After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth, He said:
"May the day of my birth perish,
and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!'
That day--may it turn to darkness;
may GOD above not care about it;
may no light shine upon it.
May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm its light.
That night--may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.
May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy be heard in it.
May those who curse days curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,
for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.
"Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?
Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?
For now I would be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest
with kings and counselors of the earth,
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
with rulers who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?
There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.
Captives also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.
The small and the great are there,
and the slave is freed from his master.
"Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,
to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?
Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom GOD has hedged in?
For sighing comes to me instead of food;
my groans pour out like water.
What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil."
Eliphaz
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
"If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?
Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.
Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?
"Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?
As I have observed, those who plow evil
and those who sow trouble reap it.
At the breath of GOD they are destroyed;
at the blast of HIS anger they perish.
The lions may roar and growl,
yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
The lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
"A word was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper of it.
Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
fear and trembling seized me
and made all my bones shake.
A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.
It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:
'Can a mortal be more righteous than GOD?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
If GOD places no trust in HIS servants,
if HE charges HIS angels with error,
how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more readily than a moth!
Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
unnoticed, they perish forever.
Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
so that they die without wisdom?'
"Call if you will, but who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.
I myself have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly his house was cursed.
His children are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender.
The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
"But if it were I, I would appeal to GOD;
I would lay my cause before HIM.
HE performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
HE bestows rain on the earth;
HE sends water upon the countryside.
The lowly HE sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
HE thwarts the plans of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
HE catches the wise in their craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;
at noon they grope as in the night.
HE saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
HE saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
"Blessed is the man whom GOD corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of THE ALMIGHTY.
For HE wounds, but HE also binds up;
HE injures, but HIS hands also heal.
From six calamities HE will rescue you;
in seven no harm will befall you.
In famine HE will ransom you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,
and need not fear when destruction comes.
You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
You will know that your tent is secure;
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
You will know that your children will be many,
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like sheaves gathered in season.
"We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself."
Job
Then Job replied:
"If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!
It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas--
no wonder my words have been impetuous.
The arrows of THE ALMIGHTY are in me,
my spirit drinks in their poison;
GOD'S terrors are marshaled against me.
Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,
or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me ill.
"Oh, that I might have my request,
that GOD would grant what I hope for,
that GOD would be willing to crush me,
to let loose HIS hand and cut me off!
Then I would still have this consolation--
my joy in unrelenting pain--
that I had not denied the words of THE HOLY ONE.
"What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What prospects, that I should be patient?
Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?
Do I have any power to help myself,
now that success has been driven from me?
"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends,
even though he forsakes the fear of THE ALMIGHTY.
But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
as the streams that overflow
when darkened by thawing ice
and swollen with melting snow,
but that cease to flow in the dry season,
and in the heat vanish from their channels.
Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go up into the wasteland and perish.
The caravans of Tema look for water,
the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
They are distressed, because they had been confident;
they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
Now you too have proved to be of no help;
you see something dreadful and are afraid.
Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf,
pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?
"Teach me, and I will be quiet;
show me where I have been wrong.
How painful are honest words!
But what do your arguments prove?
Do you mean to correct what I say,
and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?
You would even cast lots for the fatherless
and barter away your friend.
"But now be so kind as to look at me.
Would I lie to your face?
Relent, do not be unjust;
reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
Is there any wickedness on my lips?
Can my mouth not discern malice?
"Does not man have hard service on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired man?
Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages,
so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?'
The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.
My body is clothed with worms and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.
Remember, O GOD, that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never see happiness again.
The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
YOU will look for me, but I will be no more.
As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so he who goes down to the grave does not return.
He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.
"Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
that YOU put me under guard?
When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,
even then YOU frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
so that I prefer strangling and death,
rather than this body of mine.
I despise my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
"What is man that YOU make so much of him,
that YOU give him so much attention,
that YOU examine him every morning
and test him every moment?
Will YOU never look away from me,
or let me alone even for an instant?
If I have sinned, what have I done to YOU,
O watcher of men?
Why have YOU made me YOUR target?
Have I become a burden to YOU?
Why do YOU not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
YOU will search for me, but I will be no more."
Bildad
Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
"How long will you say such things?
Your words are a blustering wind.
