Job Answers Bildad

9 Then Job answered: ²“Yes, I know what you say is true. But how can a man win an argument with God? ³A person can’t argue with God! God could ask 1,000 questions and no person could answer even one! ⁴God is very wise and his power is very great. No person can fight God and not be hurt. ⁵God moves mountains when he is angry and they don’t even know it. ⁶God sends earthquakes to shake the earth. God shakes the earth’s foundations. ⁷God can speak to the sun, and make it not rise. He can lock up the stars, so they don’t shine. ⁸God alone made the skies. He walks on the ocean waves. ⁹“God made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades.* He made the planets that cross the southern sky.* ¹⁰God does wonderful things that people can’t understand. There is no end to God’s great miracles. ¹¹When God goes past me, I can’t see him. When God goes by, I don't notice him. ¹²If God takes something away, no one can stop him. No one can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹³God won’t hold his anger back. Even Rahab’s* helpers are afraid of God. ¹⁴So I can’t argue with God. I wouldn’t know what to say to him. ¹⁵I am innocent, but I can’t give him an answer. All I can do is beg my Judge (God) for mercy. ¹⁶Even if I called and he answered, I still wouldn’t believe that he really would listen to me. ¹⁷God would just send storms to crush me. He would just give me more wounds for no reason. ¹⁸God wouldn't let me catch my breath again. He would just give me more trouble. ¹⁹I can’t defeat God. God is too powerful! I can’t take God to court and force him to be fair to me. Who could force God to come to court? ²⁰I am innocent, but the things I say make me seem guilty. I am innocent, but if I speak my mouth proves me guilty. ²¹I am innocent. But I don’t know what to think. I hate my own life. ²²I say to myself, ‘The same thing happens to everybody. Innocent people die just like the guilty. God ends all their lives.’ ²³When something terrible happens and an innocent person is killed, does God just laugh at him? ²⁴When an evil man takes control of a land, does God keep the leaders from seeing what is happening? If that is true, then who is God anyway? ²⁵“My days go faster than a runner. My days fly away and there is no happiness in them. ²⁶My days go by quickly like the papyrus* boats. My days go by as fast as eagles swooping down to catch an animal. ²⁷“If I say, ‘I won’t complain. I will forget my pain, I will put a smile on my face.’ ²⁸It doesn’t really change anything. The suffering still scares me! ²⁹I am already judged guilty. So why should I keep trying? I say, ‘Forget it!’ ³⁰Even if I wash myself with snow and make my hands clean with soap, ³¹God will still push me into the slime pit.* Then even my clothes will hate me. ³²God is not a man like me. That is why I can’t answer him. We can’t meet each other in court. ³³I wish there were someone to listen to both sides.* I wish there were someone to judge both of us in a fair way. ³⁴I wish there were someone to take God’s punishing stick away. Then God would not scare me any more. ³⁵Then I could say what I want to say without being afraid of God. But now I can’t do that.

Bear, Orion, Pleiades These are names of well-known constellations (groups of stars) in the night sky. planets that cross the southern sky Literally, “Rooms of the South,” or “Rooms of Teman.” This might be the planets or it might be some star groups, possibly the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. In places north of the equator, these seem to move across the southern sky. Rahab’s A dragon or sea monster. People thought Rahab controlled the sea. Rahab is often a symbol for God’s enemies or for anything evil. papyrus A plant used to make a kind of paper to write on. Its bark is also used to make coverings for boats and ships. slime pit The grave, a place where bodies rot. someone … sides Literally a “mediator” or an “umpire.”

10 I hate my own life. So I will complain freely. My soul is very bitter, so now I will speak. ²I will say to God: ‘Don’t blame me! Tell me, What have I done wrong? What do you have against me? ³God, does hurting me make you happy? It seems that you don’t care about what you made. Or maybe you are happy with the plans that bad people make? ⁴God, do you have human eyes? Do you see things the way people do? ⁵Is your life as short as ours? Is your life as short as a man’s life? No! {So how do you know what it’s like?} ⁶You look for my wrong and search for my sin. ⁷You know I am innocent, but no one can save me from your power! ⁸God, your hands made me and shaped my body. But now they are closing in on me and destroying me! ⁹God, remember, you made me like clay. Will you make into clay again? ¹⁰You pour me out like milk. You spin me and squeeze me like someone making cheese. ¹¹You put me together with bones and muscles. And then you clothed me with skin and flesh. ¹²You gave me life and were very kind to me. You cared for me and watched over my spirit. ¹³But this is what you hid in your heart, I know this is what you secretly planned in your heart. Yes, I know this is what was in your mind: ¹⁴If I sinned, you would be watching me, so you could punish me for doing wrong. ¹⁵When I sin, I am guilty and it will be very bad for me. But I can’t lift up my head even when I am innocent! I am so ashamed and embarrassed. ¹⁶If I have any success and feel proud, you hunt me like a person hunts a lion. You again show your power against me. ¹⁷You always have someone to prove I am wrong. Your will show your anger at me again and again in many ways, as you send one army after another against me. ¹⁸So, God, why did you let me be born? I wish I had died before anyone saw me. ¹⁹I wish I had never lived. I wish I had been carried from my mother’s womb straight to the grave. ²⁰My life is almost finished. So leave me alone! Let me enjoy the little time I have left, ²¹before I go to the place that no person comes back from, the place of darkness and death. ²²{Let me enjoy the little time I have left} before I go to the place no one can see that place of darkness, shadows, and confusion. In that place even the light is dark.’”

Zophar Speaks to Job

11 Then Zophar from Naamah answered Job and said, ²“This flood of words should be answered! Does all this talking make Job right? No! ³Job, do you think we don’t have an answer for you? Do you think no one will warn you when you laugh at God? ⁴Job, you say to God, ‘My arguments are right, and you can see I am pure.’ ⁵Job, I wish God would answer you and tell you that you are wrong. ⁶God could tell you the secret of wisdom. He would tell you that every story has two sides. Job, listen to me, God is not punishing you as much as he should. ⁷“Job, do you think that you really understand God? You can’t understand God All-Powerful. ⁸You can’t do anything about what is up in heaven! You don’t know anything about the place of death. ⁹God is greater than the earth and bigger than the seas. ¹⁰“If God arrests you, and brings you to court, no person can stop him. ¹¹Truly, God knows who is worthless. When God sees evil, he remembers it. ¹²A wild donkey can’t give birth to a man. And a stupid person will never become wise. ¹³“But Job, you should make your heart ready to serve only God, and you should lift up your hands to {worship} him. ¹⁴You should put away the sin that is in your home. Don’t let evil live in your tent. ¹⁵Then you could look to God without shame. You could stand strong and not be afraid. ¹⁶Then you could forget your trouble. Your troubles would be like water that has passed on by. ¹⁷Then your life would be brighter than the sunshine at noon. Life’s darkest hours would shine like the morning sun. ¹⁸Then you would feel safe, because there would be hope. God would care for you and give you rest. ¹⁹You could lie down to rest, and no one would bother you. And many people would come to you for help. ²⁰Bad people might look for help, but they won’t escape their troubles. Their hope leads only to death.”