Job 13 Cross References - ISV

¹ Job Begins to Argues His Case “Look, I’ve seen everything; I’ve listened carefully and I understand. ² What you know, I know, too; I’m not inferior to you. ³ But I want to talk to the Almighty; and I’m determined to argue my case before God.”
⁴ Job Accuses His Friends“But as for you, you whitewash with lies; all of you are worthless quacks. ⁵ I wish you’d all just shut up. Then at least you would appear to be wise. ⁶ “Now listen to my dispute! Pay attention to my arguments. ⁷ Why do you speak falsely on God’s behalf and speak deceitfully about him? ⁸ Will you show partiality to him? Will you plead God’s case? ⁹ Will things go well for you under his cross-examination? Can you lie to him, as you would to a human being? ¹⁰ “He will be sure to rebuke you, if you show partiality in secret. ¹¹ His splendor will petrify you with terror, paralyzing you with fear, won’t it? ¹² Your maxims are just worthless proverbs; your defensive arguments are made of clay.”
¹³ Job Resolves to Present His Case“Don’t talk to me! It’s my turn to speak; then whatever happens, happens. ¹⁴ Why shouldn’t I bite my flesh or take my life in my hands? ¹⁵ Even though he kills me, I’ll continue to hope in him. At least I’ll be able to argue my case to his face! ¹⁶ I have this as my salvation: the godless person won’t be appearing before him. ¹⁷ Pay attention to what I have to say and listen to my testimony with your own ears.”
¹⁸ Job Presents His Conditions“Look, now! I’ve prepared my case for court. I know that I’m going to win. ¹⁹ Who can oppose me? If they do, I’ll be silent and die. ²⁰ Grant me only two things as you deal with me; then I won’t hide from you. ²¹ Withdraw your hand far from me and keep me from being petrified with terror. ²² Then call and I’ll answer, or let me speak and then you reply to me!”
²³ Job Presents Himself for Cross-Examination“How many of my iniquities and sins have you counted? Show me my transgression and sin. ²⁴ Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy? ²⁵ Are you a god who would make a leaf tremble or who would prosecute a dry straw? ²⁶ You’ve accused me of bitter things; you’ve caused me to reap the sins of my youth. ²⁷ You’ve locked my feet in stocks; you watch all my steps; You’ve limited where I can walk. ²⁸ So I’m a man who wears out like something rotten, like a garment that has become moth-eaten.”

¹² “A message was confided to me; my ear caught a whisper of it.

⁹ He is always doing great things that cannot be explained, countless awesome deeds. ¹⁰ He sends rain on the surface of the earth, and waters the surface of the open country. ¹¹ He sets the lowly on high, and lifts those who mourn to safety. ¹² He frustrates the plans of the crafty; so that what they work for never succeeds. ¹³ He captures the wise in their own craftiness, bringing a quick end to their cunning advice. ¹⁴ They meet with darkness in broad daylight; at noonday they grope around as if it were night. ¹⁵ So he delivers from the sword of their mouth— the poor from the power of the mighty. ¹⁶ Therefore there is hope for those who are poor, and iniquity shuts its mouth.

²⁷ “Look! We have thought all this through, and what we’ve said is true; So please listen and learn for your own good!”

⁸ “Inquire of the previous generation, won’t you please? Consider what their forefathers searched out. ⁹ Because we are of yesterday and we know nothing, for our time on earth is only a shadow. ¹⁰ Won’t they instruct you, and tell you, and bring out words from the heart?

⁹ Who among all of these doesn’t know that the LORD’s hand made them, ¹⁰ and that the life of every living thing rests in his control, along with the breath of every living human being? ¹¹ The ear scrutinizes speech just as the palate tastes food.”
¹² God is the All-Wise and All-Powerful Creator“Wisdom may be found in the company of the aged. Understanding comes with longevity. ¹³ With God is wisdom and strength; counsel and understanding belongs to him. ¹⁴ When he tears down, nobody rebuilds; when he incarcerates, nobody escapes. ¹⁵ When he withholds water, rivers dry up; when he lets them loose, they’ll flood the land. ¹⁶ “With God are strength and sound wisdom; both the deceived and those who deceive are responsible to him. ¹⁷ He leads counselors away naked; he turns judges into fools. ¹⁸ He strips away the authority of kings to punish and puts them in prison clothes instead. ¹⁹ He leads away the priests naked and overthrows the ruling class. ²⁰ He keeps reliable advisors from speaking, and removes discernment from elders. ²¹ He pours contempt on nobles and embarrasses the mighty. ²² He uncovers the hidden dimensions from darkness, bringing what is in deep shadow to light. ²³ He makes nations great, and then destroys them; he enlarges nations, but then sends them away to captivity. ²⁴ He withdraws understanding from national leaders of the world, causing them to wander through uncharted wilderness. ²⁵ They grope in the dark without light; he causes them to stagger around like a drunkard.”