Does GOD pervert justice?
Does THE ALMIGHTY pervert what is right?
When your children sinned against HIM,
HE gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
But if you will look to GOD
and plead with THE ALMIGHTY,
if you are pure and upright,
even now HE will rouse HIMSELF on your behalf
and restore you to your rightful place.
Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be.
"Ask the former generations
and find out what their fathers learned,
for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.
Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?
While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.
Such is the destiny of all who forget GOD;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
What he trusts in is fragile;
what he relies on is a spider's web.
He leans on his web, but it gives way;
he clings to it, but it does not hold.
He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;
it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.
But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'
Surely its life withers away,
and from the soil other plants grow.
"Surely GOD does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
HE will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more."
Job
Then Job replied:
"Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before GOD?
Though one wished to dispute with HIM,
HE could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
HIS wisdom is profound, HIS power is vast.
Who has resisted HIM and come out unscathed?
HE moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in HIS anger.
HE shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.
HE speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
HE seals off the light of the stars.
HE alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
HE is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
HE performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
When HE passes me, I cannot see HIM;
when HE goes by, I cannot perceive HIM.
If HE snatches away, who can stop HIM?
Who can say to HIM, 'What are YOU doing?'
GOD does not restrain HIS anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at HIS feet.
"How then can I dispute with HIM?
How can I find words to argue with HIM?
Though I were innocent, I could not answer HIM;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
Even if I summoned HIM and HE responded,
I do not believe HE would give me a hearing.
HE would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.
HE would not let me regain my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.
If it is a matter of strength, HE is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon HIM?
Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
"Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.
It is all the same; that is why I say,
'HE destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'
When a scourge brings sudden death,
HE mocks the despair of the innocent.
When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
HE blindfolds its judges.
If it is not HE, then who is it?
"My days are swifter than a runner;
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.
They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like eagles swooping down on their prey.
If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression, and smile,'
I still dread all my sufferings,
for I know YOU will not hold me innocent.
Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?
Even if I washed myself with soap
and my hands with washing soda,
YOU would plunge me into a slime pit
so that even my clothes would detest me.
"HE is not a man like me that I might answer HIM,
that we might confront each other in court.
If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay HIS hand upon us both,
someone to remove GOD'S rod from me,
so that HIS terror would frighten me no more.
Then I would speak up without fear of HIM,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
"I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to GOD: Do not condemn me,
but tell me what charges YOU have against me.
Does it please YOU to oppress me,
to spurn the work of YOUR hands,
while YOU smile on the schemes of the wicked?
Do YOU have eyes of flesh?
Do YOU see as a mortal sees?
Are YOUR days like those of a mortal
or YOUR years like those of a man,
that YOU must search out my faults
and probe after my sin--
though YOU know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from YOUR hand?
"YOUR hands shaped me and made me.
Will YOU now turn and destroy me?
Remember that YOU molded me like clay.
Will YOU now turn me to dust again?
Did YOU not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,
clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?
YOU gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in YOUR providence watched over my spirit.
"But this is what YOU concealed in YOUR heart,
and I know that this was in YOUR mind:
If I sinned, YOU would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.
If I am guilty--woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in my affliction.
If I hold my head high, YOU stalk me like a lion
and again display YOUR awesome power against me.
YOU bring new witnesses against me
and increase YOUR anger toward me;
YOUR forces come against me wave upon wave.
"Why then did YOU bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy
before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and deep shadow,
to the land of deepest night,
of deep shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness."
Zophar
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
"Are all these words to go unanswered?
Is this talker to be vindicated?
Will your idle talk reduce men to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
You say to GOD, 'My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in YOUR sight.'
Oh, how I wish that GOD would speak,
that HE would open HIS lips against you
and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: GOD has even forgotten some of your sin.
"Can you fathom the mysteries of GOD?
Can you probe the limits of THE ALMIGHTY?
They are higher than the heavens--what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave--what can you know?
Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.
"If HE comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose HIM?
Surely HE recognizes deceitful men;
and when HE sees evil, does HE not take note?
But a witless man can no more become wise
than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man.
"Yet if you devote your heart to HIM
and stretch out your hands to HIM,
if you put away the sin that is in your hand,
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.
