Job 16 Cross References - NSB

¹ JOB ANSWERED: ² »I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters! ³ »Is there no limit to windy words? Or what provokes you that you answer? ⁴ »I too could speak like you, if I were in your place. I could compose words against you. And I would shake my head at you. ⁵ »I could strengthen you with my mouth. The solace of my lips would relieve your pain. ⁶ »If I speak, my pain is not lessened. If I hold back how am I eased? ⁷ »He has exhausted me. You have lain waste all my company. ⁸ »You have shriveled me up. It has become a witness. And my leanness rises up against me. It testifies to my face. ⁹ »His anger has torn me and hunted me down. He has gnashed at me with his teeth. My adversary glares at me. ¹⁰ »They have gaped at me with their mouth. They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt. They have massed themselves against me. ¹¹ »God hands me over to ruffians. He tosses me into the hands of the wicked. ¹² »I was at ease, but he shattered me. He has grabbed me by the neck and has shaken me to pieces. He has also set me up as his target. ¹³ »His arrows surround me. Without mercy he splits my kidneys open. He pours out my gall on the ground. ¹⁴ »He breaks through me with breach after breach. He runs at me like a warrior. ¹⁵ »I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and thrust my horn (strength) in the dust. ¹⁶ »My face is flushed from weeping. The shadow of death is on my eyelids. ¹⁷ »There is no violence in my hands. My prayer is pure. ¹⁸ »O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place. ¹⁹ »Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. ²⁰ My friends are my scoffers. My eye weeps to God. ²¹ »O that a man might plead with God As a man with his neighbor! ²² »For when a few years are past, I shall go the way of no return.

⁶ »Is tasteless food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in the white root of the marshmallow plant (or the white of an egg)?

²⁵ »Honest words are so painful! But what do your arguments prove?

² »Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated? ³ »Should your idle talk reduce men to silence? Should no one rebuke you when you mock?

⁴ »You are smearing me with lies. As doctors you are worthless, all of you! ⁵ »If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.

² »How long will you torment me and depress me with words? ³ »You have insulted me ten times now. You are not even ashamed of hurting me.

² »How you have helped one who has no power! How you have assisted the arm that has no strength! ³ »How you have counseled one who has no wisdom, and given much good advice!

²⁶ For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.

¹⁶ The latter ones do it out of love, knowing that I am set (appointed) (placed here) for the defense of the good news.

¹⁹ You know this, my beloved brothers. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

²⁶ »Do you mean to correct what I say? Do you treat the words of a despairing man as wind?

² »How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.

² »Should a wise man answer with empty notions or be filled with the hot east wind?

³ »I hear a rebuke that dishonors me. Therefore my understanding inspires me to reply.

³ He was angry also with Job’s three friends because they found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong. ⁴ Elihu waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. ⁵ When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry. ⁶ Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered: »I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.

⁴⁶ No one was able to answer him. After that they asked no more questions.

¹¹ They must be stopped. Their mouths must be shut up, for they subvert entire households. They teach things that should not be taught, for the sake of dishonest gain.

⁸ Have sound speech that cannot be condemned so the man opposing us may be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.

²¹ »This is Jehovah’s message to Sennacherib: ‘My people, the virgin daughter of Zion, despise you and laugh at you. My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back.

² »If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! ³ »It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas, no wonder my words have been impetuous. ⁴ »The Almighty’s arrows are in me. My spirit drinks in their poison. God’s terrors set themselves against me. ⁵ »Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?

¹⁴ »A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes his reverence for the Almighty.

² »Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated?

¹⁶ »Job opens his mouth in empty talk. He multiplies words without knowledge.«

⁷ All who see me laugh at me. Insults pour from their mouths. They shake their heads and say:

¹⁴ You made our defeat a proverb among the nations so that people shake their heads at us.

²⁵ I have become the victim of my enemies' insults. They look at me and shake their heads.

¹⁹ Sin does not hide from a multitude of words. The wise controls his lips.

¹⁴ A fool also is full of words. A man cannot predict what will be and what will be after him. Who can tell him?

¹⁶ »‘They make their land desolation. It becomes an object of perpetual hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head.

