Job 13

¹ My eyes have certainly seen all this.
My ears have heard it and understood it.
² Whatever you know, I know every bit as well.
I do not fall short of you in any way.

³ But I want to speak to the Almighty.
I am eager to argue my case with God.
⁴ All you do is plaster over problems ^[1] with lies.
Such useless healers, all of you!
⁵ I wish you would shut up completely.
For you, that would be wisdom!

⁶ But now, listen to my rebuttal.
Pay attention to the arguments from my lips.
⁷ Will you misrepresent God? ^[2]
Will you speak deceitfully about him?
⁸ Will you show favoritism on behalf of God
and argue his case for him?
⁹ Will it turn out well when he cross-examines you?
Can you fool God as you can fool a man?
¹⁰ He will certainly rule against you if you hide your favoritism.
¹¹ Won’t God’s majesty frighten you?
Won’t the dread he inspires overwhelm you?
¹² Your axioms are proverbs made of ashes.
Your strong points are made of clay.

¹³ Silence! Let me speak.
I intend to speak up, no matter what happens.
¹⁴ Why do I bite my flesh with my teeth?
Why do I take my life in my hands?
¹⁵ Even if he slays me, I will wait for him with hope. ^[3]
No matter what, I will defend my ways to his face.
¹⁶ Even this may turn out for my salvation,
for no godless person would dare to face him.
¹⁷ Listen carefully to my words!
Give my testimony a hearing.
¹⁸ Please, listen. I have laid out my case.
I know that I am innocent.
¹⁹ Who can make a case against me?
If anyone can, I will be quiet and die.

²⁰ Just do two things for me, God.
If you do, I will not hide from your face.
²¹ Take your hands off me,
and do not terrify me with your grandeur. ^[4]
22 Summon me, and I will answer.
Or, I will speak, and you can respond to me.
²³ How much guilt and how many sins do I have?
Reveal my rebellion and my sin to me.
²⁴ Why do you hide your face?
Why do you treat me like your enemy?
²⁵ Will you toss me around ^[5] like a wind-blown leaf?
Will you chase me away like dry chaff?
²⁶ You write bitter accusations against me,
and you hold me accountable for the guilt of my youth.
²⁷ You lock my feet in stocks
and station guards along all my paths.
You put your brand on the soles of my feet.

²⁸ So a man rots away like a garment eaten by moths.

Job 14

¹ Man born of woman has a few short days,
and they are full of anxiety.
² He blossoms like a flower, but soon withers.
He recedes like a shadow and does not remain.
³ You keep your eye on such a man.
You bring me ^[6] into judgment in your presence.
⁴ Who can produce something pure from something that is impure?
No one.
⁵ Certainly his days are determined.
The number of his months has been set by you.
A limit is set, which he cannot exceed.
⁶ Turn your gaze away from him, and let him be,
until he finishes his day’s work as a hired man.

⁷ There is still hope for a tree if it is cut down.
It may grow up again and produce new shoots.
⁸ Though its roots lie dormant in the earth,
and its stump is dying in the dust,
⁹ with just a whiff of water, it shoots up again.
As a growing plant, it again sends out branches.
¹⁰ But if a man dies, he shrivels away.
When a person breathes his last, where is he?
¹¹ Waters evaporate from the sea.
A river dries up and becomes dust.
¹² In the same way, a man lies down and does not rise again.
Until the heavens pass away, he does not awaken,
and he is not aroused from his sleep.

¹³ Oh how I wish you would hide me in the grave,
that you would conceal me until your wrath has passed by,
that you would set an appointed time for me,
and then you would remember me.
¹⁴ If a man dies, will he live again?
Through all the days of my warfare, ^[7]
I will wait, until change comes about for me.
¹⁵ You will call, and I myself will answer.
Then you will long for the work of your hands.

¹⁶ Now you count my steps,
but then you will no longer keep track of my sin.
¹⁷ My rebellious deeds will be sealed up in a bag,
and you will plaster over my guilt.

¹⁸ But as a mountain crumbles and falls,
and as a rock is moved from its place,
¹⁹ as water wears away stones,
and floodwaters wash away soil from the land,
so you destroy a man’s hope.
²⁰ You overpower him once and for all, and he passes away.
You change his appearance and send him away.
²¹ His sons are honored, but he is not aware of it.
They are brought low, but he does not realize it.
²² He feels the pain only of his own flesh,
and in his soul grieves only for himself.