You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.
Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.
You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.
But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp."
Job
Then Job replied:
"Doubtless you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!
But I have a mind as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?
"I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
though I called upon GOD and HE answered--
a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
Men at ease have contempt for misfortune
as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
The tents of marauders are undisturbed,
and those who provoke GOD are secure--
those who carry their god in their hands.
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know
that the hand of THE LORD has done this?
In HIS hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.
Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?
Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?
"To GOD belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are HIS.
What HE tears down cannot be rebuilt;
the man HE imprisons cannot be released.
If HE holds back the waters, there is drought;
if HE lets them loose, they devastate the land.
To HIM belong strength and victory;
both deceived and deceiver are HIS.
HE leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.
HE takes off the shackles put on by kings
and ties a loincloth around their waist.
HE leads priests away stripped
and overthrows men long established.
HE silences the lips of trusted advisers
and takes away the discernment of elders.
HE pours contempt on nobles
and disarms the mighty.
HE reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings deep shadows into the light.
HE makes nations great, and destroys them;
HE enlarges nations, and disperses them.
HE deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
HE sends them wandering through a trackless waste.
They grope in darkness with no light;
HE makes them stagger like drunkards.
"My eyes have seen all this,
my ears have heard and understood it.
What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
But I desire to speak to THE ALMIGHTY
and to argue my case with GOD.
You, however, smear me with lies;
you are worthless physicians, all of you!
If only you would be altogether silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.
Hear now my argument;
listen to the plea of my lips.
Will you speak wickedly on GOD'S behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for HIM?
Will you show HIM partiality?
Will you argue the case for GOD?
Would it turn out well if HE examined you?
Could you deceive HIM as you might deceive men?
HE would surely rebuke you
if you secretly showed partiality.
Would not HIS splendor terrify you?
Would not the dread of HIM fall on you?
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
"Keep silent and let me speak;
then let come to me what may.
Why do I put myself in jeopardy
and take my life in my hands?
Though HE slay me, yet will I hope in HIM;
I will surely defend my ways to HIS face.
Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless man would dare come before HIM!
Listen carefully to my words;
let your ears take in what I say.
Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.
Can anyone bring charges against me?
If so, I will be silent and die.
"Only grant me these two things, O GOD,
and then I will not hide from YOU:
Withdraw YOUR hand far from me,
and stop frightening me with YOUR terrors.
Then Summon me and I will answer,
or let me speak, and YOU reply.
How many wrongs and sins have I committed?
Show me my offense and my sin.
Why do YOU hide YOUR face
Will YOU torment a windblown leaf?
Will YOU chase after dry chaff?
For YOU write down bitter things against me
and make me inherit the sins of my youth.
YOU fasten my feet in shackles;
YOU keep close watch on all my paths
by putting marks on the soles of my feet.
"So man wastes away like something rotten,
like a garment eaten by moths.
"Man born of woman
is of few days and full of trouble.
He springs up like a flower and withers away;
like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
Do YOU fix YOUR eye on such a one?
Will YOU bring him before YOU for judgment?
Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No one!
Man's days are determined;
YOU have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.
So look away from him and let him alone,
till he has put in his time like a hired man.
"At least there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.
But man dies and is laid low;
he breathes his last and is no more.
As water disappears from the sea
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
so man lies down and does not rise;
till the heavens are no more, men will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.
"If only YOU would hide me in the grave
and conceal me till YOUR anger has passed!
If only YOU would set me a time
and then remember me!
If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come.
YOU will call and I will answer YOU;
YOU will long for the creature YOUR hands have made.
Surely then YOU will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.
My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
YOU will cover over my sin.
"But as a mountain erodes and crumbles
and as a rock is moved from its place,
as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil,
so YOU destroy man's hope.
YOU overpower him once for all, and he is gone;
YOU change his countenance and send him away.
If his sons are honored, he does not know it;
if they are brought low, he does not see it.
He feels but the pain of his own body
and mourns only for himself."
The Book of Job: chapter 3 & chapter 4 & chapter 5 & chapter 6 & chapter 7 & chapter 8 & chapter 9 & chapter 10 & chapter 11 & chapter 12 & chapter 13 & chapter 14
No comments:
Post a Comment