¹⁵ All who go by make a noise with their hands at you. They make hisses, shaking their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. They say: »Is this the town that was the crown of everything beautiful, the joy of all the earth?«

¹⁵ »This is the joyous city that dwelled in security. She said in her heart, ‘I am! There is no one else!’ She has become an object of desolation, a place for wild animals to lie down in. Every one who passes by her will hiss, and wag his hand.«

¹² »Do for others the same as you would have them to do for you. That is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.

³⁹ People passing by spoke evil abuse to him. They wagged their heads ⁴⁰ and said, »You who would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God come down from the stake.«

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

²⁶ When one member suffers all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

³ »Look, you have instructed many people. When hands were weak, you made them strong. ⁴ »When someone stumbled, you lifted him up with your words. When knees were weak, you gave them strength.

²⁵ »I chose their way, and sat as chief. I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

¹⁴ Hope (wait) (expect) (trust) in Jehovah and be strong. Let your heart be courageous. Yes, hope in Jehovah.

⁹ As oil and perfume delight the heart so the sweetness of a man's friend delights his heart.

¹⁷ Just as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another.

³ Strengthen the tired hands and the knees that tremble with weakness. ⁴ Tell the discouraged ones with anxious heart: »Be strong and do not be afraid! God is coming to your rescue! He is coming to punish your enemies.«

¹ Brothers, if someone is caught in any kind of wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should set him right. But you must do it in a gentle way. And keep an eye on yourselves, so that you will not be tempted, too.

¹ »I loathe my very life. I will therefore give free rein to my complaint and speak out in my bitterness.

¹ ([Psalm of Asaph]) My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and he listened to me. ² In the day of my trouble I sought Jehovah. My hand was stretched out in the night, and did not get tired. I refused to be comforted. ³ I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. ⁴ You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. ⁶ I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires: ⁷ Will Jehovah reject us forever? Will he be favorable no more? ⁸ Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?

¹⁵ Ever since I was young, I have been suffering and near death. I have endured your terrors, and now I am in despair. ¹⁶ Your burning anger has swept over me. Your terrors have destroyed me. ¹⁷ They swirl around me all day long like water. They surround me on all sides. ¹⁸ You have taken my loved ones and friends far away from me. Darkness is my only friend!

¹⁵ »Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.« ¹⁶ Before he finished speaking, another servant came and said: »Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.« ¹⁷ Before he finished speaking, another servant came and said: »Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us. They took away the camels and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.« ¹⁸ No sooner had he finished speaking, then another servant came and said: »Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, ¹⁹ when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.«

¹⁷ »There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.

³ »I am allotted months of futility, long and weary nights of misery.

¹⁶ »I hate my life. I do not want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days.

⁵ The Almighty was still with me, and my children were all around me. ⁶ »My steps were washed with milk and the rock poured out streams of oil for me! ⁷ »When I went out to the gate of the city, when I took my seat in the square, ⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose up and stood. ⁹ »The nobles refrained from talking, and laid their hands on their mouths. ¹⁰ »The voices of princes were hushed. Their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. ¹¹ »When the ear heard, it commended me, and when the eye saw, it approved. ¹² »This is because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. ¹³ »The blessing of the wretched came upon me. I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ »I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My justice was like a robe and a turban. ¹⁵ »I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. ¹⁶ »I was a father to the needy! I championed the cause of the stranger. ¹⁷ »I broke the fangs of the unrighteous. I made them drop their prey from their teeth. ¹⁸ »Then I thought: I shall die in my nest (house), and I shall multiply my days like the grains of sand. ¹⁹ »My roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches. ²⁰ »My glory was fresh within me, and my bow ever new in my hand. ²¹ »They listened to me, and waited! They kept quiet to hear my counsel. ²² »After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them like dew. ²³ »They waited for me as for the rain. They opened their mouths as for the spring rain. ²⁴ »I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They did not extinguish the light of my countenance. ²⁵ »I chose their way, and sat as chief. I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

⁶ I am worn out from groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. ⁷ My eyes grow weak with sorrow. I am weak because of all my foes.

¹¹ My son, do not despise Jehovah’s discipline or be weary of his correction. ¹² For whom Jehovah loves He reproves, just like a father corrects the son he loves dearly. (Hebrews 12:6)

⁴ The Lord Jehovah will teach me what to say, so I will know how to encourage tired people. Morning after morning he will wake me to listen like a student.

¹³ »I also struck you with a grievous wound. I made you desolate because of your sins.

