You need to upgrade your Flash Player

You must be signed in

Don't have an eBible.com account? It is FREE!

2“How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

3What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insight you have displayed!

4Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

5“The dead are in deep anguish,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

6DeathHebrew Sheol is naked before God;
DestructionHebrew Abaddon lies uncovered.

7He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.

8He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

9He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.

10He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.

11The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.

12By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

13By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

14And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

2“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,

3as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,

4my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will utter no deceit.

5I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

6I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

7“May my enemies be like the wicked,
my adversaries like the unjust!

8For what hope has the godless when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?

9Does God listen to his cry
when distress comes upon him?

10Will he find delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?

11“I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

12You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?

13“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

14However many his children, their fate is the sword;
his offspring will never have enough to eat.

15The plague will bury those who survive him,
and their widows will not weep for them.

16Though he heaps up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay,

17what he lays up the righteous will wear,
and the innocent will divide his silver.

18The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon,
like a hut made by a watchman.

19He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

20Terrors overtake him like a flood;
a tempest snatches him away in the night.

21The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.

22It hurls itself against him without mercy
as he flees headlong from its power.

23It claps its hands in derision
and hisses him out of his place.

2Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.

3Man puts an end to the darkness;
he searches the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.

4Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft,
in places forgotten by the foot of man;
far from men he dangles and sways.

5The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;

6sapphiresOr lapis lazuli; also in verse 16 come from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.

7No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon's eye has seen it.

8Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.

9Man's hand assaults the flinty rock
and lays bare the roots of the mountains.

10He tunnels through the rock;
his eyes see all its treasures.

11He searchesSeptuagint, Aquila and Vulgate; Hebrew He dams up the sources of the rivers
and brings hidden things to light.

12“But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?

13Man does not comprehend its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.

14The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.

16It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.

17Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.

18Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

19The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.

20“Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?

21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.

22DestructionHebrew Abaddon and Death say,
‘Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.’

23God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,

24for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

25When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,

26when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,

27then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.

28And he said to man,
‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.’”

2“How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,

3when his lamp shone upon my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!

4Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,

5when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,

6when my path was drenched with cream
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

7“When I went to the gate of the city
and took my seat in the public square,

8the young men saw me and stepped aside
and the old men rose to their feet;

9the chief men refrained from speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands;

10the voices of the nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

11Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,

12because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to assist him.

13The man who was dying blessed me;
I made the widow's heart sing.

14I put on righteousness as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.

15I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.

16I was a father to the needy;
I took up the case of the stranger.

17I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims from their teeth.

18“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

19My roots will reach to the water,
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.

20My glory will remain fresh in me,
the bow ever new in my hand.’

21“Men listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.

22After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
my words fell gently on their ears.

23They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.

24When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face was precious to them.The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.

25I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;
I dwelt as a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.

2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?

3Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamedOr gnawed the parched land
in desolate wastelands at night.

4In the brush they gathered salt herbs,
and their foodOr fuel was the root of the broom tree.

5They were banished from their fellow men,
shouted at as if they were thieves.

6They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

7They brayed among the bushes
and huddled in the undergrowth.

8A base and nameless brood,
they were driven out of the land.

9“And now their sons mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.

10They detest me and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

11Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.

12On my right the tribeThe meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. attacks;
they lay snares for my feet,
they build their siege ramps against me.

13They break up my road;
they succeed in destroying me—
without anyone's helping them.Or me. / ‘No one can help him,’ they say.

14They advance as through a gaping breach;
amid the ruins they come rolling in.

15Terrors overwhelm me;
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.

16“And now my life ebbs away;
days of suffering grip me.

17Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.

18In his great power God becomes like clothing to meHebrew; Septuagint God grasps my clothing;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.

19He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

20“I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.

21You turn on me ruthlessly;
with the might of your hand you attack me.

22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
you toss me about in the storm.

23I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.

24“Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.

25Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.

27The churning inside me never stops;
days of suffering confront me.

28I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

29I have become a brother of jackals,
a companion of owls.

30My skin grows black and peels;
my body burns with fever.

31My harp is tuned to mourning,
and my flute to the sound of wailing.

2For what is man's lot from God above,
his heritage from the Almighty on high?

3Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?

4Does he not see my ways
and count my every step?

5“If I have walked in falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit—

6let God weigh me in honest scales
and he will know that I am blameless—

7if my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands have been defiled,

8then may others eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.

9“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door,

10then may my wife grind another man's grain,
and may other men sleep with her.

11For that would have been shameful,
a sin to be judged.

12It is a fire that burns to DestructionHebrew Abaddon;
it would have uprooted my harvest.

13“If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants
when they had a grievance against me,

14what will I do when God confronts me?
What will I answer when called to account?

15Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

16“If I have denied the desires of the poor
or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

17if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless—

18but from my youth I reared him as would a father,
and from my birth I guided the widow—

19if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
or a needy man without a garment,

20and his heart did not bless me
for warming him with the fleece from my sheep,

21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
knowing that I had influence in court,

22then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.

23For I dreaded destruction from God,
and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

24“If I have put my trust in gold
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

25if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
the fortune my hands had gained,

26if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
or the moon moving in splendor,

29“If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune
or gloated over the trouble that came to him—

30I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against his life—

31if the men of my household have never said,
‘Who has not had his fill of Job's meat?’—

32but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the traveler—

33if I have concealed my sin as men do,Or as Adam did
by hiding my guilt in my heart

34because I so feared the crowd
and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I kept silent and would not go outside

35(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

36Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
I would put it on like a crown.

37I would give him an account of my every step;
like a prince I would approach him.)—

38“if my land cries out against me
and all its furrows are wet with tears,

39if I have devoured its yield without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,

40then let briers come up instead of wheat
and weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.