Study Desk

Call out if you please. Will anyone answer you? Which of the holy ones^(a) will you turn to?

For anger kills a fool, and jealousy slays the gullible.^(b)

I have seen a fool taking root, but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.

His children are far from safety. They are crushed at the city gate,^(c) with no one to rescue them.

The hungry consume his harvest, even taking it out of the thorns.^[a] The thirsty^[b] pant for his children's wealth.

For distress does not grow out of the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

But mankind is born for trouble^(d) as surely as sparks fly upward.

However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and would present my case to Him.^(e)

He does great^(f) and unsearchable things, wonders without number.^(g)

He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields.^(h)

He sets the lowly on high, and mourners are lifted to safety.⁽ⁱ⁾

He frustrates the schemes of the crafty so that they^[c] achieve no success.

He traps the wise in their craftiness so that the plans of the deceptive are quickly brought to an end.^(j)

They encounter darkness by day, and they grope at noon as if it were night.^(k)

He saves the needy from their sharp words^[d](l) and from the clutches of the powerful.

So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.^(m)

See how happy the man is God corrects; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

For He crushes but also binds up; He strikes, but His hands also heal.⁽ⁿ⁾

He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.

In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle, from the power of the sword.^(o)

You will be safe from slander^[e] and not fear destruction when it comes.^(p)

You will laugh at destruction and hunger and not fear the animals 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.^(q)

You will know that your tent is secure,^(r) and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.

You will also know that your offspring will be many and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

You will approach the grave^(s) in full vigor,^(t) as a stack of sheaves is gathered in its season.

We have investigated this, and it is true! Hear it and understand it for yourself.

Then Job answered:

If only my grief could be weighed and my devastation^(a) placed with it in the scales.^(b)

For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas! That is why my words are rash.

Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced^[a] me; my spirit drinks their poison. God's terrors are arrayed against me.^(c)

Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass or an ox low over its fodder?

Is bland food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in an egg white?^[b]

I refuse to touch them; they are like contaminated food.^(d)

If only my request would be granted and God would provide what I hope for:

that He would decide to crush me, to unleash His power and cut me off!

It would still bring me comfort, and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain that I have not denied^[c] the words of the Holy One.^(e)

What strength do I have that I should continue to hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?

Is my strength that of stone, or my flesh made of bronze?

Since I cannot help myself, the hope for success has been banished from me.

A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,^[d](f) even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi, as seasonal streams that overflow

and become darkened^[e] because of ice, and the snow melts into them.

The wadis evaporate in warm weather; they disappear from their channels in hot weather.

Caravans turn away from their routes, go up into the desert, and perish.

The caravans of Tema look for these streams. The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.

They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water. When they arrive there, they are frustrated.^(g)

So this is what you have now become to me.^[f] When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

Have I ever said: "Give me something" or "Pay a bribe for me from your wealth"

or "Deliver me from the enemy's power" or "Redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless"?

Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand what I did wrong.

How painful honest words can be! But what does your rebuke prove?

Do you think that you can disprove my words or that a despairing man's words are mere wind?^(h)

No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child and negotiate a price to sell your friend.⁽ⁱ⁾

But now, please look at me; would I lie to your face?^(j)

Reconsider; don't be unjust. Reconsider; my righteousness^(k) is still the issue.

Is there injustice on my tongue or can my palate not taste disaster?^(l)

Isn't mankind consigned to forced labor^(a) on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hired man he waits for his pay.

So I have been made to inherit months of futility, and troubled nights have been assigned to me.^(b)

When I lie down I think: When will I get up? But the evening drags on endlessly, and I toss and turn until dawn.

My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt.^[a] My skin forms scabs^[b] and then oozes.^(c)

My days pass more swiftly than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope.^(d)

Remember that my life is but a breath. My eye will never again see anything good.^(e)

The eye of anyone who looks on me will no longer see me. Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.^(f)

As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol^(g) will never rise again.

He will never return to his house; his hometown will no longer remember^[c] him.^(h)

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea^[d](i) or a sea monster,^(j) that You keep me under guard?

When I say: My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,

then You frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions,^(k)

so that I prefer strangling^[e]— death rather than life in this body.^[f](l)

I give up! I will not live forever. Leave me alone,^(m) for my days are a breath.^[g]

What is man, that You think so highly of him and pay so much attention to him?⁽ⁿ⁾

You inspect him every morning, and put him to the test every moment.^(o)

Will You ever look away from me, or leave me alone long enough to swallow?^[h]

If I have sinned, what have I done to You, Watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target,^(p) so that I have become a burden to You?^[i]

Why not forgive my sin and pardon my transgression?^(q) For soon I will lie down in the grave.^(r) You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.^(s)