¹⁷ Eliphaz Describes the Plight of the Wicked“I’ll tell you what, listen to me! Let me relate what I’ve seen, ¹⁸ which is what wise men have explained, who didn’t withhold anything from their ancestors.

³ You asked, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel without knowledge?’ Well now, I have talked about what I don’t understand— awesome things beyond me that I don’t know. ⁴ Listen now, and I will speak for myself; I’ll interrogate you and then inform me. ⁵ I’ve heard you with my ears; and now I’ve seen you with my eyes. ⁶ As a result, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

³ things that we have heard and known and that our ancestors related to us. ⁴ We will not withhold them from their descendants; we’ll declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD— his might and awesome deeds that he has performed.

³ What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah.

³ Like you, I also have understanding. I’m not inferior to you; who doesn’t know things like this?”

⁸ Have you listened in on God’s secret council? Have you limited wisdom only to yourself? ⁹ What do you know that we don’t know, or that you understand and that isn’t clear to us?

³⁵ Job has been speaking from his own ignorance, and what he has to say lacks insight!

¹⁶ When he began speaking, he communicated only worthlessness; he added words upon words without knowing anything.”

² Listen carefully to his thundering voice; to the sound that rumbles from his mouth.

⁴ “I must look insignificant to you! How can I answer you? I’m speechless. ⁵ I spoke once, but I can’t answer; I tried a second time, but I won’t do so anymore.”

⁷ Job’s Friends are RestoredAfter these words had been spoken by the LORD to Job, the LORD spoke to Eliphaz from Teman: “My anger is burning against you along with your two friends, since you haven’t spoken correctly about me, as did my servant Job.

¹ Concerning Food Offered to IdolsNow concerning food offered to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ² If anyone thinks he really knows something, he has not yet learned it as he ought to know it.

⁴ For if someone comes along and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or should you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you are all too willing to listen. ⁵ I do not think I’m inferior in any way to those “super-apostles.”

¹⁶ Paul’s Sufferings as an ApostleI will say it again: No one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, then treat me like a fool so that I can also boast a little. ¹⁷ When I talk as a confident boaster, I am not talking with the Lord’s authority but like a fool. ¹⁸ Since many people boast in a fleshly way, I will do it, too.

¹¹ Concern for the CorinthiansI have become a fool. You forced me to be one. Really, I should have been commended by you, for I am not in any way inferior to your “super-apostles,” even if I am nothing.

³ If one were to seek to argue with him, he won’t be able to answer him even once in a thousand times.

¹⁴ So how am I to answer him, choosing what I am to say to him? ¹⁵ Even if I’m in the right, I cannot answer him. I can only appeal for mercy.

³⁴ removing his rod from me, and not letting terror of him overwhelm me. ³⁵ Otherwise, I would speak without being terrified of him, because I’m not like that inside myself.”

⁵ “But what if God were to speak? What if he were to talk with you,

¹⁵ Even though he kills me, I’ll continue to hope in him. At least I’ll be able to argue my case to his face!

²² Then call and I’ll answer, or let me speak and then you reply to me!”

³ If only I knew where to find him, I would visit him where he has taken his seat. ⁴ I would lay out my case before him; and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵ I know how he would answer me; I understand what he’ll tell me. ⁶ “Would he use his great power to fight me? No, he’ll pay attention to me. ⁷ In that place, the upright can reason with him; and I’ll be acquitted once and for all by my judge.”

³⁵ Request for A Hearing“Who will grant me a hearing? Here’s my signature—let the Almighty answer! Since my adversary indicted me,

¹⁸ “Please come, and let’s reason together,” implores the LORD. “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they’ll be white like snow. Though they’re like crimson, they’ll become like wool. ¹⁹ If you’re willing and obedient, you’ll eat the best that the land produces; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you’ll be devoured by the sword, because the LORD has spoken.”

²¹ Can God’s Enemies Predict the Future?“Put forward your case!” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments!” says Jacob’s King.

¹ Jeremiah’s Complaint about Justice You are righteous, LORD, even when I bring a complaint to you. But I want to discuss justice with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper, while all who are treacherous are at ease? ² You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. “You are near to us,” they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you’re far from their hearts.

² Listen, you mountains, to the LORD’s argument! Listen, you strong foundations of the earth, because the LORD has a dispute with his people, and he will set out his case before Israel.

