To The Word – Day 161

_1-2Job, will you be annoyed if I speak?

I can't keep quiet any longer.

₃You have taught many people

and given strength to feeble hands.

₄When someone stumbled, weak and tired,

your words encouraged him to stand.

₅Now it's your turn to be in trouble,

and you are too stunned to face it.

₆You worshipped God, and your life was blameless;

and so you should have confidence and hope.

₇Think back now. Name a single case

where a righteous person met with disaster.

₈I have seen people plough fields of evil

and sow wickedness like seed;

now they harvest wickedness and evil.

₉Like a storm, God destroys them in his anger.

₁₀The wicked roar and growl like lions,

but God silences them and breaks their teeth.

₁₁Like lions with nothing to kill and eat,

they die, and all their children are scattered.

₁₂Once a message came quietly,

so quietly I could hardly hear it.

₁₃Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.

₁₄I trembled and shuddered;

my whole body shook with fear.

₁₅A light breeze touched my face,

and my hair bristled with fright.

₁₆I could see something standing there;

I stared, but couldn't tell what it was.

Then I heard a voice out of the silence:

₁₇“Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God

or be pure before his Creator?

₁₈God does not trust his heavenly servants;

he finds fault even with his angels.

₁₉Do you think he will trust a creature of clay,

a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?

₂₀Someone may be alive in the morning,

but die unnoticed before evening comes.

₂₁All that he has is taken away;

he dies, still lacking wisdom.”

₁Call out, Job. See if anyone answers.

Is there any angel to whom you can turn?

₂To worry yourself to death with resentment

would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.

₃I have seen fools who looked secure,

but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.

₄Their children can never find safety;

no one stands up to defend them in court.

₅Hungry people will eat the fool's crops —

even the grain growing among thorns —

and thirsty people will envy his wealth.

₆Evil does not grow in the soil,

nor does trouble grow out of the ground.

₇No indeed! People bring trouble on themselves,

as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.

₈If I were you, I would turn to God

and present my case to him.

₉We cannot understand the great things he does,

and to his miracles there is no end.

₁₀He sends rain on the land

and he waters the fields.

₁₁Yes, it is God who raises the humble

and gives joy to all who mourn.

_12-13He upsets the plans of cunning people,

and traps the wise in their own schemes,

so that nothing they do succeeds;

₁₄even at noon they grope in darkness.

₁₅But God saves the poor from death;

he saves the needy from oppression.

₁₆He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.

₁₇Happy is the person whom God corrects!

Do not resent it when he rebukes you.

₁₈God bandages the wounds he makes;

his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.

₁₉Time after time he will save you from harm;

₂₀when famine comes, he will keep you alive,

and in war protect you from death.

₂₁God will rescue you from slander;

he will save you when destruction comes.

₂₂You will laugh at violence and hunger

and not be afraid of wild animals.

₂₃The fields you plough will be free of rocks;

wild animals will never attack you.

₂₄Then you will live at peace in your tent;

when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe.

₂₅You will have as many children

as there are blades of grass in a pasture.

₂₆Like wheat that ripens till harvest time,

you will live to a ripe old age.

₂₇Job, we have learnt this by long study.

It is true, so now accept it.

_1-2If my troubles and griefs were weighed on scales,

₃they would weigh more than the sands of the sea,

so my wild words should not surprise you.

₄Almighty God has pierced me with arrows,

and their poison spreads through my body.

God has lined up his terrors against me.

₅A donkey is content when eating grass,

and a cow is quiet when eating hay.

₆But who can eat tasteless, unsalted food?

What flavour is there in the white of an egg?

₇I have no appetite for food like that,

and everything I eat makes me sick.

₈Why won't God give me what I ask?

Why won't he answer my prayer?

₉If only he would go ahead and kill me!

₁₀If I knew he would, I would leap for joy,

no matter how great my pain.

I know that God is holy;

I have never opposed what he commands.

₁₁What strength have I got to keep on living?

Why go on living when I have no hope?

₁₂Am I made of stone? Is my body bronze?

₁₃I have no strength left to save myself;

there is nowhere I can turn for help.

₁₄In trouble like this I need loyal friends —

whether I've forsaken God or not.

₁₅But you, my friends, you deceive me like streams

that go dry when no rain comes.

₁₆The streams are choked with snow and ice,

₁₇but in the heat they disappear,

and the stream beds lie bare and dry.

₁₈Caravans get lost looking for water;

they wander and die in the desert.

₁₉Caravans from Sheba and Tema search,

₂₀but their hope dies beside dry streams.

₂₁You are like those streams to me,

you see my fate and draw back in fear.

₂₂Have I asked you to give me a gift

or to bribe someone on my behalf

₂₃or to save me from some enemy or tyrant?

₂₄All right, teach me; tell me my faults.

I will be quiet and listen to you.

₂₅Honest words are convincing,

but you are talking nonsense.

₂₆You think I am talking nothing but wind;

then why do you answer my words of despair?

₂₇You would even throw dice for orphan slaves

and make yourselves rich off your closest friends!

₂₈Look me in the face. I won't lie.

₂₉You have gone far enough. Stop being unjust.

Don't condemn me. I'm in the right.

₃₀But you think I am lying —

you think I can't tell right from wrong.

₁Human life is like forced army service,

like a life of hard manual labour,

₂like slaves longing for cool shade;

like workers waiting for their pay.

₃Month after month I have nothing to live for;

night after night brings me grief.

₄When I lie down to sleep, the hours drag;

I toss all night and long for dawn.

₅My body is full of worms;

it is covered with scabs;

pus runs out of my sores.

₆My days pass by without hope,

pass faster than a weaver's shuttle.

₇Remember, O God, my life is only a breath;

my happiness has already ended.

₈You see me now, but never again.

If you look for me, I'll be gone.

_9-10Like a cloud that fades and is gone,

people die and never return;

they are forgotten by all who knew them.

₁₁No! I can't be quiet!

I am angry and bitter.

I have to speak.

₁₂Why do you keep me under guard?

Do you think I am a sea monster?

₁₃I lie down and try to rest;

I look for relief from my pain.

₁₄But you — you terrify me with dreams;

you send me visions and nightmares

₁₅until I would rather be strangled

than live in this miserable body.

₁₆I give up; I am tired of living.

Leave me alone. My life makes no sense.

₁₇Why are human beings so important to you?

Why pay attention to what they do?

₁₈You inspect them every morning

and test them every minute.

₁₉Won't you look away long enough

for me to swallow my spittle?

₂₀Are you harmed by my sin, you jailer?

Why use me for your target practice?

Am I so great a burden to you?

₂₁Can't you ever forgive my sin?

Can't you pardon the wrong I do?

Soon I will be in my grave,

and I'll be gone when you look for me.

₇“Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven,

whose sins are pardoned!

₈Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!”