Job 5-8

Job 5

¹Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer?

²For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.

³I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly the curse came on his house.

⁴Now his children have no safe place, and they are crushed before the judges, for no one takes up their cause.

⁵Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.

⁶For evil does not come out of the dust, or trouble out of the earth;

⁷But trouble is man's fate from birth, as the flames go up from the fire.

⁸But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:

⁹Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number:

¹⁰Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields:

¹¹Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place;

¹²Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.

¹³He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.

¹⁴In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.

¹⁵But he keeps safe from their sword those who have no father, and the poor from the power of the strong.

¹⁶So the poor man has hope, and the mouth of the evil-doer is stopped.

¹⁷Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.

¹⁸For after his punishment he gives comfort, and after wounding, his hands make you well.

¹⁹He will keep you safe from six troubles, and in seven no evil will come near you.

²⁰When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹He will keep you safe from the evil tongue; and you will have no fear of wasting when it comes.

²²You will make sport of destruction and need, and will have no fear of the beasts of the earth.

²³For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

²⁴And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone.

²⁵You will be certain that your seed will be great, and your offspring like the plants of the earth.

²⁶You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time.

²⁷See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.

Job 6

¹And Job made answer and said,

²If only my passion might be measured, and put into the scales against my trouble!

³For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.

⁴For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me.

⁵Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food?

⁶Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain?

⁷My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.

⁸If only I might have an answer to my prayer, and God would give me my desire!

⁹If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!

¹⁰So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the Holy One.

¹¹Have I strength to go on waiting, or have I any end to be looking forward to?

¹²Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh brass?

¹³I have no help in myself, and wisdom is completely gone from me.

¹⁴He whose heart is shut against his friend has given up the fear of the Ruler of all.

¹⁵My friends have been false like a stream, like streams in the valleys which come to an end:

¹⁶Which are dark because of the ice, and the snow falling into them;

¹⁷Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat.

¹⁸The camel-trains go out of their way; they go up into the waste and come to destruction.

¹⁹The camel-trains of Tema were searching with care, the bands of Sheba were waiting for them:

²⁰They were put to shame because of their hope; they came and their hope was gone.

²¹So have you now become to me; you see my sad condition and are in fear.

²²Did I say, Give me something? or, Make a payment for me out of your wealth?

²³Or, Get me out of the power of my hater? or, Give money so that I may be free from the power of the cruel ones?

²⁴Give me teaching and I will be quiet; and make me see my error.

²⁵How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments?

²⁶My words may seem wrong to you, but the words of him who has no hope are for the wind.

²⁷Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.

²⁸Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

²⁹Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

³⁰Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

Job 7

¹Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?

²As a servant desiring the shades of evening, and a workman looking for his payment:

³So I have for my heritage months of pain to no purpose, and nights of weariness are given to me.

⁴When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

⁵My flesh is covered with worms and dust; my skin gets hard and then is cracked again.

⁶My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope.

⁷O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good.

⁸The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.

⁹A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again.

¹⁰He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him.

¹¹So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.

¹²Am I a sea, or a sea-beast, that you put a watch over me?

¹³When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease;

¹⁴Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear;

¹⁵So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.

¹⁶I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

¹⁷What is man, that you have made him great, and that your attention is fixed on him,

¹⁸And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute?

¹⁹How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?

²⁰If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself?

²¹And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.

Job 8

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,

²How long will you say these things, and how long will the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

³Does God give wrong decisions? or is the Ruler of all not upright in his judging?

⁴If your children have done evil against him, then their punishment is from his hand.

⁵If you will make search for God with care, and put your request before the Ruler of all;

⁶If you are clean and upright; then he will certainly be moved to take up your cause, and will make clear your righteousness by building up your house again.

⁷And though your start was small, your end will be very great.

⁸Put the question now to the past generations, and give attention to what has been searched out by their fathers:

⁹(For we are but of yesterday, and have no knowledge, because our days on earth are gone like a shade:)

¹⁰Will they not give you teaching, and say words of wisdom to you?

¹¹Will the river-plant come up in its pride without wet earth? will the grass get tall without water?

¹²When it is still green, without being cut down, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant.

¹³So is the end of all who do not keep God in mind; and the hope of the evil-doer comes to nothing:

¹⁴Whose support is cut off, and whose hope is no stronger than a spider's thread.

¹⁵He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.

¹⁶He is full of strength before the sun, and his branches go out over his garden.

¹⁷His roots are twisted round the stones, forcing their way in between them.

¹⁸If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you.

¹⁹Such is the joy of his way, and out of the dust another comes up to take his place.

²⁰Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.

²¹The time will come when your mouth will be full of laughing, and cries of joy will come from your lips.

²²Your haters will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the sinner will not be seen again.