¹⁶ “You are not to testify falsely against your neighbor.י

⁷ Now please think: Who has ever perished when they’re innocent? Where have the upright been destroyed? ⁸ It’s been my experience that those who plow the soil of iniquity and those who sow the seed of trouble will reap their harvest! ⁹ They perish by the breath of God; they are consumed by the storm that is his anger. ¹⁰ “The lioness may roar, and the lion cub may growl; but even the ivory teeth of the full grown lion are broken. ¹¹ Full grown lions die when they cannot find prey; that’s when the lion cubs are scattered.

¹ Eliphaz: God Blesses those who Seek Him“Cry out, won’t you! Is there anyone who will answer you? To whom will you turn among the holy ones? ² For wrath will slay a fool; zealous anger will kill the naive. ³ “I myself saw a fool becoming established, but I suddenly cursed where he lived. ⁴ His children are far from deliverance; they’ll be maltreated before they leave home, with no one to rescue them. ⁵ Then the hungry will devour his harvest, snatching it even from the midst of thorns, while the thirsty covet their wealth.

²¹ “And now you’re all just like them, aren’t you? You see my terror and are terrified.

³ Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what’s right? ⁴ “If your children sin against him, he’ll make them a prisoner of their sins.

² “I’ve heard many things like this. What miserable comforters you all are!

⁵ The Wicked are Trapped“Indeed, the light of the wicked is extinguished; the flame from his fire doesn’t shine. ⁶ Light in his tent is dark, and his lamp goes out above him. ⁷ His strong steps are restricted, and his own advice trips him up. ⁸ “For he has stumbled into a net with his own feet; he walked right into the network! ⁹ The trap seizes him by the heel; a snare tightens its hold on him. ¹⁰ A rope lies hidden in the dirt; a trap lies waiting for him where he is walking.”
¹¹ The Wicked Perish without Descendants“He is petrified by terror that surrounds him on all sides; they chase at his heels. ¹² He is starved for strength; and is ripe for a fall. ¹³ Something gnaws on his skin; a deadly disease consumes his limbs. ¹⁴ Torn from the security of his home, he is brought before the king of terrors. ¹⁵ “There’s nothing in his tent that belongs to him; sulfur is scattered all over his dwelling place. ¹⁶ His roots wither underneath, while his branches above are being cut off. ¹⁷ No one remembers him anywhere in the land; no one names streets in his honor. ¹⁸ He is driven away from light to darkness, made to wander the landscape. ¹⁹ He has no children or descendants within his own people; and no survivors where he once lived. ²⁰ People who live west of him are appalled at his fate; those who live east of him are seized with terror. ²¹ Indeed, the residences of the wicked are like this; and so are the homes of those who don’t know God.”

²⁷ Job Suspects His Friends of Treachery“Look! I know your thoughts, your plans are going to harm me. ²⁸ You ask, ‘Where is the noble person’s house?’ and ‘Where are the tents where the wicked live?’ ²⁹ Haven’t you asked travelers on the highway? Don’t you accept their word ³⁰ that the wicked person is spared from times of calamity, that he is rescued on the day of wrath? ³¹ Who will expose his conduct to his face? Who will repay him for what he has done ³² when he is carried away to the cemetery and guardians are placed to watch his tomb? ³³ The runoff from the streams will seem sweet to him; everyone will follow after him; countless crows march ahead of him. ³⁴ How then, can you console me so worthlessly? What is left of your answers is treachery.”

⁶ “After all, you’ve taken collateral from your relatives for no reason; you stripped the naked of their clothing. ⁷ You’ve neglected to give water to the weary, and you’ve withheld food from the hungry. ⁸ The land belongs to the powerful, and the privileged thrive in it. ⁹ You sent away widows empty-handed, and broke the outstretched arms of orphans. ¹⁰ That’s why disaster surrounds you, terror suddenly overwhelms you, ¹¹ you see nothing but darkness, and a flood of troubles drowns you.”
¹² Eliphaz Acknowledges God but Issues an Imprecatory Prayer“Isn’t God in heaven above? Consider how far away the stars are, and how lofty they are! ¹³ You’ve asked, ‘What does God know? Can he sort through pitch black darkness?’ ¹⁴ Thick clouds cover him so he can’t see as he walks back and forth at heaven’s horizon. ¹⁵ “Will you keep walking on the traditional path that sinners have tread, ¹⁶ who were snatched away before their time; when their foundation was swept away by a river? ¹⁷ They told God, ‘Get away from us!’ and ‘What will the Almighty do to them?’ ¹⁸ “Though God fills their houses with good things, the counsel of the wicked will remain far from me. ¹⁹ The righteous will see this and rejoice; the innocent will insult him, saying, ²⁰ ‘Our enemies are sure to be destroyed, and fire will burn up what’s left of their riches.”
²¹ Eliphaz Challenges Job to Repent“Get to know God, and you’ll be at peace with him, and then prosperity will come to you. ²² Accept what he has to teach you, and treasure his words in your heart. ²³ “If you return to the Almighty you’ll be restored, as you remove iniquity from your household. ²⁴ Bury your gold nuggets in the dust, and your source of gold among the stones in a streambed, ²⁵ and then the Almighty will be your gold and your refined silver. ²⁶ “Then you’ll take delight in the Almighty; and will turn your face toward God. ²⁷ You’ll entreat him and he’ll listen to you as you fulfill your vows. ²⁸ When you make a decision on something, it will be established for you, and light will brighten your way. ²⁹ “For when they’re humbled, you may respond; ‘It’s their pride!’ but he delivers the humble. ³⁰ He’ll even deliver the guilty, who will be delivered through your innocence.”

