Job 13-16 - Prayer Tents

Job Wants to Argue His Case with God

13"Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand.H5869H7200H241H8085H995 2I know as much as you do. You are no better than I am.H1847H3045H5307 3As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself.H199H1696H7706H2654H3198H410 4As for you, you smear me with lies. As physicians, you are worthless quacks.H199H2950H8267H7495H457 5If only you could be silent! That's the wisest thing you could do.H5414H2790H2790H2451 6Listen to my charge; pay attention to my arguments.H8085H8433H7181H7379H8193 7"Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake?H1696H5766H410H1696H7423 8Will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God's case for him?H5375H6440H7378H410 9What will happen when he finds out what you are doing? Can you fool him as easily as you fool people?H2895H2713H582H2048H2048 10No, you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor.H3198H3198H5643H5375H6440 11Doesn't his majesty terrify you? Doesn't your fear of him overwhelm you?H7613H1204H6343H5307 12Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.H2146H4912H665H1354H1354H2563 13"Be silent now and leave me alone. Let me speak, and I will face the consequences.H2790H1696H5674 14Yes, I will take my life in my hands and say what I really think.H5375H1320H8127H7760H5315H3709 15God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him.H2005H6991H3176H3198H1870H6440 16But this is what will save me—I am not godless. If I were, I could not stand before him.H3444H2611H935H6440 17"Listen closely to what I am about to say. Hear me out.H8085H8085H4405H262H241 18I have prepared my case; I will be proved innocent.H6186H4941H3045H6663 19Who can argue with me over this? And if you prove me wrong, I will remain silent and die.H7378H2790H1478

Job Asks How He Has Sinned

20"O God, grant me these two things, and then I will be able to face you.H6213H8147H5641H6440 21Remove your heavy hand from me, and don't terrify me with your awesome presence.H7368H3709H7368H367H1204 22Now summon me, and I will answer! Or let me speak to you, and you reply.H7121H6030H1696H7725 23Tell me, what have I done wrong? Show me my rebellion and my sin.H5771H2403H3045H6588H2403 24Why do you turn away from me? Why do you treat me as your enemy?H5641H6440H2803H341 25Would you terrify a leaf blown by the wind? Would you chase dry straw?H6206H5929H5086H7291H3002H7179 26"You write bitter accusations against me and bring up all the sins of my youth.H3789H4846H3423H5771H5271 27You put my feet in stocks. You examine all my paths. You trace all my footprints.H7760H7272H5465H8104H734H2707H8328H7272 28I waste away like rotting wood, like a moth-eaten coat.H7538H1086H899H6211H398

14"How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!H120H3205H802H7116H3117H7649H7267 2We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.H3318H6731H5243H1272H6738H5975 3Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature and demand an accounting from me?H6491H5869H2088H935H4941 4Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one!H5414H2889H2931H259 5You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.H518H3117H2782H4557H2320H6213H2706H5674 6So leave us alone and let us rest! We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.H8159H2308H7521H7916H3117 7"Even a tree has more hope! If it is cut down, it will sprout again and grow new branches.H3426H8615H6086H3772H2498H3127H2308 8Though its roots have grown old in the earth and its stump decays,H8328H2204H776H1503H4191H6083 9at the scent of water it will bud and sprout again like a new seedling.H7381H4325H6524H6213H7105H5194 10"But when people die, their strength is gone. They breathe their last, and then where are they?H1397H4191H2522H120H1478 11As water evaporates from a lake and a river disappears in drought,H4325H235H3220H5104H2717H3001 12people are laid to rest and do not rise again. Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be roused from their sleep.H376H7901H6965H8064H1115H6974H5782H8142 13"I wish you would hide me in the grave and forget me there until your anger has passed. But mark your calendar to think of me again!H5414H6845H7585H5641H639H7725H7896H2706H2142 14Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death.H1397H4191H2421H3117H6635H3176H2487H935 15You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.H7121H6030H3700H4639H3027 16For then you would guard my steps, instead of watching for my sins.H5608H6806H8104H2403 17My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover my guilt.H6588H2856H6872H2950H5771 18"But instead, as mountains fall and crumble and as rocks fall from a cliff,H199H2022H5307H5034H6697H6275H4725 19as water wears away the stones and floods wash away the soil, so you destroy people's hope.H4325H7833H68H7857H5599H6083H776H6H8615H582 20You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene. You disfigure them in death and send them away.H8630H5331H1980H8138H6440H7971 21They never know if their children grow up in honor or sink to insignificance.H1121H3513H3045H6819H995 22They suffer painfully; their life is full of trouble."H1320H3510H5315H56

