45
30:21 You have become cruel to me; 46
with the strength of your hand you attack me. 47
30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; 48
you toss me about 49 in the storm. 50
30:23 I know that you are bringing 51 me to death,
to the meeting place for all the living.
30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand
against a broken man 52
when he cries for help in his distress. 53
30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? 54
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 55 is in turmoil 56 unceasingly; 57
the days of my affliction confront me.
30:28 I go about blackened, 58 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. 59
30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; 60
my body 61 is hot with fever. 62
30:31 My harp is used for 63 mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.
31:1 “I made a covenant with 64 my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? 65
31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,
one’s heritage from the Almighty 66 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 67 I have walked in falsehood,
and if 68 my foot has hastened 69 to deceit –
31:6 let him 70 weigh me with honest 71 scales;
then God will discover 72 my integrity.
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes, 73
or if anything 74 has defiled my hands,
31:8 then let me sow 75 and let another eat,
and let my crops 76 be uprooted.
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 77
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone 78 for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her. 79
31:11 For I would have committed 80 a shameful act, 81
an iniquity to be judged. 82
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, 83
and it would uproot 84 all my harvest.
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 85 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 86
when he intervenes, 87
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 88
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 89
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 90 –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 91 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 92
I guided the widow! 93
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 94
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 95
31:21 if I have raised my hand 96 to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court, 97
31:22 then 98 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 99
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 100
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, 101
and by reason of his majesty 102 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 103 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, 104
31:28 then this 105 also would be iniquity to be judged, 106
for I would have been false 107 to God above.
31:29 If 108 I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy 109
or exulted 110 because calamity 111 found him –
31:30 I 112 have not even permitted my mouth 113 to sin
by asking 114 for his life through a curse –
31:31 if 115 the members of my household 116 have never said, 117
‘If only there were 118 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 119 meat!’ –
31:32 But 120 no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler 121 –
31:33 if 122 I have covered my transgressions as men do, 123
by hiding 124 iniquity in my heart, 125
31:34 because I was terrified 126 of the great multitude, 127
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors – 128
31:35 “If only I had 129 someone to hear me!
Here is my signature – 130
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment 131
that my accuser had written. 132
31:36 Surely 133 I would wear it proudly 134 on my shoulder,
I would bind 135 it on me like a crown;
31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
31:38 “If my land cried out against me 137
and all its furrows wept together,
31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, 138
or caused the death 139 of its owners, 140
31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, weeds!” 141
The words of Job are ended.
V. The Speeches of Elihu (32:1-37:24)
Elihu’s First Speech 14232:1 So these three men refused to answer 143 Job further, because he was righteous in his 144 own eyes. 32:2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. 145 He was angry 146 with Job for justifying 147 himself rather than God. 148 32:3 With Job’s 149 three friends he was also angry, because they could not find 150 an answer, and so declared Job guilty. 151 32:4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking 152 to Job, because the others 153 were older than he was. 32:5 But when Elihu saw 154 that the three men had no further reply, 155 he became very angry.
32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: 156
“I am young, 157 but you are elderly;
that is why I was fearful, 158
and afraid to explain 159 to you what I know.
32:7 I said to myself, ‘Age 160 should speak, 161
and length of years 162 should make wisdom known.’
32:8 But it is a spirit in people,
the breath 163 of the Almighty,
that makes them understand.
32:9 It is not the aged 164 who are wise,
nor old men who understand what is right.
32:10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen 165 to me.
I, even I, will explain what I know.’
32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; 166
I listened closely to your wise thoughts, 167 while you were searching for words.
32:12 Now I was paying you close attention, 168
yet 169 there was no one proving Job wrong, 170
not one of you was answering his statements!
32:13 So do not say, 171 ‘We have found wisdom!
God will refute 172 him, not man!’
32:14 Job 173 has not directed 174 his words to me,
and so I will not reply to him with your arguments. 175
32:15 “They are dismayed 177 and cannot answer any more;
they have nothing left to say. 178
32:16 And I have waited. 179 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 180 constrains me. 181
32:19 Inside I am like wine which has no outlet, 182
like new wineskins 183 ready to burst!
32:20 I will speak, 184 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, 185
nor will I confer a title 186 on any man.
32:22 for I do not know how to give honorary titles, 187
if I did, 188 my Creator would quickly do away with me. 189
33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,
and hear 190 everything I have to say! 191
33:2 See now, I have opened 192 my mouth;
my tongue in my mouth has spoken. 193
33:3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart, 194
and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely. 195
33:4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 196
33:5 Reply to me, if you can;
set your arguments 197 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 198 from clay.
33:7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,
nor should my pressure 199 be heavy on you. 200
33:8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing 201
(I heard the sound of the words!):
33:9 202 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean 203 and have no iniquity.
33:10 204 Yet God 205 finds occasions 206 with me;
he regards me as his enemy!
33:11 207 He puts my feet in shackles;
he watches closely all my paths.’
33:12 Now in this, you are not right – I answer you, 208
for God is greater than a human being. 209
33:13 Why do you contend against him,
that he does not answer all a person’s 210 words?
33:14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,
the second time in another,
though a person does not perceive 211 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 212 to people,
and terrifies them with warnings, 213
33:17 to turn a person from his sin, 214
and to cover a person’s pride. 215
33:18 He spares a person’s life from corruption, 216
his very life from crossing over 217 the river.
33:19 Or a person is chastened 218 by pain on his bed,
and with the continual strife of his bones, 219
33:20 so that his life loathes food,
and his soul rejects appetizing fare. 220
33:21 His flesh wastes away from sight,
and his bones, which were not seen,
are easily visible. 221
33:22 He 222 draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death. 223
33:23 If there is an angel beside him,
one mediator 224 out of a thousand,
to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness; 225
33:24 and if 226 God 227 is gracious to him and says,
‘Spare 228 him from going down
to the place of corruption,
I have found a ransom for him,’ 229
33:25 then his flesh is restored 230 like a youth’s;
he returns to the days of his youthful vigor. 231
33:26 He entreats God, and God 232 delights in him,
he sees God’s face 233 with rejoicing,
and God 234 restores to him his righteousness. 235
33:27 That person sings 236 to others, 237 saying:
‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,
but I was not punished according to what I deserved. 238
33:28 He redeemed my life 239
from going down to the place of corruption,
and my life sees the light!’
33:29 “Indeed, God does all these things,
twice, three times, in his dealings 241 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, 242 reply to me;
speak, for I want to justify you. 243
33:33 If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”