⁶⁹ The arrogant have accused me falsely; but I will observe your precepts wholeheartedly.

¹⁴ They treated my people’s wound superficially, telling them, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? So why is there no healing for my people?

³² Look, I’m against those who prophesy based on false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and relate them and lead my people astray with their lies and their recklessness. I didn’t send them; I didn’t command them, and they provide no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

¹³ There is no one to plead your cause. There is no medicine for your sore; no healing for you.

¹¹ Go up to Gilead and get balm, virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you multiply remedies, but there is no healing for you.

⁴ You haven’t strengthened the weak, treated the sick, set broken bones, regathered the scattered, or looked for the lost. Instead, you’ve dominated them with brutal force and ruthlessness.

¹³ When Ephraim examined his illness and Judah his injury, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and inquired of the great king; but he could not cure you nor heal your injury.

¹⁷ When Jesus heard that, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick ones do. I did not come to call righteous people, but sinners.”

²⁶ Although she had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all of her money, she had not been helped at all, but rather grew worse.

³ Will your irrational babble silence people, and when you mock them, will you escape without being shamed?

¹³ Job Resolves to Present His Case“Don’t talk to me! It’s my turn to speak; then whatever happens, happens.

³ Will windy words like yours never end? What is upsetting you that you keep on arguing?

² “When are you going to stop your word hunt? Think first, and then we can talk.

² “How long do you intend to keep torturing me and trying to break me by what you’re saying?

² “Listen carefully to my words; let this encourage all of you. ³ Bear with me and let me speak! Then, after I’ve spoken, you’ll be free to mock me.

¹ Elihu Addresses Job and His FriendsThese three men stopped responding to Job, because he was claiming to be righteous, in his own opinion.

²⁸ Even a fool is thought to be wise when he remains silent; he is thought to be prudent when he keeps his mouth shut.

³ Too many worries lead to nightmares, and a fool is known from talking too much.

¹³ therefore the prudent person remains silent at such a time, for the time is evil.

¹⁹ You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

⁷ When Jotham was informed about this, he went out, took his stand on top of Mount Gerizim, and cried out loudly, “Listen to me, you “lords” of Shechem, and God will listen to you.

¹ Elihu Begins His Discourse “Now please listen to what I have to say, Job. Listen to every word! ² Look! I’ve begun to speak, and I’m fashioning my words. ³ I speak from the innocence of my heart; and my lips will utter what I sincerely know.

² “Listen to what I have to say, you wise men! Pay attention to me, you educated people!

⁶ Listen, because I have noble things to say, and what I have to say will reveal what is right. ⁷ For my mouth speaks the truth— wickedness is detestable to me.

⁷ Now please think: Who has ever perished when they’re innocent? Where have the upright been destroyed?

² “Shouldn’t a multitude of words be answered, or a person who talks too much be vindicated? ³ Will your irrational babble silence people, and when you mock them, will you escape without being shamed? ⁴ You’ve said, ‘My teaching is flawless; I’m clean in God’s sight.’

⁵ Now as for the one who testifies against his friends to take their property, even the eyes of his children will fail.

⁴ I won’t speak lies nor will I utter deceit.

²¹ I won’t discriminate against anyone, and I won’t flatter any person, ²² since I don’t know the first thing about how to flatter; and the one who made me would sweep me away as if I were nothing.”

⁴ because what I have to say isn’t deceptive, and the one who has perfect knowledge is with you.”

² You’ll be thrown out of the synagogues. Yes, a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he’s serving God.

⁵ But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God’s righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.) ⁶ Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world? ⁷ For if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸ Or can we say—as some people slander us by claiming that we say—“Let’s do evil that good may result”? They deserve to be condemned!

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use trickery or pervert God’s word. By clear statements of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

² You are not to follow the majority in doing wrong, and you are not to testify in a lawsuit so as to follow the majority and pervert justice. ³ You are not to show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.

¹⁵ “You are not to be unjust in deciding a case. You are not to show partiality to the poor or honor the great. Instead, decide the case of your neighbor with righteousness.”

