14 I am biting off more than I can chew and taking my life in my own hands.
15 If God would kill me, I would have no hope left.c Nevertheless, I will defend my behavior to his face.
16 This also will be my salvation because no godless person could face him.
Job Speaks to God 17 "Listen carefully to my words.
Hear my declaration.
18 I have prepared my case.
I know that I will be declared righteous.
19 Who can make a case against me?
If someone could, I'd be silent and die.
20 "Please don't do two things to me so that I won't have to hide from you: 21 Stop oppressing me.
Don't let your terror frighten me.
22 Then call, and I'll answer.
Otherwise, I'll speak, and you'll answer me.
23 How many crimes and sins have I committed?
Make me aware of my disobedience and my sin.
24 Why do you hide your face from me and consider me your enemy?
25 Are you trying to make a fluttering leaf tremble or trying to chase dry husks?
26 You write down bitter accusations against me.
You make me suffer for the sins of my youth.
27 You put my feet in shackles.
You follow my trail by engraving marks on the soles of my feet.
28 I am like worn-out wineskins, like moth-eaten clothes.
Job Continues: Consider My Frail Human Nature, God 141 "A person who is born of a woman is short-lived and is full of trouble.
2 He comes up like a flower; then he withers.
He is like a fleeting shadow; he doesn't stay long.
3 You observe this and call me to account to you.
4 "If only an unclean person could become clean!a It's not possible.
5 If the number of his days and the number of his months are determined by you, and you set his limit, then he cannot go past it.
6 Look away from him, and he will cease to be.b Meanwhile, he loves life as a laborer loves work.
7 There is hope for a tree when it is cut down.
It will sprout again.
Its shoots will not stop sprouting.
8 If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil, 9 merely a scent of water will make it sprout and grow branches like a plant.
10 But a human dies and is powerless.
A person breathes his last breath, and where is he?
11 As water drains out of a lake, or as a river dries up completely, 12 so each person lies down and does not rise until the heavens cease to exist.
He does not wake up.
He is not awakened from his sleep.
13 I wish you would hide me in Sheol and keep me hidden there until your anger cools.
Set a specific time for me when you will remember me.
14 "If a person dies, will he go on living?
I will wait for my relief to come as long as my hard labor continues.
15 You will call, and I will answer you.
You will long for the person your hands have made.
16 Though now you count my steps, you will not keep a record of my sins.
17 My disobedience will be closed up in a bag, and you will cover over my sins.
18 As surely as a mountain falls and rocks are dislodged, 19 so water wears away stone, floods wash away soil from the land, and you destroy a mortal's hope.
20 You overpower him forever, and he passes away.
You change his appearance and send him away.
21 His sons are honored, and he doesn't know it.
Or they become unimportant, and he doesn't realize it.
22 He feels only his body's pain.
He is only worried about himself."
Eliphaz Speaks: You Are Speaking Sinfully, Job 151 Then Eliphaz from Teman replied to Job, 2 "Should a wise person answer with endless details and fill his stomach with the east wind?
3 Should he argue with words that don't help, with speeches that don't help anyone?
4 Yes, you destroy the fear of God and diminish devotion to El.
5 Your sin teaches you what to say.
You choose to talk with a sly tongue.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I.
Your lips testify against you.
You Are Not the Only Wise Person, Job 7 "Were you the first human to be born?
Were you delivered before the hills existed?
8 Did you listen in on Eloah's council meeting and receive a monopoly on wisdom?
9 What do you know that we don't know?
What do you understand that we don't?
10 Both the old and the gray-haired are among us.
They are older than your father.
11 Isn't El's comfort enough for you, even when gently spoken to you?
12 Why have your emotions carried you away?
Why do your eyes flash 13 when you turn against El and spit these words out of your mouth?
14 Why should a mortal be considered faultless or someone born of a woman be considered righteous?
15 If El doesn't trust his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight, 16 how much less will he trust the one who is disgusting and corrupt, the one who drinks wickedness like water.
I Want to Tell You What I Know 17 "I'll tell you; listen to me!
I'll relate what I have seen.
18 I'll tell you what wise people have declared and what was not kept secret from their ancestors.
19 (The land was given to them alone, and no stranger passed through their land.) The Tortured Life of the Wicked Person 20 "The wicked person is tortured all his days.
Only a few years are reserved for the ruthless person.
21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears.
While he enjoys peace, the destroyer comes to him.
22 He doesn't believe he'll return from the dark.
He is destined to be killed with a sword.
23 He wanders around for food and asks, 'Where is it?'a He knows that his ruin is close at hand.
24 "The day of darknessa troubles him.
Distress and anguish terrify him like a king ready for battle.
25 He stretches out his hand against El and attacks Shadday like a warrior.
26 He stubbornly charges at him with a thick shield.
27 "His face is bloated with fat, and he is fat around the waist.
28 He lives in ruined cities where no one dwells, in houses that are doomed to be piles of rubble.
29 He won't get rich, and his wealth won't last.
His possessions won't spread out over the land.
30 "He won't escape the darkness.
A flame will shrivel his branches.
He will be blown away by his own breath.
31 He shouldn't trust in worthless things and deceive himself because he will get worthless things in return.
32 It will happen before his time has come, and his branch will not become green.
33 He will drop his unripened grapes like a vine and throw off his blossoms like an olive tree 34 because a mob of godless people produces nothing, and fire burns up the tents of those who offer bribes.b 35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
Their wombs produce deception."
Job Speaks: My Friends Do Not Help Ease My Pain 161 Then Job replied to his friends, 2 "I have heard many things like this before.
You are all pathetic at comforting me.
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?