²¹ »I went away full, and Jehovah sent me back empty. Why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that Jehovah has given witness against me, and the Almighty has brought sorrow to me?«

¹⁷ »‘You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me. Your forces come against me wave upon wave.

²⁰ »My bones cling to my skin. I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth (with almost nothing).

¹⁵ He gave them what they asked for. He also gave them a degenerative disease.

²⁴ My knees give way because I have been fasting. My body has become lean, without any fat.

¹⁶ That is why the Almighty Jehovah of Hosts will send a degenerative disease against brave men. A flame will be turned into a raging fire under his power.

¹⁶ Listen to them as they sing to Jehovah from the ends of the earth: »Glory and praise to the righteous one!« But I say: »My heart is heavy with grief. I am discouraged, for evil still prevails, and treachery is everywhere.«

²⁷ So he will be able to present the congregation to himself as a glorious congregation, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. It should be holy and without blemish.

¹⁶ »‘If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me. ¹⁷ »‘You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me. Your forces come against me wave upon wave.

²⁴ »Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?

²⁷ »You fasten my feet in shackles. You keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

⁴ »You tear yourself to pieces in your anger! Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

¹¹ »He is very angry with me. He considers me his enemy.

¹⁶ With godless and abusive mockers, they grit their teeth at me.

¹² The wicked plots against the righteous and grinds at him with his teeth.

²² »Consider this, you who do not remember God. Otherwise, I will tear you to pieces, and there will be no one to deliver.

¹⁶ All your enemies are opening their mouths wide against you. They hiss and whistle through their teeth and say: »We have made a meal of her. Certainly this is the day we have been looking for. It has come and we see it.«

¹⁰ He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places.

¹⁴ »For I will be to Ephraim as a lion. And I will be like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will carry off and there will be none to deliver.

¹ »Come, and let us return to Jehovah. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us. He has wounded us but he will bandage us.

⁸ Do not rejoice against me, O my enemy! When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light to me.

⁵⁴ When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. They gnashed their teeth at him.

²⁴ The prophet Zedekiah went to Micaiah and slapped his face. He asked: »Since when did Jehovah’s spirit leave me and speak to you?«

²³ Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah and slapped his face. He asked: »Since when did Jehovah’s spirit leave me and speak to you?«

¹³ They opened their mouths to attack me like ferocious, roaring lions.

¹⁶ Dogs have surrounded me. A mob has encircled me. They have pierced my hands and feet. ¹⁷ I can count all my bones. People stare and gloat over me.

¹⁵ Yet, when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together. They gathered together against me. Unknown attackers tore me apart without stopping.

²¹ They open their mouths against me and say: Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it.

²¹ They join forces to take the lives of righteous people. They condemn innocent people to death.

⁶ I will offer my back to those who whip me. I will offer my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me.

³⁰ Let his face be turned to him who gives him blows; let him be full of shame.

¹ »Now you will gather in troops, O daughter of troops! He has attacked us. They will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek with a rod.

⁶⁷ They spat in his face and hit him, saying:

³⁵ The people stood watching while the rulers scoffed at him, saying: »He saved others let him save himself if this is his chosen, the Christ of God.« ³⁶ The soldiers mocked him and offered him vinegar,

²² When he said this one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus with his hand, saying: »You answer the high priest!«

²⁷ Truly both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the people of the nations and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you have anointed.

² The high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

²⁰ You suffer, if a man brings you into bondage, if a man devours you, if a man takes advantage of you, if a man exalts himself, if a man strikes you on the face.

¹⁸ »You have shown me how you were kind enough not to kill me when Jehovah gave you the chance.

¹³ One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, ¹⁴ a messenger came running to Job. »We were plowing the fields with the cattle,« he said, »and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture.

⁷ Satan left Jehovah’s presence and struck Job with painful boils from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.

¹⁴ See how they conceive evil. They are pregnant with wickedness and give birth to lies.

¹² Do not surrender me to the will of my opponents. False witnesses have risen against me. They breathe out violence.

⁸ You have not handed me over to the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place.

¹⁶ Then he delivered him to them to be impaled.

³² For God has stopped all disobedience so he might show mercy to all.

⁷ I was given a painful physical ailment that will keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw. It acts as Satan's messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud.

² He had seven sons and three daughters. ³ He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. In fact he was the greatest (richest) of all the Orientals in the East!