²¹ I won’t discriminate against anyone, and I won’t flatter any person,

¹⁹ Who isn’t partial to princes? Who doesn’t give preference to the nobles over the poor? Nevertheless, all of them are his handiwork.

²³ Sayings of the WiseHere are some more proverbs from wise people: It isn’t good to show partiality in judgment.

⁹ “So I also made you despised, humiliating you before all of the people, because you aren’t following my ways and are showing partiality when you teach.”

¹⁶ “With God are strength and sound wisdom; both the deceived and those who deceive are responsible to him.

² Mockers surround me; I cannot stop staring at their hostility all through the night.

³⁶ Oh, how Job needs to be given a full court trial, as a rebuke to those who practice evil,

²¹ wouldn’t God find out since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²³ Examine me, God, and know my mind, test me, and know my thoughts.

²² But as for you, don’t start mocking, or your chains will become tighter; for I have heard from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies about destruction, and it is decreed against the whole land.

¹⁰ I am the LORD who searches the heart, who tests the inner depths to give to each person according to what he deserves, according to the fruit of his deeds.

⁷ Stop being deceived; God is not to be ridiculed. A person harvests whatever he plants: ⁸ The person who sows through human means will harvest decay from human means, but the person who sows in the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.

⁷ Job’s Friends are RestoredAfter these words had been spoken by the LORD to Job, the LORD spoke to Eliphaz from Teman: “My anger is burning against you along with your two friends, since you haven’t spoken correctly about me, as did my servant Job. ⁸ So take seven bulls and seven rams and bring them to my servant Job. And bring a whole burnt offering for yourselves and my servant Job will pray for you. I’ll encourage him by not responding as your disgraceful folly deserves, since you didn’t speak about me correctly as did my servant Job.

²¹ These things you did, and I kept silent, because you assumed that I was like you. But now I am going to rebuke you, and I will set forth my case before your very own eyes.” ²² Consider this, you who have forgotten God— Otherwise, I will tear you in pieces and there will be no deliverer:

² “How long will you judge partially by showing favor on the wicked? Interlude

⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and will be convicted by the Law as violators.

¹⁶ Dread and fear have fallen on them, because of the strength of your arm. They have become silent as a stone, until your people pass by, LORD, until this people you acquired pass by.

²¹ Withdraw your hand far from me and keep me from being petrified with terror.

²³ For I’m terrified of what calamity God may have in store for me; and I cannot endure his grandeur.”

¹²⁰ My flesh trembles out of fear of you, and I am in awe of your judgments.

¹³ The LORD of the Heavenly Armies— he’s the one you are to regard as holy. Let him be the one whom you fear, and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror!

²² ‘You don’t fear me, do you?’ declares the LORD. ‘You don’t tremble before me, do you? I’m the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they cannot cross it.’

¹⁰ The LORD is the true God; he’s the living God and the everlasting king. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

²⁸ Stop being afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Instead, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

³ They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the lamb: “Your deeds are both spectacular and amazing, Lord God Almighty. Your ways are just and true, King of the nations. ⁴ Lord, who won’t fear and praise your name? For you alone are holy, and all the nations will come and worship you because your judgments have been revealed.”

⁷ So the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed life into his lungs, and the man became a living being.

²⁷ Abraham answered, “Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I’ve ventured to speak to my LORD.

¹⁴ Then the LORD told Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua: ‘I’ll certainly wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.’”

¹⁹ how much less confidence does he have in those who dwell in houses of clay; who were formed from a foundation in dust and can perish like a moth?

¹⁷ No one remembers him anywhere in the land; no one names streets in his honor.

¹⁶ The face of the LORD is set against those who do evil, and he will remove people’s recollection of them from the earth.

¹² But you, LORD, are enthroned forever; You are remembered throughout all generations.

¹⁵ May what they have done be continually in the LORD’s presence; and may their memory be excised from the earth.

⁷ The reputation of the righteous leads to blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

¹⁴ The dead won’t live, and the departed spirits won’t rise— to that end, you punished and destroyed them, then locked away all memory of them.

¹ We know that if the earthly tent we live in is torn down, we have a building in heaven that comes from God, an eternal house not built by human hands.

⁹ that God would just be willing to crush me; that he would let loose and eliminate me! ¹⁰ At least I could still take comfort and rejoice in unceasing anguish, for I didn’t conceal what the Holy One has to say.

¹¹ Job Intends to Complain“In addition, I won’t keep my opinion to myself; I’ll speak from my distressed spirit; I’ll complain with my bitter soul.

¹⁵ I would rather die by strangulation than continue living. ¹⁶ I hate the thought of living forever! Leave me alone, because my days are pointless.”

