Job 17

¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”

¹¹I said, “I will never again see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world.

³For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.

⁴I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.

¹³If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

¹⁶After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

¹¹What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?

¹⁶For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me—the breath of life I have made.

⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

²⁰My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.

⁶Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her.

⁷And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.

³⁹And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads

⁴⁰and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

¹⁴I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.

¹⁵But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.

⁹Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him as you would deceive a man?

²²Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

¹⁵He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.

¹⁴I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”

³²Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’

¹²²Ensure Your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.

⁹I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.

²⁵At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

¹⁴Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

¹⁴The Lord has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

¹⁶While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

²They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

³May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue.

¹⁹He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

¹²Nevertheless, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it during your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”

⁹And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

¹⁴You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

⁷then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.

¹²At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the Lord and fail to see the work of His hands.

²⁷Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.

⁷My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping, and deep shadows ring my eyes;

⁹Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.

¹⁰For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.

¹²For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

¹⁷Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—

²³I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.

¹³Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

⁸If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

³⁰that godless men should not rule or lay snares for the people.

¹⁹The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:

³³O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

³⁰He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”

⁷They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion.

⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹⁶A wise man fears and turns from evil, but a fool is careless and reckless.

⁷After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.

²⁹Reconsider; do not be unjust. Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake.

²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

⁵I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers?

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.

¹⁸So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”

⁹A man’s heart plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

¹⁴You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

¹⁰Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

³⁷Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?

¹⁴When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.

¹³When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,

¹⁴then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

³So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed to me.

⁴When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.

⁶⁷In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see.

²¹before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,

²²to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”

²³Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

¹³For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest

⁸If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

¹⁴When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

¹“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.

¹⁰For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

²⁰The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

³⁴In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

³⁵So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’

³²He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.

³³The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.

³⁰My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.

²⁶But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.

¹⁵Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.

¹⁰He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.

⁶Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?

¹¹What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

¹⁷There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.

¹⁸The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

⁶To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O Lord my God!

¹¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

¹⁷Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

¹⁸For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

¹³It devours patches of his skin; the firstborn of death devours his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.

¹⁸to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,