²⁶ »I have no peace. I have no quietness. I have no rest. I only have turmoil!«

¹⁰ »The roar of the lion and the growl of the ferocious lion are loud. The young lions have had their teeth knocked out.

¹² »Am I a sea monster that you place a guard on me?

²⁰ »Have I sinned? What have I done to you, O watcher of all humanity? Why have you made me your target? Am I a burden to you?

¹⁷ »He crushes me with a tempest. He multiplies my wounds without cause.

²⁶ »He defiantly charges against him with a thick, strong shield.

³ when his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness.

¹⁸ »Then I thought: I shall die in my nest (house), and I shall multiply my days like the grains of sand. ¹⁹ »My roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches.

¹⁹ You crushed us in a place for jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.

⁴ My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken.

¹¹ He has turned me on one side. I have been pulled to bits and lay desolate. ¹² With his bow bent, he made me the target for his arrows.

⁷ »When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke and tore all their hands. When they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins quake.«

⁴⁴ »Any man falling on this stone will be broken. Any man having this stone fall on him will be crushed to dust.«

⁴ They have risked their own necks for my life. I not only thank them but also the congregations of the nations give thanks.

²³ »Archers provoked him, shot at him, and harassed him.

²⁰ Jehovah will never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of Jehovah and / His jealousy will burn against that man. Every curse which is written in this book will rest on him. Jehovah will blot out his name from under heaven.

⁴ »The Almighty’s arrows are in me. My spirit drinks in their poison. God’s terrors set themselves against me.

¹⁰ »Then I would still have this consolation, my joy in unrelenting pain, that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

²⁷ »I will see him with my own eyes, not with someone else's. My heart fails inside me!

²⁵ »He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him.

¹² If one does not repent God will sharpen his sword. He has bent and strung his bow. ¹³ He has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.

¹¹ My eyes fail from weeping. I am in torment. My heart is pulled out of me to the ground because my people are destroyed. Because of the young children and babies at the breast who are falling without strength in the open squares of the town.

¹³ He has let fly his arrows into the inmost parts of my body.

¹¹ ‘»As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah,’ ‘because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations I will withdraw, and my eye will have no pity and I will not spare you.

³² He that did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, will he not with him freely give us all things?

⁵ He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly!

⁸ He attacked them fiercely and killed many of them. After that he stayed in the cave in the cliff at Etam.

⁷ One deep sea calls to another at the roar of your waterspouts. All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me.

³ Truly against me his hand has been turned again and again all day long. ⁴ My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken. ⁵ He built a wall against me, shutting me in with hardship and bitter sorrow.

⁷ »They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like men of war. They march every one on his way and do not break their ranks.

³⁴ Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time.

¹⁰ »The adversaries of Jehovah will be broken to pieces. He thunders in the heavens against them. Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to His king and exalt the horn (power) of His anointed.«

²⁷ Elijah finished speaking. Ahab tore his clothes and took them off. He dressed in sackcloth. He refused food (fasted) and slept in the sackcloth. He was gloomy and depressed.

¹⁹ »God has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.

⁵ then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay me in the dust.

⁵ Do not lift up your horn on high. Do not speak with insolent pride.

¹⁰ He will remove the horn (power) of the wicked. The horn (power) of the righteous will be exalted.

¹² In that day Jehovah God of Hosts called to weeping and mourning, to baldness and putting on sackcloth.

⁷ »My eyes are dim because of grief. My limbs are like a shadow.

⁹ Be gracious to me, O Jehovah, because I am in distress. My eyes, my life, and my body waste away with grief.

³ When I kept silent about my sins, my body wasted away and I groaned all day long.

³ I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

³ My days have been consumed in smoke, and my bones have been scorched like a hearth. ⁴ My heart has been stricken like grass and has withered away. In fact I forget to eat my bread. ⁵ Because of the loudness of my groaning my bones cling to my flesh.

⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping.

³ The ropes of death became tangled around me. The fear of the grave took hold of me. I experienced pain and agony.

¹⁴ There were many who were appalled at him and his appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.