¹ Job Asks God to Acquit Him “I am disgusted with living, so I’m going to talk about my complaint freely. I’ll speak out from the bitterness of my soul.

⁵ I wish you’d all just shut up. Then at least you would appear to be wise.

³ Bear with me and let me speak! Then, after I’ve spoken, you’ll be free to mock me.

³ When I saw that you wouldn’t be delivering me, I took my own life in my hands, crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my control. So why have you come here today to fight me?”

⁵ He risked his life and struck down the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a spectacular deliverance for all Israel. You saw that and rejoiced, so why would you do wrong and shed innocent blood by killing David without cause?”

²¹ Then the woman came to Saul and saw that he was very disturbed. She told him, “Look, your servant obeyed you. I put my life into your hands, and I listened to your words that you spoke to me.

⁴ You’re tearing yourself to pieces in your anger. Will the land be abandoned because of you, or the rock be moved from its place?”

¹⁰⁹ Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I do not forget your instruction.

⁵ The fool crosses his arms and starves himself.

²⁰ They cut meat on the right, but they’re still hungry, and they devour also on the left, but they’re not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own children.

²⁶ “I’ll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. “Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

⁶ My days pass as swiftly as a hand-loom; they come to their conclusion without hope.

⁷ Although you know that I’m not guilty, there’s no one to deliver me from you!

¹⁸ Job Presents His Conditions“Look, now! I’ve prepared my case for court. I know that I’m going to win.

¹⁷ even though violence is not my intention, and my prayer is pure.”

²¹ crying for him to arbitrate between this man and God; as a human being does with his fellow neighbor.

²⁵ “As for me, I know that my Vindicator is alive; And he, the Last One, will take his stand on the soil. ²⁶ Even after my skin has been destroyed, clothed in my flesh I will see God, ²⁷ whom I will see for myself. My own eyes will look at him— there won’t be anyone else for me!— He is the culmination of my innermost desire.”
²⁸ Job Reminds His Friends of Judgment“When you’re thinking about asking yourselves, ‘How will we pursue him, since the root of the problem is with him?’

¹⁰ Because he knows the road on which I travel, when he had tested me, I’ll come out like gold.

⁵ Far be it from me to admit that you’re right! I intend to maintain my integrity even if it kills me!

³¹ People in my household have said, ‘We cannot find anyone who has not been satisfied with his meat,’ haven’t they? ³² No stranger ever spent the night in the street, because I opened my doors to travelers.”
³³ No Secret Sins“Have I covered my transgression like other people, to conceal iniquity within myself? ³⁴ Have I feared large crowds? Has my family’s contempt ever terrified me so that I remained silent and wouldn’t go outside?”
³⁵ Request for A Hearing“Who will grant me a hearing? Here’s my signature—let the Almighty answer! Since my adversary indicted me, ³⁶ I’ll wear it on my shoulder, or tie it on my head for a crown! ³⁷ I’ll give an account for every step I’ve taken; I’ll approach him confidently like a Commander-in-Chief.”

² “Should the one who is fighting the Almighty find fault with him? Let God’s accuser answer.”

⁸ Indeed would you annul my justice and condemn me, just so you can claim that you’re righteous?

⁴ Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness, I will not be afraid because you are with me. Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

³² The wicked person is thrown down by his own wrongdoing, but the righteous person has a place of safety in death.

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.

²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

² The LORD is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God and I’ll praise him, the God of my father and I’ll exalt him.

¹³ Such are the paths of everyone who forgets God— the hope of the godless will be destroyed:

⁸ For where is the hope of the godless when he is eliminated; when God takes away his life? ⁹ Will God hear his cry when distress overtakes him? ¹⁰ Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?”

¹³ The godless at heart cherish anger; they won’t cry out for help when God afflicts them.

¹ Davidic
Confidence in the LORD The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom will I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom will I be afraid?

⁶ He alone is my rock, my deliverance, and my high tower; nothing will shake me. ⁷ I rely on God who is my deliverance and my glory; he is my strong rock, and my refuge is in God.

¹⁴ The LORD is my strength and protector, for he has become my deliverer.

²¹ I will praise you because you have answered me and have become my deliverer.

¹ Israel’s Praise to the LORD At that time, you will say: “I will praise you, LORD, for although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me. ² “Look! God—yes God—is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames?”

²³ Truly the hills are a deception, and the mountains are confusion. Truly, in the LORD our God is Israel’s salvation.”

⁴⁷ For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’”

⁶ “Now listen to my dispute! Pay attention to my arguments.

² “Listen carefully to my words; let this encourage all of you.

¹ Elihu Begins His Discourse “Now please listen to what I have to say, Job. Listen to every word!

² “Indeed, I’m fully aware that this is so, but how can a person become right with God? ³ If one were to seek to argue with him, he won’t be able to answer him even once in a thousand times.

