Through My Bible Yr 01 – July 30
Job 8:1 – 9:24
Round One: Bildadās Speech
Job 8
1Ā Then Bildad the Shuhite responded:
2Ā How long will you say such things?
How long will the words of your mouth be like a blustery wind?
3Ā Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4Ā When your children sinned against him,
he handed them over to the consequences of their rebellion.
5Ā But if you will eagerly seek God
and plead for compassion from the Almighty,
6Ā if you are pure and upright,
then even now he will rouse himself on your behalf,
and he will restore your rightful dwelling place.
7Ā Then, though your beginnings were small,
your final days will be very great!
8Ā Yes, ask the previous generations,
and consider the discoveries of their fathers,
9Ā because we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are nothing but a shadow.
10Ā Arenāt our ancestors the ones who should teach you and inform you,
the ones who brought forth words from their hearts?
11Ā Does papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Do reeds thrive where there is no water?
12Ā While they are still growing and uncut,
they can wither faster than any other plant.
13Ā This is the way it will be for all those who forget God.
The hope of the godless man perishes.
14Ā His source of confidence is fragile.
He trusts in something as fragile as a spiderās web.
15Ā He leans on his web, but it does not support him.
He grasps it, but it does not hold him up.
16Ā He is a thriving plant flourishing in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden.
17Ā It wraps its roots around a heap of rocks.
It finds a home among the stones.
18Ā But if it is uprooted from its place,
that place disowns it, saying, āI have never seen you!ā
19Ā Yes, the only good thing that comes from this situation is that
from the dust another plant sprouts. [1]
20Ā Certainly God does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hand of evildoers.
21Ā He will again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a joyful shout.
22Ā Your enemies will be clothed with shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.
Round One: Jobās Third Speech
Job 9
1Ā Then Job responded:
2Ā Of course I know that this is true.
But how can a man be justified before God?
3Ā If someone wants to argue with God,
he could not refute one charge out of a thousand. [2]
4Ā God has a wise heart and great power,
so who can resist God and come out of it unharmed?
5Ā God removes mountains from their position,
and they donāt even realize it.
He overturns mountains in his anger.
6Ā He shakes the earth off its foundation.
He causes its pillars to quake.
7Ā He speaks to the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.
8Ā He alone stretches out the heavens.
He treads on the crests of the sea.
9Ā He made the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, [3]
and the constellations in the southern sky.
10Ā He does great things that are beyond investigation.
He does miracles that are too many to be counted.
11Ā Though he passes by me, I do not see him.
He moves past me, but I do not detect him.
12Ā If he snatches something away, who can make him bring it back?
Who can say to him, āWhat are you doing?ā
13Ā God does not hold back his anger.
Even Rahabās [4] helpers bow down beneath him.
14Ā How much less, then, will I be able to answer him?
I want to match words with him,
15Ā but even if I am in the right, I cannot answer him.
I can only plead to my judge for grace.
16Ā If I called and he responded to me,
I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
17Ā With a violent storm he would crush me,
and he would inflict many wounds on me for no reason.
18Ā He would not allow me to catch my breath.
Instead, he would fill me with bitter experiences.
19Ā If it is a question of strength, he definitely is the strong one.
If it is a question of jurisdiction, who can summon him? [5]
20Ā Even if I am righteous, my mouth would still condemn me.
If I am blameless, it would pronounce me crooked.
21Ā Although I am blameless, I cannot evaluate [6] myself.
I reject my own life.
22Ā Here is why I say, āIt makes no difference.ā
Blameless or wicked, he brings them all to the same end.
23Ā If a whip suddenly kills people,
he makes fun of [7] the despair of the innocent.
24Ā When a land is handed over to a wicked man,
God blinds the eyes of its judges.
If he is not the one, then who does it?
Footnotes
- Job 8:19 The line is difficult.
- Job 9:3 Or God would not answer him one time out of a thousand
- Job 9:9 The identification of these constellations is uncertain.
- Job 9:13 Rahab is a sea monster that symbolizes the seaās power.
- Job 9:19 The translation him is based on the Greek text. The Hebrew text reads me.
- Job 9:21 Literally know
- Job 9:23 Or makes light of
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage VersionĀ®, EHVĀ®, Ā© 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.