¹⁶ »For these things I weep. My eye streams with water because the comforter who might give me new life is far from me. My children are desolate because the enemy is strong.«

¹ Then Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God from inside the fish's belly. ² He said: »I called to Jehovah because of my affliction. And he answered me! Out of the belly of the grave I cried and you heard my voice. ³ »For you threw me into the deep, in the heart of the seas. The current was all around me. All your waves, your huge breakers passed over me! ⁴ »And I said: I have been cast out of your sight. Yet I will look again toward your Holy Temple. ⁵ »The waters encompassed me and threatened my life. The deep sea surrounded me. The sea weeds were wrapped about my head. ⁶ »I went down to the bottom of the mountains! The earth with its bars closed upon me for a very long time. Yet you have brought my life up from the pit, O Jehovah my God? ⁷ »My life was leaving me and I remembered Jehovah! My prayer came to you, into your Holy Temple. ⁸ »They that regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy. ⁹ »But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving! I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is from Jehovah!« ¹⁰ Jehovah spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

³⁴ He said to them: »I am very sorrowful to the point of death. Stay here with me and watch.«

⁵ »But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty, ⁶ if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place.

¹⁴ if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

²⁰ »All his days the wicked man suffers torment and the ruthless through all the years stored up for him.

³⁴ »The company of the godless will be barren. And fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

²⁷ »Oh, I know your thoughts, and your schemes to wrong me. ²⁸ »For you say: ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’

⁵ »Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities. ⁶ »You have indeed exacted pledges from your family for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. ⁷ »You have given no water to the weary to drink. You have withheld bread from the hungry. ⁸ »The powerful possess the land, and the favored live in it. ⁹ »You have sent widows away empty-handed. You crush the arms of the orphans.

⁶ »I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it! My conscience will not reproach me as long as I live. ⁷ »May my enemies be like the wicked, my adversaries like the unjust!

¹² »This is because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. ¹³ »The blessing of the wretched came upon me. I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ »I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My justice was like a robe and a turban. ¹⁵ »I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. ¹⁶ »I was a father to the needy! I championed the cause of the stranger. ¹⁷ »I broke the fangs of the unrighteous. I made them drop their prey from their teeth.

¹ »I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. ² »What is man’s lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? ³ »Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? ⁴ »Does he not see my ways and count my every step? ⁵ »If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit ⁶ »let God weigh me on honest scales and he will know that I am blameless. ⁷ »If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, ⁸ then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted. ⁹ »If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, ¹⁰ then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her. ¹¹ »For that would have been shameful (a crime), a sin to be judged. ¹² »That would be a fire consuming down to destruction, and it would burn all my harvest to the root. ¹³ »If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me ¹⁴ what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? ¹⁵ »Did the one who made me in the womb make them? And did that one fashion us in the womb? ¹⁶ »If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, ¹⁷ »If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it, ¹⁸ for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow. ¹⁹ »If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering, ²⁰ whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; ²¹ if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate; ²² then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. ²³ »I was in terror of destruction from God and I could not face his majesty. ²⁴ »If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence, ²⁵ if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; ²⁶ if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, ²⁷ and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand, ²⁸ this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied God above. ²⁹ »If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them, ³⁰ »I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse. ³¹ »If those of my tent ever said: ‘Who is not satisfied with his food?« ³² »The stranger has not lodged in the street for I have opened my doors to the traveler. ³³ »If I have concealed my transgressions as others do (like Adam), by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, ³⁴ because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silent and did not go out of doors. ³⁵ »Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! ³⁶ »Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown. ³⁷ »I would give him an account of all my steps. Like a prince I would approach him. ³⁸ »If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together. ³⁹ If I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners; ⁴⁰ let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.« The words of Job are ended, JOB QUITE TALKING.

³ O Jehovah my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, ⁴ if I have repaid my ally with harm or plundered my foe without cause, ⁵ then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay me in the dust.

¹⁷ Although all of this happened to us, we never forgot you. We never ignored your promise. ¹⁸ Our hearts never turned away. Our feet never left your path. ¹⁹ You crushed us in a place for jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. ²⁰ If we forgot the name of our God or stretched out our hands to pray to another god, ²¹ would God not find out, since he knows the secrets in our hearts?

¹⁸ If I had thought about doing anything sinful, Jehovah would not have listened to me. ¹⁹ But God has heard me. He paid attention to my prayer.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah! The prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁶ Their webs cannot be used for clothes. They cannot cover themselves with their works for their works are evil. Their hands have committed acts of violence.