²⁰ Though I’m in the right, my own mouth will condemn me; though I’m blameless, he’ll pronounce me as guilty.

⁴ I would lay out my case before him; and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁷ “Stand up like a man! I’ll ask you some questions, and you give me some answers! ⁸ Indeed would you annul my justice and condemn me, just so you can claim that you’re righteous?

²⁶ Recount the brief! Let’s argue the matter together; Present your case, so that you may be proved right.

³³ Who will accuse God’s elect? It is God who justifies! ³⁴ Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.

¹² Paul’s Reason for BoastingFor this is what we boast about: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with pure motives and godly sincerity, without earthly wisdom but with God’s grace—especially toward you.

⁸ Your hands formed and fashioned me, but then you have destroyed me all at once on all sides.

⁵ If you really intend to vaunt yourselves over me, and make my problems the basis of your case against me,

⁵ Answer me, if you can! Present your case! Take your stand in my presence! ⁶ Look! As far as God is concerned, I’m just like you are— I, too, have been pinched off from a piece of clay. ⁷ Don’t be afraid of me; I’ll go easy on you.”

³² If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, because I’d be happy to vindicate you.

⁷ For the Lord GOD helps me, so I won’t be disgraced. Therefore I’ve made my face like flint, and I know that I won’t be put to shame.”
⁸ The Servant’s VindicationThe one who vindicates me is near. Who, then, will bring a charge against me? Let’s face each other! Who has a case against me? Let him confront me!

⁹ When I say, “I won’t remember the LORD, nor will I speak in his name anymore, then there is this burning fire in my heart. It is bound up in my bones, I grow weary of trying to hold it in, and I cannot do it!

³³ Who will accuse God’s elect? It is God who justifies!

⁸ When they heard the voice of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden during the breeze of the day, the man and his wife concealed themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ So the LORD God called out to the man, asking him, “Where are you?”
¹⁰ “I heard your voice in the garden,” the man answered, “and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid from you.”

¹² even darkness isn’t dark to you, darkness and light are the same to you.

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people concealed themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains. ¹⁶ They told the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb.

³⁴ removing his rod from me, and not letting terror of him overwhelm me.

²⁰ My days are so few, aren’t they? So leave me alone, then, so I can smile a little

¹¹ His splendor will petrify you with terror, paralyzing you with fear, won’t it?

¹⁵ “Will you keep walking on the traditional path that sinners have tread, ¹⁶ who were snatched away before their time; when their foundation was swept away by a river? ¹⁷ They told God, ‘Get away from us!’ and ‘What will the Almighty do to them?’

⁷ Don’t be afraid of me; I’ll go easy on you.”

¹⁰ Stop scourging me, since I have been crushed by your heavy hand.

¹⁶ “Were I to be summoned, and he were to answer me, I wouldn’t even believe that he was listening to what I have to say.

³² He’s not a man like me, so that I can answer him, or that we can enter into litigation with one another.

¹⁵ You’ll call and I’ll answer you; you’ll long for your creatures that your hands have made.

³ Stand up like a man! I’ll ask you some questions, and you give me some answers!”

⁵ Your wickedness is great, isn’t it? There’s no limit to your iniquity, is there?

⁸ “If they’re bound in chains, caught in ropes of affliction, ⁹ he’ll reveal their actions to them, when their transgressions have become excessive.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God or lifted our hands to a foreign god, ²¹ wouldn’t God find out since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²⁰ So he said: “Let me hide my face from them. I will observe what their end will be, because they are a perverted generation, children within whom there is no loyalty.

¹⁶ Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, since the LORD has departed from you and become your enemy?

² I’ll say to God, ‘Don’t condemn me! Let me know why you are fighting me.

⁹ His anger tears me in his persistent resentment against me; he gnashes his teeth at me. My adversary glares at me.

¹¹ His anger burns against me; he regards me as his adversary.

² “I wish I could go back to how things were a few months ago; when God used to watch over me, ³ when his lamp used to shine over my head, so I could walk through the dark,

²¹ You changed toward me, and now you’re cruel to me; with your mighty hand you are persecuting me;

¹⁰ Nevertheless, God has found a pretext to attack me; he considers me his enemy.

¹ A Prayer for Judging the Wicked Why do you stand far away, LORD? Why do you hide in times of distress?

¹ To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Deliverance How long? LORD, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

²⁴ Why are you hiding your face? Why are you ignoring our affliction and oppression?

⁶ During the night I remembered my song. I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders. ⁷ Will the Lord reject me forever and not show favor again? ⁸ Has his gracious love ceased forever? Will his promise be unfulfilled in future generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? Interlude

¹⁴ Why, LORD, have you rejected me? Why have you hidden your face from me?