Eliphaz’s Second Response to Job

15Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied.H6030H464H8489H559 2"A wise man wouldn't answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag.H2450H6030H7307H1847H4390H990H6921 3The wise don't engage in empty chatter. What good are such words?H3198H5532H1697H4405H3276 4Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him?H6565H3374H1639H7881H6440H410 5Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception.H6310H502H5771H977H3956H6175 6Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you.H6310H7561H8193H6030 7"Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made?H7223H7223H120H3205H2342H6440H1389 8Were you listening at God's secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?H8085H5475H433H1639H2451 9What do you know that we don't? What do you understand that we do not?H3045H3045H995 10On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father!H7867H3453H3524H3117H1 11"Is God's comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough?H8575H410H4592H328H1697 12What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision,H3820H3947H5869H7335 13that you turn against God and say all these evil things?H7725H7307H410H4405H3318H6310 14Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?H582H2135H3205H802H6663 15Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.H539H6918H8064H2141H5869 16How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!H8581H444H376H8354H5766H5766H4325 17"If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience.H2331H8085H2372H5608 18And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers—H2450H5046H1H3582 19from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived.H776H5414H2114H5674H8432 20"The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.H7563H2342H3117H4557H8141H6845H6184 21The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.H6343H6963H241H7965H7703H935 22They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered.H539H7725H2822H6822H2719 23They wander around, saying, 'Where can I find bread?' They know their day of destruction is near.H5074H3899H3045H3117H2822H3559H3027 24That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle.H6862H4691H1204H8630H4428H6264H3593 25For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty.H5186H3027H410H1396H7706 26Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him.H7323H6677H5672H1354H4043 27"These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat.H3680H6440H2459H6213H6371H3689 28But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down.H7931H3582H5892H1004H3427H6257H1530 29Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.H6238H2428H6965H5186H4512H776 30"They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them.H5493H2822H7957H3001H3127H7307H6310H5493 31Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward.H8582H539H7723H7723H8545 32Like trees, they will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green.H4390H3808H3117H3712H7488 33They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.H2554H1154H1612H7993H5328H2132 34For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.H5712H2611H1565H784H398H168H7810 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit."H2029H5999H3205H205H990H3559H4820

Job’s Fifth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

16Then Job spoke again.H347H6030H559 2"I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!H8085H7227H5999H5162 3Won't you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking?H7307H1697H7093H4834H6030 4I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.H1696H3863H5315H3426H5315H2266H4405H5128H7218H1119 5But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.H553H1119H6310H5205H8193H2820 6Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.H1696H3511H2820H2308H1980 7"O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family.H3811H8074H5712 8As if to prove I have sinned, you've reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me.H7059H5707H3585H6965H6030H6440 9God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes.H2963H639H7852H2786H8127H6862H3913H5869 10People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me.H6473H6310H5221H3895H2781H4390H3162 11God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.H410H5462H5760H3399H3027H7563 12"I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target,H7961H6565H270H6203H6327H6965H4307 13and now his archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood.H7228H5437H6398H3629H6398H2550H8210H4845H776 14Again and again he smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior.H6555H6556H6440H6556H7323H1368 15I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust.H8609H8242H1539H5953H7161H6083 16My eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes.H6440H2560H1065H6079H6757 17Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure.H2555H3709H8605H2134 18"O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.H776H3680H1818H2201H4725 19Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high.H5707H8064H7717H4791 20My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.H7453H3887H5869H1811H433 21I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.H3198H1397H433H120H1121H7453 22For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.H4557H8141H857H1980H734H7725