⁸ »Let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast. Let them sincerely call on God! Let them turn away each one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.

⁸ I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.

¹¹ »Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

⁵ Do not let their wrongdoing be covered or their sin be washed away from before you: for they have made you angry before the builders.

⁹ »Does God listen to his cry when distress comes upon him?

¹⁵ »When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are full of blood.

²¹ Behold! Jehovah is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose (reveal) the bloodshed upon her. She will conceal her slain no longer.

⁹ »‘Then you will call, and Jehovah will answer! You will cry and he will say: ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, ¹⁰ and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will be like midday.

²⁹ »O land, land, land! Hear the word of Jehovah.

⁷ »»Her blood is in her midst. She placed it on the bare rock. She did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.

³ You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly (with bad motives) that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ Adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity (hatred) (hostility) toward God? Whoever would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

⁵⁰ »If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women behind my back, remember that God stands as a witness between you and me.«

⁵ Samuel replied: »Jehovah and the king he has chosen are witnesses today that you have found me to be completely innocent«. They answered: »That is right, Jehovah is our witness!«

² »Rulership and awe belong to God. He establishes order in the heights of heaven.

⁵ Who is like Jehovah our God? He is seated on his high throne.

⁹ God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit (whole heart and mind) in the good news of his Son. Without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.

¹ I tell the truth in Christ. I do not lie! My conscience bears witness with me in Holy Spirit.

²³ But I call God for a witness against me. To spare you I did not come to Corinth.

³¹ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forever knows I do not lie.

⁵ You know very well that we did not come to you with flattering talk (praise for selfish gain). We did not use words to cover up greed (insatiable desire for wealth). God is our witness!

¹⁰ You and God are witnesses, how devoutly and righteously, without blame, we behaved toward you who believe!

⁴ »I have become a laughingstock to my friends! I called upon God and he answered. Yet I am a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless! ⁵ »Men at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

⁴ »I too could speak like you, if I were in your place. I could compose words against you. And I would shake my head at you.

² »Mockers surrounded me. My eye dwells on their provocation.

⁴ In return for my love, they accuse me, but I pray for them.

² I pour out my complaints in his presence and tell him my troubles.

⁴ He struggled with the angel and won. Jacob cried and pleaded with him. Jacob found him at Bethel, and he talked with him there. ⁵ »Jehovah is the God of Hosts. Jehovah is the name by which he is remembered.

¹¹ They were all very angry and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. ¹² He went to the mountain to pray and he continued all night in prayer to God.

⁷ In the days of his life on earth, when he [Christ] offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to the one who was able to save him out of death, and was heard because of his godly reverence. (Galatians 1:1) (Psalm 69:13)

³⁴ »Let God remove his rod from me. Do not let dread of him terrify me. ³⁵ »I would speak and not respect God. But I cannot do this!

³ »But I want to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.

²² »Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply.

³ »Oh that I knew where I might find him that I might come to his seat! ⁴ »I would present my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵ »I would learn what he would answer and perceive what he would say to me. ⁶ »Would He contend with me using his great power? No, surely He would pay attention to me. ⁷ »There the upright would reason with him. I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

³⁵ »Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

¹ JEHOVAH SPEAKS TO JOB: ² »Will the person who finds fault with the Almighty correct him? Will the person who argues with God answer him?« ³ JOB ANSWERED JEHOVAH: ⁴ »I am so insignificant. How can I answer you? I will put my hand over my mouth. ⁵ I spoke once, but I cannot answer twice. I will proceed no further.«

¹⁰ That which exists is named already. It is known and he cannot dispute with the one that is mightier than he.

⁹ »Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker, a pot that is like all the others? Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing? Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill?

²⁰ Yes, but you, O man, who are you to answer back to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: »Why have you made me this way?« (Isaiah 45:9)

⁹ »Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes; those who die will not come back. ¹⁰ »They are gone forever from their home. They will not be seen again.

⁵ »Man’s days are determined. You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

¹⁰ »On the other hand man dies and is laid low. He breathes his last and is no more!

¹⁴ »If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my change (release) to come.

⁵ Also when they will be afraid of what is high, and fears will be in the way, and the almond tree will flourish, and the grasshopper will be a burden, and the caper berry breaks and desire fails, man goes to his long lasting home and the mourners go about the streets.