¹⁷ I’ll wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I’ll put my trust in him.

⁵ The Lord has become like an enemy— he has devoured Israel. He has devoured all of her palaces, destroying her fortresses. He filled cherished Judah with mourning and lament.

¹⁵ Yet, don’t treat him like an enemy, but warn him like a brother.

³⁶ “As for the remnants among you, I’ll bring despair in their hearts in the land of their enemies so that even the sound of a blown leaf will chase them and they flee as though pursued by the sword and fall when no one is pursuing.

¹⁴ After whom is the king of Israel going out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog or a single flea?

³ Indeed, have you opened your eyes on one like this— to bring me into a legal fight with you?

¹⁸ May they become like a straw, blown away before the wind; like a chaff that’s swept off by a storm.

¹³ The nations roar like the rushing of many waters, but the LORD will rebuke them, and they will run far away, chased like chaff blown down from the mountains or like thick dust that rolls along, blown along by a wind storm.

²⁰ He will not snap off a broken reed or snuff out a smoldering wick until he has brought justice through to victory.

²⁰ But Naomi replied, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me ‘Mara’! That’s because the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.

²⁰ “Why does God give light to the sufferer or life to the bitter person:

¹¹ Though his bones were full of youthful vigor; yet they will lie down with him in the dust.

⁷ Do not remember my youthful sins and transgressions; but remember me in light of your gracious love, in light of your goodness, LORD.

³ For my life is filled with troubles as I approach Sheol. ⁴ I am considered as one of those descending into the Pit, like a mighty man without strength, ⁵ released to remain with the dead, lying in a grave like a corpse, remembered no longer, and cut off from your power. ⁶ You have assigned me to the lowest part of the Pit, to the darkest depths. ⁷ Your anger lies heavily upon me; you pound me with all your waves. Interlude ⁸ You caused my acquaintances to shun me; you make me extremely abhorrent to them. Restrained, I am unable to go out. ⁹ My eyes languish on account of my affliction; all day long I call out to you, LORD, I spread out my hands to you. ¹⁰ Can you perform wonders for the dead? Can departed spirits stand up to praise you? Interlude ¹¹ Can your gracious love be declared in the grave or your faithfulness in Abaddon? ¹² Can your awesome deeds be known in darkness or your righteousness in the land of oblivion? ¹³ As for me, I cry out to you LORD, and in the morning my prayer greets you. ¹⁴ Why, LORD, have you rejected me? Why have you hidden your face from me? ¹⁵ Since my youth I have been oppressed and in danger of death. I bear your dread and am overwhelmed. ¹⁶ Your burning anger overwhelms me; your terrors destroy me. ¹⁷ Like waters, they engulf me all day long; they surround me on all sides. ¹⁸ You caused my friend and neighbor to shun me; and my acquaintances are confused.

¹¹ You will cry out in anguish when your end comes, when your flesh and body are consumed, ¹² and you will say, “How I hated instruction, and my heart rejected correction! ¹³ I did not obey my teachers and did not listen to my instructors.

¹⁹ Indeed, after I turned away, then I repented. And after I came to understand, I slapped my forehead. I was both ashamed and humiliated because I bear the disgrace of my youth.’”

⁵ One particular man was there who had been ill for 38 years.

¹⁴ Later on, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Look! You have become well. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

¹⁰ In response, Asa flew into a rage and locked up the seer in stocks in the palace prison because of what Hanani had told him. Asa also tortured some of the people of Israel at that time.
¹¹ Asa’s Illness and Death
Now the accomplishments of Asa from first to last are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa suffered from a foot disease. Even though he suffered greatly, he never sought the LORD, but instead looked to doctors.

⁷ So Satan left the LORD’s presence and struck Job with terrible boils from the sole of his feet to the top of his head.

⁶ “‘For you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin.

¹⁶ Then you’ll certainly count every step I took, but you won’t keep an inventory of my sin.

¹¹ He has bound my feet in shackles, and keeps watching everything I do.’”

²² All of a sudden he follows her like an ox fit for slaughter or like a fool fit for a trap

²⁴ Having received these orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in leg irons.

¹² Please don’t let her be like one of the living dead, who is born with a congenital skin disease.”

¹⁷ The night racks my bones; and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest. ¹⁸ My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me; he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak. ¹⁹ “He tossed me into the mire; I’ve become like dust and ashes.

²⁹ I’ve become a brother to jackals, and a friend to ostriches. ³⁰ My skin turns black all over me; and my bones seem burned from the heat.

¹¹ You rebuke by chastening a man with the consequence of iniquities; you destroy what is attractive to him, as one would treat a moth. Indeed, every person is a puff of wind. Interlude

¹² Therefore I will consume Ephraim like a moth, and the house of Judah as rottenness consumes.