To The Word – Day 163

_1-2Will no one answer all this nonsense?

Does talking so much put you in the right?

₃Job, do you think we can't answer you?

That your mocking words will leave us speechless?

₄You claim that what you say is true;

you claim you are pure in the sight of God.

₅How I wish God would answer you!

₆He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom;

there are things too deep for human knowledge.

God is punishing you less than you deserve.

₇Can you discover the limits and bounds

of the greatness and power of God?

₈The sky is no limit for God,

but it lies beyond your reach.

God knows the world of the dead,

but you do not know it.

₉God's greatness is broader than the earth,

wider than the sea.

₁₀If God arrests you and brings you to trial,

who is there to stop him?

₁₁God knows which people are worthless;

he sees all their evil deeds.

₁₂Stupid people will start being wise

when wild donkeys are born tame.

₁₃Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God.

₁₄Put away evil and wrong from your home.

₁₅Then face the world again, firm and courageous.

₁₆Then all your troubles will fade from your memory,

like floods that are past and remembered no more.

₁₇Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon,

and life's darkest hours will shine like the dawn.

₁₈You will live secure and full of hope;

God will protect you and give you rest.

₁₉You won't be afraid of your enemies;

many people will ask you for help.

₂₀But the wicked will look round in despair

and find that there is no way to escape.

Their one hope is that death will come.

_1-2Yes, you are the voice of the people.

When you die, wisdom will die with you.

₃But I have as much sense as you have;

I am in no way inferior to you;

everyone knows all that you have said.

₄Even my friends laugh at me now;

they laugh, although I am righteous and blameless;

but there was a time when God answered my prayers.

₅You have no troubles, and yet you make fun of me;

you hit someone who is about to fall.

₆But thieves and godless people live in peace,

though their only god is their own strength.

₇Even birds and animals have much they could teach you;

₈ask the creatures of earth and sea for their wisdom.

₉All of them know that the LORD's hand made them.

₁₀It is God who directs the lives of his creatures;

everyone's life is in his power.

₁₁But just as your tongue enjoys tasting food,

your ears enjoy hearing words.

_12-13Old people have wisdom,

but God has wisdom and power.

Old people have insight;

God has insight and power to act.

₁₄When God tears down, who can rebuild,

and who can free those God imprisons?

₁₅Drought comes when God withholds rain;

floods come when he turns water loose.

₁₆God is strong and always victorious;

both deceived and deceiver are in his power.

₁₇He takes away the wisdom of rulers

and makes leaders act like fools.

₁₈He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners;

₁₉he humbles priests and men of power.

₂₀He silences those who are trusted,

and takes the wisdom of old people away.

₂₁He disgraces those in power

and puts an end to the strength of rulers.

₂₂He sends light to places dark as death.

₂₃He makes nations strong and great,

but then he defeats and destroys them.

₂₄He makes their leaders foolish

and lets them wander confused and lost;

₂₅they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards.

_1-2Everything you say, I have heard before.

I understand it all; I know as much as you do.

I'm not your inferior.

₃But my dispute is with God, not you;

I want to argue my case with him.

₄You cover up your ignorance with lies;

you are like doctors who can't heal anyone.

₅Say nothing, and someone may think you are wise!

₆Listen while I state my case.

₇Why are you lying?

Do you think your lies will benefit God?

₈Are you trying to defend him?

Are you going to argue his case in court?

₉If God looks at you closely, will he find anything good?

Do you think you can fool God as you fool others?

₁₀Even though your prejudice is hidden,

he will reprimand you,

₁₁and his power will fill you with terror.

₁₂Your proverbs are as useless as ashes;

your arguments crumble like clay.

₁₃Be quiet and give me a chance to speak,

and let the results be what they will.

₁₄I am ready to risk my life.

₁₅I've lost all hope, so what if God kills me?

I am going to state my case to him.

₁₆It may even be that my boldness will save me,

since no wicked person would dare to face God.

₁₇Now listen to my words of explanation.

₁₈I am ready to state my case,

because I know I am in the right.

₁₉Are you coming to accuse me, God?

If you do, I am ready to be silent and die.

₂₀Let me ask for two things; agree to them,

and I will not try to hide from you;

₂₁stop punishing me, and don't crush me with terror.

₂₂Speak first, O God, and I will answer.

Or let me speak, and you answer me.

₂₃What are my sins? What wrongs have I done?

What crimes am I charged with?

₂₄Why do you avoid me?

Why do you treat me like an enemy?

₂₅Are you trying to frighten me? I'm nothing but a leaf;

you are attacking a piece of dry straw.

₂₆You bring bitter charges against me,

even for what I did when I was young.

₂₇You bind chains on my feet;

you watch every step I take,

and even examine my footprints.

₂₈As a result, I crumble like rotten wood,

like a moth-eaten coat.

₁We are all born weak and helpless.

All lead the same short, troubled life.

₂We grow and wither as quickly as flowers;

we disappear like shadows.

₃Will you even look at me, God,

or put me on trial and judge me?

₄Nothing clean can ever come

from anything as unclean as human beings.

₅The length of their lives is decided beforehand —

the number of months they will live.

You have settled it, and it can't be changed.

₆Look away from them and leave them alone;

let them enjoy their hard life — if they can.

₇There is hope for a tree that has been cut down;

it can come back to life and sprout.

₈Even though its roots grow old,

and its stump dies in the ground,

₉with water it will sprout like a young plant.

₁₀But people die, and that is the end of them;

they die, and where are they then?

₁₁Like rivers that stop running,

and lakes that go dry,

₁₂people die, never to rise.

They will never wake up while the sky endures;

they will never stir from their sleep.

₁₃I wish you would hide me in the world of the dead;

let me be hidden until your anger is over,

and then set a time to remember me.

₁₄If people die, can they come back to life?

But I will wait for better times,

wait till this time of trouble is ended.

₁₅Then you will call, and I will answer,

and you will be pleased with me, your creature.

₁₆Then you will watch every step I take,

but you will not keep track of my sins.

₁₇You will forgive them and put them away;

you will wipe out all the wrongs I have done.

₁₈There comes a time when mountains fall

and solid cliffs are moved away.

₁₉Water will wear down rocks,

and heavy rain will wash away the soil;

so you destroy our hope for life.

₂₀You overpower someone and send him away for ever;

his face is twisted in death.

₂₁His sons win honour, but he never knows it,

nor is he told when they are disgraced.

₂₂He feels only the pain of his own body

and the grief of his own mind.

“The people who were not mine

I will call ‘My People’.

The nation that I did not love

I will call ‘My Beloved’.

₂₆And in the very place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called the children of the living God.”

“Look, I place in Zion a stone

that will make people stumble,

a rock that will make them fall.

But whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”

“The sound of their voice went out to all the world;

their words reached the ends of the earth.”

“I will use a so-called nation

to make my people jealous;

and by means of a nation of fools

I will make my people angry.”

“I was found by those who were not looking for me;

I appeared to those who were not asking for me.”